Just when the contingent of tens of thousands of people, including men, women, and children, led by Li Zicheng was heading south from Luochuan and approaching the Tongchuan area, which was not far from Fuping, the scouts who had been prepared in the mountains for a long time also sent a message to Hong Chengchou, the governor of Yansui, who had already gathered here, and the elite of the border army, including You Shigong, You Shiwei, He Renlong, and other troops who had gathered here, totaling more than 12,000 people, including the auxiliary soldiers of the militia regiment, were already waiting in Fuping. Waiting for the peasant army brigade that was ready to intercept and ambush out of the valley.

At this time, Xiao Xuan personally led the main force of more than 10,000 guards to sit in Chang'an. Although he was confident in the team he led, which was mainly composed of teenagers, in order to prevent accidents, he still said that the army and even the old camp were mainly located at the head of Chang'an City at this time.

"Hong Chengchou is really sure that with a total of 12,000 people, there are only three battalions of people, and there are only about 30,000 troops, including the militia groups drawn from various places, to encircle and suppress tens of thousands of thieves? Of course, I know that among these tens of thousands of people, there are probably only 20,000 or 30,000 people who can be counted as combat effectiveness, but even so, this battle will not be a crushing battle, right? ”

Hearing the Son of Heaven ask like this, although Yang He was not from a martial arts background, he also felt that this Son of Heaven was also a little too layman: "Although some of the deserters and rebels joined among the thieves, they also lost the ability to supervise and be supervised under the imperial court system because of the rebellion. Moreover, the exiles from all over the country should still be the main composition of the thieves. The combat power is far inferior to that of the official army... ”

Xiao Xuan didn't expect that even Yang He, who had always advocated appeasement, was full of confidence in this battle. Xiao Xuan had read "Hui Ming" in his previous life, and had also read some wars in China's modern history since the 20th century, and he always had a preconceived view: it seemed that the official army encircled and suppressed the rebel army, as a matter of course, as if it had seven to ten times the absolute superiority of the regular army like the Chiang army and the warlord group in the Soviet era. For the time being, I forgot how the Hunan army in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom era "suppressed more with less". As a matter of fact, in the atlas of wars of the past dynasties published by Taiwan's Three Services University, even in the late thirties of the 17th century, when the peasant war at the end of the Ming Dynasty had begun to take shape, the "ten-sided net" of encircling and suppressing the peasant army of about 100,000 was only the main force of the Ming army of about 30,000.

Xiao Xuan couldn't help but sigh to himself in his heart: "Li Zicheng, don't let me down." If you can defeat this group of officers and troops, then you shouldn't have too much trouble in the future. But if even the Ming army of 10,000 regular troops can't be defeated, then I'm afraid it will be embarrassing... ”

At this time, Li Zicheng had actually learned from some secret channel that the Ming army was preparing an ambush in the area of the mountain passes north of Fuping, but it was precisely because of this that he was a little disappointed in the reconnaissance system and scout system of the entire team.

"How many troops are there in total in Taniguchi's official army, has the news come out?" Li Zicheng did not ask Li Guo and other cronies, but asked Wang Er's non-non-descendants who were attached to him.

"The number of people is not too small, about 2,000 people, plus a few other important places, there should be a total of about six or seven thousand people. It's just that judging from the situation of the big camp and the perimeter inspection, the level of this officer and army is not very good. There weren't many cannons and vehicles, and there weren't many armored cavalry... They are mostly equipped with light firearms and pack horses of poor quality."

Li Zicheng, who has established a perfect system of summing up experience and rules and regulations in the army, and many other officers now understand how to judge the strength of officers and soldiers. That is, how many cavalry in armor there are, and how many artillery pieces are above a certain level. The ratio of these two basically represents the gold content of the entire Ming army.

"him!" Many peripheral teams, including Wang Er, Wang Jiaqian and others, said. Obviously, at this time, Li Zi's armor and firearms, as well as the elite of the entire army, also made many people envious, and when the strength became different from the peasant war in the late Ming Dynasty in history, many people's courage also increased.

Li Zicheng didn't object to anything: "That's good! Tell all armies to prepare for battle! However, in order to train the teams, in this battle, our army will mainly attack the enemy on the eastern road, and do not divide the troops. Half of the troops are ready to attack, and the other half is ready as a reserve and a countermeasure. The old rule is that our army headquarters presses the formation and tells the people below that once the battle starts, don't think about escaping, it's okay, the war is not the same as in the past! ”

Among the total 60,000 troops from all walks of life, about 30,000 of the old battalions, which were mainly composed of the old and weak and their families, and about 30,000 of the necessary men and horses to guard the old camps, were only about 15,000 peasant army units that were engaged in the attack against the thousands of exposed Ming troops.

Hong Chengchou's You Shigong You Shiwei and others couldn't help but be a little surprised when they saw this situation: "Why did the sun come out of the west today!" The idea that less than three times as many thieves would dare to fight thousands of officers and soldiers? ”

Hong Chengchou felt that the situation might not be so simple: "Don't underestimate the enemy, order all teams to be ready for reinforcements at any time, ready to attract thieves here... ”

The rumbling sound of horses' hooves came from far and near from the direction of the valley, and when the cavalry of the brigade was still assembling at a distance of about a mile from the Ming army at the mouth of the valley, the defending Ming army opened fire on various second or third generals and even bowl-mouth guns on sacks. The maximum range and muzzle velocity of these firearms were actually similar to most of the firearms when Xiao Xuan first led his troops out to face the elite of Jianzhou. The maximum projectile range and even muzzle velocity of the projectile fired are not much better than that of a bow and crossbow. It's just that according to past experience, even if there is a continuous fire at a distance of about a mile, it can deter many thieves' horses.

In fact, when the power of these firearms was not very great, many horses did stagnate at this time. Only a few elite horsemen who had been tested in battle continued to advance against the sparse rain of bullets, and it was not until a hundred and fifty paces or so began that the whole attack seemed to be contained.

According to the norm in the past, it was supposed to be the thieves who used their bows and horses to shoot and attack like nomads over long distances, because this would allow them to escape as quickly as possible in the event of an accident. Under the harassment of mounted archery, and when the firearms did not dare to fire again after firing a few rounds, the rogue thieves would rush into battle with elite horses. There will be no overly strict formations or even rules for the whole operation.

This time, however, many peasant officers and men on horseback, who were approaching a distance of about 150 paces under the artillery fire of the Ming army, which did not pose much threat at medium and long distances, began to dismount and line up in columns with shields. And under the cover of the shield that did not seem light, he kept approaching and forward, and started a confrontation with lunges. Officers and soldiers with wooden shields began to form a "shield wall" that largely obscured the view of the battlefield at a distance of about 100 to 150 paces in front of the Ming army

At the same time, a clear banner can be seen in the effective command not far away, which began to make many Ming troops feel surprised and nervous...

(End of chapter)