On October 23, the second year of Chongzhen, Chen Xin stood by the Qingshui River in Laiyang, where there were some small pieces of ice floe floating in the river, and the small bridge on the river was very narrow. It was only more than twenty miles away from Laiyang County, and behind him was a long marching column, with an interval of a hundred steps between each one, and the first part of the first bureau at the front was preparing to cross the river. The sentinels of the cavalry were already five miles ahead, and the Tangma did not report back the enemy's situation, but the Wendeng battalion still carried out the battle regulations scrupulously.

More than 20 girder horses had already crossed the river first, and after crossing the bridge, they scattered towards the nearby hills

Chen Xin looked at the back of the cavalry running, his mood was actually very calm, and he didn't feel the slightest fear of battle, because the enemy was too weak.

Nie Hong and others reported it in the Laiyang County Ya ten days ago, and then Zhao Xuan told Yu Dacheng that the government already knew about them. Yu Dacheng, the great treasurer of the Laiyang Wenxiang Sect, had to get up in advance, and soon encapsulated more than 5,000 sect members, most of these rabble people were holding hoes and flat shoulders, and a small number of core members of the Wenxiang Sect had weapons, no more than 500 people, these people had participated in the rebellion of the Wenxiang Sect during the Apocalypse, and they had some combat effectiveness, but their equipment could only be regarded as similar to that of bandits. They were poorly organized and poorly prepared, and after the incident, they robbed large households near the waist mountain.

Yu Dacheng prepared to accumulate grain before attacking Laiyang County. Xu Tang of Zhaoyuan was affected by Yu Dacheng, so he had to do something immediately, but the number was only more than 2,000 people. There are only more than 50 third-class officials in Laiyang County, and although the magistrate is panicked, he still has some ability, so he immediately reported to Denglai Haiphong Road, and at the same time closed the four gates of the county seat, checked the spies in the city, and recruited the brave people of the township to defend the city, but in the face of more than 5,000 chaotic people, it was still precarious.

Wang Tingqian is now a member of the Shandong Buzheng Department Denglai Dao, and also has a coastal defense road, he heard that there is chaos in the jurisdiction, and he is afraid that there will be a big incident like Xu Hongru again, once Laiyang or Zhaoyuan is captured, his official may be the end, and immediately ordered the guards and Dengzhou General Zhang Keda to send troops, and Wendeng's three guards and one battalion are also among the dispatches.

All the officers and soldiers of the Wendeng battalion have quietly assembled at the junction of Wendeng and Laiyang, including some temporarily conscripted servants and horsemen, and Chen Xin only left part of the cavalry in the camp area, waiting for Dengzhou's order. On 17 October, the order to transfer troops from Dengzhou arrived, and the wartime system began, and all the troops and horses were under the unified command of Zhang Keda, the chief soldier of Dengzhou, and the order given to the Wendeng battalion was to first strictly guard the border to prevent the spread of the rebellious people to Wendeng, and when the Dengzhou army arrived, they would jointly attack the rebellious people. More than 1,000 people in the Dengzhou Zhengbarn will enter Laiyang from Qixia, and there will only be a few hundred people left in the original governor's standard battalion, which will be transferred to Zhaoyuan to suppress Xu Tang.

Zhou Hongmo heard that there was going to be a war, a little at a loss, he earned some silver this year, the family reached thirty people, but the main one had to be kept to give gifts and do business, he originally thought that there was nothing around, thirty family members were enough to deal with a small group of rebels, but now since there are thousands of people, he had to come to Chen Xin.

Chen Xin set off immediately, but he asked Zhou Hongmo to go with him in the name of earning military merits, and Zhou Hongmo was very confident in the combat effectiveness of Chen Xin's subordinates, and set off with twenty family members.

The Wendeng camp sentry rode out in all directions, coupled with the information returned by Zhao Xuan, it was confirmed that Yu Dacheng had gone to Laiyang County to govern, and the two did not care about Zhang Keda's order, directly entered the territory of Laiyang County, crossed Zhaohu Mountain and Changshui River, and rushed to the Qingshui River after a five-day march, and they could engage the rebellious army tomorrow. And the Dengzhou Barracks has just set off from Dengzhou.

