For several days, no matter how the new army challenged, Xu Ping still stood out.

Huang Xiwen planned several feints, such as dividing part of his troops to reinforce Zuo Liangyu, but Xu Ping, who saw through the intentions of the new army, did not move, and the three battalions of the new army felt that the main force was dangerous, so he had to return honestly.

Yesterday, Wu Zhong was ordered to make a detour to break into the flank of the camp, and after separating from the main force for a day, Li Dingguo's department was found on the flank, and the reconnaissance unit of the armored battalion was encountered in the front.

The Changqing battalion rushed back all the way with fear, but did not encounter any resistance, and the two battalions of Panshi and Taishan were ready to rush to help, but the camp did not attack, and they returned with the Changqing battalion in vain.

Seeing that the camp was already in sight, Fu Tianjun complained: "It's in vain, and you always have to take risks, I really don't know what the benefit is?" ”

"It's been a few days, it's time for the young marshal to calm down, we just can't do anything about Xu Ping, no matter what arrogant words you say, there's no way." Wu Zhong never raised any objections when the whole army was full of fighting spirit, and he estimated that now his colleagues in the New Army also saw clearly that they would not have any chance to defeat Xu Ping in any field battle.

……

In Xu Ping's camp, Chen Zhe had some opinions about Xu Ping's being so conservative: "This time, the Changqing camp went deep alone, and we let it go in vain." ”

"At most, our attack is to annihilate the Evergreen Battalion," Xu Ping has always been well aware of the movements of the new army, but he is not satisfied with just hitting a new military camp, he admits that perhaps another defeat of the new army will stimulate Huang Xiwen and other new army camp officers even more, but there will also be a risk of calming them down: "If the new army comes to its senses and abandons the Changqing battalion and withdraws, our army will be outside, and we can only watch them flee." ”

At this time, a herald of King Chuang came to Xu Ping's tent and loudly reported the good news to him: "General, Zhu Xianzhen has won a great victory, our army has broken the Chu army, Zuo Liangyu fled with light horses, threw down more than 200,000 subordinates, and King Chuang chased the north and won countless pieces!" ”

Xu Ping smiled: "Although it is expected, it is always reassuring to hear it with your own ears." Come on, prepare wine and meat, and let this brother have a good meal. ”

All the people in the camp will be summoned by Xu Ping, and after telling them the good news, everyone is also very happy: "King Chuang and King Cao will soon move to join us in the camp, and if the new army does not leave, it will be a turtle in the urn." ”

"How could it not be gone?" Xu Ping laughed, the new army had delayed a few days of precious time, and they didn't realize that their choice became smaller and smaller: "It will take three days to clean up the battlefield and pursue the Chu army from King Chuang, and it will take another two days to move the division to join forces with us." I reckon they'll get the news tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow, and they'll have five days to get out of the way. ”

"In Henan, they can't go fast."

"Yes, if they want to take everything with them, we will follow them and harass them until King Chuang catches up and surrounds them with us." After a few days of analysis, Chuang Ying believes that the best retreat route for the new army is in the direction of Bozhou, as long as it is closely followed, the new army will be dragged in Henan, this kind of close pursuit will certainly pay some price, but as long as it can be dragged until Li Zicheng arrives, then it will be worth it. "While the new army has not yet received the news, we are ready to send troops today."

"The fear is that the new army will abandon its baggage and retreat." The official road from here to Bozhou is still under the control of the new army, and Zhou Dongtian believes that the new army may be light in the front and heavy in the rear, and retreat to Bozhou alternately. But there is another possibility, that is, the new army abandoned most of its baggage and retreated at full speed along the road to Bozhou. If Xu Ping pursued, he might only be able to leave one or two battalions of the rear guard of the New Army.

"If that's the case," Xu Ping pointed to the official road on the map, and said to the people around him: "The new army will definitely take the main road to retreat, they don't know that there is a shortcut here." Xu Ping's so-called short road is a transportation system composed of a series of small roads, and the staff officers have already formulated a marching plan, which can make full use of the ability of these roads to pass, so that the large army that breaks into the camp can take fewer roads to get in front of the new army.

