The news of the return of the horses is getting worse than the other, the Ming army has seen a large number of intruders arrive, and the guard battalion that has come out of the west of the city has exceeded 1,000 people, and the follow-up is endless. For a moment, Homer's heart was full of confusion, and he didn't understand which link had gone wrong. The swift arrival of the Guards Battalion suggests that the other side either knows their actions or understands their strategic intentions, and either one of them is a source of consternation for Homer.

"Don't you want to open the army?" Homer realized that there was a major mistake in his strategic judgment, but now was not the time to reflect on this matter, so he immediately ordered the whole battalion to retreat and reline: "Quickly report to the general troops of Huang and Yu, tell them to stop the siege of the city, and immediately withdraw the troops to join us." ”

The horse team of the Xuanfeng battalion marched towards the guards battalion, and after seeing the cavalry on the opposite side, Yu Shenhe immediately ordered the vanguard of the first wing to stop advancing and prepare for battle. The horse team of the Selective Battalion did not attack, but stopped a few hundred meters away to monitor the movement of the intruding troops, while covering their scouts and went around to the side to observe the enemy situation in the west. The cavalry of the county immediately went out to stop the other party's movement, and the cavalry in the county town did not need to rely on horses to reconnoiter the enemy, so that their cavalry had greater freedom. The cavalry of the Guards Battalion also responded, and together with the friendly forces of the county, they launched an attack on the Ming army.

"With so many cavalry, this can't be a small number of thieves." Although Homer could not obtain accurate enemy information, the fierce blocking action of the intruder made him more alert: "But in any case, it is impossible for the intruders to arrive together." Alternate retreats, and don't give the thieves a chance. ”

First on the flanks, then in the center, the infantry of the Selective Battalion retreated in an orderly alternating manner. Li Laiheng observed the pikemen who were covering the musketeers, and finally decided to continue to lie on the ground honestly, watching with regret as the Ming army re-folded the arc-shaped front into a plane.

After the Selector Battalion was restored to a flat front, Homer ordered a further retreat, by which time the Selector Battalion's cavalry had ceased reconnaissance operations and began to threaten the 1st Infantry Wing.

"This should be the horse team of the Red Burning Battalion, right?" Looking at the iron cavalry of the Ming army dangling in front of his eyes, Yu Shenhe had to give up the idea of quickly advancing and sticking to the Xuanfeng battalion, and the first infantry wing transformed into a battle formation, forming a large fan and slowly pressing forward: "They are not bad at cooperating." ”

From beginning to end, the riflemen of the Xuanfeng battalion had been standing not far away threatening Li Laiheng's troops, looking at the muzzles of those black holes, Li Laiheng stared at the Ming army slowly retreating, and did not find any panic in it.

After receiving Yu Shenhe's urgent report, Chi Shude immediately led his cavalry to leave Xu Ping's Chinese army and drive towards the horse team of the Xuanfeng battalion. The Ming cavalry succeeded in delaying the advance of the invading army, and after completing this task, they had no intention of engaging the invading cavalry, which outnumbered them several times as many as themselves. They quickly retreated, approaching their own infantry. Chi Shu didn't dare to chase into the range of the Ming army's infantry, and also stopped, waiting for his own infantry to follow.

Under the threat of the invading cavalry, the Selective Front Battalion also had to slowly retreat in battle formation, while the invading infantry opposite them increased their pace again, and the distance between the two armies continued to be narrowed. He Ma turned his head to look at his flank, a group of Bianjun troops was approaching him, and Huang Shouque also came to report that the Chu army had withdrawn from the battle, and would soon be able to complete the whole team, and came to fight side by side with the Xuanfeng battalion, and at the same time, the artillery team of the Xuanfeng battalion had also been ordered to rush to this side.

The withdrawn scouts reported that they had not found any artillery from Xu Ping, and when He Ma heard this, a large stone fell to the ground, and once the artillery was in place, they would soon be able to expel the invading army far from the Ming army.

"There are about 3,000 infantry and 500 cavalry in Xu Ping's department on the opposite side, and I haven't seen the thieves Li Dingguo and Sun Kewang's department yet." When Homer heard the news, he gradually relaxed from the initial nervousness, and a smile appeared on his face: "They don't have artillery, our artillery will tear the thieves to pieces!" ”

The Xuanfeng battalion continued to retreat after forming a straight front, and Homer hoped that his troops would stay as far away as possible from the city walls of Qixian County, so as not to be hit by sudden artillery fire from the city. He was scheduled to line up to meet Xu Ping one mile away from Ci County, and judging from the current speed of the two armies, Xu Ping would never be able to prevent him from achieving his goal. After opening up the distance from Li Laiheng's department, the pace of the Selector Battalion became faster and faster, and when they reached the predetermined position and began to gain a foothold, the infantry of the Guards Battalion was still 800 meters away, and the artillery of the Selector Battalion had already rushed to Homer's side.

