(ps: Okay, the third watch is the third watch, the first watch is delivered, the second watch is at four o'clock in the afternoon, and the third watch is in the evening, a total of about 15,000 words.) ）

To put it mildly, poor General Zhang Xu, who couldn't resist the threat and temptation, finally agreed to implement Tao Ying's battle plan, that is, let Tao Ying lead the 800 Junzi Army to the south alone, and strive to lure Zhenrong out of the city to fight, while our poor General Zhang Zhen led 2,000 infantry to garrison the abandoned Ping'an County, waiting for the Junzi Army and the main force of Zhenrong to decide the victory, and then decide on the next move, so as not to drag the Junzi Army back - this is what Tao Ergongzi said.

Of course, Zhang Zhen did not give in because of Tao Ying's ridiculous threat to fight Lin Qing, prompting Zhang Zhen to make concessions, the key is that Zhang Zhen is only Tao Ying's deputy, Tao Ying is the commander of the Xuzhou Southern Expeditionary Army, and insists on refusing to carry out Tao Ying's military orders, not only violating the iron rules in the army that must be followed, but also offending Tao Ying, the future master of Xuzhou in the mind of the old man of Danyang, so after weighing it again and again, Zhang Zhen finally bowed to Tao Ying and decided to carry out Tao Ying's chaotic life against his will. But of course, Zhang Yu also has conditions.

"Childe, the last general can lead the infantry to be stationed in Ping'an County and wait, but the last general also has one condition." Zhang Zhen stubbornly said to Tao Ying: "Please forgive the last general for making ominous remarks, after the former army of the prince went south, he fought with the army of the dog thieves, if it is not satisfactory, I hope that the prince will not be reckless in the war, and withdraw the army as soon as possible, withdraw to the end of the peace and the end of the general, and then fight with the thief." ”

Tao Ying smiled, knowing that Zhang Zhen was still not at ease with himself, and he was already preparing for the defeat and escape of the gentleman's army before the battle was fought, but Tao Ying knew that Zhang Zhen was a good intention, for fear that he would throw the guy who ate on the battlefield in Guangling, so Tao Ying was not dissatisfied, and said with a smile: "General Zhang, please rest assured, the younger generation is still young and does not want to die, and he will remember the general's advice." Please rest assured that even if the gentleman's army below can't defeat the army of thieves, it will be sure enough to escape. ”

"The second brother is right." Tao Ji squeezed his eyebrows and laughed, "In the past five months, our gentleman's army has practiced the most thing, which is how to escape for your life on the battlefield. Compared with the ability to escape, if our gentleman's army is the second in the world, there is no army in the world that dares to be the first! ”

Tao Ying also laughed and couldn't help laughing. Zhang Zhen had a strange face, and said in his heart What happened to the third son, why did he become so chatty after following the second son for more than five months? The ability to escape is the best in the world, is it glorious? Lin Qing next to him spat quietly and scolded secretly: "Shameless! Before the battle is fought, I want to run for my life! ”

"Then it's decided." Finally persuaded Zhang Xu, Tao Ying immediately clapped the decision: "After the whole army crosses the Huai River, the Junzi Army will take ten days of grain and grass to set off first, and the infantry will be entrusted to General Zhang, first stationed in Ping'an County, wait for my news, and then go south to help the war." ”

"The last will obey." Zhang Yu clenched his fists helplessly, and admonished: "Childe, please remember the words of the last general, if you are not satisfied, please immediately retreat north along the official road, and the last general will do his best to meet the childe." ”

"I remember." Tao Ying nodded, and then Tao Ying turned his gaze to Lin Qing next to Zhang Zhen, smiled at this unconvinced little girl and said, "Lin Gongzi, didn't you repeatedly say that you want to see the gentleman army I trained with my own hands?" Now that the Junzi Army is about to fight for the first time, and you are at the right time, don't you want to go south with me and see the majesty of the Junzi Army with your own eyes? ”

"I'm not interested, I'm not going." Lin Qing snorted with a straight face.

