On the official road from Puzikou to Chuzhou, Zhao Xinzheng led the army to advance rapidly.

Like Wang Pu, Zhao Xin didn't take the rabble of the White Lotus Sect in his eyes, this expedition to Chuzhou is not so much a battle between the two armies, but a new army training is more appropriate, the purpose of this battle is to let 50,000 recruits get familiar with the battlefield atmosphere, let them know what it is like to fight?

Zhao Xin and Scarface stood solemnly on the hill on the side of the official road in military uniforms, and more than a dozen generals were clustered behind the two.

Standing on the hill and looking down, the 60,000 army lined up in four columns, like a long dragon slowly moving forward along the official road, the 60,000 army is composed of 50,000 recruits and 10,000 Datong veterans, and compared with the 50,000 new recruits in Jiangnan, the 8,000 Datong soldiers of the spear battalion and the baggage battalion are also considered veterans.

The treatment of veterans is naturally better than that of new soldiers, who have horses to ride, and recruits have to honestly use their feet to hurry.

After the cavalry and infantry queues, the artillery battalion composed of hundreds of carts slowly drove over.

This artillery battalion was dreamed of by Wang Pu, but he only started to form it when he arrived in Jiangnan.

In addition to the twelve Hongyi cannons given by Sun Chuanting, Wang Pu bought eight Hongyi cannons and forty Franc machine guns from Macao, with these sixty cannons, Wang Pu's artillery battalion was finally formed, fortunately, the cannons in this era are still very primitive, and they are extremely simple to make, to put it bluntly, it is actually manual work.

Although the soldiers of the Datong Baggage Battalion are all old and coarse who do not know a few words, they have the strength and do not need much training to become skilled artillerymen, and in this way, the Datong Baggage Battalion turned into an artillery battalion, and in order to fill the vacancy, Wang Pu picked 10,000 people from the newly recruited new army and re-established two baggage battalions.

The only regret that Wang Pu felt was that the firing speed of the Hongyi cannon was too slow, so there was no way to carry out continuous artillery bombardment on the enemy, and the Fran cannon that could be fired continuously did not have the terrifying lethality of the Hongyi cannon, and it could only be used for close artillery suppression.

Scarface frowned, and asked Zhao Xindao: "At this marching speed, how long will it take to reach Chuzhou?" ”

Zhao Xindao: "It is estimated that it will take more than ten hours, mainly because the artillery battalion and the baggage battalion are too slow to move, which seriously delays the marching speed of the army. ”

"We must speed up the march, there are only five hundred people from Lao Tang's side by the general's side, and the troops are too weak!" Scarface said in a deep voice, "It's better to do this, I will rush to Chuzhou with the musket battalion and the spear battalion in a hurry, and you will slowly follow up with these recruits and the artillery battalion and the baggage battalion." ”

Zhao Xin thought for a while and responded: "That's fine, after all, the safety of the general is the most important thing." ”

■■■

Chuzhou, north of the city.

Wang Puzheng led 700 officers and troops to desperately strengthen the camp defense, and fortunately, Monk Zhang built this military camp extremely strong!

The whole military camp is built on the river bay near the river, the north, west and east sides of the river bay are surrounded by the river surface, and the river with a width of dozens of zhang has become a natural barrier for the military camp, only the south side is connected with the land, but Monk Zhang led people to dig a trench several zhang wide on it, and also led the river water in.

The terrain of the camp north of the city was undoubtedly very favorable for the defenders.

Although there are more than 100,000 White Lotus thieves, they can only attack from the narrow south, and the strength cannot be deployed, Wang Pu estimated that the maximum number of troops that can be put into the attack is five or six hundred people each time, and it is necessary to fill in the trench a few zhang wide first, this project not only requires a lot of time, but also is bound to consume a lot of lives.

Wang Pu's officers and soldiers are not vegetarians, and of course they will not watch the White Lotus thieves fill the trenches.

However, Wang Pu will not forget Li Yan's musket team, although the encounter in the early hours of this morning was won by the official army, but Li Yan's musket team did not suffer much loss, Wang Pu can expect that once the enemy starts to attack, it is bound to be a fierce attack at any cost, Li Yan is not a person who does not care about the overall situation, he will definitely send the musket team to suppress the fire.

Wang Pu asked people to pull out all the baggage vehicles in the camp, and then put the sacks full of military rations on the carts to build a sandbag bunker, with the protection of this bunker, Wang Pu's musketeers could protect themselves well, and at the same time have the ability to kill and injure Li Yan's musketeers.

