Xu Huang led Hou Cheng's Second Cavalry Brigade as the vanguard of the army, and Lü Bu assigned the reconnaissance battalion of the Dangkou Cavalry to them.

Lu Bu took Xu Rong's 1st Brigade, Zhu Ling's 3rd Brigade, Cheng Lian's 1st Rong Division and 1st Brigade, as well as Pei Yuanshao's Independent Regiment, and Zhang Liao's guard battalion slowly followed up, and the entire army of the Bingzhou Army also reached more than 20,000 people, which was already the largest troop transfer of the Bingzhou Army after the Battle of Liangcheng.

Before Xu Huang's vanguard troops arrived in Jiumen County, they encountered the vanguard of the Montenegrin Army led by Yu Xuan, who had received the news of the invasion of the Bingzhou Army and had moved south from Xinshi.

The scouts of the Bingzhou Army discovered the Montenegrin Army as early as fifty miles away, and the reconnaissance horses of the Montenegrin Army were wiped out by the reconnaissance troops of the Bingzhou Army.

Therefore, although it was the first time for both sides to encounter, the Montenegrin army did not know that there was a state army waiting for them in front of them, but Xu Huang was waiting for a long time.

Xu Huang ambushed Hou Cheng's cavalry in a large open hilly area twenty miles north of Jiumen County, most of which were only a few zhang high.

While the Montenegrin army was still advancing in loose marching columns, the cavalry of the state army appeared ghostly on the low hilltops.

The battle ended easily, a charge, and the state cavalry directly knocked out the Chinese army of the pioneer legion of the Montenegrin Army, and Yu Yu was hacked to death by Xu Huang, who took the lead, with an axe, and he didn't even give a chance to report his name.

The Montenegrin Army, which was cut into two sections, had no one to command, and there was a huge gap in combat effectiveness, equipment, and training, and it was completely annihilated by 5,000 cavalry in one meal.

10,000 casualties and 20,000 captured, Hou Cheng sighed, even 30,000 pigs were not caught so quickly, right?

Xu Huang sent someone to report the battle to Lu Bu, and he led the army to occupy Jiumen County, the original Montenegrin defenders in Jiumen County, heard that Yu Poison's 30,000 troops were dumplings by the Han army, and they had already run away.

Soon Lü Bu's army also arrived in Jiumen County, rested for a while, and continued to march towards Zhending.

It is the largest city in the counties of Changshan Province, with a long history and tall walls, and after the occupation of the Montenegrin army, the city defense was also repaired, and it was intended to be occupied for a long time.

The main force of the Montenegrin army is in Zhending City, as a base area, Zhang Niujiao and Chu Yan have very strict requirements for military discipline, especially the army directly under the Montenegrin Army, there is no offense against the people, Zhending City is orderly, the market is prosperous, and it has not received much impact from the war.

When Yu Poison's 30,000 pioneers were attacked by the 5,000 cavalry of the Han army, and the war report of the annihilation of the whole army arrived in Zhending, the two big leaders, Zhang Niujiao and Chu Yan, were in Zhending City.

I had already heard how the Bingzhou army was and how brilliant Lu Bu's record was, and today's battle fully verified this, although Yu Poison's 30,000 people were not the main elite of the Black Mountain Army, but they were far superior to ordinary Yellow Turban soldiers and bandits.

Although the Montenegrin Army claims to be a million people, in fact, many of the mountains are just loose alliances, nominally joining the Montenegrin Army, electing Zhang Niujiao as the main body, and replacing it with the banner of the Yellow Turban Righteous Army, but in fact, they still manage their own people and horses on their own hills.

The Black Mountain Army under the command of Zhang Niujiao and Chu Yan can really fully control and mobilize only 150,000 to 200,000 people, 20,000 people remain in Jingcheng Mountain, and there are still 100,000 troops left in Zhending City at this time.

