Hearing Zhang Yunli's reminder, Pang Yue raised the clairvoyant mirror and looked in the direction of Hutou Mountain. Although the www.biquge.info are far apart, you can still clearly feel the tension that was almost stagnant before the battle.

"Dashuai, the right wing of the Tartars has moved, do we need to strengthen the left wing? Although the marshal did not agree before, I still had to remind the marshal again that the first brigade of our army's left flank was only more than 5,000 people, and the first cavalry battalion was only more than 8,000 people. On the opposite side, the right flank of the Tartars gathered 23,400 heavy troops, including 8,900 cavalry. Once something goes wrong on the left flank of our army, the consequences will be unimaginable. ”

Pang Yue observed for a moment and then shook his head: "Wait and see." Although the Tartar cavalry on the west road is huge, there is also a cavalry battalion on the left flank of our army, and Lao Liu's arrangement is no problem, and it can completely block the Tartar offensive in a short time. Before the war was fully opened, we hurriedly rushed to the west road to increase troops, which may be what Tan Tai likes to see. Let's not go his way. ”

Zhang Yunli didn't say anything more, lowered his head and looked at the map, and quickly reviewed the decisive battle plan finalized by Pang Yue in his mind. According to Pang Yue's idea, the first step after the decisive battle began was to attract the Qing army to invest the main force to the south of Hutou Mountain. As long as Hutou Village to the north of Hutou Mountain was in the hands of the First Brigade, the attacking forces of the Qing army's right flank would have to bypass the west side of Hutou Mountain, and the troops facing Tan Tai's Chinese army would be cut off in advance, and they would also be blocked by the Hutou Mountain when retreating.

As the war was in full swing, the forces of the left flank were constantly involved in the main force of the Qing army, making its battle line tilted. The stronger the right flank of the Qing army, the more its center of gravity will be tilted to the west. When the center of gravity of the Qing army shifts to the west to a certain extent, there will definitely be fighters in favor of Huguang Town on the middle or east roads. At that time, the use of the new forces of the second line to carry out a surprise attack will not be able to achieve better tactical results, and it will also deal a heavy blow to the morale of the enemy.

Therefore, Pang Yue hoped that the center of gravity of the Qing army would continue to tilt towards the west road. Because only in this way can it be possible to truly accomplish the battle and realize the grand intention of completely annihilating the southern invasion of the Qing army.

But there is obviously a huge risk in this arrangement, and if one of the links goes wrong, the consequences will be unimaginable. Zhang Yunli pondered for a moment and said to Pang Yue: "The Tartars have invested heavy troops on the west road, and Tan Tai's right flank offensive can be said to be a completed boat, and it is not impossible for our army to immediately launch a surprise attack from the east road at this time. After all, there are too many links in this plan, and the longer it drags on, the greater the variables. Let's make a decision earlier, so that we don't have too many dreams at night. ”

"It's not time yet." Pang Yue's tone was quite firm, "If you look at Tan Tai's deployment of troops, you can know that his Chinese army is still not weak. What's more, although the offensive on the right flank of the Tartars has already begun, the great war has just begun, and the forces of the second line of its right flank have not yet been committed. At this time, we will invest in the new force to launch a surprise attack, not only can Tan Tai's Chinese army respond quickly, but the troops on his right flank can also be completely withdrawn. If we lose, it doesn't go without saying. Even if they lose, they will be able to retreat with their whole body, and our army will win a crushing victory at most. ”

"But in case the left flank of our army can't hold on......"

"I believe in Huguang Town and the officers and men of the First Brigade."

"Then I suggest that the 2nd Brigade be put under pressure on the Tartars from the middle at once. Xugang Village in the middle lane could not block the entire front, and if Tan Tai wanted to maintain the integrity of the front, he had to use more soldiers and horses in the middle to fight our army. This will not only contain the forces in the middle of the Tartars, relieve pressure on the left flank of our army, but also perhaps create fighters in favor of our army in advance. ”

"Yes, just do as you say." Pang Yue thought for a moment and then said, "Order the Second Brigade to move forward, and let the Agni Battalion transfer four twelve-pounder guns to the left flank to strengthen the firepower of the First Brigade." ”

......