Yu Dacheng dragged his feet to the county seat on the 19th, and went to surrender in advance, and was driven away by the envoys of the county, and then they prepared to attack the city, and spent two days cutting down trees to make ladders, and began to attack the city on the 22nd, and this rabble was repelled by a stone at the head of the city. The citizens who defended the city gained confidence and became more and more determined.

By this time, the cavalry crossing the river had already stood on the ridge and unfurled the small green square flag. According to the marching regulations of the Wendeng camp, where there are obstacles, rivers, valley mouths, high mountains and dense forests, etc., it is necessary to send a killer team or a beam horse to search, and when the Qi family army pursues and fights in the south, even the rice fields must be left behind to be checked, and the kind of thing that is surrounded by thousands of ambush soldiers with the sound of artillery is basically impossible for the Qi family's army.

Liu Pojun stood beside Chen Xin, glanced at the mountain, and said to Chen Xin: "My lord, all the beams and horses are in place, and there is no trace of the enemy nearby." Please tell me whether the infantry team will start to cross the river. ”

"Start crossing the river."

"Yes, sir."

Liu Pojun signaled to the flag-bearer around him, the blue flag of the Chinese army went a little in the direction of the thousand general flag of the first department, and then tilted in the direction of crossing the river, and the thousand general blue flag of the first department was a little in his direction, and then began to distribute orders to the general flag, and after a while, the step drum of the first game sounded, and the first killer flag team should cross the river first, and after the firearms flag team river advanced for a certain distance, the first game opened the mandarin duck array.

The follow-up teams of the first part also began to cross the river in a steady stream, and after a game, they opened a game, and after the more than 600 people in the first part all crossed the bridge, they all spread out on the opposite bank. Then came the second division and the central army, followed by the baggage and detachments, and finally the third division.

After the Chinese army crossed the river, two horses came to the front, and they handed over the information to Liu Pojun.

The three thousand generals and Zhu Guobin soon came to the Chinese army, these chief officers all have horses, and it is convenient to come and go, Chen Xin recruited them, Liu Pojun took out a map, and several people surrounded them.

Liu Pojun pointed to the map and said: "Ladies and gentlemen, after crossing the Qingshui River, there are no big mountains and rivers in front of you, and the sentry horse has arrived at Singh Village, and found a few looting demons, and did not continue to advance according to the original plan. According to the information that the Wenxiang Sect received yesterday, they are camping in the northeast of Laiyang City, and it is estimated that they will fight them tomorrow. ”

Lu Chuanzong said: "Then are we camping in Singh Village as originally planned?" ”

Zhu Guobin disagreed: "Singh Village is too close, and scattered demons have been found." Or set up camp near here, march twenty miles tomorrow, and fight in the afternoon. ”

Dai Zhenggang said simply: "Or march quickly today and attack their camp after dark." Liu Pojun, is their camp strong?"

"I didn't say anything, but it shouldn't be solid, just shacks."

They didn't have the slightest doubt about defeating the demons, and Chen Xin was the same, but he didn't plan to use the attack method, and he was about to face Jiannu, who was a hundred times more fierce than the demons, and these demons had a very rare opportunity to practice. He still hopes to fight in battle.

"Set up camp here today, and arrive at the city tomorrow, Yu Dacheng will run away."

The four of them agreed at the same time, and Liu Pojun said: "Please set the position of the middle army." ”

Chen Xin looked ahead, about a mile away, it was relatively flat, and said: "The Chinese army flag is one mile ahead and set up camp, Liu Pojun led his own soldiers to send each department to the table flag, and all departments and detachments set up camp according to the table flag. The cavalry set up beams and horses to be camped and retracted,"

The four chief officials stood up and saluted, mounted their horses and hurried back to the headquarters. Chen Xin's Chinese army advanced slowly, and after traveling about a mile, he set up the Chinese army flag, and Liu Pojun brought two personal soldiers, measured the position, and issued a table flag to each department, roughly forming a triangular camp. After they returned to the Chinese army, the four pro-soldiers each took a turtledove gun, fired a shot on each side without loading a bullet, and the Chinese army whistled the horn of the team.

