After learning that the new army had been dispatched, Jiang Ping's staff group once again broke out into a quarrel, arguing endlessly over whether they should go to help the war as promised.

"But if He Shuai can't even beat General Xu, then what?" Before, Xu Ping's text claimed to be a pioneer and raised 500,000 troops, and Li Zicheng was a million, of course everyone didn't believe this, but including Jiang Ping and his staff, they all felt that there were still hundreds of thousands of Shun troops. It is also possible that the pioneer Xu Ping has 100,000 people, or even hundreds of thousands, in his hands: "If you can help General Xu win, wouldn't it be the best gift for King Shun?" ”

"In any case, our army must be ready to enter the war," Jiang Ping realized that whether the Shun army or the Ming army wins, if he wants to gain a foothold next to the victor, he must have merit, Jiang Pan set the tone for today's action: "For a while, our army will stay fifteen or ten miles away from the battlefield, closely monitoring the victory and defeat of the new army and the Shun army. ”

"If the new army wins, we will help He Shuai, and we don't have to chase and fight General Xu, as long as we kill and wound some of the routs of the Shun army, and obtain some heads to prove our loyalty and courage to the imperial court, after all, one day King Shun and He Shuai did not decide the winner, and it is difficult to say whether this mandate of heaven belongs to Dashun or Daming." As the commander of the first army, Jiang Ping must be more thoughtful than all his staff, and cannot desperately defect to Dashun or die for the Ming court before the war is clear, Jiang Ping believes that he is not a gambler in nature: "But if He Shuai can't win even General Xu, then Da Ming is really exhausted." Let's see when the time comes, if the Shun army wins, we will do our best to help the general, and not let the new army flee from Shanxi. ”

……

Several other battalions have already marched to the battlefield, and the soldiers of the firefighting battalion, which served as reserves, have also left the camp and are ready to go at any time.

Battalion officer Wang Qinian summoned all the team officers to make a final lecture, and Jin Mancang was also among them.

Wang Qinian looked at the team officers in front of him with fierce eyes, and suddenly stretched out his hand and pointed: "Take him down for me." ”

The guards rushed up and grabbed Jin Mancang, and Jin Mancang was shocked: "Father-in-law, what is the villain's crime?" ”

I only heard Wang Qinian drink: "Your wolf ambition, don't I know it?" ”

After speaking, he waved his hand and asked the guards to pull Jin Mancang out of the camp and behead him.

After dragging the scolded Jin Mancang out, Wang Qinian explained to the rest of his henchmen that he knew everything about Jin Mancang's resentment against the fire battalion, and he just held back it before.

A moment later, the guards presented Jin Mancang's head to the barracks.

"This is the fate of a half-hearted traitor who wants to frame the whole battalion of brothers!" Wang Qinian grabbed the dead golden mancang's hair, and raised the bloody head to the air: "Born in troubled times, our firefighting battalion can only survive in this troubled times by twisting it into a rope." ”

Many people were so shocked by this change that they couldn't speak, especially the few team officers who participated in the Shandong massacre, thinking that if it wasn't for Wang Qinian's insight into all this, they really didn't know how to die.

Wang Qinian threw Jin Mancang's head on the ground and shouted: "Whoever lives and dies with me today, tomorrow will be my Wang Qinian's brother!" ”

Many of the officers here are Wang Qinian's descendants, and the rest are his old subordinates, who bowed to the ground after hearing Wang Qinian's words: "My lord's words are serious." ”

……

Xu Ping placed his flag on the highest hill nearby, the guard camp hid on the hillside behind, and Liu Zongmin's cavalry was farther away. On the left is the Ushio camp, where the avant-garde battalion is responsible for the defense, while the right flank has the most treacherous terrain, leaving only the sharpshooter battalion. In front of the flag, there is the armored battalion, and another guard battalion is deployed between the armored battalion and Oxwei Zhuang to ensure the continuity of the battle line.

"It's really a majestic army," looking at the layers of new troops on the opposite side, Xu Ping couldn't help but sigh, because it was the battlefield chosen by the Shun army, the battle line was not very wide, Xu Ping was very satisfied to see that although the new soldiers were numerous, they could not fully deploy their troops: "Our artillery is all hidden, right?" ”

"Hide it, sir." In order to offset the artillery superiority of the new army as much as possible, the armored battalion and the sharpshooter battalion only deployed a part of the infantry on the ridgeline to form a defensive line, while the remaining half of the soldiers hid in the anti-slope, and the avant-garde battalion hid in the camp in Niuweizhuang. As for the artillery, they are now hiding behind the hillside or in the camp of Ushiozhuang, waiting for the infantry of the New Army to come out. Zhou Dongtian reported to Xu Ping: "The Sanxi Camp encountered heavy snow yesterday, and General Li estimated that it was impossible for him to arrive before noon. ”

