Long before Zhang Yue led his troops to Huining, Tuoba Dagu sent soldiers to report Tuoba Bogu: Dang Jinwu failed to intercept the Northern Route Army, and the sneak attack on the enemy camp did not go well, but lost 2,000 cavalry.

Of course, the soldier was instructed by Tuoba Dagu to tell the whole battle in detail, as well as the quarrel between the two afterwards. Tuoba Bogu didn't care at first, because Dang Jinfu still stayed in the city with half of the clan and a small number of clan soldiers, but until Zhang Yue's department arrived, he didn't see Dang Jinwu and Tuoba Dagu come back, Tuoba Bogu was immediately very angry, and immediately summoned Dang Jinfu for questioning.

"What's the matter with your brother? Why did he lead his troops and never return? Did you go to the Hechi garrison and plan to surrender the Zhou army? ”

"I really don't know about this, and I didn't hear what he said before leaving, but the patriarch can ask the soldiers who came back." Dang Jinfu was apprehensive in his heart, and replied cautiously.

"Humph! Is it? He didn't send anyone to inform you? Tuoba Bogu asked with a skeptical expression.

"Nope! If so, I will report it to the patriarch. Dang Jinfu was also puzzled in his heart, he didn't understand why his brother was like this, could it be...... He is not optimistic about this war?

"That's it! Now it is useless to talk about this, go down! Tomorrow in a decisive battle with the Zhou army, I will transfer you another 2,000 cavalry, and a total of 4,000 cavalry with your headquarters to fight the vanguard. ”

Tuoba Bogu had some understanding, and he had some bad premonitions in his heart, but now everything is ready, although he has lost some troops, he has also forcibly recruited some old and weak supplements, and he is ready to send arrows. Otherwise, the consumption of grain and grass for 20,000 or 30,000 horses every day will completely eat up the wealth of livestock in other tribes, which cannot be harmed.

"Good! Fight to the death with all your might! Dang Jinfu bowed and retreated.

Tuoba Bogu asked people to find his eldest son Tuoba Panjin, and said face-to-face: "Tomorrow with the Zhou army in a decisive battle, the victory or defeat is unpredictable, you can lead the old and weak soldiers in the clan to defend the city, if the war is unfavorable, you can withdraw first." In addition, have tens of thousands of tribes in the clan moved to the west bank of the Yellow River? ”

"Back to my father, the migration has been completed. It's just that...... Pan Fu Duowang seemed to be unwilling to exhaust the whole army, leaving a thousand horsemen on the west bank, slaughtering cattle and sheep every day, and only asking him to transfer them, and the troops could be more tomorrow. ”

"No need! This old fox is as timid as a mouse, but he is a thief, he is in case of an unforeseen war, and wants to leave some troops to respond, let him be! Tuoba Bogu said......

Early the next morning, just after the dawn of the day, the soldiers of the Zhou army had already had breakfast, and then they returned to the camp under the leadership of the officer to prepare. At three o'clock, the drums sounded, Guo Rong personally led 27,000 cavalry out of the camp, after a little formation, Guo Rong with cavalry in front and two Hebei to cover the main force of the infantry army, carrying a large number of heavy weapons to the north for five miles.

Arriving at the predetermined battlefield ten miles east of the city, the terrain here is slightly gentle, the slope is not high, but the slope is wide and flat, gradually sloping to the west, the Zhou army is arrayed on the slope, and the Qiang soldiers need to attack on the back if they charge.

On the morning of early November on the east bank of the Yellow River in the northwest, there was already a hint of chill, the cold wind was blowing strongly, the fields covered with dry grass were full of white frost, and the morning sun stained the eastern sky red, which was a good weather suitable for war.

Because the pre-war deployment and mobilization work had been made last night, Guo Rong temporarily appointed Zhang Yue and Xiang Xun as the platoon envoys, and organized the existing troops overnight. In fact, there are 27,000 establishments, but Guo Rong with Zhao Kuangyin and other horsemen is 2,000, and there are some personal soldiers of the marshal, and the number is nearly 30,000.

The Chinese army first took the center of the slope and erected it, and then used big wood to build a high-zhang command platform, with 5,000 elite infantry soldiers of the Jingyuan army, plus 2,000 cavalry led by Zhao Kuangyin as the Chinese army, and divided around the Daxu. With the 5,000 Jing Yan army led by Ruan Qin as the left army, and his eldest grandson Zhen Yuxun led another 5,000 as the rear army.

