"Master Li! The formation of the thief army is very tight, and if we attack head-on, the casualties must be very large. And they made it clear that they were turtles, and they didn't attack us. Also, a large number of thieves and cavalry were found on the east and west sides, so I think it's a trap! Let's make it clear first. ”

Tiger Roar Town drove nearly ten miles away from the preset position of the peasant army, and also stopped its pace and set up a large camp. Li Sanhe's cavalry continued to probe around, to understand the deployment of the peasant army. After that, it was discovered that the peasant army was prepared, so the two sides had been facing each other for five days.

"Of course, I have to tell my uncle about this situation! But what do you want your uncle to do? For Li Sanhe questioning his command, Xue Yongli was still a little angry in his heart. But it's also very well disguised, so it can't be seen from the expression and tone.

"Either send reinforcements again; Or bring over the big ones that have just been built. As long as you rely on the long range of those heavy guns and gnaw little by little, one day you will gnaw away the position of the thief army. Li Sanhe suggested.

What Li Sanhe said was the right response, so Xue Yongli couldn't say anything, but he couldn't help but have a mocking tone in his words, and said: "Anyone can do this with your method, what do you want your uncle to do?" We can do it with any commander here. ”

Hearing that Xue Yongli was a little angry, He Fei on the side hurriedly said, "Master Li! Then we will find a way to bypass the thief army in front of us and sneak attack Xiangyang. ”

"Isn't there a thief army defending the city in Xiangyang? If we want to sneak attack, we must be fast, so how can we carry the siege tools? Besides, we didn't take any siege tools with us when we set out this time. Also, the cavalry of the thief army on both sides will not eat dry food! When they see us attacking Xiangyang, they will definitely come to their rescue. Maybe our army will fall into a situation where the enemy is on the back, so your method is too dangerous. Xue Yongli immediately rejected He Fei's suggestion.

Hearing that their suggestions were rejected one by one, all the officers were silent. Those officers all saw that Xue Yongli was in a bad mood, so at this time, no one was willing to touch Xue Yongli's mold.

But those officers didn't know that it was not Xue Yongli who wanted to embarrass everyone at all, but only Xue Yongli knew the true purpose of this operation.

In the eyes of ordinary people, this battle with the peasant army is either to defeat the peasant army; Either that or regain Xiangyang City. There would have been no other purpose at all, so the peasant army's operational jihua was also formulated on the basis of such a military purpose.

But only Xue Yongli knew Wu Shigong's true purpose: Wu Shigong wanted to weaken the main force of the peasant army in order to achieve a balance with the Ming army. But it can't be weakened too hard. Otherwise, it's going to be unbalanced again.

Therefore, the Runing army will definitely fight with the peasant army. But it is a war of defeat, not annihilation. Only in this way will the purpose of the war be achieved. In addition, a frontal assault is also undesirable. The Runing Army wanted to weaken the strength of the peasant army, not to consume its own blood capital. Therefore, it is certainly not possible to fight a tough battle with the peasant army. It's about fighting smarts.

In addition, the Runing Army also had to divide a part of the peasant army, drive it to the Dabie Mountain area, and let them unite the remnants of those peasant armies, so that those peasant armies could wreak havoc in the Nanzhili and Jiangnan areas.

What about this weishenme? Because in this time and space, because of the blocking of the Runing Army. The peasant army was unable to ravage Anhui and other southern Zhili areas, which also made the main force of the Ming army in Nanjing Jingying quite well preserved. Wu Shigong just wants to let the two sides fight, resulting in a lose-lose situation, and it is best to take the opportunity to take advantage of the fire.

From this point of view. There are not many options for the current Runing Army. It is not possible to attack the main force of the peasant army that has been prepared, and there is no need to attack the old, weak, women and children of the peasant army, let alone to attack Xiangyang. Not even able to retreat. Therefore, the current situation of the Runing Army is a bit difficult to ride a tiger.

And Xue Yongli himself is not willing to return in vain like this. As the number two person in the Runing Army, Xue Yongli did not have many opportunities to lead the army alone, and finally had such an opportunity, he wanted to complete the battle beautifully. So even asking Wu Shigong for help, he had a lot of disgust.

So Xue Yongli's initial battle jihua was: close to the position of the peasant army; After that, a strong camp was built; Repeated provocations led the peasant army to attack; When the peasant army was consumed to a certain extent, it looked for an opportunity to defeat the main force of the peasant army, and divided and drove a part of the peasant army eastward to the Dabie Mountain area.

However, it was obvious that after the five-day confrontation, the top and bottom of the Runing Army had already understood: the peasant army would not take the initiative to attack, and they were also defending the camp, waiting for the Runing Army to take the initiative to attack.

