On the morning of the 15th day of the 11th lunar month of the fifth year of Yongle, the sky was not yet dawn, and the sky was foggy. The round moon still hung over the south-west plain, as if to indicate the direction of the officers and troops.

There were torches everywhere near the Taipingchang, like stars, and dogs from near and far barked incessantly, mixed with the sound of people and horses, which was extremely noisy.

Zhu Gaoxu, who was wearing three layers of leather, chain mail, and armor, was wrapped like a tall iron dumpling, and wore a shiny wide-brimmed iron helmet on his head. His shoulder scarf and cloak were made of white linen, and at first glance they looked like the outfits of the large crowd of men who gathered around him.

The pine torches illuminated the surroundings, and black smoke filled the firelight.

At this time, a military general walked up quickly, hugged his fists and said: "Lord Wang, the official army camp has been opened!" ”

After hearing this, Zhu Gaoxu looked back and said: "I went early, I'm afraid that Xue Lu will think that our terrain is too advantageous and won't come; I went late and couldn't catch up with the front. It should be time now. ”

He spoke quickly, but not loudly, as if he was still a little cautious, for fear of scaring something away.

Qu Neng's gaze turned over, and Zhengse nodded.

Zhu Gaoxu raised his hand and said, "Order the whole army, go!" ”

In a short time, the sound of horns near the mortuary echoed in the mist. The torches, which were like stars, began to move one after another.

Zhu Gaoxu turned over and climbed onto the brown horse, led a group of cavalry, and went straight out of the peace. They rode in a south-easterly direction, faster than the army, and soon climbed up to the Sajin Dam, which was about three or four miles away.

When a group of people came to the Yujin Temple, they saw that among the countless torches, a group of monks were being kicked out of the temple.

Zhu Gaoxu did not enter the temple, patted the horse to the edge of the hillside, and looked at the surrounding scene again. The east side has turned white, but the sky is not yet bright, and the fog in the line of sight is not very clear. In the area near Chengdu, Zhu Gaoxu has been here for several days, and he has never encountered a completely foggy day in the morning.

But the hillside, the dam, must still be there, and it will not be any different from the day before yesterday. This sprinkling dam is like the shape of a lower moon. The dam faces northwest, about three miles in length and more than one mile in depth, and is located on a large hillside, and the terrain is very flat and empty.

There is a large gap at the southern edge to climb up the Sajin Dam, which is the gentlest part.

Zhu Gaoxu turned around and looked in the direction of the north and west. On the foggy earth, large torches appeared in sight through the night sky; It was as if the earth after the magma erupted, and the army of the Han Dynasty with torches was rushing towards the Sajin Dam.

There was still a large light in the north and east, which was the baggage of the Han army, as well as a small part of the army. As planned, they were going around the back of the Sajin Dam to a higher dam to the east. There are a total of seven or eight thousand baggage soldiers, and they generally do not go into battle to fight hard, so when marching, the baggage soldiers have to cook and do a lot of work.

…… The hour (about five to seven o'clock) has passed, and the hour has not yet arrived. The sky was already bright, and the red morning sun hung in the eastern sky, as if it were an ink painting.

Zhu Gaoxu stood on the edge of the hillside, except for the large slope to the west, surrounded by men and horses of the Han Dynasty's army. Looking around, the countless phalanx of foot riders undulated slightly, extending into the distance, and there was no end in sight.

From the heights, you can see the downhill slopes and plains to the west. There was a faint sound in the sky, like a muffled thunder that continued to sound in the distance, and the "buzzing ......" did not stop for a moment.

Zhu Gaoxu looked closely, and could already see countless figures faintly shaking on the horizon. It is estimated that the front of the enemy army is at least a few miles wide, and it is vague and unclear, as if the sea water on the seashore has filled it!

Although the enemy army has been seen, it will be a long time before it really gets closer. Zhu Gaoxu and most of the generals waited silently, and the infantry were in their positions, some sitting and squatting, some standing; The cavalry stood motionless next to the horses.

Zhu Gaoxu left the slope and rode his horse to continue to wander between the phalanxes. From time to time, he said a few words loudly to the soldiers, and countless people responded, and the earth-shaking shouts rose one after another on the endless dam.

On the opposite side of the south side of the Sajin Dam, there is a large dense mountain forest called Songlin Slope, and I don't know when a fire broke out, and the fire spread like a curved line of fire towards the mountain. The black smoke was very large, and from a distance, it looked like a black cloud in the middle of a mountain forest.

After the hour, a large number of people and horses of the official army had already come into sight. The battle that opened was very large, maybe five miles wide! The large array of officers and troops is located in the southwest direction of the Han army, which can be seen from the south end, but cannot be seen clearly from the north head in one place.

The fire on Songlinpo will not be extinguished for a while, and at this time, there will be a scout report, and the Taiping Field will also be set on fire! A group of officers and light cavalry rushed to the peaceful field, fired a large number of rockets, and many houses were set on fire. Zhu Gaoxu looked to the north, but he couldn't see the fire there.

At this time, Zhu Gaoxu had already ridden to the top of the South Gap. The surrounding soldiers were sitting or squatting, and at this time the soldiers were not required to abide by military discipline too much, as long as they did not leave their positions casually, and even the thousands of households were temporarily surrounded by branches next to the thatched toilets, and they could go to the toilet if they wanted to.