"Second brother, what are you taking him for? Increased drag? Tao Ji, who had always looked at Lin Qing unpleasantly, also snorted.

"Wait!" Poor General Zhang Yu suddenly spoke, first pulled Lin Qing aside and whispered a few words, and then came back to Tao Ying and said: "Childe, the last general has already persuaded the little nephew to let him go south with you to fight against the thief, first, the little nephew has been familiar with bow horses since he was a child, and he will not drag the hind legs of the son, and the second is that the little nephew is young and ignorant, just let him see the tragedy of the battlefield and hone his surname." ”

"Then it's decided." Tao Ying laughed even more, and smiled at Lin Qing behind Zhang Xu: "Brother Lin Xian, I didn't expect that after half a year, we would have to eat in a pot and ...... in a tent, hehe, there is fate." Lin Qing's face was flushed, he glared at Tao Ying, and twisted his little face away angrily.

So, after crossing the Huai River on the whole line, the Junzi Army, composed of more than 820 horsemen, brought ten days of grain and grass, set off first under the personal leadership of Tao Ying, and rushed to Guangling to seek a decisive battle with the Zhenrong rebels. Tao Ying's deputy, Zhen Rong, led 2,000 infantry to set off later, escorting the grain, grass, baggage, and the secret weapons of the Junzi Army back to the car and rushing to Ping'an County to station, preparing to meet the Junzi Army with an uncertain future and a lone army.

In addition, Tao Ying also made a precautionary arrangement, that is, he arranged two gentlemen and soldiers who were injured and disabled in training to accompany Zhang Xu's team to the south, and taught the infantry of Zhang Xu's team how to use the return cannon in the next siege battle.

Accompanying the Junzi Army to the south, in addition to Lin Qing's supernumerary personnel, there is also a special role that does not belong to the Junzi Army, that is, Xu Sheng and Xu Wenxiang, who Tao Ying deceived from Zang Ba. After Tao Ergongzi brought Xu Sheng back to Xuzhou, through several martial arts competitions, it can be judged from Xu Sheng's bravery and martial arts that this Xu Sheng is definitely the Xu Sheng in history, not just the same name and surname, but after being ecstatic and shouting to pick up the treasure, Tao Ying did not let Xu Sheng join the Junzi Army, but first let Xu Sheng serve as the deputy captain of his own soldiers, and then make other arrangements.

At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, there was no Gaoyou Lake and Baima Lake in Huainan, and even Hongze Lake and the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal did not exist, and the population was not as dense as it is now. Therefore, after arriving on this land, and getting rid of the drag of Zhang Xu's team, the Junzi army was extremely excited, and marched more than 120 miles in just one day, killing the current Baoying area - this is still the result of Tao Ying ignoring Tao Ji's opposition and forcibly ordering the Junzi army to stop and rest in order to preserve physical strength.

After only walking one hundred and twenty miles a day, he ordered the army to rest, Tao Ying listened to Tao Ji's complaints, but Xu Sheng and Lin Qing, the supernumeraries of the Junzi Army, quit. Xu Sheng is better, Xu Sheng, who has just become Tao Ying's lackey, has a lot of concerns, and he doesn't dare to complain in front of Tao Ying, but Lin Qing, who is so tired that he almost loses his breath, doesn't have so many scruples, and he is furious in front of Tao Ying at every opportunity, "Nerd, are you crazy?" After marching 120 miles a day, do you want to exhaust all the soldiers and horses to death?! ”

"Are you tired?" Tao Ying looked around, smiled and asked, "Brother Lin Xian, take a closer look, are my gentlemen and soldiers tired?" ”

"Not tired?!" Lin Qing looked left and right unconvinced, trying to find a few tired gentlemen soldiers to come out and teach Tao Ying a lesson, but after a careful look, Lin Qing was confused, after a hundred and twenty miles of marching, more than 800 gentlemen soldiers were all acting as usual, talking and laughing to make fires and cooking, and many gentlemen soldiers still had the strength to make trouble, and the atmosphere was quite relaxed.