The fluttering yellow flag weaving the golden dragon and the general of Zhengnan recognized the flag, and Tan Tai stared intently ahead. In the distance, the explosion of artillery and firearms in Xugang Village came and went, and the white smoke covered most of the village, and the outline became a little blurred.

The smoke drifted by, and sixteen phalanxes of Huguang Town were facing them in front, eight in front and eight in the rear, and there were many stragglers, artillerymen, and rangers marching between the front and rear lines. Looking at the size of the two battalions, a total of eight or nine thousand people. On one of the battalion flags that followed the advance of the front, a fierce tiger was majestic.

Tan Tai looked at it for a while, and said to Ma Guangyuan, the Han army with the yellow flag, and Tian Xiong, the governor of Zhejiang: "The soldiers and horses from the middle of Huguang Town are coming, mainly foot soldiers. Ma Gushan, in a while, you will attack the west side with the yellow flag and the cavalry of the Zhili Green Battalion. Admiral Tian, you send the horsemen of your headquarters to attack the eastern part of it. Pin them down from both flanks, and don't let them easily threaten the middle of our army. ”

After Tian Xiong received the order, he went down to make arrangements, and Ma Guangyuan said to Tan Tai before leaving: "The subordinates still have the same suggestion, if the general wants to completely defeat the left flank of Huguang Town, he must first conquer Hutou Village." If it is not possible to attack for a long time, the general can send another part of his troops to reinforce Kyaw Shan Mel. ”

Ma Guangyuan, a native of Daxing, Beizhili, was a general of Jianchang in the Ming Dynasty, and was a general after Chongzhen's surrender in three years. After decades of military career, he has rich battlefield experience, and some of his views are quite accurate and sophisticated.

At this time, Tan Tai also understood what Ma Guangyuan meant. Hutou Village protected the left flank of the first line of Huguang Town, and the Qing army could only attack this point with foot soldiers, and the cavalry could only attack from the west side of Hutou Mountain. At present, the battle situation south of Hutou Mountain is blocked by the mountain, and Tan Tai can only rely on Tangma to convey a general understanding of the development of the battle situation, and cannot grasp the dynamics of that direction at the first time. Now that the war has just begun, it's nothing, once the war is in a stalemate, and Hutou Village hasn't been taken yet, then it's really a bit of trouble. On the contrary, if Hutou Village can be conquered as soon as possible, not only can the problem of inconvenient communication be solved, but the attack range of the Qing army's right-wing cavalry will also be greatly increased.

Tan Tai knew this truth, but at this time, he had already invested heavy troops on the West Road, but the soldiers and horses on the second line of Huguang Town had basically not moved. Just in case, of course, he can't easily use the reserves in the middle to support Jueshan, and if he really can't attack for a long time, he will talk about it.

"I have my own arrangements for this, you go first." Tan Tai nodded and said to Ma Guang from afar.

Ma Guangyuan seemed to want to say something more, but after looking at Tan Tai's face, he finally didn't say anything, and left after saluting.

……

At the foot of the southern slope of Hutou Mountain, the troops of the 1st Brigade deployed on the front line were the 1,000th Brigade of the Broken Military Camp, arranged in a quadrangular hollow phalanx. Like the rest of the battalions, the killer flags in the bureaus of the 1,000th Brigade of the Broken Military Camp are also composed of mandarin duck formations. This kind of establishment was slightly changed by Pang Yue on the basis of the big mandarin duck formation of the Qi family's army, and it also withstood the test of actual combat after it was implemented.

