Ma Haiyan had already made a decision, and Zhou He had to stop dissuading him. However, he still faintly felt that something was wrong, as if this matter was completely like a trap of the Western Sichuan Army.

"Order the troops to speed up their advance, and rush to Maqin tomorrow morning!" Ma Haiyan gave the order. The speed of the Green Horse Army immediately increased. Originally, because they had to wait for the Hezhou Ma Jiajun and Ning Ma Army, who had already lagged behind them by a day, they deliberately slowed down. Now, the whole team was running at once. The strength of the 16 battalions of the Tsing Ma Army, more than 16,000 people, was moving rapidly southward like a black river at a high altitude.

At the same time, Ma Haiyan did not forget to send someone to inform Ma Jiajun and Ning Ma Jun in Hezhou, asking them to speed up their rush to Maqin.

It was already afternoon when Wang Yuze and Cai Yun joined the troops of the 10th Brigade of the Western Sichuan Army. Zhao Bowen and Tashi Dorjee had already rushed to the Dongqian ditch with the strength of the four battalions of the 10th Brigade. However, the east dipping ditch is not as narrow as the Bison Gully that ambushed the Tsing Ma Army before, and the canyon here is very narrow, and the sides are very steep, so it is impossible to ambush on both sides of the canyon. Therefore, Zhao Bowen and Tashi Dorjee had to let the troops garrison the east side of the canyon.

"Chief of Staff, Young Marshal, the terrain here is not as good as Bison Valley, if we want to fight another ambush of the Green Horse Army, I'm afraid it's not so easy!" Zhao Bowen said with some concern. Now he only has 4 battalions in his hands, but he has to deal with more than 16,000 people in the Qingma Army, which is a four-fold gap!

"Chief of Staff, Young Marshal! If we block the east side of the canyon with heavy troops, we should be able to block the Tsing Ma Army with our superior firepower. In this case, the Green Horse Army will not be able to rescue Maqin through Guò! Tashi Dorjee, deputy commander of the 10th Brigade, said in his own right.

Cai Yun waved his hand, and then said, "If we want to stop the reinforcements of the Green Horse Army, there is no need to go around in such a big circle. If we want to take down Maqin, we can go all out and take Maqin's before the Qingma Army and the rest of the Ma family army arrive. The reason why we spent so much time was entirely to annihilate Ma Haiyan's army. At least hit them hard! ”

"That's right! Although we are completely disadvantaged compared to them. However, our equipment and weapons are much more advanced than those of the Tsing Ma Army. If the two sides face each other head-to-head, we may not lose! Wang Yuze also said.

"This, Chief of Staff, Major Marshal. Do you really want to fight hard with us and the Green Horse Army? Zhao Bowen seemed to want to make sure.

"What? Don't you have faith? Still scared? Cai Yun said with a smile.

"How is that possible? Chief of Staff, don't flatten people, when have I, Zhao Bowen, been afraid? Zhao Bowen immediately shouted at the top of his voice.

"That's right! Prepare to fend off the attack of the Green Horse Army! All four battalions of Type 2 infantry guns were concentrated, and mortars and heavy machine guns were deployed at the forefront. Build a simple line of defense and prepare for the attack of the Green Horse Army! Cai Yun said.

"Yes, Chief of Staff!" Zhao Bowen and Tashi Dorjee immediately took the order to go to the arrangement.

The cavalry battalions of the 10th Brigade, each battalion had two Type 2 infantry guns and two 60-mm mortars. Together with the fire teams of the companies and platoons below, the four battalions had a total of Type 2 infantry guns, 40 60-mm mortars, 4 7-mm mortars and 0 heavy machine guns. Such terrifying firepower, taken together, was enough to resist the onslaught of horseback. In the era of cold weapons, cavalry may be the most powerful force, but in the face of hot weapons, especially in the face of heavy machine guns, the role of cavalry is greatly reduced.

The western Sichuan army chose the place on the east side of the Dongdigou gorge to be deployed, three kilometers away from the east-sloping ditch, with high mountains on both sides and an open land as wide as two kilometers in the middle, where the western Sichuan army was ready to face off with the Qingma Army. The main firepower was placed directly in front, and the two wings were also equipped with considerable heavy machine guns and mortars to ensure that the strong firepower could cut off the intention of the Tsing Ma Army to bypass the two flanks and attack the rear of the Western Sichuan Army. Of these, the frontal line of defense was only one kilometer, and the two wings were five hundred meters each. The disposition of the force is also two battalions in the front, one battalion facing the enemy in front and the other battalion as a reserve. One battalion on each flank. Half of the mortars and heavy machine guns were also placed in the frontal defensive line, ensuring that there was one heavy machine gun every twenty-five meters, forming a dense fire.