The White Lotus thieves can also attack from the river, but the ships they can collect are very limited, and they are all small boats, just with these ten or twenty small boats, how many troops can they send at one time? How much of a threat could it pose to the defenders in the camp? Of course, the White Lotus thieves could cut down a large number of trees and build enough rafts, but by the time they were ready to stop and be able to send enough troops at one time, the army of Zhao Xin and Scarface would have already arrived in Chuzhou.

Wang Puzheng commanded the manpower to strengthen the camp defense, and suddenly there was a noise in the direction of the Yuanmen.

When I looked back in a hurry, I saw that the White Lotus Sect Leader and Bian Yujing's master and apprentice gathered in Yuanmen surrounded by more than 100 cronies and disciples, and it seemed that they were going to go out of the camp, but the officers and soldiers guarding the door honestly and unceremoniously stopped them.

"What's going on?" Before the person arrived, Wang Pu asked sharply, "Put the gun down!" ”

The dozens of officers and soldiers guarding the gate put down the muskets in their hands, and the officers and soldiers led by the general stepped forward and said, "General, they are going out of the camp." ”

"Wang Pu." The White Lotus Sect Leader said in a condensed voice, "Let your people open the gate." ”

"Master." Wang Pu said indifferently, "It's easy to open the gate, and it's easy to let you go, but can you tell me what you're going to do?" You must know that it is not easy to save you from the chaos again. ”

"Thank you for your help last night." The White Lotus Sect Master's eyes turned soft, looked at Wang Pu and said, "If there is a chance in the future, this seat will definitely repay you, but now this seat is going to gather the old department and eradicate the rebellions of Li Qingshan and Yuan Shizhong, please get out of the way of your people, don't get in the way." ”

"Ugh." Wang Pu sighed and said with a wry smile, "Sect Master, do you think those old departments of yours will still listen to you?" ”

"Absolutely." The White Lotus Sect leader said, "They were just bewitched by the rebellious bewitchment of Li Qingshan and Yuan Shizhong. ”

"No, you're wrong, Master." Wang Pu said, "The army you created single-handedly was actually in the hands of Li Qingshan and them from the beginning, do you think you can make them loyal with a few poisons?" Do you think you can control an army by putting a few cronies in the army? No, you are wrong, the army is not like that at all. ”

The White Lotus Sect Leader said in a condensed voice, "What do you mean by this? ”

Wang Pu said: "Let me tell you this, do you know why the army of Datong Town is loyal to me?" Even if I have to fight against the court, they will still be unswervingly loyal to me, do you know why? ”

The White Lotus Sect Master pondered for a moment and asked, "Why?" ”

Wang Pu said: "Because I live and die with them, eat and sleep together, and I can die for them, so they will die for me!" And you, the sect leader, have never done this, but Li Qingshan and Yuan Shizhong, who are regarded as rebellious by you, have done it, so the allegiance of all the soldiers of the Guardian Holy Army is them, not you, the sect leader! In other words, you have spent a lot of energy and worked hard to build an army, but in the end you are making wedding clothes for others. ”

Wang Pu's words were like a sharp sword mercilessly piercing the heart of the White Lotus Sect Master, her face suddenly turned pale, and she said in a trembling voice: "I don't believe it, it's not like this. ”

"It's a fact." Wang Pu said in a deep voice, "Your Excellency Sect Master, please forgive me, you don't know what kind of thing the army is? You are a woman, and although you have the ambition of a man, you do not have the ambition of a man, so you can't get a group of men to be truly loyal to you, let alone really control an army......"

"That's enough." The White Lotus Sect Master said in a trembling voice, "Don't say anything, please get out of the way." ”

"Nope." Wang Pu shook his head indifferently and said, "I won't watch you die." ”

"Get out of the way!" The White Lotus Sect Leader said coquettishly, "Otherwise, you will regret it." ”

"Nope." Wang Pu still shook his head and said, "I won't regret it." ”

Of course, Wang Pu would not let the White Lotus Sect Master go, if he let her go today, Wang Pu would really regret it!

This time the White Lotus Sect has suffered a shocking change, the betrayal of Li Qingshan and Yuan Shizhong is undoubtedly a huge blow to the White Lotus Sect Master, her confidence has been seriously frustrated, now is the best time to strike while the iron is hot to completely crush her ambition to conquer the world, and it is also the best time to capture her body and mind.

Women like the White Lotus Sect Leader are typical strong women in later generations, their main energy is all focused on their careers, and they don't have much enthusiasm for male and female love, such strong women will only become fragile when their careers are frustrated, and once they become fragile, they will be easier to conquer than ordinary women.

Obviously, now was the perfect time to conquer the White Lotus Sect Master.