"People are not tired, war horses are tired." Lin Qing came up with another reason to accuse Tao Ying, but when he looked at the Hun horses that the Junzi Army rode that were not much bigger than donkeys, Lin Qing was even more confused, she was already tired from foaming at the mouth when she rode the tall and divine horse, but the donkeys and horses of the Junzi Army were quite relaxed, and they were already bowing their heads and eating the weeds on the ground. However, the hard work paid off, and Lin Qing finally pointed to the horses of the Junzi Army that were carrying heavy military supplies as if he had discovered a new continent, "See? The horses that pulled the carts were foaming at the mouth. ”

"No way, those are Western Regions horses." Tao Ying spread his hands and said with a smile: "But it doesn't matter, when Zhenrong Xiaoer escaped from Xiapi, he abducted my father's 3,000 war horses, and grabbed a lot of good horses in Guangling. ”

"You mean to say that you dare to march a hundred and twenty miles a day because of the kind of donkey and horse you ride?" Lin Qing was not too stupid, and he quickly heard Tao Ying's off-string sound.

"Needless to ask, don't you yourself have the stamina to see this kind of donkey and horse with your own eyes?" Tao Ying replied with a smile, and approached Lin Qing intentionally or unintentionally, "Brother Lin Xian, are you tired after a day of walking?" ”

"Stay away from me!" Lin Qing vigilantly dodged Tao Ying's claws, retreated five steps away from Tao Ying, and threatened: "Don't forget, when you were in Huaiyin, you promised my uncle to take good care of me, but now that I'm tired, I want to rest in a small tent alone, and no one is allowed to enter the account without my permission!" ”

"It's boring to live alone, but it's better to live in my tent ......." Tao Ying didn't dare to say anything halfway through his words - Lin Qing was already drawing his knife with a flushed face. So Tao Ying had no choice but to turn to Li Ming, the captain of the pro-soldier next to him, and ordered: "Send someone to get a small tent and give General Zhang's nephew a rest." By the way, the whole army was ordered that the weather was very good today, and it was unlikely to rain, so there was no need to camp and settle down tonight, wrap me in felt and sleep, and leave as soon as it was dawn! ”

The next day, the Junzi Army once again set a marching record that stunned Lin Qing, marching one hundred and thirty miles in one day! And the poor Lin Qing girl also had to change her basic position, accepted Tao Ying's kindness, and changed to a war horse on the way, which avoided the bad luck of her beloved horse being exhausted, and then asked Tao Ying to put two small wooden shoes on her war horse saddle. However, after stepping on these two strange little wooden shoes for a while, Lin Qing quickly became furious again, "Silver thief nerd! You said it was easy to put this thing in the saddle and ride a horse! Did you do it on purpose, trying to exhaust me to death on purpose?! ”

……………………

Only more than 800 cavalry of the gentleman's army marched so wildly, after the news was transmitted back to the infantry team behind, Zhang Zhen was of course as anxious as an ant on a hot pot, and then sent messengers three times in succession, asking Tao Ying to slow down the march, and not to go too deep alone. And after the news reached Guangling City, the Bodhisattva Rong Rong and his right-hand man He Zi laughed, frantically mocking Tao Ergongzi for not understanding military affairs, and the troops were already small and had to divide the troops, leading a small number of cavalry to the south alone, and daring to march so crazy and fast, and the lone army went deep into the enemy-occupied area, which was simply to call Hua Zi Duan to play in the toilet - looking for death!

After laughing, Di Rong soon issued an order that all the rebels in Guangling raised their hands in approval, that is, only about one-third of the army was left to guard the cities of Guangling, Jiangdu and Hailing, and the remaining 10,000 troops were led by Zheng Bodhisattva himself to go north out of the city and take the initiative to meet the gentleman's army on the way south.

