Zheng Yunming asked: "Zhang Rou also went south from the army last year, but he didn't meet with our army, where did he go?" ”

Wang Deng replied: "Zhang Rou did not appear on the front line of Xiangyang and Jiangling last year, but switched to fight between Gwangju, Xizhou and Huangzhou, and followed Marshal Tachar to attack the first line of our Huaixi Jingdong, where he defeated a partial division of Zhenjiang Metropolitan Command, and in Xizhou he defeated the troops of our army and captured many people. In the territory of Huangzhou, there was a small battle with the troops of Meng Dutong, and our army suffered many casualties. During the retreat, he was also responsible for sweeping away the cottages hastily set up by our army on the border, and took tens of thousands of people captive. ”

"I didn't fight any tough battles, it seems that the so-called No. 1 general in Hebei is nothing more than that." Xiang Anguo said with a contemptuous attitude, after all, he was a scholar in the army, and his understanding of the depth of the enemy army was far less than that of the generals who had been in the Rong Brigade for a long time.

"Don't underestimate the enemy, this person is much more difficult to deal with than Shi Tianze, Yan Shi and Liu Wei." Zheng Yunming naturally remembered Zhang Rou's name, and he and his son Zhang Hongfan led the elite soldiers under his command to contribute a lot to the destruction of the Song Dynasty. When Meng Hui was still alive, there were still generals to control his father and son, and since Meng Heng died, no one in the Song Dynasty could no longer compete with this army and horse.

"When encountering Zhang Rou's banner, you must be more careful and do your best to frustrate its edge, Zhang Rou is the courage of the southbound garrison. First break its troops, and then go south, all the armies are discouraged. Zheng Yunming's tone of voice was much calmer than a few months ago: "Before the enemy goes south, he always sends the Red Army and the Han people to investigate the horses first, plan the route of the march, and arrange military supplies. Can't make them so comfortable preparing for the war. Yesterday, I consulted with the envoy to send several surprise attack troops to Dengzhou, Tangzhou, and Zaoyang to sweep away the enemy's pre-hoarded supplies, destroy bridges and roads, and capture the enemy's Tanma Red Army. ”

"The key to the art of war lies in the first to control the enemy's aircraft, last year Jinghu experienced a great defeat in Luo, not long ago, when the vitality has not yet recovered, can send troops north to attack the enemy's states and counties. This year, when Xiao Zhao took office, he had to take the lead and teach the Hu people a lesson first, so that they could not arrive at Xiangyang City so smoothly. ”

Zheng Yunming put his hands on his knees and glanced at the generals under his tent: "Who dares to go north to capture the flag for me and raise my Jingchu military might?" ”

All the generals bowed down in unison and shouted, "I am willing to go!" ”

Zheng Yunming turned his head sideways and discussed with Bai Yijie in a low voice for a while, and said loudly: "The big war is imminent, and the generals of the various armies should not move without permission. This time, let's let a few newcomers go, so that Hu Ren can see that our Jing Chujun relies on more than just a few people. ”

He shouted, "Zhang Shun! ”

Zhang Yingsheng stood up.

"You and Dai Yanwu led the headquarters to shoot 1,000 troops, and went to Tangzhou to patrol and sweep, and when they encountered the enemy, they fought immediately, and the enemy left if they were strong."

Zhang Shun made a promise in a sullen voice, and came up to receive the general's order.

"Where is Hu Yanyu?"

Hu Yanyu threw his robe out of the queue to receive the order.

"Last year, your troops and the Mongolian army had little face-to-face, today you will be given a chance to make meritorious contributions, you select 500 people from the soldiers and horses of the headquarters, meet 1,000 people of Meng Jing's loyal army, and go to Dengzhou to patrol, according to the intelligence from the north, there are suspected Liu Wei and the rebel general Fan Yongji's men and horses are haunted, go to battle with the enemy, be careful."

Hu Yanyu also received the order to retreat.

Zheng Yunming paused, and raised his voice again: "Liu Quan, Jiao Jin!" ”

Liu Quan shouted loudly with joy in his heart: "The end will be!" He strode forward and bowed in obedience.

Jiao Jin calmly responded yes, and followed Liu Cheng to step forward to receive the order.

He was originally one of the fifty envoys of the Tulong Army who were transferred from Meng Heng's subordinates along with Liu Quan, but he was calm and quiet by nature, far less flamboyant and wild than Liu Quan. Therefore, he has been unknown in the army, but in several battles, Jiao Jin calmly judged the situation of the enemy and us, and used his accurate archery skills and superb spear marksmanship to hunt the enemy's head, and each time he could make a meritorious achievement no less than Liu Quan.

Liu Cheng is too talented and conceited in this group of people, and Zheng Yunming also needs such a person to contain him.

Zheng Yunming took out a general order and said: "Liu Chuan is the main general, Jiao Jin is the deputy general, you two lead your subordinates to carry one hundred and fifty soldiers, and another five hundred soldiers from the Zhenwu forward army, and then meet with the first part of the militia, a total of 1,100 people, advance to Zaoyang to patrol and reconnoitre, encounter the enemy's brigade and men and horses can not fight, encounter a small group of enemies to attack decisively and annihilate it." ”

"Three surprise troops, each with fifty light cavalry for the use of the white team, and another twenty people are prepared for the exchange of news."