The only problem was that it was impossible for Xu Ping to carry too much baggage in order to transport the army on these trails, if this would have to be done for each soldier to prepare his own dry rations for five days, while the rest of the baggage would have to be left in place: "We will only do this when we find that the new army has abandoned its baggage and withdraw at full speed, and if they don't need it, then we don't need it." ”

……

After learning the news of Zuo Liangyu's defeat, a fierce debate broke out again in the new military camp, and Huang Xiwen sent a war letter to Xu Ping for the last time, but it was still refused. Then came the urgent news from the scouts that some of the intruders had left their strong camp and were heading east, as if they were in parallel pursuit.

"Xu Thief's camp is a lot empty now, young marshal, let's storm his camp, and then lift the siege of Kaifeng in one go." Zhang Biao is still trying to persuade Huang Xiwen to send troops, but there are many fewer people who echo him today: "Young marshal, if you are willing to take the lead with the Xuanfeng battalion, you will definitely be able to break through the camp of Xu Thief." ”

Still no one agreed with Zhang Biao's proposal, and before Zuo Liangyu was defeated, Huang Xiwen sent an urgent letter asking Yu Dong to report his position and quickly come to join him. But to this day, Yu Dong is still vague and vague in his only reply, refusing to make any substantive promises.

"If Yu Shuai withdraws, we will be in big trouble." Zhan Tianhao jumped out to be a villain: "Let's think about it in the long run." ”

"To think in the long run is to abandon Kaifeng," Zhang Biao had completely ignored the military etiquette, and shouted: "Does Lord Zhan want to learn from Xu Ping and give up Jia Shuai and Shanlanying?" ”

Zhan Tianhao looked at Zhang Biao silently and nodded slowly: "If you think that Xu Ping and I are all the way, then it's up to you, anyway, now we'd better retreat first." ”

"Lord Zhan, you are a dignified husband, why are you willing to fall like a thief?" Zhang Biao shouted.

"Shut up." Huang Xiwen shouted: "Brother Zhang, you are too unorthodox. ”

"Then what about our wounded soldiers, should they also be thrown away together?" It seems that Zhang Biao has begun to lose control.

"At least you can't bring the cannons." Wu Zhong suddenly interjected, he didn't dare to say that the wounded soldiers should be abandoned: "If you want to take away our wounded soldiers, then you can't let the artillery occupy the carriage." ”

"What if the thief catches up? How can we meet without artillery? Ji Xinghui asked.

Wu Zhong suddenly closed his mouth again, and muttered in his heart: "I shouldn't have delayed in danger, these wounded soldiers were not harmed by me, they should have left a few days ago, but no one was willing to take the lead." ”

"I heard that Xu Ping is not bad with the captives."

A man said something coldly.

"Nonsense, it's not about abandoning wounded soldiers." Zhang Biao glared angrily at that person, and even scolded: "......"

Huang Xiwen couldn't stop drinking several times, so the guards took Zhang Biao out.

"Xu Ping is still good for the captives."

After Zhang Biao was blasted out, another person repeated this sentence, followed by another one, and gradually more and more people in the camp repeated this sentence.

After Wu Zhong saw that most of them had spoken, he also muttered, and judging from Huang Xiwen's expression, he seemed to have made up his mind.

At this moment, a guard hurriedly rushed in: "Young marshal, it's not good!" ”

The guards anxiously reported: After Zhang Biao left the camp tent, he actually ran to the army and cried loudly, saying that Huang Xiwen and the battalion commanders planned to abandon the wounded soldiers and escape, and after finishing speaking, they committed suicide with their swords in the crowd of soldiers.

The people in the camp were all shocked and hurriedly rushed to the scene, next to Zhang Biao's corpse, some remnants of the Xuanfeng battalion were stroking the corpse and crying bitterly, and the wounded soldiers were also crying in the camp. As soon as the news spread, it spread ten, ten, hundreds, and there was a lot of discussion everywhere.

After finally calming the morale of the army, Huang Xiwen continued the meeting physically and mentally exhausted, just now he had sworn in front of the army that he would not abandon the wounded soldiers.