Zhu Gaoxu shouted to the soldiers here: "Xue Lu is as timid as a mouse, burning the barren mountain for fear that I will have ambush soldiers!" ”

"Hahaha......" many soldiers laughed. Under the pressure of the enemy soldiers like a sea of people, the laughter of the men made the atmosphere seem to relax a little.

Zhu Gaoxu shouted again: "In this battle, the Han army will win!" ”

Some generals took the lead in shouting first, and all the soldiers also shouted, "We must win!" The shout of "Victory ......" seemed to echo across the Fire Mountain in the distance.

There are some Han palace guards in the Han army, all of whom know Zhu Gaoxu. However, some of the guards and soldiers had never seen him, and this morning Zhu Gaoxu turned the entire large array in one go, and all the soldiers should recognize his appearance.

…… The soldiers here in Nanhukou, even Liu Dagen, a new soldier who has just been in the army for a few months, have also seen the King of the Ming Dynasty twice!

Yesterday, Liu Dagen still spoke and showed his face in front of King Han, and he was ready to brag about it to all his acquaintances after returning to his hometown early in the morning. Therefore, it is worth it to be scolded by Yin Desheng of 100 households for not understanding the rules.

After the hour, countless people and horses who were missing the heads and tails of the officers and soldiers were already in front of them, and the dust and fog were rolling on the ground, all of them were men and horses! But I can't see the heads and tails of the people on my side, and there are still people everywhere around. Liu Dagen can't tell who has more people, and the battle is too big!

The rumbling drums and horses' hooves became louder and louder, and the trumpets were mixed with orchestral blowing. After a while, the cannon also sounded, Liu Dagen stretched his neck to look at the scene in the southwest, only to see countless phalanxes, from time to time the fire flickered, and white smoke billowed out.

A large number of infantry and cavalry of the official army had already followed the large and gentle gap in the south, and the Han army in front of it was only a few hundred paces, and it was still approaching. The sound of artillery has become louder.

Liu Dagen's position is still a little far away from the left slope of the officers and troops attacking the gap. So Liu Dagen stood in the crowd and just stretched his neck and looked.

There were more than 100 people in his 100 households, but the men and miscellaneous soldiers were not in the formation, and there were almost 100 people in total, standing in ten rows.

There were four more of these hundred households standing side by side with them on the left and right; Behind them were the same five hundred-hun teams, lined up behind them. There are about 1,000 people in total, which is a large brigade of 1,000 people, forming a huge phalanx. There were also a queue of bows and arrows and muskets in front of the phalanx.

On this dam, there is more than one such large phalanx, and there are other people and horses in various formations.

Liu Dagen was staring at the battle that was about to be fought in the distance, and his eyes didn't blink. Unexpectedly, at this moment, a horse galloped over from the gap in the phalanx and said to a general: "King Han's order, the big drum in the south is beating, and you will immediately attack the enemy's flank!" Command flag! ”

"Order!"

The general shouted a few more times in the middle of the large phalanx, and his own soldiers ran everywhere to give orders. Get the total of each thousand, and return after the total answer.

After a while, Baihu Yin Desheng's voice said: "Brothers, follow the banner of the general, the queue can't be chaotic!" Those who retreat from the battlefield will not be merciless under military law! ”

"Knock, knock, knock......" The biggest drum sounded slowly in the distance.

The general's desperate shouts were also heard: "Forward!" ”

The sergeant with a leather drum hanging next to Yin Desheng began to beat the small drum, and the surrounding drums "rumbled ......" sounded, and Liu Dagen followed the drum sound on his side, according to the steps of the queue trained in the previous months, and followed everyone to start walking forward.

The sound of neat footsteps one after another kept ringing in the growing noise. I don't know how long later, there were several huge cannon sounds in the distance, which was the loudest cannon that Liu Dagen heard.

There was a sound of "whirring" in the air, and Liu Dagen couldn't help but look up as he walked, and saw a huge round stone flying over his head. With a loud bang, the stone hit the top of a plum tree not far away, and the tree shook violently, the branch was broken, and the few dead leaves left on it flew into the air. Between the lightning and flint, the stone fell slightly into the crowd!

Immediately, there was a scream with a cry.

Liu Dagen swallowed a mouthful of saliva, feeling that his legs seemed to be a little weak.

The deafening sound of "boom, boom, boom ......" sounded in front again, this time even more densely! A moment later, there was a "whirring" sound in the air, and you could really hear the sound of stones and iron eggs flying!

Suddenly, there was a "bang", Liu Dagen trembled, and there were three or five people on the left, the blood mist rose, and one man was smashed into a blur of flesh and blood without making a sound, and the other man didn't know where he was hit by the cannonball, and immediately hissed: "Dear, mother......"

The voice is very familiar, Liu Dagen knows the man, he is a farmer, and this is his first time on the battlefield. That man was also unlucky, he had only been on the battlefield for a while, and he didn't even see the enemy soldiers clearly.

There was also a big boulder that smashed on the wild grass between the hundred households, and the ground trembled!

Yin Desheng's voice said: "Don't be afraid, in this battle, you can't kill two people!" Whoever retreats, chops whom! ”