One side is nine oxen can not pull back the rapid south, the other side is impatient to take the initiative out of the city to the north, north and south together, the much-anticipated gentleman's army of the first battle of the period is finally approached in advance, August 25 this morning, has led the gentleman's army to cross Gaoyou Tao Ying received a light cavalry report, saying that the Rong has led 10,000 horses out of the city north at noon on the first day, and marched forty miles within half a day yesterday, if the Rong is also marching at this speed today, then it is estimated that the latest is noon today, The Gentlemen's Army will meet the rebels in the wilderness!

"Taking the initiative to get out of town? Still walking forty miles in half a day? Hearing the news, Tao Ying was overjoyed, and hurriedly ordered: "Order the whole army, all put on the Takahashi saddle, all put on the stirrups, all the arrows are in place, feed the war horses with concentrate, check the horseshoe, lead the horses to march, and walk to the war to melt the children!" ”

The soldiers of the Junzi Army followed the order, and it was also at this time that Lin Qing and Xu Sheng, two supernumerary members of the Junzi Army, also discovered a new anomaly in the strange behavior of the Junzi Army soldiers, that is, the donkeys and horses of the Junzi Army actually had a semi-circular iron ring nailed under each horse's hoof! And including Tao Ying's own war horse hooves are no exception, Tao Ying himself also raised the horse's hooves with the help of his own soldiers, and carefully checked whether the iron nails on the iron ring had fallen off.

"Nerd, how come there are iron rings on the hooves of your war horses, where do these iron rings come from?" Lin Qing asked in shock.

"Brother Mi Zhu and Chen Deng." Tao Ying carefully examined the horseshoe nails, and replied without raising his head: "They have given me 1,000 catties of good iron, and I have used all of them to beat the horseshoe and horseshoe nails." ”

"I didn't ask you this!" Lin Qing said angrily: "I'm asking you, what are you nailing these iron rings to the horse's hooves?" Horses don't feel bad? ”

"If you don't nail this ** shoe, the horse will be uncomfortable." Tao Ying said casually: "You can also ride horses, you must have seen with your own eyes, those war horses with polished hooves can no longer be ridden, and there is no way to pull the cart anymore, so they can only be slaughtered as vegetable horses." By nailing this kind of iron ring to the horse's hooves, the horse's hooves will not be easy to wear out, and the war horse will not be easily scrapped. ”

Lin Qing's eyes widened beautifully, and when he looked closely, Lin Qing soon found that this was indeed the case, after the horse's hooves were nailed to the strange iron ring, the friction with the ground was indeed greatly reduced, and basically the horse's hooves did not have to touch the ground, all supported by the flat strange iron ring. But Lin Qing still didn't quite understand, and couldn't help but ask again: "Then, doesn't the horse hurt?" ”

"When you cut your nails, does it hurt? The horse's hooves are actually the nails of the war horse, and the horseshoe is nailed to the nails of the war horse, which has no effect on the war horse itself. Tao Ying explained, and suggested to Lin Qing: "Brother Lin Xian, if you have time now, you'd better nail a horseshoe to your war horse, our long journey has only begun now, if your war horse's hooves are suddenly cracked or injured, then you will be in big trouble." ”

"Don't do it!" Lin Qing shook his head resolutely, "My horse is a Dawan horse, if it is broken by a nail, then I will lose a lot." ”

"Whatever you want." Tao Ying smiled: "But don't blame me for not reminding you, if your horse suddenly hurts its hooves on the battlefield, don't expect me to give it to you - at most let you ride the same horse with me." ”

"Phew!" Lin Qingxiao's face turned red again, and he snorted, "Who is surprised by your broken horse?" It's about the size of a donkey, so I don't even want to give it away. ”

Tao Ying smiled, didn't bother to pay attention to this little girl, turned to Xu Sheng next to him and said: "Xu Sheng, within today, we are going to have a decisive battle with Zhenrong Xiao'er, before the war, I have a few words I must tell you, and you must also remember that after the battle is over, you will tell me what you think and what you plan to do." ”

"Please make it clear." Xu Sheng replied respectfully.