"Will you be there in the afternoon?" Xu Ping looked at the banners of the Taishan Battalion and the Xiliu Battalion in the distance, if the Sanxi Battalion arrives, then the Shun army will be on par with the new army in terms of strength, and the Shun army will now be able to offset the quantitative advantage of the new army by relying on the quality advantage: "It's okay, let the new army attack first, if the Sanxi battalion arrives early, we have to take the initiative to attack." ”

"General Li is taking the northern road," the new army bypassed from the south to attack Niuweizhuang, and Zhou Dongtian guessed that the other party was trying to cut off the connection between Xu Ping and Taiyuan: "After the arrival of the Sanxi Battalion, our two armies will still face the ox head-on." ”

"Probably General He is worried that we still have some troops left in Taiyuan," whether the new army attacks from this direction or from the north, the only thing to consider for Xu Ping is the position of the Sanxi battalion to enter the battlefield, anyway, he does not have any troops in Taiyuan, and it doesn't matter if the new army cuts off its connection with Taiyuan or not: "If you top the cow, you can top the cow, it's not bad, the new army still has to guard against them from suddenly killing a piece of our army behind their back." ”

"My lord is really knowledgeable," hearing Xu Ping say so easily, Zhou Dongtian laughed and said: "It's all good, it's not bad." ”

"The 30,000 troops under my command are all battle-hardened heroes, and their morale is so high," Xu Ping said with a smile, even if Zhou Dongtian said some other bad news, it could not affect Xu Ping's confidence in victory: "With such a good deck of cards in your hand, what are you worried about?" ”

"Your Excellency said it well," Yu Shenhe also said loudly, he looked at the armored battalion deployed in front of the guards battalion with some envy, Li Laiheng was busy inspecting the troops to boost morale and check the preparations of each team. Compared with Li Laiheng, Yu Shenhe seems to have nothing to do, his subordinates are quietly staying behind the mountain, and there is no work for them to do now: "I hope that the armored battalion will not steal all the limelight today, and leave some of Zhu Ming's thieves for me to kill." ”

"Don't worry, there will be, there will be." Xu Ping comforted, picked up the telescope and continued to observe the movements of the Ming army on the opposite side.

……

On the other side of the battlefield, He Baodao was adjusting the formation, and it didn't seem that attacking the left flank of the Shun army would be of much benefit, and he planned to leave only one battalion to confront the sharpshooter battalion in a-for-tat manner, and the other soldiers and horses were concentrated in front of Xu Ping's general banner and the right flank.

"Maybe it's better to attack on all fronts," Wang Qinian suggested: "The marshal only leaves one battalion, and Xu Ping can continue to draw out the forces of his right flank." And we don't know his deployment behind the mountain, in case he still has a strong army left, and suddenly kills from the side, it's also troublesome, right? ”

"Xu Ping only has 30,000 people, can he still fight back?" He Baodao carefully observed the lineup of the Shun army on the opposite side with a telescope, he probably counted out more than 10,000 soldiers, and he didn't know how many troops there were in Xu Ping's camp in Niuweizhuang, but He Baodao estimated that he would have to deploy a few thousand, he pointed to the ridge: "It is impossible for Xu Ping's battle line to deploy such a thin layer, there will probably be 10,000 behind, plus what we have seen, Xu Ping has used about 22,000 infantry in order to form a battle line, his guard battalion and cavalry, if I guess correctly, Definitely hidden behind his flag. ”

"But Xu Ping's Sanxi Battalion is still missing," Wang Qinian is worried that this unit has already arrived or will arrive soon: "If 20,000 thieves suddenly come out of our right flank, one battalion will definitely not be able to withstand it." ”

He Baodao thought about it for a while, and decided to leave one more battalion opposite the Marksman Battalion: "Two battalions are enough, and the firefighting battalion can reinforce them at any time." ”

The Flame Battalion was placed in a backward position by He Baodao to guard against the direction of Taiyuan: "Xu Ping has always been cunning, maybe the Sanxi Battalion of the thieves is hiding in Taiyuan City and wants to attack our backs." ”

Wang Qinian also had similar worries, the direct guards had been assembled to prepare for the war, and the intelligence network of the Ming army had shrunk a lot at once, and the warning time was probably only about an hour.

