Chapter 464: Tighten the noose

Fast horses galloped between the various camps, and Liu Guoneng, Hu Dawei, He Renlong, Li Guoqi and others successively received urgent military orders and immediately gathered in the conference hall of the governor's line. Chen Xie hasn't arrived yet, and he hasn't seen other Wenchen, Yishui's generals here. They exchanged words with each other, but everyone didn't know why they urgently called everyone to the meeting.

Finally, Chen Xie and other Wenchen appeared, these Wenchen's faces are not very good-looking, needless to say, the reason is needless to say, but they are not without harm, according to Chen Xie's meaning, Wenchen is in charge of formulating strategies, how to fight the war, it is a matter for the generals, what are you going to do? Anyway, it's much safer, and Wenchen, who is on the front line, is not without benefits at all.

"After a period of training, although the training procedures of various units are different, they already have a certain degree of new combat capability. Originally, it was planned to train for a longer time, but the imperial court came to the decree that the governor should do his best to exterminate Li Zicheng, and then march to the northwest to completely solve the problem of the Liukou. As an overseer, you can only obey His Majesty's will, and as a soldier, you must also resolutely obey the orders of your own superintendent. Now I command, all of them! ”

As soon as the words fell, the officers of the Dengzhou battalion immediately stood up neatly, and the other officers were a little behind by half a step, and they also came out, but they were not so strict. Chen Xie is happy to see this change. It's a pity that two months is still a little shorter, but it must be enough to deal with Li Zicheng.

"The battle plan is as follows, Jiang An, Liu Guoneng! Dequeue! Chen Xie's tone was extremely stern suddenly. The two of them each took a step forward and said rightly: "Humble duty!" Chen Xie looked at Liu Guoneng's reaction, nodded with satisfaction, and said: "You two, responsible for the clean-up of Xiangyang Mansion, remember, press forward steadily, step by step." Don't be in a hurry to fight a decisive battle, and compress the living space little by little. ”

The entire battle plan can be described as a big deal, and the determination to destroy Li Zicheng in one go is obvious. Remove the first two. Lin Ya and He Renlong. Pressed from north to south. The two armies kept a certain distance and took care of each other, squeezing Li Zicheng's space for maneuver. To the east, Li Guoqi and Hu Dawei went south along the waterway. To Anqing to meet Li Yuncong's more than 10,000 Shandong soldiers. Attack from east to west.

After the arrangement is completed. Chen Xie finally said: "For more than two months, Li Zicheng has been patrolling back and forth between the two prefectures, always looking for opportunities to break through. But they were found one after another, and they were all called back. Everyone should be careful, Li Zicheng is a trapped beast, and he will not be willing to fail. Finally, it is emphasized that those who surrender will not be killed, and those who resolutely resist will not be left. ”

In this encirclement and suppression, the Dengzhou battalion sent 50,000 troops, and the rest of the Ming army also had more than 50,000 people, and the 100,000 army would suppress the land of the two prefectures, and the plan was officially started in ten days, because it took time to transport troops to Anqing. It was not that Chen Xie made such a move, but because Anqing was close to the Dabie Mountains, more troops were indeed needed to meet the requirements of the blockade and operations. Moreover, these reorganized Ming troops really need to be tested in battle.

The march in midsummer in June was a very fatal thing, but the military order was like a mountain, and Liu Guoneng could only resolutely carry it out. He is no longer the "collapse of the sky" in the past. Chen Xie recommended that he is now the chief soldier, and although the strength is still 6,000, it can be expanded to 10,000 in the future. However, this expansion needs to wait for the approval of the prison army before the ordnance and food can be provided.

The marching rations eaten by Liu Guoneng's subordinates were fried noodles, which could be kept for a long time in the summer. The key is that it is not unpleasant to eat and has a very good taste. Compared to the Dengzhou battalion, this can't be compared. It's still a little different, but it's not much of a difference.

At ten o'clock in the morning, looking at the watch presented by Inspector Chen on his wrist, the corners of Liu Guoneng's mouth showed a hint of pride. This thing was not a sycophant from him, but his army got the best results in the comprehensive evaluation of the instructors, and Chen Xie specially gave him a watch and a short gun as encouragement. Well, there's also a certificate of merit. In second place is He Renlong, which has no short guns, only a watch. Others, hehehe, want watches? You go and buy it, three thousand silver dollars a piece, you may not have the goods yet. See, there are words engraved by the superintendent on it, and the first place in Xiangyang's reorganization and evaluation is commemorated.

"Stop moving! Do a good job of reconnaissance and continue at 3 o'clock in the afternoon. Before Liu Guocheng gave the order, he specially asked the staff officers around him. This is Gu Yunheng, an adviser sent by the Dengzhou battalion, who has been temporarily changed to a military adviser. In normal times, these instructors do not say that they want to command, but they will raise the name and correct some incorrect practices.

"I'm an advisor, so I can't ask how to command, and my opinion is that such a decision is not too much of a problem. After ten o'clock, it was really hot. Having said that, Gu Yunheng still secretly regretted in his heart that the foundation of this people's army was actually good, and it was all the foundation that ran around the Central Plains countless times. There is no big problem with the body, but some old habits are still difficult to change. In two months, it was a radical change. For example, on the march, even if the Dengzhou battalion is in the scorching heat, it can persist in marching when necessary, and even if it is heat stroke, it will have to die on the road.