The two sat opposite each other in the study, Zhang Niujiao still valued his sworn brother very much, Chu Yan is a rare brave and resourceful among the bandits, especially a person with strategic vision, the Montenegrin Army has developed to this day, Chu Yan has the greatest credit, but he is also very loyal and respectful to his boss.

"Second brother, the state army is menacing, it has already occupied nine gates, Yu poison is a waste, 30,000 people will be wiped out in one battle, what do we do now?" Zhang Niujiao asked Chu Yan eagerly.

"Big brother, I think we should avoid it, if they want to really fix the city, let's give it to him." Chu Yan said this, paused, and looked at the eldest brother, "We should still give full play to our strengths and go around in the mountains, instead of fighting against powerful enemies on the plains and in the cities." ”

"I also understand what the second brother said, but our 100,000 Black Mountain Army, if we don't have a fight with them, we just leave with our tails between our legs, then the signboard of the Black Mountain Army will be smashed."

"What will the other copycat owners think of us? In the future, if you want to command the mountains, I am afraid it will be even more difficult. Zhang Niujiao explained with a wry smile.

Chu Yan listened to it, and couldn't refute it, this is also the truth, it seems that this battle is inevitable.

"Big brother, since we are going to fight, it is better to fight sooner rather than later, and the state army will only arrive today, and early tomorrow morning, we will go to the battle, take advantage of its long journey, and fight a decisive battle with it."

"The time and place are favorable, we all have the upper hand, and no matter how strong the state army is, we must fight with one enemy and five, and our Montenegrin army is not easy to dismiss."

Zhang Niujiao agreed with Chu Yan's point of view and sent someone to send a war letter to the Han army, agreeing to a decisive battle tomorrow.

As soon as Lu Bu's army set up camp, and the engineer battalion and various departments were digging trenches, building walled walls, and erecting arrow towers, a messenger from the Montenegrin army sent a war letter, scheduled for a decisive battle tomorrow morning.

Lu Bu chuckled, "This thief from Montenegro has a good plan, and wants to take advantage of our army to come and wait for work, hehe, just satisfy them and let them see the strength of our state army!" ”

That night, the Bingzhou army had a full meal of war meals, the officers supervised the soldiers to wash their feet with hot water, and rested early, and the clerks also took the opportunity to do a short mobilization.

Early the next morning, after breakfast, a loud horn sounded in the city of Zhending, and a group of Montenegrin troops walked out of the city and lined up in front of the military camp in Bingzhou.

The Bingzhou army also opened the door of the camp, and each unit lined up in a phalanx according to the deployment of last night.

The 1st Brigade of the 1st Rong Division served as the left flank, the 1st Brigade of the Trap Camp sat in the middle of the road, the 3rd Brigade was responsible for the right flank, the Guard Regiment followed Lu Bu in the middle army, and the 2nd Cavalry Brigade and the Independent Regiment served as reserves.

Lu Bu led the generals in the Chinese army to observe the Montenegrin army opposite, wanting to compare the ordinary Yellow Turban Army, the clothing of the Montenegrin Army is much more uniform, and the vast majority of the Montenegrin Army has uniform clothing and a yellow scarf on their heads.

The queue is also relatively neat, and at first glance, there is daily training, and the spirit is stronger than that of ordinary Yellow Turban soldiers, but it is not as good as the Yellow Turban elite soldiers, and it is not far behind.

Among them, there are 30,000 people with complete armor and strong bodies, which are obviously different from the people around them, it seems that these are the elite of the Montenegrin army, and they are all arranged in the middle lane.

The Chinese army of the Montenegrin army was also a large group of leaders, and the people dressed as generals were surrounded by two generals, one was slightly older, burly, and bearded, and the other was much younger and thin.

The big flag behind the beard has the word "Zhang" written on it, and the big flag behind the other young man has the word "Chu" written on it, it seems that the two of them are Zhang Niujiao and Chu Yan, the big leader and the second leader of the Black Mountain Army.

(End of chapter)