"Well, there really aren't any cannons." He Ma carefully observed the enemy troops on the opposite side with binoculars, and he said with satisfaction: "If Xu Ping, this thief, hides in the ditch, it would be fine, he dared to come out to fight with me, it is really a dead end." ”

At this time, Li Laiheng had already stood up and saw a member of the camp who broke into the camp and galloped towards him. At the same time that the general jumped off his horse, Li Laiheng saluted him: "General, I am fortunate to be humble and not dishonored." ”

"Well done, Brother Li." After Xu Ping jumped off the horse, his eyes swept around him, and he walked straight towards Li Laiheng: "Brother Li, thanks to you today." ”

After receiving the urgent report from Qixian, Xu Ping ordered the whole army to advance lightly, Li Dingguo's army was still on the road at this time, and Xu Ping's two cannons did not bring the front line at all.

"What are the general's plans?" Li Laiheng asked, pointing to the Ming army who was arranging the formation opposite.

"I'll defeat the Xuanfeng battalion, and Brother Li will deal with the other Ming troops, how about it?" Xu Ping asked with a relaxed smile. Li Dingguo's troops are estimated to be able to arrive in half an hour, Xu Ping originally planned to use the western camp to deal with the Bianjun and Chu armies, but now that Li Guo and Li Laiheng's troops are intact, it is naturally the icing on the cake.

"Good!" Li Laiheng was full of pride, and asked him to go back to report to his father-in-law Li Guo, and prepare to transfer thousands of homeless troops in the city to prepare for war.

While selecting the front camp to hold his footsteps, Yu Shenhe also asked the troops to stop and wait for backup. Commanders on both sides are anxiously waiting for their backups to arrive.

Looking at the steady stream of displaced people driving out of the city, Xu Ping wanted to stop it at first, but after thinking about it, he had a new idea: "It's not bad to let them mislead the judgment of the officers and soldiers." ”

For security reasons, the Ming army did not dare to stick to the county seat, Xu Ping let the county army be on the right flank, and a large number of displaced people followed the elite of this 1,500 county seats, which looked like a large area of black oppression.

"After a while, the West Battalion will be deployed on the left flank of our army, and the Guards Battalion will be in the center," Seeing Li Guo coming out of the city, Xu Ping explained to their father and son: "I plan to break through from the middle road, and the artillery of the Xuanfeng Battalion poses the greatest threat to our army, so we must try to weaken it." ”

"Brother Xu doesn't plan to outflank both wings?" Li Guo was still a little afraid of the well-armored new army, and he suggested: "If we attack the officers and soldiers from both flanks, we may try to let them storm the array of the Xuanfeng battalion." ”

"It may be possible if the Strike Battalion doesn't cover its allies on either flank, but I don't think they'll be unwary of that. The Chu army and the Bian army are too much worse than the new army, if I were General He, I would definitely divide a few guns to the two wings, the artillery of the new army is very powerful, and besides, if there is a new army in the Chu army and the Bian army, it will inevitably be angry, and the losses of our army from both wings may not be small. ”

Li Laiheng asked: "What if the new army didn't cover the two wings with artillery?" ”

Xu Ping said with a smile: "Then naturally there must be Brother Lao Li." ”

As soon as Kurohoichi's second flank reached the front, the Guards Battalion immediately formed a formation against the Selector Battalion, and they tried their best to stretch their wings to form a slender line of six columns.

Homer, who had always watched every move on the opposite side, also spread out the two wings of the front battalion, far away from the guards battalion, and saw that Xu Ping used his most elite troops against himself, and Homer was also very satisfied. Although he was a little worried about his allies, he still had absolute confidence in the selection of the front battalion. The artillery lined up in front of the infantry of the Xuanfeng battalion, Yu Dong's Bianjun was slowly passing behind the Xuanfeng battalion to cover its right flank, and the Chu army waited to enter the position of Homer's left flank.