The 3,000 elite forbidden troops of the Xiang Training Department also carried 100 horned bows and crossbows and wooden single crossbows, and combined with the infantry of the Zhang Yue Department, a total of 6,000 people were the front army, so that they could concentrate on forming a powerful long-range attack.

Xiang Xun was a high officer, so he served as the commander of the former army. Zhang Yue was the deputy, mainly responsible for directing and mobilizing the two thousand crossbowmen located at the two corners of the front of the Chinese army, deployed diagonally, and if necessary, he also commanded the front army's five horizontal rows of guns and shields.

The 5,000 people of the right army are located in the north, with Feng Jiye leading the headquarters of 1,000 foot soldiers, plus 2,000 Jing Yan army, and Liu Congzhi's forbidden army 2,000 foot soldiers, the composition is a bit mixed.

Finally, as a mobile horse army, there are 5,000 cavalry from Liu Congzhi's department, 1,500 cavalry from Zhang Yue's department, and 500 cavalry from Feng Jiye's department, a total of 7,000 cavalry formed into two teams. Liu Congxue led 3,500 horsemen to the left Ji, and Xuan Chongwen led the other half to the right Ji. There were not many of these cavalry, and the main purpose was to protect the enemy from the flank and give the left and right armies time to react.

The whole army is divided into five armies plus two Hebei horse steps, which unfold to occupy about five miles in a local circle, and the entire slope is completely paved. In fact, these five armies are only called by direction, and they have not formed a unified formation, such as the fish scale array, the goose-shaped array, the six-flower array, or something, which is very unrealistic.

Because the whole army comes from three square towns, plus the forbidden army, it is difficult to form a unified grouping, and each army fights independently, and the composition of its own array is very large, so it is relatively common to adapt to the battlefield and have both offensive and defensive gun and shield formations.

Except for the rear army, which was relatively closely connected with the middle army, the rest of the armies were one hundred and fifty paces apart, which happened to be outside the range of the bow and arrow light crossbow. Such a wide distance, of course, does not rule out the advance of the enemy cavalry, but the whole army is a phalanx, a formation within a formation, the smallest unit is five hundred, and there are ten phalanxes in a single front army.

Even if it is a phalanx, there are horizontal formations and vertical formations, depending on the direction of the enemy and the purpose of the battle. In this way, the commander will deploy the group by himself, and the formation envoy can only be responsible for the approximate situation, and report the data to the Chinese army after checking, so that the commander knows it.

The left and right armies are covered by horse armies on the outside, and the safety factor is higher, the front army has strong crossbows, and the right shoots in three directions, and can take into account the empty passage separated from the left and right armies, and there is no problem in defense, but the offensive ability is poor, and it is relatively passive.

The Zhou army completed the formation in half an hour, and only the two colors of the soldiers' black armor and red robes were left on the slope, plus the flags of the various armies that were hunting and fluttering in the air, and the spear heads erected like from the forest, reflecting the silver light of the morning sun, decorating the large array, the scene was very spectacular.

Such a big movement, of course, alarmed the Qiang soldiers, and they could only swim four or five miles away and watch from afar, because this distance was the limit of people's eyesight, and the Zhou army sentry would not allow them to approach. So the Qiang cavalry played all kinds of tricks, trying to break through the interception of the Zhou army's sentry cavalry again and again, and the two sides chased after me, and they had already fought first.

The Qiang cavalry wanted to reconnoiter the Zhou army's large array, and the Zhou army's sentry cavalry also bypassed the front from time to time and went to Huining City from the south and north to inspect, but unfortunately, Tuoba Bogu's headquarters never left the city.

Zhou Jun sat on the ground in a formation and waited for a morning, fortunately in this season, the sky was cloudy, the sun came and went, and the sun was not too hot, otherwise the soldiers in black iron armor could be burned. At noon, the Qiang cavalry never came out, and the soldiers of the Zhou army sat on the ground and gnawed on dry food, drank water, and continued to wait.

"Didn't you say that Tuoba Bo had the intention of going out of the city for a decisive battle? Could it be a change of fortune? It's not a matter of waiting. Zhang Yue waited a little impatiently, and ran to Xiang Xun's side to chat.

"No, it won't! He did not go to battle in the morning because our soldiers and horses were full of strength and spirit, and they were not inferior to them. And the noon battle is because the sun is in the sky, and they want us to bask in the sun more, so that we lose patience and become anxious, and the mentality of being anxious to fight will slowly decrease, so that in the future, our soldiers will be sleepy and tired, and at that time the sun is a little west above their heads, but it is facing our side, they will definitely fight, you just wait! Xiang Xun looked calm and calm, and said with a determined face. (To be continued.) )