"The best camp for the vanguard of the new army tonight should be Pheasant Hill, and tomorrow the baggage troops will arrive later. Both sides of Pheasant Hill are farmland, with a wide field of vision, which is convenient for large troops to fight. The vicinity of Pheasant Gang was Xu Ping's chosen target, the hill was the only commanding height in the surrounding plains, and there was farmland within a radius of several miles, and there was no complicated terrain or rivers: "After capturing Pheasant Gang, I will set up my flag here." ”

Xu Ping felt that there was no better command location than this hill nearby, and that occupying Pheasant Hill could also effectively hinder the reconnaissance network of the New Army and prevent the New Army from spying on the scale and direction of the offensive of the invading army. For the group of staff officers under Xu Ping who were proficient in the regulations of the new army, it was really easy to simulate the formation and passing order of the new army, and after entering Henan, the strength of the new army Xu Ping's staff officers understood that the soldiers of the seven battalions, including artillery, had reached full strength, so that the daily consumption of each battalion could also be calculated.

These staff officers assumed that they were in the position of staff officers of the Forces nouvelles, and deduced the disposition of the army and other relevant details according to the regulations of the new army, and then designed the offensive intentions of the camp based on these deductions. The staff officers believed that the best mode of attack was to spare the battalions of the vanguard of the Forces nouvelles and strike the first attack at the rear of the Forces nouvelles column.

"According to the regulations, the Forces nouvelles will have about 2,000 combat troops in this position to protect their baggage. Within an hour of our attack, the rearguard battalion of the Forces nouvelles would also arrive to join the battle. My plan to invest in my troops gradually, rather than all at once, is, of course, yet another serious violation of the regulations of the Forces nouvelles. Xu Ping's tone was very relaxed, and the staff officers also showed a knowing smile, among those who had taken classes in the Zhendong Hou teaching team, in all the tactical classes, the instructors took the trouble to emphasize that it is not advisable to add fuel to the tactics, and the commander should do everything in his power to strive for the greatest tactical superiority. And these people came to the camp and taught this golden rule to their students, and Xu Ping tried to launch a surprise attack, delaying as much time as possible for the new army to make the right judgment: "Field? Numerally superior, if they find our powerful army on the battlefield, they may quickly retreat, and even after throwing a battalion of soldiers, we must not scare them away. ”

A staff officer once proposed a multi-point offensive plan, which might cause greater confusion for the new army, but Xu Ping vetoed this proposal: "Then we may also be chaotic, and there is no need for such a complicated plan when we have the initiative and can simply gain an advantage." We don't need to achieve a complete victory all at once, we only need to concentrate on winning a battle to gain an advantage over the new army, after all, this time we are going to attack them, and the defending side will always have a better reconnaissance network. Besides, they are still on the ground of our Henan, and if we hit them hard, we still have a chance to attack them. ”

……

After entering the territory of Henan, the new army never fought with the local troops left behind in the camp, including the large city of Guide, Yang Zhiyuan ordered to bypass: "The more wounded soldiers mean the greater the drag, this place is thousands of miles away from the Beijing division, we cannot get replenishment, there is no need to waste troops on these defenders." ”

While cities such as Guide were tempting targets for the average Ming army, meaning wealth and merit, Yang Zhiyuan didn't care about that. From time to time, some subordinates advocated capturing one or two big cities that broke into the camp to kill Xu Ping's spirit, but Yang Zhiyuan was always unmoved, and his only concern was Xu Ping's field army group: "The soldiers are outside, and the defenders dare to fortify the wall." If Xu Ping's main force is defeated, these city soldiers can be obtained without blood. But as long as Xu Ping has not been defeated, they will try to resist. Seeing us use field troops to ram the artillery and city walls of Jiancheng, Xu Ping's teeth will laugh off. ”

For Huang Xiwen, the fact that Kaifeng did not fall meant that Xu Ping focused his attention on the field forces of the New Army, and as it continued to advance into Henan, the New Army became more and more vigilant: "Xu thieves hid in the shadows, waiting to rush out and give us a fierce blow. In previous private discussions, Huang Xiwen asked several times: "Uncle Yang, what will Xu Thief probably jump out of?" ”

"I don't know, there are too many places on this road that are suitable for fighting," Yang Zhiyuan always replied: "Henan is Xu Ping's territory, and it is up to him to decide when and where to fight this battle." But since he is attacking us, then he can't avoid our eyes and ears, and now we know that he will definitely jump out, so we will wait for him, anyway, he only has one chance. ”

