Because at this time, the Beiping Army's Northern Expedition to the East Route Army had already advanced eastward from Bei'anzhou and approached Zezhou. Therefore, Xiao Haili, who led the army south, had to place the decisive battle between the two sides in a relatively flat open land south of Zezhou City, backed by Jiancheng, and sandwiched by two small rivers (tributaries of the upper reaches of the Luan River). The reason why I chose this place is, on the one hand, I was frightened by the previous example of the Beiping army encircling and annihilating the mountains and rivers, and I did not dare to give the other side any chance to copy their own back road. On the other hand, it is also hoped that the two small rivers in front of the battle can add some obstacles to the Beiping army, or make the opponent's front and rear armies disjointed, so as to provide an opportunity for their own side to attack halfway.

The Beiping Army's Northern Expedition to the East Route Army came from the south of Zezhou, and the Puhe River, a tributary of the Luan River, about ten miles away from Zezhou City, was a natural obstacle that it had to cross. On the morning of the 22nd day of the seventh lunar month in the eleventh year of the Ying calendar (the eighth year of Xiande), after waiting anxiously for nearly two days, the distinctive black and golden flying dragon flag of the "Flying Dragon Army" of the Beiping Army finally appeared in Xiao Haili's sight.

On the top of a hill not far from the Dragon River, lying on the ground, trying to raise his head and squinting his eyes, staring closely at the "Flying Dragon" military flag at the front of the Beiping army column that came from nowhere, as well as the tens of thousands of enemy troops following behind this banner, Xiao Haili's original uneasy mood calmed down, and sighed softly: "The time to come is finally here, and let Ben Shuai see what this army that is as strong and terrifying as a god and monster in the mouth of Brother Tart Lie and other Great Liao generals who have fought with him can do." ”

Xiao Haili muttered softly in his mouth, but in his heart he was silently calculating the time it would take for the other party to arrive at the bank of the Puhe River and erect a temporary bridge to cross the river, so as to send someone to notify the soldiers in charge of intercepting the river upstream to open the gate and release the water, so as to stage a good show of flooding the Seventh Army for this army that had been invincible and god-like before. Although Xiao Haili's identity did not need to come here to observe the movements of the Beiping army, he could have waited for the Beiping army to be divided into two by the water after waiting for the 15,000 elite subordinates who were hiding and waiting in the dense grass and forest a few miles away, and then swarm out to annihilate the enemy troops on this side of the river. But he was very sure of his strategy of "flooding the Seventh Army", and he didn't want to miss the scene of seeing the powerful and friendless Beiping Army in the face of the torrent flood. Therefore, he descended to this small hillside and observed the enemy's situation in such a very indecent posture -- Xiao Haili knew very well that the firearms of the Beiping army were not only powerful, but also could reach far, and the farthest could even hit targets nearly ten miles away. And the hill where he is now is only two or three miles away from the Waterfall River, if the other party discovers his existence and attacks with firearms, then he will lose more than he gains, so he chooses a posture that is very conducive to his concealment. To Xiao Haili's gratification, the Beiping army that came from all over the world should not have realized that the great danger was approaching him step by step, and after its huge marching column came to the bank of the Puhe River, it temporarily stopped and rested in place, waiting for the military engineers and servants to erect a simple temporary bridge - there was originally a stone bridge on the Puhe River, Xiao Haili considered that the stone bridge might not survive the impact of the upstream flood like the simple temporary bridge. So as to leave an opportunity for the men and horses on the opposite side of the Beiping Army to rush across the river to meet the soldiers and horses who had crossed the river, so they ordered people to demolish the stone bridge.

As the Khitan army built dams upstream to intercept the water, the Pu River, which was not too wide or deep, became even narrower and shallower. If it weren't for the fact that it would be the height of summer, I am afraid that the Beiping Army would have been able to wade directly across the water, and there would be no need to build bridges. Therefore, it only took more than an hour to build all four simple temporary bridges and make them passable.

The first to cross the river was a reconnaissance cavalry company under the direct jurisdiction of the headquarters of the Left Route Army of the Northern Expedition. After crossing the river, more than 100 knights scattered in all directions, reconnoitring the surrounding area within nearly three miles to prevent the enemy from ambushing. At the same time, Xiao Haili also took the guards around him to carefully retreat from the top of the hill and hide in the dense artemisia grass forest below the mountain, so as not to be discovered by the other party's scouts. Maybe it's because of the dense weeds at the foot of the hill where Xiao Haili is located, maybe it's because Xiao Haili and others are hiding in the law, or maybe it's because the Beiping Army's long-term record of winning a hundred battles makes it arrogant and contemptuous of the enemy, and it doesn't bother at all. Whether it was because of Weishenme, these scouts were not able to find Xiao Haili and the others anyway - even if one of them was only less than fifty steps away from the hideout of Xiao Haili and the others.