After returning to the camp tent, Huang Xiwen looked around at the battalion commanders: "We are going to retreat with the wounded soldiers, who will break the back?" ”

Every general who was swept by Huang Xiwen's gaze avoided his eyes, Wu Zhong did not dodge, but said loudly: "Young marshal, the Changqing Battalion has suffered a lot of losses, I'm afraid it won't be able to bear such a heavy responsibility." ”

In the end, the battalions decided to blow up the artillery, give up unnecessary baggage, and then return to Bozhou together with light equipment.

Back in the Changqing camp, Wu Zhong and Fu Tianjun talked about the content of today's meeting and sighed: "If there is a person like Xu Ping in our army, why not stop here? ”

Fu Tianjun was also nervous in his heart, but if he wanted to let the Evergreen Camp be the queen of the palace, then he was also unwilling: "It has always been our Evergreen Camp that has fought bloodily, and it would be too unfair if we let our palace queen." ”

"Yes, so I told the young marshal bluntly that our battalion is powerless." Wu Zhong snorted: "Anyway, I won't propose to let a certain camp be broken, lest the young marshal take the opportunity to throw this burden on us." ”

"Xu Ping is really good to the wounded soldiers," Fu Tianjun said with difficulty: "Why don't you bring cannons, if you really abandon the cannons and bring less baggage, then you can't bring the wounded soldiers, we must get out of danger as soon as possible, and we can't let the thieves have a chance to catch up with us." ”

"That's why I said that the army needs a person like Xu Ping," Wu Zhong very much agreed with Fu Tianjun's opinion, but he would never open this mouth, Xu Ping was scolded because of this decision, and even Wu Zhong and Wei Landu, who supported his proposal, were unlucky, since taking responsibility is this fate, then whoever wants to go will go: "These people who are standing in front of the young marshal today scolded us more vigorously than one another, and now how can they be willing to slap themselves in the mouth, well, anyway, it's not that one of our battalions is unlucky, To die is to die together. ”

"Your Excellency is serious." Fu Tianjun persuaded: "We have many more horses and vehicles than Xu Ping, and we may not be able to catch up with us if our six battalions break through together. If Xu Ping really dares to chase him, we will give him a good look. ”

"I'm just angry." Wu Zhong also held a similar idea, if Xu Ping pursued, several battalions were gathered together, knowing that those who did not break the rear could only fight to the death to fight a bloody way, and the fighting spirit would definitely be far above the battle of Pheasant Gang. The reason why no one from the other battalions and battalion officers came out to break the rear was that they felt that they could fight a battle, so they were unwilling to take their headquarters to stay and die.

……

"The new army is really promising, and it doesn't even divide the army." When Xu Ping learned that the New Army had begun to retreat, he praised their deployment.

"They blew up the artillery and took away the wounded, what a righteous army." Chen Zhe sighed with emotion: "But there are not many wounded soldiers, they run fast with a carriage, and the equipment of the new army is really good." ”

"Can you run faster than us?" Xu Ping dispatched troops and immediately began the pursuit operation: "We don't have to chase too closely, the so-called mortal enemy will fight, if we force too hard, they will fight to the death, I decided to choose the battlefield in Ningling." Ningling is the only way to Bozhou, and there is still a distance away, so Xu Ping does not have to worry about the new army leaving behind some of the guards to escape, and for the soldiers of the new army, they are almost out of the border of Henan, and if they desert, they may not be able to escape alone: "Don't stay in the scattered land, for the new army, Ningling is almost a scattered land." ”

"Maybe we can get closer to Bozhou," Zhou Dongtian suggested: "The closer you get to Bozhou, the worse the morale of the officers and men, and maybe the whole battalion will escape from the main force alone." ”