Wang Pu believed that as long as she could destroy the ambition of the White Lotus Sect Master, she would become the most outstanding intelligence leader, and would bring unexpected benefits to Wang Pu.

"Get out of the way......"

The White Lotus Sect Master's emotions suddenly got out of control, and he dodged and rushed towards Wang Pu.

When Nen Niang and Lu Liu, who were standing behind Wang Pu, were about to step forward to protect Wang Pu, the White Lotus Sect Master, who was rushing forward, suddenly stumbled under his feet, and collapsed softly with a sigh, Wang Pu hurriedly took two steps forward and stretched out his hand, and the plump and toned body of the White Lotus Sect Master collapsed softly into Wang Pu's arms.

Wang Pu hugged the willow waist of the White Lotus Sect Master, and when he looked down, he saw that her face was pale, her beautiful eyes were closed, and she had fallen into a coma, Bian Yujing stepped forward and said to Wang Pu with some worry: "General Wang, my master seems to be injured, but I can't find out where she is injured......

"She's hurt in her heart."

Wang Pu freed his right hand, slightly bent down and hugged the leg of the White Lotus Sect Master to hug her delicate body horizontally, and then strode towards his own tent, behind him, Tang Sheng and more than 100 officers and soldiers suddenly howled like wolves, looking at the excitement, as if they were the ones who hugged the beauty back to the account.

■■■

As soon as dawn, Li Yan, Song Xiance and Yuan Shizhong led the army to the camp in the north of the city.

Wang Pu knew that Li Yan was powerful, and he also knew that Song Xiance was not a fuel-efficient lamp, but he still underestimated the ability of the two.

Li Yan and Song Xiance did not pin their hopes on more than ten or twenty small boats, let alone be stupid enough to temporarily cut down trees to build rafts to cross the river, what Wang Pu did not expect was that Li Yan and Song Xiance actually let the White Lotus thieves tear down the door panels of all the houses outside the city of Chuzhou, and also found thousands of large and small barrels.

These door panels and barrels can't carry people, so you can cross the river with your hands on them!

When thousands of door panels and thousands of wooden barrels were thrown into the river, and three or five thousand white lotus thieves held steel knives in their mouths, held the door panels and wooden barrels in their hands, kicked the river with their feet, and surrounded the camp from all directions, Wang Pu was dumbfounded, and every officer and soldier guarding the camp was also dumbfounded.

War is not a drill after all, and the enemy will never play with you according to the routine you set!

What's even worse is that Li Yan's musket team is also forced from the front, this time Li Yan is determined to kill Wang Pu, in order to achieve this goal, he even did not hesitate to pay the entire musket team, the musket team can be re-formed after it is lost, but if Wang Pu does not die, the rebel army will not have a chance to seize Jiangnan at all.

As soon as the White Lotus Thieves and Li Yan's musket team came up, they attacked with a lifeless onslaught.

Not to mention Li Yan's musket team, they are all well-trained elite soldiers, and the more than 3,000 White Lotus thieves who crossed the river to attack are also the "elites" selected by Yuan Shizhong.

The battle was fierce from the start!

Although the officers and soldiers under Wang Pu were all elite soldiers who had experienced a hundred battles, after all, there were only 700 people, because the front had to withstand the attack of Li Yan's musket team, and the pressure was the greatest, Wang Pu had to leave 300 musketeers in the front, and desperately suppressed Li Yan's musketeer team with three-stage shooting.

But in this way, the troops in the other three directions are extremely thin, and all of them add up to less than 400 people, but it is difficult to resist the attack of more than 3,000 White Lotus thieves! Four hundred men guarded the three directions of the battalion, and such a thin force could no longer carry out an effective salvo.

Moreover, most of the White Lotus thieves who crossed the river were immersed in the water, only their heads and shoulders appeared above the water, and the formation of crossing the river was very scattered, and the effect of the salvo was undoubtedly very bad, Wang Pu had to order free shooting, but even in such a bad situation, the officers and soldiers still caused huge casualties to the White Lotus thieves who crossed the river to attack.

After paying nearly 1,000 casualties, the remaining more than 2,000 White Lotus thieves finally went ashore and launched a direct attack on the fence of the camp north of the city.

The officers and soldiers in the camp are all veterans of a hundred battles, and most of them have participated in the vicious battle between Sanbula River and the Horqin people, and they can be said to be the elite of the elite, but after all, they have less than 400 people, and there are more than 2,000 White Lotus thieves ashore, and the huge strength advantage is enough to bridge the gap in combat effectiveness.

Comparatively speaking, the frontal engagement of the battalion was uneventful.

The front guarded by 300 officers and troops was under the onslaught of Li Yan's more than 2,500 musketeers, and the disparity in strength seemed to be even greater, but the effect of the actual battle was that the officers and troops had the advantage.