Homer looked at the thick military formation on both wings of the breaking army, and ordered the six cannons to be dispersed to the two wings and prepared more shotguns for them: "This battle is quite similar to the battle of Nanguan that Hou Ye back then, Xu thief must want to follow Hong Tai's old trick, hmph, I don't believe that a group of thieves can be stronger than Jiannu's white armor, even Jiannu's white armor, and it is vulnerable in front of shotguns." ”

When Li Dingguo's western battalion appeared in the west of the county, one artillery piece of the Xuanfeng battalion had already been deployed, and the infantry of the 2,000 Xuanfeng battalion were lined up in five formations, and one or two cannons could be placed in the gap between each team. The placed nine-pounder gun launched a test firing, and the shell flew over a distance of 800 meters between the two armies, sending a cloud of smoke and dust in front of the battle line of the Guards Battalion.

"General He thinks I want to outflank on both flanks," Xu Ping noticed the Ming army's strengthened defense on both flanks: "Since this is the case, then I will also break through in the center, just right, I originally thought so." ”

"It's not a bad idea to outflank the wings." Li Guo faced the Chu army, and the camp that had just won a big victory in Luoyang had a psychological advantage over Zuo Liangyu: "Even if there are a few more cannons, they can't stop us." It would have been easier if Brother Xu had sent some more reinforcements. ”

"There is no need for the brothers to die." Xu Ping said: "The selection of the front battalion is everything, and defeating the selection of the front camp will win the victory, so our forces should be fully invested in the central government." Xu Ping smiled slightly: "Don't worry, I'm already prepared." ”

A few minutes later, the artillery of the Ming army rang out again, this time the landing point of their shells became closer to the guard battalion, Xu Ping smiled at Li Guo when he saw this: "General Li, I went to command the troops to attack, there is no need to wait, anyway, the Xianfeng battalion will not collapse before the West Battalion arrives." ”

Li Laiheng kept looking westward, and after hearing Xu Ping's words, he asked, "Doesn't General Xu have a cannon?" ”

"I didn't bring it, and if I did, there weren't as many officers and soldiers." Xu Ping hugged his fist to Li Laiheng, and then jumped on his horse and headed for his flag.

In advance, Xu Ping and his staff officers had discussed the field strategy in detail, and the staff officers were also very worried about the artillery advantage of the new army: if they did not fight in close proximity, the Ming army could use artillery to bombard the guard battalion unscrupulously; And if you fight in close quarters, the shotguns fired by the twelve cannons of the Ming army will blast the soldiers of the Guards Battalion into meat sauce. There was no possibility that the Guards Battalion would have routed the heavy armoured units of the Selector Battalion before they were destroyed by shotguns. Because of this sudden attack, the intrusive army mobilized the elite of the army, which put them at a disadvantage in numbers.

"If we can defeat the Shanlan camp, then the Ming army will be angry, and the elite of the four thousand western battalions can easily defeat Yu Dong and Huang Shouque. But if we can't defeat the Shanlan camp, then Yu Dong and Huang Shouque's army will be a big problem, and they may be able to hold on with confidence. When the plan was formulated before the war, Zhou Dongtian reported this view to Xu Ping on behalf of the staff team.

They held that the success or failure of the field battalion of the New Army determines everything, and that it is the banner and confidence of the Ming Army, and that as long as the battalion of the New Army does not collapse, the Ming Army will not fail. The General Staff opposed the use of flank attacks or any plan to attack the weak brigades of the Ming army first, and they believed that not a single soldier or time should be wasted on the Ming army outside the field camp of the new army, otherwise even if the Bianjun and Chu armies could be defeated, the exhausted guards battalion would still be helpless against the field battalion of the new army, and would even be defeated by it.

"However, it is also impossible for the new army to let the Bianjun army and the Chu army launch an active attack to consume our morale, first, Yu Dong and Huang Shouque must have the selfish desire to preserve their strength; Second, if they attack, they will be easily routed by us, which will do nothing but deplete their strength and morale, so this battle is a one-on-one battle between the Guards and the Yamalan Battalion. "It is an obvious and inevitable choice for the field battalions of the new army to put themselves in the position of the Chinese army, and only in this position can they better inspire the fighting spirit of friendly troops and give full play to their artillery firepower. However, how to break through the stubbornness of the new army made the staff team very troubled. Xu Ping had not been able to repair a few sets of armor captured in the previous battle, and he used unarmored spearmen to attack the infantry ranks of the new army, and it was estimated that the opponent could defeat the guard battalion without artillery.