"Do you know why I didn't let you join the Gentlemen's Army?" Tao Ying smiled and said: "In terms of martial arts, you are definitely not under my third brother Tao Ji, nor are you under any soldier of the Gentleman's Army, Tao Ji very much hopes that you can join the Gentleman's Army, and the soldiers of the Gentleman's Army are also happy to accept you, but I don't allow you to join the Gentleman's Army, you know why not?" ”

"The villain doesn't know." Xu Sheng replied more respectfully, and muttered secretly in his heart, "Could it be that you still don't trust me, Childe?" ”

"Maybe you think that I don't trust you, so I won't let you join my descendant army." Tao Ying seemed to see through Xu Sheng's heart, and said with a smile: "If you think so, then you are very wrong, I don't let you join the Junzi Army, and I don't tell you the combat tactics of the Junzi Army, there are two purposes, one is that I hope you can observe the advantages and disadvantages of the Junzi Army's tactics as a bystander, and then tell me all these shortcomings and advantages." As the so-called authorities are confused, bystanders are clear, you don't know the combat tactics of the Junzi Army, and you have been a general under General Zang Ba and have some military experience, so your views will definitely be of great help to me to improve the tactics of the Junzi Army. ”

"The villain doesn't dare to be." Xu Sheng was both modest and excited, and hurriedly asked, "Childe, what about your second purpose?" ”

"My second purpose is to ask you what you want to do for the future." Tao Ying smiled and said: "Sooner or later, the Junzi Army will have to be expanded, and it will not be confined to one branch of cavalry, sooner or later there will be an infantry team." So I hope that after witnessing the tactics of the Junzi Army, you can think carefully about what you should do if you lead an infantry team to fight with the iron cavalry of the Junzi Army, and what kind of tactics should be used to avoid dragging the Junzi Army back and make up for the shortcomings of the Junzi Army. ”

"Childe, the villain is just a chief, so dare to have such delusions?" Xu Sheng asked in surprise.

"You don't have to be humble." Tao Ying smiled and waved his hand, "The official position is small, you can slowly climb up by making meritorious contributions, your martial arts are outstanding, and you are a good material for leading infantry in battle, I am very optimistic about you." I now have you and my third brother Tao Ji in my hands, but now if I let Tao Ji quit the gentleman's army and lead an infantry to fight, the kid has to fight with me, so after my infantry team is formed, you are the first choice of the main general. ”

"Villain Xie Gongzi lifted." Xu Sheng was overjoyed, and hurriedly knelt down on one knee to Tao Ying, clasped his fists and said: "The son knows that he has met a great grace, even if the last general is crushed, it will be difficult to repay him." ”

"Get up, you're welcome." Tao Ying smiled and picked up Xu Sheng, and said with a smile: "Don't be in a hurry to thank me, I just have this plan, whether I can become the general of the infantry of the Junzi Army, whether I can convince the infantry of the Junzi Army, and willingly listen to your command, the key depends on your own efforts." ”

Xu Sheng nodded vigorously, remembering Tao Ying's words attentively, and Lin Qing next to him couldn't wait to come up and ask Tao Ying, "Nerd, what about me?" I am also a brave man, what can I do in the future? ”

Tao Ying didn't answer, looking at Lin Qing's little girl just laughing, Lin Qing was inexplicable at first, and then suddenly blushed, kicked Tao Yingxu, and then rushed away angrily - because Lin Qing knew very well in his heart that our Deputy Director Tao must not be saying anything good in his heart!

In order to save the physical strength of the war horse, the whole army of the gentleman's army, including Tao Ying, dismounted and walked, leading the war horse to the south unhurriedly - except for Lin Qing, who refused to endure hardships, and insisted on riding a horse. However, the Zhenrong rebels marching from south to north are different, in order to prevent Tao Ying, the big fat sheep from slipping away, before dawn, the Zhenrong rebels have already hurriedly set off north, people step up horses, one is just speeding up the march, the result is that noon is approaching, in the area of Shao Bo Lake, the Junzi Army and the Zhenrong rebels, finally saw each other's flags and teams.