He stood up and glanced at the staff generals standing at the head of the staff: "As I have repeatedly emphasized before, the enemy's first attack last year was just a test of our army's defensive capability. This time, the enemy understands the strength of our army and understands the geography, water, and soil of Jinghu, and will certainly use all kinds of means to sabotage all resistance measures in this defense area, with a view to crossing the Yangtze River near Jiangling and taking Jiangnan directly. But what they don't understand is how much our Jinghu army has grown in the past year. In the next few months, we will show our strength and perseverance to the Hu people! Shock the enemy and make a name for yourself, starting with this pre-war raid! ”

"I await your victorious return!"

In the stable of the Metropolitan Division, Han Feng pulled his mount out. It was the first time he had his own mount. This is a beautiful yellow hussay. With a short body and a neat mane, it is a typical Mongolian war horse. This horse was also a trophy in last year's war, originally distributed by the Mongols to the Changde rebels as a greeting gift, but in the battle of Wulipo, its owner was shot dead by the archers of the Tulong army, and it fell into the hands of the Tulong army.

Although Han Feng had not experienced formal cavalry training, under Zheng Yunming's strict requirements, he had been learning riding with Qin Wu since the end of the war, and now he could not say that he could control the mount freely, and he could at least ride it on the battlefield for seven or eight rounds.

He carefully brushed the horse several times, and then began to saddle the horse. According to the experience of veterans of the Northern Army who had served as cavalrymen, if the saddle or halter was loose on the battlefield, it would be almost 100% captured by the opponent. To become a qualified cavalryman, start by tying up your saddle.

In order to save their physical strength, the foot reconnaissance posts of the Tulong Army carried extremely limited things, except for a small amount of dry food, only basic portable weapons and reconnaissance needs.

The white cavalry is completely different, because it is a cavalry, it is very difficult to hide in the mountains, so the white cavalry is a hard detective, and has to engage the enemy's forward or ranger in close combat. A standard white cavalry is not only fully armoured, but also equipped with a bow and arrows, a cavalry spear, a snare, and a batter against heavy armor. However, the carrying capacity of Mongolian horses is limited, and the white team has to ensure a certain amount of mobility, so it is impossible to use any heavy equipment.

Han Feng's armor, for example, was also taken from the dead Mongol cavalry and modified by craftsmen sent by the government. This is a little protection that has to be sacrificed to ensure speed.

Han Feng loaded the blades, dry food, and application items on the yellow horse, and quietly walked towards the back door of the yamen with the war horse. At present, the deputy commander of the capital is conducting a review on the school field in front of the yamen for the surprise attack troops before leaving. As a member of the white team, he didn't want to walk out of the yamen gate so swaggeringly.

He gently pushed open the back door, only to find that Lai Ruyue and Shi Wenhu were already standing outside the door.

Lai Ruyue stepped forward to inspect the outfit on the war horse and Han Feng's body, and forcefully pulled the ribbon tied to him with her hand.

"Stuff need to be tied tightly! Otherwise, when the two horses are staggered, they will be caught by the enemy! "Ruyue's earnest teachings are like the elder brother in the military telling the little brother of the first battle.

"Do not be afraid of the enemy's cavalry, and rush towards him. The Mongols were accustomed to retreating and firing their bows and firing at the same time, so they had to take advantage of the terrain and their teammates to unite and force them into areas where it was inconvenient to move. Lai Ruyue frowned slightly, the first time Han Feng served as a cavalryman, he let him play such a dangerous role as stepping on the white team, Zheng Yunming's risk was a bit big.

Han Feng nodded silently, bowed his hand at Shi Wenhu, stepped on the stirrup with his left foot and prepared to get on the horse and leave. "Wait!" Shi Wenhu shouted, he took a few steps closely, and handed over an object wrapped in black cloth in his hand to Han Feng. Han Feng's hand sank, and when he took off the black cloth and looked at it, he realized that it was an iron whip with a simple shape.

"This is a weapon handed down in the Yue family's army back then. Legend has it that it was the beloved of Dong Xian, the general of the Vanguard Army. Shi Wenhu said: "There are a lot of iron-clad guys in Tartar, which is quite difficult to deal with. If you take this iron whip, it will definitely come in handy. ”

Han Feng nodded gratefully, heroes never say much, the heavy feel of this iron whip is Shi Wenhu's righteousness towards him.

Lai Ruyue and Shi Wenhu watched him turn over and get on his horse, trotted out of the back alley, and ran towards the assembly place of the white team at the west gate.

"Uncle Wenhu, the days of peace are so beautiful, but it's a pity that they are always so short." Ruyue sighed leisurely.

Shi Wenhu felt a pride in his chest: "Where does the little lady say, the next battle is the moment when my aunt shows his heroic appearance!" ”

But at this time, they didn't know what kind of opponent the Song army would face, and there were elite troops that dominated the world waiting for them. Before the beacon fire was rekindled in Jinghu, the Song army had to undergo the test of the world's most elite ironclad heroes, and this test was destined to be ordinary.