Jinan Mansion has just experienced a tragic war, and before it has stopped for two days, another army has been killed.

The people in the city who couldn't escape were panicked, but the group of Ming Dynasty soldiers who had just suffered defeat and were captured by the Hongtang army were extremely open, if it weren't for the Hongtang army to strengthen the guarding force, it would be impossible to say that these prisoners would become a time bomb in the Hongtang army.

Of course, among the Ming prisoners, many soldiers have been absorbed into their ranks by the Hongtang army, but in order to prevent the strength of Hongtang's main force from declining too quickly, and the proportion of Ming soldiers in the army will not become a hidden danger, the absorption action of the third army has enough self-control, rather than absorbing the good and the bad.

The support commander of this Ming army is the most trustworthy confidant under Sun Chuanting, and Zhang Huangyan is a member of the Ming Dynasty.

Although it is only a person, Zhang Huangyan has made a lot of achievements in the military, and he has been cultivated by Sun Chuanting, the mainstay of the Ming Dynasty, and has also lived up to Sun Chuanting's expectations, and has repeatedly established military exploits.

Zhang Huangyan's arrival, which means that the Ming Dynasty's large-scale counterattack is coming, if it were not for the Hongtang army's war is not just the action of the third army, and it is also dispatched with the Hongtang First Army, the Second Army and the Fourth Army, the troops are divided into three ways to attack, I am afraid that at this time Kong Youde will face the ground, will be just from Xishu triumphantly returned to the Ming Dynasty Governor, the crown prince Sun Chuanting, the famous general of the Ming Dynasty.

At this time, Sun Chuanting was leading the main force of 200,000 Ming Dynasty and the main force of the Second Army of Hongtang First Army to start a duel on the front line of Kaifeng Mansion.

The Fourth Army of Hongtang, under the leadership of Commander Xiao Xiurong, occupied Luoyang and other places, and began to march towards the southwest territory, starting a large area of land, and the rival Ming Dynasty army, all of which were killed by it, but it was the most smoothly progressing side of the three-way army.

After absorbing many Ming soldiers, the strength of the Hongtang Third Army recovered to more than 45,000 people, and the difference between the strength of the troops when crossing the river was less than 5,000. But when it comes to combat strength, I'm afraid it's not just a difference of 5,000.

But even so, Kong Youde did not hesitate at all, and directly took the main force of the Third Army of 40,000 out of the ruined city of Jinan Mansion, built a long defense line near Xicheng, and quietly waited for the arrival of the Ming Dynasty army.

"My lord, are you stationed there?"

Zhang Huangyan was in front of him, and the general soldier of Kong Zhenhui from Sichuan made an inquiry.

At this time, the Ming army was only five miles away from Jinan Mansion, and it was even within the range of the artillery of the Third Army of Hongtang.

"No, it's better to retreat five miles and set up camp!"

Zhang Huangyan was the commander of the army for the first time, but at this time, he couldn't understand the layout of Hongtang's army.

The size of Hongtang's army, if Jinyiwei did not make a mistake, the gap with their Ming army was at least more than doubled, if Zhang Huangyan was in the position of the opponent's main general, no matter how confident he was, he would inevitably take advantage of the limited geographical advantage of Jinan Mansion to stalemate with his own army, and then slowly weaken the strength of the Ming army.

But now after arriving at the battlefield, the Hongtang army gave up the geographical advantage of Jinan Province, but made it clear that the chariot and horse land would open a formation in the field, which was to fight with their own army, and prepare for a head-on duel as soon as they came up!

This was what Zhang Huangyan needed, but at this time, he felt a little inappropriate, so he decided to take a steady step and let the soldiers below rest for a while.

It was already evening, and even if the Hongtang army wanted to launch a decisive battle, it would probably not choose this time!

I heard that the most powerful of the other party is their advanced muskets and artillery, and these weapons, in the dark night, when the vision is unclear, the lethality is greatly reduced, so under various factors, Zhang Huangyan judged that the other party would not attack tonight.

Of course, harassment is very likely, so Zhang Huangyan asked the team to retreat five miles, widening the distance between the main force of the other party, and sent 5,000 cavalry from the headquarters as escorts, which must be able to dispel many of the other party's ideas.

"Commander, why don't you attack now?"

Kong Youde, Pu Liqi, Bai Guangen and other middle and high-ranking officers of the Hongtang Third Army took advantage of the opportunity of the other party's first arrival at this time to start their plans for the next decisive battle.

Bai Guangen, as a general who joined Hongtang at the beginning, was puzzled by many of Kong Youde's arrangements, such as giving up the city defense offensive of Jinan Mansion, and not fighting directly when the other party was tired.

"Mr. Bai is a little restless, I have my own plans!"

Bai Guangen's current position in Hongtang is actually a little embarrassing, because with his original status and the merits he has made now, Kong Youde, the commander of the Third Army, does not have the power to promote Bai Guangen, so he can only wait for the final reply of Li Tianyang and the military department.

But in order not to make Bai Guangen feel cold, Kong Youde dragged the other party to participate in the meeting to formulate the military plan, and allowed the other party to ask questions and make suggestions.

"Although our army is not weak, but if we really want to face off with the Ming army head-on, we actually need to make good use of all the resources we have."

"The most important of these is our army's powerful artillery and muskets and other advanced weapons, but these weapons are greatly limited by their vision when fighting at night, and attacking the opponent at this time will certainly have the physical advantage of the soldiers, but we are also at a disadvantage in terms of hard power."

Yang Zili, director of the Third Army's Aircraft Division, stood up and explained to Bai Guangen.

"Oh!"

"But when the sky opens tomorrow, I'm afraid we don't need to launch an offensive, and the Ming army on the opposite side may be the first to attack!"

Bai Guangen, who was born as a military veteran, naturally has his own merits if he can have his current status, although he accepted the explanation given by the Reference Department, but at the same time he also put forward another point of view for Kong Youde's reference.

The reason why he spoke so actively was that Bai Guangen also needed to prove his military ability to Kong Youde and them, not just prove his martial bravery and wit as he had done a few times before.

"What we're waiting for is for the other side to attack us!"

Kong Youde smiled approvingly at Bai Guangen, with an expression that he had thought of a long time ago.

"Do you know why I put the city of Jinan Mansion for defense, and pulled our soldiers into the plain to wait for them?"

"Because I need a place where I can play to the greatest advantage of our army right now - this plain that is unobstructed as far as the eye can see!!"

Kong Youde half-concealed his purpose at this time, although there are still many places that have not been explicitly stated, but it has caused Bai Guangen to think deeply.