Seeing the overwhelming enemy brigade, Tao Ying, who had actually been sweating nervously for a long time in his heart, calmed down instead, and instructed Tao Ji and Nian Bin, the generals of the five-member Gentleman Army, who rushed forward to wait for orders: "Form a formation and fight according to the predetermined tactics." ”

"No!" The five generals agreed and rushed down to organize the team.

Soon, the Gentleman's Army formed five columns, of which two heavy cavalrymen wearing leather or iron armor, wearing helmets and white gauze coats, lined up in the first two columns with shields, knives and axes, each equipped with two quivers, and the horizontal formations were very neat, but there was a great interval between them—that is, the lateral distance between the two cavalrymen was large, large enough for five or six men to walk side by side.

The remaining three teams of the Junzi Army are all light cavalry, wearing ordinary military uniforms, light helmets, and white gauze coats to minimize the burden of war horses, but each light cavalry has three very exaggerated quivers, and at the same time, these three teams of light cavalry are also lined up in horizontal formations, after the heavy cavalry, and the two teams of heavy cavalry form a loose and neat phalanx, Tao Ying himself came to the forefront of the team, commanding the battle under the banner of the gentleman.

Xu Sheng once served in the Zang Ba Army, Lin Qing is also a general, and he has a little insight and experience in military affairs, after seeing this neat phalanx of the Junzi Army, he couldn't help but turn white, because this phalanx of the Junzi Army is too loose, and the distance between the soldiers is too far, and it is difficult to support and rescue each other! At the same time, because the team was too loose, the heavy cavalry of the Gentlemen's Army in the front two rows could not play any role in blocking the enemy's charge at all!

That is to say, if the enemy's team launches a charge, it will almost effortlessly rush into the interior of the Junzi Army's phalanx, completely scatter the Junzi Army, without a neat organization, and the troops are at an absolute disadvantage, what results can the Junzi Army stand on its own side except for being wantonly slaughtered by the enemy?!

In addition, this phalanx is also extremely unfavorable to cavalry charges, too loose queues, once the cavalry of the gentleman's army launches a charge, they also have to fight alone in front of the enemy's horse and deer antlers, and become a live target for the enemy's spears and spears to be densely assassinated, unable to cooperate with each other, let alone cover each other!

"Nerd, do you understand ......?"

Lin Qing patted his horse over, and was about to open his mouth to oppose Tao Ying's formation, when something happened that made Lin Qing stammered and almost fainted - with a move of the Lingqi in Tao Ji's hand, more than 800 gentlemen and soldiers actually recited it neatly, and the content of the recitation was actually ............

Zi said: Isn't it pleasant to learn and learn it? Have friends come from afar, are you happy? People don't know and are not ashamed, aren't they also gentlemen? Youzi said: "He is also filial and easy to offend, and he is rare." Those who are not good at committing crimes and are good at making trouble, there is no such thing. A gentleman is a gentleman, and he is born from the beginning. Filial piety is also the foundation of benevolence. Zi said: Clever words, fresh and benevolent! ”

Zeng Zi said: I say that the three provinces are my body. Seeking for others and not being faithful? Making friends and not believing them? Are you used to it? Zi said: The country of a thousand times, respect and believe, use sparingly and love people, so that the people can take time. Zi said: Disciples are filial piety when they enter, and they are filial piety when they go out, they are cautious and faithful, they love the public and are kind, and if they have spare strength, they will learn to ...... literature. ”

ps: Ping'an County, Guangling County, at the end of the Han Dynasty, is located in the north of the current Gaoyou Lake, west of Jieshou Town, the ruins of the city have been completely submerged by Gaoyou Lake, sinking to the bottom of the lake, friends probably know a location on the line.