Liu Guoneng still respected Gu Yunheng very much, and was very happy with his affirmation, so he immediately took out the map, looked at it for a while, he didn't know a single big word, and he smiled after reading it for a long time: "Lord Gu, where are we?" ”

Gu Yunheng didn't mean to despise him, and pointed to a point on the map and said, "It should be here, close to Zhong Xiang." Send people to the edge of the Han River to see if they can meet the fleet of the Dengzhou Sailors, our task is to prevent Li Zicheng's dog from jumping over the wall and smuggling across the Han River. The sailor did not have a warship on the Han River, so it was difficult to prevent the enemy from crossing the river, but it was enough to find that the thieves crossed the river. ”

In fact, this worry is a bit redundant, and Hanshui is not so easy. What really worries Gu Yunheng is the combat effectiveness of Liu Guoneng's army, whether it can win the people's army head-on is not important, whether it dares to face steel is the key.

The troops rested on the spot, and according to the drill code, they did not collect and went out at night, and the troops took the squad as a unit, rested, drank water and ate. Change is everywhere, you can see it when you are resting, under the shade of the trees, you get together in a team, even if it is convenient to go, you have to ask the team leader for instructions and get approval before you can go. More than fifty instructors, mainly at the brigade level, served as advisers, instructing the troops on how to deal with various problems while on the march. It is still necessary to have someone teach these things.

At noon, when the sun was blazing, even in the shade of the trees, the soldiers were uncomfortable. But everyone didn't dare to take off their clothes, at most they unbuttoned the wind and discipline. The Dengzhou battalion grasped this point very tightly.

Suddenly, a hurried assembly call sounded, and the troops immediately completed the assembly in brigades.

"Traces of rogues were found near Zhongxiang, and the strength of the troops is unknown. I ordered to go on the road at once, and within an hour, the vanguard must reach Zhongxiang to ensure that the thieves could not smuggle across the Han River. After Liu Guoneng gave the order, the five brigades set off as the vanguard. In less than two hours, news came from the front, and it was found that the soldiers and horses of the thieves were approaching Zhong Xiang.

After more than two months of struggle, Li Zicheng decided to change his tactics when he found that he could no longer be like before, when tens of thousands of people could run around at will. Divide the troops! Liu Zhongmin took a group of people, Zhong Xiang was ready to smuggle into Hanshui, and he took all the people to Baitong Mountain to run, if he couldn't beat it, he would drill the ravine, as long as he could escape back to Shaanxi, he would be a good man.

Liu Guoneng's troops were also mounted infantry, and there were a lot of livestock left behind by being thieves in the past. When he heard sporadic gunshots ahead, Liu Guoneng felt nervous and knew that he had encountered a large number of thieves. How many people Li Zicheng has now, intelligence says that it is 50,000, and there are rumors that it is 80,000. Liu Guoneng, who has done business without capital, understands in his heart that even if it is calculated according to 100,000 people, the maximum number of combat soldiers is between 30,000 and 40,000. There are only 10,000 to 20,000 of them.

Liu Guoneng encountered Liu Zongmin and Hao Shaoqi, Hao Shaoqi, who ran back from Jiangbei, was lucky, he just ran into Huguang, Wang Qinian led his troops to catch up, ran fast, was not caught and beaten, it can not be said that it was luck. But back in Huguang, life is not easy. First of all, the area of activity is very small, the north bank of the Yangtze River and the Han River, how big is this place?

Li Zicheng has successively gathered more than 30,000 elites, and there are no more, because he can't afford to raise them. The rest is the people who follow and eat a mouthful of porridge, and at this time Li Zicheng has no choice but to bring these people as cannon fodder.

Along the way of Liu Zongmin, he has more than 10,000 elites, Hao Shaoqi has more than 5,000, and more than 20,000 local coerced people. After entering Chengtian Mansion, he broke the county seat of Jingshan, grabbed some grain, and coerced the people to run to Zhongxiang. Li Zicheng's plan is still to hope that Liu Zongmin can attract Chen Xie's attention, and then go back to Henan by himself. Liu Zongmin also knew Li Zicheng's thoughts, but he had no choice. Unless he quits this business and is a professional citizen. But he swore an oath to swear allegiance to Li Zicheng. People in this era still care about oaths. Unlike some scumbags in modern times, swearing is as common as giving up after eating.

"What? Found officers and soldiers? How many people? What's the matter? "Liu Zhongmin's scouts also returned, and the two sides fought a battle, and both sides suffered losses. After all, Liu Guoneng's scouts cannot be compared with the authentic Dengzhou battalion, and the equipment is not so perverted, with smoothbore rifles and bayonets, plus a horizontal knife and shield.

"Look at the flag, it's Liu Guoneng's troops, but it's not very similar, everyone has a bird gun, and there is a shield." When the scout brought back the news, Liu Zhongmin was confused, so he had to discuss it with Hao Shaoqi. In the past, Liu Zhongmin didn't look down on Hao Shaoqi very much, and he was more repulsive. Now, we're two grasshoppers on a rope.

"It doesn't matter if it's or not, send a team of hundreds of horses to take a look, if the number is small, it's send." (To be continued......)