After some reconnaissance, these Beiping scouts retreated back to the bank of the Puhe River and began to cover the main force crossing the river. At the same time, Xiao Haili, who had returned to the top of the hill, also glanced at one of the guards beside him, who then quietly climbed down the hill again, took a horse from the dense forest at the foot of the mountain, and galloped towards the upper reaches of the Waterfall River.

The first to cross the river by the Peiping army were about 2,000 cavalry. Judging from the banners and the weapons on the shoulders of these cavalrymen, Xiao Haili judged that they should belong to the "Flying Dragon Army" in the Beiping Army, which was equipped with firearms and had higher combat effectiveness. Although he was only watching from a distance, Xiao Haili still felt the taste of a strong army and an elite soldier from the opponent's high chest and neatly marching queue. Moreover, after crossing the river, this force quickly formed a group, and soon formed four cavalry groups, each of which occupied a favorable position, and formed a perfect protection for the beachhead and the improvised bridge behind it. From this series of tactical actions of the cavalry unit of the Beiping Army, Xiao Haili felt the well-trained soldiers and the sense of responsibility and vigilance of the officers. In this respect, they were far superior to the scouts who had preceded them—it seems that training and commanding a good cavalry force was not an impossible task for the Han Chinese. As for Fang Cai's group of scouts, they should just be a group of arrogant people who have no one in their eyes and think that Lao Tzu is the best in the world. However, it is not surprising that this phenomenon can be seen in many elite troops and pro-soldiers generals throughout the ages.

According to Xiao Haili's estimate, after the first cavalry had crossed the river and completed the necessary beachhead arrangements, its follow-up troops, especially the infantry, would begin to cross the river - this was also the time when Hong Feng arrived at the section of the river in front of him after the upstream dam was broken and the water was released. Thinking that almost all the civil and military generals of the Great Liao were feared and frightened, and that they had captured Xiao Siwen, Xiao Jixian, Gao Xun and other high-ranking officials of the Great Liao, and killed the nobles of the Great Liao royal family such as Yelu Enemy Lie and Yelu Tart, they were going to become lambs to be slaughtered by themselves under their own planning, and they were drowned in the monstrous waves, and their names and deeds would forever be recorded in the annals of the Great Liao, Xiao Haili couldn't help but feel a little excited, a little excited, and a little nervous. However, as an important minister of the imperial court who is in a high position and commands thousands of troops, Xiao Haili is still quite a city government, although he is very excited in his heart, he does not show a strange expression on his face, he is still so calm and serious. The only thing that could reveal his mood at this moment was the ten fingers embedded in the dirt.

However, as time passed, the excitement and tension in Xiao Haili's heart gradually dissipated, and was replaced by more and more doubts and incomprehension. Because after the former army crossed the river, the follow-up troops of the Beiping Army's Northern Expedition to the Left Route Army did not seem to have the slightest intention of following behind. Instead, the infantry contingents at the front of the follow-up units began to spread along the riverbank, arranging defensive formations, digging trenches, and erecting deer barricades. The artillery corps, which was located in the middle and rear of the follow-up troops, unloaded the artillery originally hung on the carriage and several strangely shaped steel frames, and began to erect and line up on the spot, with the intention of preparing for on-the-spot combat. What made Xiao Haili even more puzzled was that nearly an hour had passed, and there was still no news of the river that should have been surging down a long time ago, as if the waterfall river in front of him was originally only twenty zhang wide now.

After thinking for a while, an ominous thought suddenly appeared in Xiao Haili's mind, and he subconsciously turned his head to look at the large artemisia dense forest where the main force of his soldiers and horses was hiding a few miles away, and at the same time exclaimed: "Not good."

It was too late, that time was fast, with this bad shout, without waiting for Xiao Haili to give an order to the soldiers around him, asking him to inform his ambushed men and horses to quickly retreat back to the city, on the other side of the river, the Beiping Army had just set up the haode artillery position, nearly 100 artillery pieces, mortars, and six sixteen-barrel rocket launchers roared almost at the same time, and nearly 200 shells and rockets of different calibers, different ballistics, and different sounds roared out, and rushed straight to the large artemisia dense forest five miles away from the artillery position. In an instant, that quiet place was turned upside down, and ghosts cried wolves.