The vast wilderness north of Liulin Village was covered with flags and crowds, and two mighty armies came from the north and south respectively. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

There were still two or three miles away from the battlefield, and Huguang Town began to change its formation, gradually changing from a vertical formation to a horizontal formation. In the case of a long march of the army, the column formation can ensure a neat formation and sufficient marching speed. When it comes to approaching the battlefield, it is necessary to control a wider front and deploy fire through a horizontal formation.

When the main marching columns of the two sides entered each other's Tangma line of sight, the battle for a series of battlefield support points from Liufang Mountain in the east to Zhoujialong in the west was also coming to an end. In these places, where the advance troops of the two sides were fighting each other before dawn, there were only some sporadic clanging and shouting at this time.

In Nanshan Village on the East Road, the banner soldiers of the Zhenglan Banner Han Army, who served as the advance team, arrived one step ahead of the advance troops of the Third Brigade in Huguang Town, and preemptively set up artillery. The two detachments of the Gangfeng Battalion, which arrived later, tried to recapture Nanshan Village, but several attacks ended in failure, and finally they could only retreat to Liufangshan with the help of cavalry.

Xugang Village on the middle road was the only place in the center of the battlefield that could be used as a support point, and the Qing army's Zhenghuang Banner and the advance troops of the Second Brigade of Huguang Town were particularly fiercely contested for this. The village changed hands several times, and in the end each side occupied half of the village, and neither was able to drive the other out completely.

In Zhoujialong, on the west road, the advance troops of the Qing army also seized the opportunity. Originally, a detachment of the broken barracks in Huguang Town had already rushed to the village, but due to the small number of people and the unstable foothold, it was finally driven out by the Zhenghongqi soldiers and horses who arrived on the back foot.

The pre-war battle for geographical advantages came to an end, and in general, the Qing army had a slight upper hand. Nanshan Village on the East Road, Zhoujialong on the West Road, and half of Xugang Village on the Middle Road all fell into the hands of the Qing army's advance troops, and Tan Tai's tactical concept of "attacking from the east to the west" has basically been half realized.

For Tan Tai and his army, the only two flaws are Hutou Village on the West Road and Liufang Mountain on the East Road. Liufangshan was occupied by Huguang Town first, and Hutou Village also fell into the hands of the First Division of the 1,000th Brigade of the Broken Military Camp due to Engetu's hesitation. Although there are some regrets, Tan Tai also does not think that this will affect the overall situation. His original intention was to stick to the east road, and Liufang Mountain, which was close to the side of the Ming army's front, was not a place that had to be captured by the left wing of the Qing army. Although Hutou Village on the west road fell into the hands of the Ming army, the soldiers and horses of the Zhenghong Banner captured Zhoujialong, which is equivalent to mastering the cavalry passage on the west side of Hutou Mountain.

In the wilderness between Liufang Mountain and Hutou Mountain, the rangers of Huguang Town and the Qing army rushed back and forth, and the continuous skirmishes were won and lost by each other, and neither side could drive the other far. As the main forces of the two armies approached, the space for the rangers in the center of the battlefield became more and more narrow, and finally both sides gave up the fight and rushed back to their respective formations, leaving only some scattered cavalry to continue the confrontation.

Subsequently, the forwards of both sides arrived at the battlefield one after another, mainly cavalry, controlling the position of the main forces of their respective armies, and confronting each other from a distance of about two miles. After the forward line stabilized, the main armies of both sides poured into the battlefield from the north and south directions like a rolling torrent, and began to line up under the guidance of one banner after another.

......

At seven o'clock, the army of Huguang Town had all arrived at the position of the front. Red flags, red uniforms, red helmets, and spears...... The vast wilderness is covered in a red as far as the eye can see. On the neat front, the flags waved, the drums and trumpets and passwords came and went, the phalanx ordered the formation to be adjusted prohibitively, and the neat steps shook the earth slightly.