Glancing at He Baodao beside him, Wang Qinian knew that his future future depended on today's battle: "The imperial court has lost the control of the martial arts, whether it is in the new army or other Ming armies, the imperial court has lost its prestige, and the thieves have entered Shanxi this time, and the local border army generals do not listen to the command of civilian officials at all, and they surrender to the wind." And the imperial court no longer had an army capable of intimidating the provincial armies. ”

Wang Qinian didn't know why He Baodao was still respectful to the imperial court, but he knew very well that He Baodao definitely had the strength to divide one side - as long as he could defeat the Shun army, and the imperial court might not trust him to the end, and it was likely that he would have to sacrifice a magic weapon that was large and small.

"He Baodao will still obey the orders of the imperial court at that time, and the imperial court will definitely let the battalion officers of the new army go their own way, and will not let He Baodao alone command the whole army, and will not let him recover all of Shanxi, so He Baodao's strength will be too terrible, he wants to be Guo Ziyi, but the court does not dare to risk another Cao Cao. At that time, I may be able to be a real and unknown king of Shaanxi. Before, Huang Shi swore that the Shun army would never exceed 50,000 troops, unlike other pessimistic new military camp officers, Wang Qinian was very confident in Huang Shi's judgment, and he silently recited in his heart: "Henan has been dilapidated after a long war, and the new thieves in Shaanxi are uncertain, as long as Xu Ping's tens of thousands of people are eliminated, how can he recover his vitality with a Li Chuang who can't even make muskets and artillery?" What kind of Dashun, the foundation is so unstable, as long as you lose a battle, it will come to naught in a blink of an eye. ”

Although the prophecy of a catastrophe in three hundred years has worried many people, Wang Qinian does not believe that the Ming Dynasty will collapse like this, and the collapse of the dynasty since ancient times has always gone through the stage of loss of tax sources, local secession, and self-respect of warlords. Although even Emperor Chongzhen cried: There are images of dead countries everywhere in the world, but Wang Qinian couldn't help but think that even in the Chongzhen Dynasty, the imperial court still has the absolute right to appoint and dismiss local personnel, and the central government can still collect a large amount of taxes from the provinces - which dynasty and which generation can die in this situation? I'm afraid there is only the Sui Dynasty, but it is not a dynasty like the Ming Dynasty that has been around for hundreds of years, and people who are older at that time still remember that this world was not originally surnamed Yang.

Therefore, Wang Qinian felt that Huangshi's chaotic behavior was too hasty, or that the route was wrong. He thinks that such reckless actions can only become Dong Zhuo and pave the way for those who come after him. Or become a powerful minister, or become a warlord, and wait until the prestige of the imperial court is completely discredited before he can replace him. Since Huang Shi is unwilling to honestly run the imperial court and become a powerful minister to pave the way for future generations, but must be Dong Zhuo, then Wang Qinian feels that it is better to try to become a warlord, from a historical point of view, this is the way to save his life and family, and he does not want to become Li Guo and others.

"Great marshal," a herald from the Taishan battalion rushed to report: "General Ji said that the front was too narrow and that only two battalions could be deployed at a time, and he hoped that the marshal would allow him to bypass Niuweizhuang and continue to detour to the rear of the thieves, and then flank Niuweizhuang with other battalions. ”

"What are you kidding?" He Baodao rejected this proposal in one mouth, Xu Ping knew nothing about the deployment of the new army behind the mountain, although He Baodao had some guesses, but he was not absolutely sure: "Isn't he afraid of running into the ambush of the thieves?" ”

"General Ji just wants to make a detour to reconnoitre, if our battalion successfully detours back to the rear of Niuweizhuang, the deployment of the thieves will be clear at a glance." The herald of the Taishan battalion hurriedly explained.

"And then? How did General Ji inform me, will he pass on the sound of a thousand miles or a flying sword? He Baodao said dissatisfiedly, separated by Xu Ping's main force, He Baodao thought that such a long-distance detour could only lead to the loss of his command of the Taishan battalion. Not to mention that the Taishan battalion still has the problem of getting lost or encountering impassable roads, this is a mountainous area, and the army does not know how far it will go out after a long time.

"My general can act when he sees the opportunity."

"He was ambushed by the Shun army, and I don't know if the whole army was destroyed, and I will be stupid to wait for him to return to his position." He Baodao waved his hand and said: "Needless to say, Ben Shuai disagrees, and besides, there are only half of the thieves on the other side, and we can win by attacking in a dignified manner, so why bother ourselves?" And Ben Shuai can't see the benefits at all. ”

After bombing away the heralds of the Taishan battalion, He Baodao continued to command the whole army to arrange the troops, and soon the battalions sent heralds to report that the troops had been adjusted.

"Let's attack." He Baodao did not wait any longer and gave the order to attack.

The Changqing Battalion and the Tianyi Battalion, located in the center, were ordered to launch the first round of offensives. At the same time, the Taishan Battalion and the Dongsen Battalion also began to attack Ushiozhuang.

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