The artillery positions in the rear, mainly Type 2 infantry guns, would be advantageous to support the battle ahead. Mortars were also evenly placed in the front line of defense to provide favorable fire support for the infantry in front.

It was not until the evening that the defense line of the Western Sichuan Army was established, and it was waiting for the arrival of the Qingma Army. At the same time, he did not forget to send a large number of scouts in front so that he could keep abreast of the movements of the Western Sichuan Army at any time and avoid being attacked by surprise.

That night, after dinner at the soldiers of the Western Sichuan Army, they all rested except for the sentries, and everyone was recuperating, and everyone understood that tomorrow would face a bloody battle.

At the same time, the Tsing Ma Army was also about to arrive at the East Dipping Gully. That night, they camped only thirty kilometers from the East Dipping Gully. In order to maintain sufficient body in the face of the upcoming battle, they did not rush overnight. This is also where the Green Horse Army was criticized later. If Ma Haiyan ordered the whole army to continue to advance, it would inevitably encounter the Western Sichuan Army at night. At that time, in the melee at night, the powerful firepower advantage of the Western Sichuan Army could not be fully brought into play. The Qingma Army could easily defeat the Western Sichuan Army with its absolute numerical superiority, and even lay the final victory in one fell swoop. However, it is a pity that the Green Horse Army was too cautious this time and missed the last chance.

The next day, April 12, at six o'clock in the morning, the soldiers of the 10th Brigade of the Western Sichuan Army had already gotten up. All the soldiers entered the position after breakfast, checked their weapons, and waited for the arrival of the Tsing Ma army.

Wang Yuze also got up early, but he didn't fall asleep much last night. When he thought that he would use 4,000 men to face the 16,000 men of the Qingma Army today, his heart was very excited and nervous. Although he has a lot of confidence in the Western Sichuan Army, he still can't feel at ease until the moment when the results are revealed.

While waiting for the arrival of the Green Horse Army, he received a battle report from the 11th Brigade. After a day of hard fighting, the 11th Brigade was still unable to take Maqin City. Of course, this has a lot to do with the strategy of the Western Sichuan Army. Only when Maqin City is still in the hands of the Qingma Army, Ma Haiyan will quickly come to the rescue. Once Maqin City was taken, there was no need for Ma Haiyan to lead the army alone.

"Lord Admiral, there is the East Dipping Ditch ahead, after the East Dipping Ditch, we will soon be able to reach Maqin!" Zhou He pointed to the mountain in front of him and said.

"Hmmm! Send someone to search first, so as not to cause an ambush by the Western Sichuan Army! Ma Haiyan was still a little cautious on the march.

Gu Hongyun immediately sent a team of cavalry to the east slope ditch to reconnoitre. In less than half an hour, the cavalry came back and reported that there was no ambush from the Western Sichuan Army in the canyon. However, outside the canyon, a large number of western Sichuan troops were found.

"Humph! How many people are there in those Western Sichuan Army? Ma Haiyan asked.

"Lord Admiral, their number is less than five thousand!" The cavalryman in charge of the reconnaissance replied.

"Five thousand? The Western Sichuan Army came here to stop us and buy time for them to take Maqin! Ma Haiyan said.

"Lord Admiral, the Western Sichuan Army is inevitably too inferior to us! Even if they have strong firepower, they will stop us with 5,000 men, which is too small for us! Gu Hongyun said.

"How's Ma Qin's condition? Is it still in Lu Haoran's hands? Ma Haiyan did not make a decision immediately, but asked about the situation in Maqin City.

"Lord Admiral, I received the latest news in the morning. Although yesterday's battle was fierce, the defenders of Maqin City suffered heavy losses. But Maqin City is still under our control. It's just that the defenders of Maqin City have reached the end of their crossbows, and it is estimated that it will be difficult to survive today! Zhou He said.

"Good! In that case, let's have a head-to-head showdown with the Western Sichuan Army here! Ma Haiyan said arrogantly.

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