The military formation of Huguang Town was divided into two lines, the first line from east to west were the 3rd Brigade, the 2nd Brigade, the 1st Brigade and the 1st Cavalry Battalion. The Third Brigade of the East Road is under the jurisdiction of the Gangfeng Battalion and the Yongding Battalion, and the brigade officer Lu Qiwu; The Second Brigade of the Middle Road is under the jurisdiction of the Huben Battalion and the Yuezhou Battalion, and the brigade officer He Zhenting; The 3rd Brigade of the West Road originally had the jurisdiction of the Po Barracks and the Huashan Battalion, and the brigade officer Liu Renjun, but before the war, Pang Yue transferred the 2,000th Corps of the Huashan Battalion to stay in Liulin Village, and the 3,000th Corps was transferred to the Miaoqian Mountain area south of Liulin Village to guard the rear road of the army, and at the same time assigned the 1st Cavalry Battalion to the 1st Brigade, which was under the unified command of Liu Renjun.

The second line consisted of the 2nd Cavalry Battalion, the 4th Brigade and the Central Army Headquarters. The Fourth Brigade was under the jurisdiction of the Trap Camp and the Taishan Battalion, and the battalion officer Cui Shoucheng. The Agni Battalion, which was originally under the direct jurisdiction of the Central Military Department, was divided into two parts, one part was stationed on Liufang Mountain to improve the firepower support of the army, and it was under the command of the First Brigade, and the other part remained in the second line as a mobile force.

Of the five battalions deployed on the front line, except for the broken battalion on the left flank, the other four battalions were arranged in front and rear. In the second and third thousand corps of the phalanx under the jurisdiction of each battalion, the two divisions under the jurisdiction of each thousand corps were deployed one in front and one behind, with an interval of 70 paces between the front and back. The four bureaus in each division, each two rounds form a minimum phalanx unit, with twenty paces between the two phalanxes, which can provide fire support to each other. The 1,000th Brigade of the Mandarin Duck Formation has two divisions, one division is divided into more than 20 combat groups and deployed between the front and rear phalanxes in the form of a mixed battle group of the fire gun team and the killer team, and the other division is deployed behind the second line phalanx as a reserve.

In addition, there are Hao Yongzhong's Ganzhou camp, Zhang Xianbi's Nan'an camp and Jin Shenghuan's Nanchang camp. The cavalry of the three divisions had been previously drawn to reinforce the 1st and 2nd cavalry battalions. In this way, there are still eight or nine thousand foot soldiers left in the Ganzhou battalion and the Nan'an battalion, and there are more than 4,000 foot soldiers in the Nanchang battalion after the more than 3,000 people from Guo Tiancai have been transferred to the north, and the total strength of the three battalions is 12,300.

But through previous observations, Pang Yue was not very optimistic about the combat effectiveness of this part of the foot soldiers, so he would not put them on the battlefield unless he had to. The Ganzhou Battalion and the Nan'an Battalion have been used by him as auxiliaries recently, undertaking chores such as camping for the army and transporting grain, but this time they were left behind to guard the camp. Jin Shenghuan's Nanchang battalion was more combat-ready and was placed behind the second line in case of emergency.

A group of horses rushed back to the position of the central military headquarters from the front. Pang Yue learned the final result of the previous series of outpost battles. Although the battle for location before the decisive battle left some regrets, he did not pay too much attention to it.

"Dashuai, Lao Lu and Lao He both sent people to report, saying that they failed to take Nanshan Village and Xugang Village, they felt deeply guilty and were willing to accept all the punishments of Dashuai." Zhang Yunli said.

"I know, tell them that accepting the punishment is after the battle, and now think about how to fight the battle in front of you." Pang Yue smiled disappreciatively.

Also, Lao Liu once again asked to give up the position of the commander of the First Brigade to Zhou Ming. said that Zhou Ming was far superior to him in terms of qualifications and prestige, how could he dare to criticize Zhou Ming. ”

After the Flying Tiger Battalion was split into the first and second cavalry battalions, the battalion officer of the first cavalry battalion was directly served by Shi Youliang. In this battle, the First Cavalry Battalion was transferred to the command of the First Brigade, and Shi Youliang temporarily became the subordinate of Liu Renjun, a junior junior. Shi Youliang himself didn't think there was anything, but Liu Renjun was a little honestly afraid, he had already made such a request to let Xian before, but he was rejected at the time, but he didn't expect the old matter to be brought up again.

