With the Lanjiang Ferry as the center, for many upstream and downstream river sections suitable for river crossing, regardless of the size of the Datang New Army, manpower was dispatched to monitor, and for the convenience of operational command, these river sections suitable for river crossing were also numbered on the map.

The scouts of the Datang New Army found that the No. 2 ferry where the Ming army crossed the river on a large scale was more suitable for large-scale troops to cross the river than several other small ferries, so it has always been valued by the Datang New Army.

The Ming army had also sent people to smuggle people from this small ferry many times to attack at night, but the scale had not been large, at most about 100 people, but they never thought that the Ming army would cross the river on a large scale in this place, and it was also a night crossing.

When Fang Xitong learned the news, it was already half an hour later!

"What should I do?" At this time, a big question mark popped up in Fang Xitong's mind.

He received an order to quickly reinforce the main force of the Lanjiang crossing, and it was necessary to arrive before the early morning to resist the main force of the Ming army crossing the river early tomorrow morning.

However, at this time, the No. 2 ferry found at least a thousand Ming troops crossing the river, which had to make Fang Xitong hesitate.

Did he continue to carry out Li Xuan's orders, or did he turn around and go back to intercept the Ming army crossing the river from Ferry No. 2?

If you turn around and go back, not to mention whether your 250 people can stop the Ming army of more than 1,000 people, and more importantly, this is disobedience.

This resistance is not an ordinary order, but an order given to him by Li Xuan, in other words, it is not allowed to resist the order, no matter which dynasty such a crime is placed in, it is a capital crime without forgiveness.

However, if we continue to go back, after letting at least a thousand or possibly more Ming troops pass through the No. 2 ferry, wouldn't we be able to outflank the rear of our main force, and then the trouble will be big.

After thinking about it for a few minutes, Fang Xitong immediately ordered his heralds to report the news of the Ming army's crossing of the river to His Majesty at the Lanjiang Ferry in the shortest possible time, and at the same time asked His Majesty to indicate whether he should continue to reinforce the Lanjiang Ferry or turn around and return to the No. 2 Ferry.

As for himself, he took the first mixed battalion to rest in place, and ate in advance, once he waited for the order from Li Xuan, whether he continued to reinforce or turned around and returned to the second ferry, he would be able to keep himself in the best condition.

From a military and tactical point of view, there is no doubt that his choice is the next decision.

At this time, whether he continued to move forward or turned around and went back, it was better than staying where he was now.

Every minute and every second of tonight was precious, and his decision would leave the First Mixed Battalion idle for at least an hour or more.

And the miss of this hour may cause the 1st Mixed Battalion to be unable to participate in the decisive battle, and the absence of the 1st Mixed Battalion may even lead to the ruin of the entire battle situation.

Although the total strength of the new army of the Tang Dynasty is nearly 4,000 people, more than 400 of them are only baggage troops, and more than 400 are garrison camps that use cold weapons to fight and are captured by the Ming army.

Only about 3,000 people were really regarded as the main force.

Among these 3,000 people, the 1st Infantry Battalion and the 1st Mixed Battalion have the strongest combat effectiveness and the most abundant combat experience.

If the first mixed battalion did not participate in the battle, it still has a certain impact on the combat effectiveness of the Datang New Army.

Not to mention, when the two sides are at a stalemate on the battlefield, the addition of a new force can definitely have a huge impact.

Fang Xitong didn't know this, but he still chose to report to Li Xuan first, and waited for Li Xuan's order before taking the next step.

Compared with Fang Xitong's conservative decision, Li Chunjing, the battalion officer of the Second Mixed Battalion, made a much more decisive and resolute decision.

Like the first mixed battalion, the second mixed battalion also set off for the Lanjiang ferry after receiving Li Xuan's order, but after walking for half an hour, someone reported that a large number of Ming troops had crossed the river at the No. 3 ferry, and the preliminary estimate was that the strength of the Ming army was at least more than 1,000 people.

After hearing the news, Li Chunjing did not hesitate at all, and directly ordered: "Order the whole army to return to the No. 3 ferry port immediately and stop the Ming army!" ”

At this time, someone looked puzzled and said: "But our task is to reinforce the Lanjiang ferry, I'm afraid it will be ...... if we turn around and go back."

The man did not say it explicitly, because the next sentence would be disobedience.

Li Chunjing said: "There are more than 3,000 main forces on the Lanjiang ferry, and there are strong fortresses to defend them, even if the Ming army crosses the river to attack, it is not a problem to hold the beachhead." On our side, if these Ming troops are allowed to cross the river and sneak attack the rear of the main force, then it will be troublesome! ”

"Besides, the matter is urgent, and there will be something to be affected outside, and after this battle, if the official is still alive, the official will ask His Majesty for the guilt!"

Although Li Chunjing was young, he was extremely decisive, and after rejecting the opposition of his subordinates, he immediately led his troops back to the No. 3 ferry.

At this moment, Li Xuan, Wang Danxu, Hao Bonian and other senior generals who were still at the Lanjiang ferry could not sleep, and they repeatedly deduced how to fight tomorrow's defensive operations.