The four sides of the entire hollow phalanx, with two rounds deployed on each side, with the killer team in front and the firecrackers behind, in a defensive posture. In each direction, there are two Tiger squat guns, one Big Franc machine, and one three-pounder gun under the jurisdiction of the artillery of the 1st and 2nd Divisions in the northwest and southeast corners, respectively.

Fifteen two-wheeled rocket vehicles of the artillery directly under the 1000 Corps are lined up in the west, and this kind of rocket vehicle is not the kind of large rocket vehicle equipped by the rocket troops of the Agni Battalion that launches similar to Congreve rockets, but is similar to the kind of divine arrows equipped by the Shenji Battalion in the past, and uses gunpowder power instead of manpower to launch arrows, and each rocket vehicle can launch 300 arrows at a time. However, it is not very convenient to reload after firing, and it is basically a disposable weapon on the battlefield.

Behind the hollow phalanx, the 1st Brigade deployed on the second line was the 2,000th Brigade of the Broken Barracks. This thousand corps is a phalanx formation, and each bureau has a flag for spearmen and firecrackers. Every two bureaus form a minimum phalanx unit, which is under the unified command of the bureau headquarters with the highest number. The entire thousand corps was lined up in four phalanxes, with two under each of the first and second divisions. The two phalanx divisions are deployed on the left and right sides of the hollow phalanx, and are roughly arranged in a zigzag shape with the hollow phalanx. In addition to the large Buddha machine that each phalanx division already had, each of them also strengthened a nine-pounder gun transferred from the battalion headquarters.

The rumbling of horses' hooves in the distance was getting closer and closer, and in the spear phalanx at the bottom of the zigzag, the officers gave loud orders to fine-tune the formation to ensure that the firearms could support the two wings of the hollow phalanx ahead.

The cavalry of the Qing army under black pressure lined up in the southwest direction of Hutou Mountain, and judging from the recognition of the flag, the supreme commander was the white flag of Manchuria, Meler Zhangjing, and the Zhumala who originally led his troops to garrison Nanjing, and the cavalry with the blue flag was at the forefront.

In the southwest direction of the Qing cavalry, on the left side of the entire battlefield, more than 2,400 cavalry of the 1st and 2nd Cavalry Battalions of the 1st and 2,000 Corps had also completed their formation.

Another conch horn sounded throughout the battlefield, and the overwhelming Qing cavalry was divided into left and right wings. On the left flank were the cavalry with the red flag and the blue flag, totaling more than 3,200 people, and swooped down on the cavalry of Huguang Town on the west side of the battlefield. On the right flank were the cavalry inlaid with white flags and the Jiangnan Green Battalion, totaling more than 5,600 people, roaring towards the phalanx that broke the barracks, opening the prelude to the general attack on the left flank of Huguang Town. Tens of thousands of horses' hooves stepped on the earth in unison, and the roar of the tide and the sound of thunderous hooves almost shook people's hearts out of their chests.

Even Pang Yue, who was in the position of the Chinese army, clearly felt the majesty of thousands of troops in the distance. Although Huguang Town often organizes infantry versus cavalry drills, the infantry still have a completely different feeling when facing the oncoming cavalry crowd. The forest of spears above the phalanx also seemed to be shocked by the roaring momentum, and swayed slightly in the air.

At this time, Pang Yue couldn't help but have a little doubt about whether the First Brigade could hold the left flank alone. But the first wave of the Qing cavalry offensive was what the 1st Brigade had to face. If the cavalry of the Qing army did not launch a general attack, then Huguang Town would never be able to capture the main force of the Qing army. Only when the war was in full swing until it fell into a stalemate, and the formation of the Qing cavalry was cut by the infantry phalanx, Huguang Town could completely contain these cavalry, and the plan of compressing the Qing army's front and carrying out a counterattack could be realized.

As the black-pressed cavalry cluster got closer and closer to the phalanx of the First Brigade, Pang Yue stared intently into the distance, and the palms of his hands holding the clairvoyant mirror began to sweat.