Yang Zhiyuan said that as long as Xu Ping was found to be trying to block the reconnaissance network of the new army, it meant that his main force had been dispatched: "It is difficult for me for Xu Ping to drive the army directly into our field of vision, and if he does this, he will not be Xu Ping." Xu Ping will definitely be afraid of alarming us, and the first wave of troops will only be 500 to 2,000 people, in short, he will limit his strength to the situation that one or even half of our battalion can deal with. ”

Huang Xiwen knew that Yang Zhiyuan did not intend to violently attack the vanguard of the camp, but would make them half of the success - blinding the eyes and ears of the Ming army's reconnaissance: "We know very well that the main force of the Xu thieves will follow his vanguard troops, so we don't need to completely open our reconnaissance network, on the contrary, the thieves will think that they have succeeded, thinking that we are not aware of the scale of their offensive." ”

"Yes, the real key is the other half, that is, not to let the camp find out that our whole army is eyeing us on the left." Yang Zhiyuan intends to fight this battle with a refueling tactic that seriously violates the principles of tactics: "Although I am not known for military affairs, your father has repeatedly emphasized the importance of the first blow in all his books, and the need to avoid multiple reinforcements that are indecisive and will lead to a stalemate rather than a quick resolution, so when Xu Ping finds out that our troops are arriving in waves, he will mistakenly think that our troops are rushing to the battlefield from different positions near and far, which will give him great encouragement, thinking that if he adds a little more strength, he can defeat us." ”

Yang Zhiyuan's plan was to set up a blocking position, and use this position to prevent the opening of the intelligence network of the intruding army, so as to hide the main force of the new army under the fog of the battlefield: "The so-called most powerful attack is the first blow, Xu Ping must want to do this, but this time he is coming to fight us, and his troops cannot all arrive at the battlefield in the blink of an eye, and we have to send troops that the camp just can't beat to block the defense line every time, so that Xu Ping feels that he is almost able to win every time." ”

According to Yang Zhiyuan's prediction, the new army will be in the main position in terms of tactics, so the reaction and reinforcement speed of the new army will definitely be higher than that of breaking into the camp: "This time, it is not easy to let Xu Ping come out of his lair to fight us, we must not scare him away all at once." In any case, they must not be allowed to find out that our powerful forces are gathered and waiting for them. ”

The main force of the new army will hide behind Yang Zhiyuan's defensive position at leisure, and wait until Xu Ping puts a considerable amount of the main force into offensive operations, for example, Yang Zhiyuan's initial standard is Xu Ping's 30% strength - about 10,000 people. When the number of camps involved in the attack reached this number, Yang Zhiyuan would devote twice as many new troops to meet them, and then pursue them closely: "At this time, Xu Ping's main force may be hurrying towards the battlefield, they have no time to deploy, they have no time to rest, and they have not yet figured out what is happening. I hope that our confusion action will make Xu Ping misjudge for a period of time, such as about half a day. ”

Huang Xiwen once suspected that there would be a situation in which the camp would adopt a multi-point attack mode, which would increase the pressure on the re-army command and create more chaos. Therefore, Huang Xiwen also suggested to Yang Zhiyuan that he could consider the strategy of facing the battle from multiple sides and concentrating reserves in the center to inflict greater damage on the camp.

"There is no need for this, as long as we annihilate Xu Ping's 10,000 people, then we have already obtained the opportunity to break the siege of Kaifeng, not to mention that we can also use the pursuit to disperse more camps and find more opportunities." Yang Zhiyuan decided to concentrate seven battalions to meet the battle, if the camp attacked more, then the small force of the non-main battlefield had to try to get rid of the army and flee the battlefield on their own: "After all, we are on the territory of Henan, let's not be greedy." ”

……

These days, Yu Dong's army has been marching highly, encountering resistance from the camp along the way, and Yu Dong is also steady and steady, and has never launched any surprise attacks. Even those camping horses who were swaying in front of him, Yu Dong had no intention of sending troops to expel them.

Seeing these camp-raiding horses swaying around the camp like flies, the subordinates were inevitably worried, and every day after dark they watched the night around the camp with fear, for fear that a shout of killing would suddenly sound from inside, or a large force of troops would suddenly come out.

Yu Dong and his master Wu Wei looked without fear, the two of them were still as sweet as ever when they ate, and after nightfall, the owner and the master would play two games of chess to relieve boredom, and after returning to the camp, Yu Dong was even more on the pillow, and it didn't take a few seconds to hear the thunderous snoring of the big handsome.