"Tomorrow the whole army will be camped! Retreat back ten miles and set up camp again. Xue Yongli ordered. Since it is not possible to fight a decisive battle head-on, the Runing army must be moved, so that the peasant army must also make corresponding movements. Xue Yongli was ready to wait until there were flaws in the movement of the peasant army, and the Runing army would enter the battle again to make a final decision.

Therefore, the battle process of many military campaigns may be very short, but it takes a lot of time to test and move each other. Often, victory is decided in the process of preparation.

The Runing army is a little difficult to ride a tiger here, and the peasant army is also a little uncomfortable. With so many men and horses, stuck in one place, only consumed every day, not replenished, although there was no shortage of supplies for the time being, but how did it also make the leaders of the peasant army a little upset.

In addition, the peasant army could not afford to spend time. If you keep consuming with the Runing army like this, and wait until the other Ming troops outflank you, the battle situation will gradually be at a disadvantage. At that time, the losses of the peasant army will definitely be quite large, so the current peasant army will also take the initiative to act.

The leaders of the peasant army also knew that their battle intentions had been seen through by the Runing army, so they gathered together again to discuss what to do.

"Since the Wu butcher doesn't dare to attack us, then we will act on our own. Anyway, now neither side suffers. When he acted, he set up more ambushes according to what Brother Ma said, and if Butcher Wu arrived, he would give him some hardships to eat. Liu Guoneng said.

"Joke!" Luo Rucai immediately objected, "How can we act?" Walk separately, and Butcher Wu can eat us one by one. But how to set up an ambush when you concentrate on it? We all know these days that Butcher Wu is very cautious in his use of troops, and has sent so many spies around us that even the cavalry we have placed so far away have allowed them to detect. If we had walked with a large group of men and horses, without those ditch walls to stop us, Butcher Wu's army would probably have overwhelmed us. At that time, which battalion of soldiers and horses can we hold back? ”

Luo Rucai's words immediately caused those leaders to think deeply, although they had always called the Runing army "official dogs", they also had to admit that no battalion of peasant troops could stop the attack of the Runing army. So Zhang Xianzhong asked, "Do we have to go?" Gather all our newcomers, let them repeatedly attack Butcher Wu's army, and when we find an opportunity, our cavalry will insert in a big way, and we should be able to defeat Butcher Wu! ”

Luo Rucai shook his head again: "It's okay to let those newcomers rush once, twice, but let them charge repeatedly under Butcher Wu's firearms?" Even the men and horses of our old battalion can't do it. At that time, maybe we won't be able to fight, and those newcomers will rush back and bite us! What if Butcher Wu took the opportunity to rush over? It's hard to even escape! ”

"I can't stay like this anymore." Lao Hui Hui Ma Shouying decided, "Since Butcher Wu doesn't fight, then let's fight." Bringing those newcomers overnight will not be able to let them eat for nothing. Wait for early tomorrow morning, first put our artillery on the rack, bombard the camp of Wu Butcher, and then let those newcomers charge. I don't expect to defeat Butcher Wu, at least to beat him to the flesh, so that he no longer dares to come near us. Otherwise, it will always be a curse to stay with us! ”

All the leaders of the peasant army nodded and agreed with Ma Shouying's decision.

However, in the early morning of the next day, they were surprised to find that the entire army of Runing had withdrawn from camp and retreated ten miles to the rear. This made the leaders of the peasant army breathe a sigh of relief. Although this retreat of the Runing Army broke the battle of the peasant army, if the Runing army really retreated, at least the current difficulties would have been overcome, and the peasant army could regain its freedom and wander around.

So on the one hand, the peasant army sent a large number of scout cavalry to reconnoiter the movements of the Runing army; On the other hand, they also gathered their troops and prepared for their own retreat.

However, on the second day, the Runing army approached Wuli again, which suddenly made the nerves of the leaders of those peasant armies tense again.

But on the third day, the Runing army retreated ten more miles; On the fourth day, it was still close to five miles ....... After going and returning three times in this way, because the Runing Army was getting farther and farther away from the position of the peasant army, the leaders of the peasant army thought that they had seen through the mind of the Runing army: that is, when the Runing army retreated, they would force the peasant army not to dare to pursue.

So the leaders of the peasant army gradually relaxed their hearts, they retreated part of the old battalion soldiers and horses from the position, and arranged 6,000 cavalry to cover the retreat of the peasant army. They were ready to wait for the Runing army to move away, cross the Han River, and withdraw the whole army to Yunyang.

"Looks like our actions are working these days." Xue Yongli said with a smile, "Sanhe! You led a regiment of foot cavalry and set out at midnight to attack the thief camp at night. The rest of the tribes ate before the rooster crowed, and then attacked the thieves in the early hours of the morning. Chief Qin! You just wait for the opportunity to attack Xiangyang quickly! ”

"No!" The officers of the Runing Army commanded in unison.

This time, the Runing Army is about to show their long-trained night attack. (To be continued......)