Regardless of whether Liu Renjun was really frightened or falsely modest, Pang Yue was a little angry at the moment, and said to Zhang Yunli: "Send someone to tell him that if he thinks about it again, not only the brigade officer, but also his battalion officer should not be a miner, and he will go back to Chenzhou to be a miner in the future, so that he will not be honestly afraid."

"Yes." Zhang Yunli smiled and responded.

Time passed quickly, and the speed of the formation of both sides was very fast, and one by one the recognition flags appeared in the sight of the other party.

At that time, the flags of the two coaches were already looking at each other.

……

In the tide of the two soldiers facing each other from afar, one after another lookout carts erected lookouts.

The position of the Qing army's central army, Zhenghuang Banner weaving golden dragon and Zhengnan General recognized the flag, Tan Tai held a clairvoyant mirror and calmly observed the front of Huguang Town opposite.

At this time, the opposite Huguang Town had completed the formation, and the battalions began to respond to the flag. Looking from Tan Tai's position, I saw a long line lined up neatly, with flags waving, and a dazzling red color. The reflections of armor and weapons flickered constantly, and the cold stars were dotted. A neat phalanx of guns and spears is like a forest, and various artillery pieces of different sizes are placed in front of the formation. Through the gap in the phalanx in front, you can see that there is a thick military formation standing behind, solemn and solemn. Tens of thousands of officers and soldiers were silent on the entire front. Although it was miles away, the chilling murderous aura still came to the face, giving people an irresistible feeling.

Tan Tai put down the clairvoyant mirror, the expression on his face remained unchanged, but his heart was greatly shocked. He has been on the battlefield for a long time, and whether it is a tiger and wolf journey or a fish belly master on the other side can be known at a glance. Although it was not the first time he had seen the military appearance of Huguang Town, he still couldn't help but marvel at this overwhelming momentum. This powerful momentum surpassed almost all the enemies he had encountered in his career, and it was probably not far behind the most elite Manchurian bannermen under his command.

After pondering for a moment, Tan Tai looked at a green battalion general beside him: "Admiral Tian, the military formation of Huguang Town is opposite, I don't know what you think about this?"

The general of the green battalion who was asked was Tian Xiong, the governor of Zhejiang, who turned out to be the chief military officer under Huang Degong, and Pang Yue could be regarded as old acquaintances. However, the two sides only have the former "robe" relationship, and there is no "friendship between robes". Because of the Battle of Wuhu a few years ago, it was he and Ma Degong who secretly attacked Huang Degong from behind, causing the total collapse of Huang's soldiers and horses. Later, Pang Yue said publicly many times that as long as Tian Xiong and Ma Degong were caught, they would definitely be cut by a thousand knives.

In all fairness, Tian Xiong didn't want to answer any questions about Pang Yue and Huguang Town. But now it was Tan Tai who asked, but he didn't dare to pretend to be deaf and dumb, thought about it, and replied respectfully: "Back to the general's words, the last general thinks that although this military formation in Huguang Town looks quite imposing, and its spear array combined with artillery firecrackers is indeed difficult to fight, it is not without weaknesses."

"Well, let's talk about it."

"The military formation in Huguang Town is arranged in a long line, with a wide front and shallow depth, and it is not easy to turn. There are many infantry and few cavalry, and the speed and flexibility of the movement of troops and horses are certainly not comparable to that of our army. As long as our army gathers heavy forces to complete a breakthrough at a certain point on its front, it will not be difficult to open up the situation. Moreover, except for a few elite battalion leaders, the soldiers and horses in Huguang Town are just ordinary soldiers, and Jin Shenghuan, Hao Shaoqi, and Zhang Xianbi are just a rabble. As long as our army first concentrates all its strength to break its elite troops, the seemingly huge rabble will definitely collapse without a fight. ”