"I don't want this situation to happen, if there are really several battalions with such thoughts, we can easily defeat them, but we will also let go of a large number of officers and soldiers, I still hope that Huang Xiaohou will return to fight." Xu Ping has always thought that the best strategy is to put the enemy in a dilemma, and now the officers and soldiers have finally begun to withdraw after a few days of meaningless waste, and from the intelligence point of view, the preliminary work of this withdrawal is very poor: "If I don't do it, I don't stop it, if I am Huang Xiaohou, or I will grit my teeth at the beginning and not abandon the wounded soldiers to boost morale, since I have moved this idea and it has been known by the soldiers, then I have to do it to the end, throw down all the artillery and wounded soldiers, and order a certain battalion to defend to the death. That would cause me much more trouble. Now not only do you have to bring wounded soldiers, but also make the morale of the army fluctuate, it is really nothing, and when the situation in the first battle of Ningling is unfavorable, I would like to know how much fighting spirit ordinary soldiers of the new army can have. ”

"Say a thousand, say ten thousand, we still have to defeat the new army in Ningling, this is the Great Plains, there is no way to set up an ambush, and it is too far away from King Chuang, King Chuang is too late to arrive anyway. The new army is poor and eats cats, and it will inevitably fight with us," Yu Shenhe thought that the situation of Pheasant Gang having each other and watching and not moving could not happen in the subsequent battle: "Since the adults don't want to take advantage of the tricks and don't want to chase them to the vicinity of Bozhou to fight again, then they have to think carefully about how to *** the desperate Sixth Battalion New Army, they are not the kind of tofu of the Jiangbei Army." ”

"Yes, this is Ningling," Xu Ping had already found the Ningling people in the army, drew a map of the local area in advance, and before he began to pursue, the camp had already begun to study their preset battlefield: "I plan to concentrate my forces on the right flank and break through and roll up the entire formation of officers and soldiers." ”

"It's nothing unusual." Yu Shenhe said with some disappointment, flank attack is not an unexpected tactic, if anyone in this camp can't think of it, or has not prevented the enemy from using such tactics before the battle, then he is not worthy of standing in front of Xu Ping at all, and Yu Shenhe thought that Xu Ping would have some unexpected plan.

"Yes, it's too ordinary tactics, but if there are really any exquisite tactics in this world, they have long been thought of by the ancestors, and it won't be my turn." Xu Ping saw that the others didn't say anything, and their faces were similar to Yu Shenhe's disappointment, so he asked, "If you encounter the enemy's onslaught on the left flank, how will you deal with Brother Yu?" ”

"What is the situation on the left flank of the enemy army and in the center?"

Xu Ping shook his head: "It's not very clear. ”

"General Jia repeatedly mentioned in his lectures that the best reconnaissance is to attack, since the enemy has launched a flank attack, most of them are scouting the reality of my left flank, I will pay close attention to the enemy's movements, and be ready to send the reserves in my hand at any time, and at the same time launch a counterattack on the enemy's left flank to reconnoiter the enemy's reality."

"Very good, if it were me, I would probably be like this," Xu Ping commented: "Huang Xiaohou is the same age as me, both were born in the first year of Chongzhen, judging from the previous battle without fighting, retreating and not retreating, I guess he is eager to defeat me, not a very calm person." ”

"Young people, it is inevitable that they will be strong." Chen Zhe smiled: "My lord said it well. ”

"It's like how old you are," Yu Shenhe glared at Chen Zhe dissatisfiedly, Xu Ping's words were obviously prepared for this kind of countermeasure, and this reaction was also the reaction that Yu Shenhe claimed to have, Chen Zhe's words sounded as if he was reproaching Yu Shenhe for being reckless: "What are you going to do?" ”

"Huang Xiaohou doesn't have much experience in leading troops, he has never mastered the army in the Jin army, and most of his understanding of military affairs comes from the talk of Lord Yang and General Jia. I intend to concentrate the Guards Battalion, the Western Head Battalion, and the Western Forward Battalion all on the right flank and attack at the same time. Before he understands it, take advantage of his *** our other wing, and crush one of his wings in one fell swoop. ”

"This can't be done," Li Dingguo, who spoke this time: "First of all, one wing can't spread out three battalions, and the strength of these three battalions is more than half of the total strength of our army. ”

"I don't plan to expand these three battalions, if they are all expanded, Huang Xiaohou will understand it at a glance." Xu Ping said as he drew a sketch on the paper, laying out the plan and the plan.

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