Every time he saw the sad faces of his subordinates, Yu Dashuai would comfort them: "What's wrong with the Tanma who broke into the camp?" It is safest for them to see our army clearly. You think, after all, General Xu and I are friends and foes, if my Yu Dong's army, General Xu, can't know everything, he will inevitably have a little, at least a little worry, right? If you are worried, you will inevitably be afraid, and of course there will only be a little bit, but there will still be one after all. In this way, General Xu might send someone to beat us up and see what we want to do. You say, is this itchy skin? ”

One of his subordinates still felt that it was inappropriate after all, and suggested: "Dashuai, but what about our Tanma?" Don't we need to send someone to take a look, if General Xu comes to fight us, we can run away. ”

"First of all, before sending troops, I made it very clear that General Xu would never come to attack us; Second, our Tanma and General Xu's Tanma will inevitably clash with each other, in case it hurts the harmony, it will not be good. These camp-breaking horses will inevitably be related to each other, and if they miss and hurt that one, and the others hold a grudge and go to General Xu to be alarmist, we should be unlucky. Third! Yu Dong stretched out his third finger: "If General Xu thinks that he can beat us all over the ground at any time, he will not be in a hurry to beat us, and when he finishes beating Zuo Shuai and Yang Shuai, we don't need to explore the horse and know that it is time to run away." If we go out in all directions, General Xu thinks that we won't be able to fight us if we don't fight today—for example, if he finds that one of our arrangers is not well arranged, he will give him a chance, and maybe he really wants to beat us up. ”

Looking at the admiring gazes of his subordinates around him, Yu Dong said modestly: "I also read military books, and I remember that there is a sentence in Huang Hou's book: 'Fear comes from the unknown'." I think it's very well said, General Xu sees us at a glance, there is no unknown, there will be no fear of us, and without fear, there will be no right and wrong. ”

After everyone dispersed, Xu Ping stayed alone in the tent, and he said to Li Zicheng: "King Chuang, the people who came out of Kaifeng often washed their faces with tears, and always surrounded our officers and soldiers in the camp, pleading for their relatives who were still in the city; The brothers on patrol said that almost every Kaifeng refugee had a bodhisattva offering and burning incense in their homes, praying that their relatives who were still in the city would escape from the flames of the city. When our brothers were taking care of the elderly, they saw that they could not sleep all night, or they were frightened by nightmares, and they were so frightened that they could not even swallow food because they missed their families in the city. ”

Li Zicheng sighed.

Xu Ping said slowly: "The days I have been with King Chuang have not been very long, that is, I have been more familiar with each other recently. The king I heard about before was a man who always said that he would do the right thing for heaven and that he would suppress the army and pacify the people. But the king I saw was a person who was always hesitant and distressed. The King of Chuang I saw, I didn't believe what he said, and I always suspected that I was the Demon King of the Mixed World, because wherever King Chuang went, there were corpses all over the field. A large number of officers and soldiers fell under the swords of our camp, many of them were poor, they also had gray-haired parents, some wives waiting for him to return home, and young children to raise. These officers and soldiers are the pillars of their family, and when we kill them, we actually kill his entire family. ”

Li Zicheng raised his head sharply and stared at Xu Ping.

The latter continued: "King Chuang, I also hope to break the city immediately and reunite the people of Kaifeng with their families, and I will laugh with them at that time." ”

Li Zicheng let out a wry smile full of desolation: "Yes, only at that time did I feel that I was indeed doing the right thing for heaven." Brother Xu guessed my mind correctly, am I weak, am I not worthy to be the king of the entire camp? ”

"I have met Hou Xun before, his standard camp is now less than a hundred miles away from us, and he is the opponent of King Chuang. Hou Xun is very good at reading, and he is excellent at learning, he can be called a heart like a stone, and he has never doubted that he is doing something wrong. He was convinced that everyone he killed was to repay the court; He was convinced that every time he killed someone, he was one step closer to a peaceful and prosperous world, and every time he killed someone, more people would be saved. Therefore, Hou Xun killed with peace of mind, killing people would only make him sleep more soundly and deeply, and he would never be as suspicious as King Chuang, and sometimes weak as King Chuang. Xu Ping paused for a moment and said: "It's like tigers and wolves, they won't have doubts when they eat people, they won't be weak, this kind of doubt and weakness will keep you away from beasts and beasts, so that you are still alone." There are many people in the new army that I admire, and I was one of them, but if I don't kill them, Henan will be ruined; But the captives of the new army, I will not slaughter them, because I also have doubts, I am sometimes weak, and at this time I know that I am still a man, and not a man-eating tiger wolf. ”

Li Zicheng fell silent again.

Xu Ping said loudly: "King Chuang, let the people of Kaifeng have a nightmare for one more month, and be afraid for a while." A month later, we were defeated, not to mention that if we won the new army, we would immediately contact the defenders to break the city. The people of Kaifeng will definitely be able to reunite with their families, recognize each other as mothers and sons, and reunite with husbands and wives, and the end will promise you! ”

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