As soon as the trumpet sounded, the divisions went to their stations and began to set up camp, and the quiet procession began to make some chaotic noises, and the shouts of the officers rang out everywhere. The carts of the baggage team were divided into various departments, and many five-foot-long javelins were taken from above, and three bundles were tied together to make simple rejection horses, and each team tied six of them, and the iron tip was inserted deep into the ground, and then each division sent a flag team to cut down trees nearby, and after moving them, the trunks were placed horizontally on the rejection horses, which was the camp wall of their camp.

Then the long player of each killer team takes a string of thistle terrestris from the front of the long card, and lays it down along the outside of the camp wall, this kind of thistle terrestris is four iron tips, each six is a string, each string is one step long, and each end has an iron head for hand to grasp, and it is very quick to deploy and put away. On the whole, their camp remained simple, with killers outside, firearms and baggage, and no trenches or strong wooden walls.

After all the departments were set up in camp, Chen Xin sent flag sergeants to wait at the gates on the three sides, and when the soldiers were in place, the Chinese army sounded a drum, and the firefighters of each team lined up at the camp gate, and after the flag soldiers were counted, they went to the vicinity to chop wood and fetch water. After the pro-soldier counted the points, he was still waiting at the door. Chen Xin looked at Zhu Guobin's horse team, because there were a lot of them, and now there are only more than 50 cavalry, and they are already waiting at the east camp gate. Liu Pojun smiled: "These horses are starving. ”

Chen Xin smiled and waved his hand, the Chinese army raised the green flag and the black flag, the cavalry flag was set to green, and the black was water, indicating that the cavalry could go out of the camp to drink water and eat grass, and the cavalry was also after the camp gate was counted, and then went out to drink water and eat grass in turn.

Immediately the two soldiers went out, carried the gong and walked along the camp wall, and went around for a circle, the soldiers in armor took off their armor one after another, and the firefighters began to set up pots and fires.

The Chinese army's horn and flute soldiers then blew the suona, and the battalion commanders, detachment captains, quartermasters, chief military judges, and chief instructors went to the Chinese army camp tent to listen to the order. Chen Xinzhong's camp tent is also very simple, not the kind of magnificent type, larger than the ordinary tent, after everyone came in, it was slightly crowded, and the suona outside the camp tent was blown until the officials arrived.

Chen Xin sat high on the throne and issued the first arrow: "The first unit of the infantry team is a thousand general Lu Chuanzong, and the first unit of the infantry team has eighty ambush road troops, with twenty people on each side." ”

Lu Chuanzong agreed loudly and came up to pick it up.

"Zhu Guobin, the commander of the cavalry team, the cavalry team does not accept five people from each side at night."

Zhu Guobin also came up to receive the arrow.

Chen Xin continued to say to the generals: "Today's night order is 'Laiyang Demon Extermination', each division retains a killer flag team at night, and all camp gates and camp walls are not allowed to enter and exit without tokens, and violators will be beheaded immediately." Those who go out in a hurry will go to the Chinese army to receive a token, and the night officer of the Chinese army is Liu Pojun. At night, if anyone comes within ten paces of the camp wall and does not listen to him, he will shoot him with arrows. People who behave strangely or are physically strong can be killed with muskets. In case of night attack, each battalion shall keep its own place and shall not walk in a noisy manner, and everything else shall be carried out in accordance with the regulations. The Chinese army distributes the latest information before dark, and each flag team completes the briefing before dinner tomorrow, and starts cooking at three o'clock and sets off at midnight. In tomorrow's battle, don't take prisoners, and in wartime, you must listen to the orders of the Chinese army. Destroying demons and protecting the territory and the people is the duty of our generation of soldiers, and we encourage you. ”

"Yes, sir!"