And they didn't know that the No. 2 and No. 3 ferries had already been crossed by Ming troops overnight.

The tools they used to cross the river were even carried from afar, apparently they had relevant plans early on, and they had hidden the scouts of the new army of the Tang Dynasty and ambushed at least a thousand Ming troops in these two places.

After discovering that the results of the night shelling were not good, the artillery team had simply stopped the shelling, prepared to recuperate, and waited for the sun to come out tomorrow and start large-scale shelling, so as to kill and wound a large number of Ming troops on the opposite bank on the river beach.

After the arrangements were made, Li Xuan also fell asleep in the second half of the night, and he had to recuperate enough to face the big war that would break out tomorrow.

But not long after he fell asleep, he was woken up by a noise outside.

Not long after, his personal guard walked in, and then whispered to Li Xuan: "Your Majesty, there is an urgent military situation!" ”

Hearing the words urgent military intelligence, Li Xuan naturally didn't have much of the heart to continue sleeping, and immediately got up and put on his coat and walked out.

As soon as he came out, he saw a few heralds who were still panting, and one of them said: "Your Majesty, at least a thousand puppet Ming thieves are crossing the river at the No. 2 ferry, and the battalion officer asks for instructions, whether to continue reinforcements or turn around and return to the No. 2 ferry!" ”

When Li Xuan heard this, he inevitably frowned, what is going on with Ming Jun?

They are obviously on the side of the Lanjiang ferry, and they are going to launch an attack on crossing the river early tomorrow morning, and at this time, these Ming troops are still divided into other river crossings? Is this going around the rear for a sneak attack?

Don't these Ming troops know that it is taboo to divide troops in battle!

Tens of thousands of them crossed the river together, and it is difficult to say whether this can break through their own beachhead defenses, and if thousands of partial divisions are divided to cross the river from the No. 2 ferry, will they still be able to cross the river at the Lanjiang ferry?

When Li Xuan was pondering, another herald also spoke: "Your Majesty, the No. 3 ferry has also found at least a thousand or more puppet thieves crossing the river, and Li Yingguan has turned around and returned to the No. 3 to cross the river to block the enemy army due to the urgency of the incident!" ”

If Li Xuan only frowned when he heard that the Ming army was found at the No. 2 ferry before, then now when he heard that there were at least a thousand Ming troops crossing the river at the No. 3 ferry, then Li Xuan's face changed instantly.

Immediately, he said: "Immediately call an emergency meeting of the generals!" ”

His intuition told him that there was a large-scale Ming army crossing the river at the same time in these two places, which must not be simple.

Tonight is unusual, I'm afraid I'm going to capsize in the gutter!

Fang Dongquan and other generals all lived in the barracks, and a few of them hadn't even slept yet, as soon as they heard that His Majesty had summoned them urgently, it didn't take a few minutes for them to feel it, and many of them were still walking briskly on the way here, buttoning their clothes at the same time.

When everyone came, Li Xuan opened his mouth and briefly explained the situation, and then said, "What do you think Aiqing thinks?" What kind of reputation is this puppet thief army fighting? ”

Zeng Ziwen was the first to speak: "The enemy's move is definitely not as simple as simply sending a few troops to contain our army, otherwise it would not have sent so many soldiers and horses at the same time at the two ferries, these two ferries combined, I am afraid there are three thousand, and the main force of the enemy army before it is only about 10,000 people!" ”

At this time, Butcher Chen also began: "Where did those Ming troops come from, aren't those Ming troops all opposite us, I haven't seen them move on a large scale in the past few days!" ”

At this time, Hao Bonian said: "Have you forgotten the small-scale sneak attack of the Ming army a few days ago?" They sent a part of the camp each time, but did all these people go back except for the ones who were routed by us? It is estimated that these people ran out a few days ago. ”

At this time, Butcher Chen showed a look of sudden realization and said, "No wonder they want to sneak attack, it turns out that they have another purpose!" ”

"However, it is also possible that these Ming troops were transferred from other places, and no one can guarantee that the total strength of the Ming army on the opposite side is only 10,000 people!" At this time, Zeng Ziwen proposed another possibility!

But at this time, Li Xuan said: "No matter where these Ming troops came from, now our question is how to deal with it!" ”

When Li Xuan spoke, his tone was a little heavy, now that the situation is urgent, there is not so much time for these generals to chat, he needs a solution.

As soon as these words came out, everyone stopped arguing, and then they all pondered, but no one spoke for half a day.

Li Xuan looked at these people who didn't speak, and immediately snorted heavily: "The enemy is now, why don't you have to be captured?" ”

At this time, Hao Bonian stood up and immediately said: "Your Majesty, now our top priority is to stop these two Ming army divisions, and not let them flank our rear, as for the Lanjiang crossing, there is such a strong fortress and sharp weapons such as grenades and artillery to fight, it is not so easy for the Ming army to cross the river." The minister thought that reinforcements should be sent immediately to reinforce the No. 2 and No. 3 ferries! ”

When Li Xuan heard this, he also pondered, dividing troops to reinforce? If the Ming army really has tens of thousands of people crossing the river to launch an attack early tomorrow morning, will they still be able to stop it after dispersing their forces?