In the end, Xu Ping finalized that the guards battalion would not bring any melee weapons and only use flintlock pistols to attack the Xuanfeng battalion, this idea staff did not dare to guarantee the effect, Zhou Dongtian immediately pointed out: There is no precedent for using only archers to fight. Xu Ping disagreed, using his personal experience and the battle of Lanyang as an example: "A flintlock pistol is not a bow and arrow. ”

But Zhou Dongtian was still skeptical of this plan, it was not uncommon to use a large number of long-range weapons in defense, but it was difficult to predict that this was still the case in attack. However, many of the staff officers were new staff officers who had not been trained in the tactics of the New Army, and they supported Xu Ping's idea that they could defeat a well-organized enemy army with flintlock shots. With the support of these staff officers, Zhou Dongtian's position also began to loosen, and it was finally decided to use only flintlock musketeers to fight.

But Zhou Dongtian was still skeptical of this plan, it was not uncommon to use a large number of long-range weapons in defense, but it was unpredictable that it would still be the case in the offensive, but many of the staff officers were new staff officers who had not been trained in the tactics of the new army, and they supported Xu Ping's idea, believing that they could defeat an enemy army with a well-organized lineup by firing from a flintlock pistol.

With the support of these staff officers, Zhou Dongtian's position also began to loosen,

Since the Guards Battalion does not have spearmen as the main force, it is necessary to guard against the counterattack of the spearmen of the Reserve Battalion, and it is necessary to keep a safe distance when shooting at the Strike Battalion. After repeated trials and tests by the staff officers in armor, they believed that this firing distance should be kept at more than 50 meters, and if the front battalion launched a counterattack with heavy armor, with their speed, they would suffer a large number of casualties before rushing to the front line of the guards battalion, and the high-speed impact would exhaust these heavy armor soldiers.

"There is one last question," Zhou Dongtian said again after Xu Ping finalized the firing distance of fifty meters, "Since we are not engaged in close combat, then the artillery of the Xuanfeng battalion will continue to kill and injure our soldiers. ”

"The artillery tactics of the new army are to get close and then fight, in order to pursue great damage to the enemy's morale and troops, this tactic is based on the fact that the enemy's firepower cannot threaten the artillery of the new army at close range, and there is indeed no enemy who can threaten the safety of his artillery within the range of Hou Ye's infantry firepower in the past. But now it is different, the firepower of our Guards Battalion is enough to compete with the firepower of the infantry of the Forces nouvelles, the armor on the armor of their artillery is not enough to ensure that they can continue to fight in the face of our firepower, and new weapons will inevitably bring new tactics. Xu Ping said confidently: "The Xuanfeng battalion has about 1,200 guns and 12 guns, and we have 2,500 guns. ”

Of the 2,800 infantry of the Guards Battalion brought by Xu Ping today, all flintlock musketeers were deployed in six columns in the front row, while 300 spearmen remained behind them as reserves. When Xu Ping arrived at his general's banner, the Ming army had already launched the third round of shooting, although it was a hastily arranged artillery position, but the well-trained gunners of the front battalion had already used the previous test firing to complete the basic proofreading, this time their nine-pounder guns formed a straddle fire on the front line of the guards battalion, Xu Ping understood that it could not be delayed any longer, so he ordered an attack.

"Guards Battalion - Forward!"

The officers drew their swords and raised them high in the air to urge their troops. Just like in the Battle of Lanyang, Chen Zhe, Yu Shenhe, Shen Yuncong and other officers had indescribable complex emotions when they drew their swords and unsheathed them. Their swords were all brought from the new army, and they were all put in the hands of Instructor Song when the teaching team graduated, and at this time they had to point the swords in their hands at the new army.

The drums sounded, and Qin Dedong strode forward with his gun in his arms. On his left hand stood a row of nineteen brothers from Guoli, who followed him as they marched toward the artillery of the Ming army.

"The thieves' wings didn't move." Homer saw that the Chinese army began to move forward, and realized that Xu Ping had adopted a-for-tat central breakthrough tactic: "Let the Xuanfeng battalion stay on the defensive, and after defeating Xu Thief's three-plate axe, immediately launch a counterattack." ”

The flintlock musketeers of the Selector Battalion were ordered to go forward, and they went to the front of the line, the front lined up in three rows, the front row crouched, the second row remained upright, and the third row poked their rifles through the gap between their front comrades.

"Aim."

The weapons of the three rows of flintlock musketeers were laid flat together, and they were densely pointed at the approaching Guards battalion.

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