First of all, because the rate of fire of the muskets of the officers and soldiers was more than three times that of the muskets of the thieves, although there was a huge difference in the strength of the two armies, the difference in firepower was not so great.

The thieves' guns were struck on the sacks in rows, and they popped, but they saw the grain splashing and not the officers and soldiers falling.

The battle lasted less than half an hour, and more than half of the more than 2,500 rogue musketeers had already suffered casualties, and the fighting spirit of the remaining rogue musketeers had been greatly reduced, and their firepower had also been greatly weakened.

■■■

Thieves in the army.

Seeing the musket team he trained with his own hands fall in rows, and more than half of them have been killed or injured in less than half an hour, Li Yan was so distressed that he was about to suffocate, this is the elite he trained with his own hands, I am afraid that today's battle will hurt my muscles and bones! However, Li Yan does not regret it, as long as he can kill Wang Pu, no matter how much it costs, it is worth it.

Song Xiance obviously saw Li Yan's regret, and said in a deep voice: "General Li Yan, calm down, you must calm down!" Believe me, as long as you kill Wang Pu and take Jiangnan, you can use Jiangnan's abundant financial resources to form ten, or even a hundred, musket teams! ”

"Don't worry." Li Yan breathed a sigh of relief and muttered, "Li Yan still knows the importance of this." ”

"Good!" Yuan Shizhong, who was next to him, suddenly shouted, "Military Division, General Li Yan, look, it's in!" ”

"Huh?"

"Oh?"

Song Xiance and Li Yan turned around at the same time, looked in the direction of Yuan Shizhong's finger, and sure enough, they saw that a section of the fence on the west side of the camp had been pulled down by the White Lotus thieves who had come ashore, and hundreds of White Lotus thieves were rushing to the gap, and more than a dozen officers and soldiers came up from all around, desperately resisting.

The officers and soldiers were very tenacious, and more than a dozen people just blocked the attack of hundreds of thieves!

However, Li Yan and Song Xiance knew that such a situation would not be stalemate for long, and victory would be in hand soon!

■■■

Officers and military battalions.

Lu Liu's guards had already been sent to the east by Wang Pu, and the defense line in the west was in an emergency again, Wang Pu had to take Nen Niang and the remaining dozen or so personal soldiers to press up, and the battle was fought on this, Wang Pu had nothing to hesitate about.

When Wang Pu arrived with the guards, three of the dozen officers and soldiers who blocked the gap had already died, and the defense line had collapsed.

Without any hesitation, Wang Pu swung his knife into the battle group, raised his hand and stabbed into the chest of a thief, and then kicked on the chest of the thief, the thief's body suddenly fell backwards, knocking down the other two thieves who followed behind, and with the power of pulling the knife back, the retracted handle hit the face of the other thief soldier again, and the entire facial bone was smashed.

Wang Pu himself is also a veteran of a hundred battles, out of the knife, kicking the leg to collect the knife, the two actions in one go, there is absolutely no pause in the middle, and there is no superfluous action, this is the real veteran, there is absolutely no showmanship, a shot is a ruthless move to kill people! In the blink of an eye, two thieves had become the souls of his swords, and two thieves were knocked to the ground.

Compared with Wang Pu, Nenniang's martial arts are obviously higher, but her killing ruthlessness is far less than Wang Pu, when Wang Pu has already lost five white lotus thief soldiers, she used a long whip to roll a white lotus thief soldier to the ground, or another veteran made up for it to end the thief soldier.

The two dozen thieves who rushed into the gap were quickly killed, and the thieves were driven out of the fence.

■■■

Thieves in the army.

"It's a pity." Yuan Shizhong sighed and said, "It's just a little bit!" ”

"It doesn't matter." Song Xiance shook his head with a smile and said, "The official army has reached the end of the crossbow, and they can't hold out for long." ”

"Rumble ......"

A faint thunder suddenly sounded from the eastern sky, Song Xiance instinctively raised his head, only to see that the blue sky was like a wash, and there was not even a trace of clouds in the sky, where did the thunder come from? Suddenly, Song Xiance suddenly felt that the ground under his feet began to tremble gently.

"What sound?"

"The ground seems to be shaking?"

Soon, Li Yan, Yuan Shizhong, Li Hu, Li Xuan and others also heard the sound and felt the vibration of the ground.

"Cavalry!" Jing Maocheng, who had served in the Datong Border Army for a period of time and had the good fortune to see the momentum of the Mongolian cavalry charging in groups, suddenly shouted, "It's cavalry!" ”

……

(To be continued)