In Xu Ping's plan, the Right Route Army, composed of the rear guard battalion under the unified command of Li Laiheng and Liu Liangzuo's troops, would complete the rendezvous with the Left Route Army under his command at Ningguofu, and then launch an attack on the Ming army. But while Xu Ping could control the speed of his army's march, he couldn't control the Ming army, so when he and the 1st Cavalry Battalion arrived at Gaochun, they found that the Ming army was moving faster than he had guessed by at least a day: the 13th town of the Southern Ming had just arrived at Huangchi, and the 14th town that followed behind was heading towards Yongyang.

The sniper battalion has also arrived in Gaochun, and the marksman battalion and the second cavalry battalion will probably arrive at Gaochun, the rendezvous point of the left army, in the evening, and now Xu Ping only has 10,000 cavalry in his hands, with this force he may not be able to quickly recapture Huangchi from the thirteenth town of the Ming army. In this way, the Shun army could not be as Xu Ping expected, the left and right route armies suddenly appeared in front of the Ming army and completed the assembly of the whole army, but were divided by the Ming army - Huangchi, which had been occupied by the thirteenth town of the Southern Ming Dynasty, was the assembly point where he ordered Li Laiheng to join him.

The Ming army, which had been very cautious, suddenly greatly accelerated the speed of the march somewhat unexpectedly, and today the Shun army has been in contact with the Ming army's outpost, and the Ming army will find out the whereabouts of the main force of the Shun army tonight.

"Get the sniper battalion up to speed." Xu Ping immediately asked the herald to inform the rear army of the new situation, and at the same time ordered to move further closer to the Ming army, now the left army of the Shun army is advancing at full speed towards Huangchi, Xu Ping knew that he could not retreat, otherwise Li Laiheng would hit the main force of the 30,000 Ming army.

As Xu Ping guessed, shortly after noon, the sentinels of the 14th Town alerted the division headquarters to the direction of Gaochun to find a large number of field troops of the Shun army with unknown strength.

Chen Ning sent out the main reconnaissance force at hand in the direction of Xu Ping, and at the same time reported this alarm to the military headquarters of the Seventh Army, and in the afternoon, the Ming army became more and more aware of the seriousness of the problem, and the Shun army in the direction of Gaochun was estimated to be more than 10,000 people. Before nightfall, a captured Shun army Tanma even confessed that Xu Ping was in this Shun army, and this astonishing news immediately shook the whole army of the Seventh Army, and Commander Li urgently ordered the commanders of the two divisions to come to his army headquarters for a meeting.

Originally, Commander Li did not agree to go too fast, but Wang Qinian said that the art of war was unexpected and unprepared, and the Ming army had been procrastinating and slowly marching these days, so the sudden acceleration of speed must have surprised Xu Ping - he was really right about this. In Commander Li's heart, the destination of the Seventh Army was Taiping Mansion, and seeing that Taiping Mansion was in sight, and the Shun Army had not resisted, his mind became a little lively, not as cautious as he was at the beginning.

And Yi Meng and Zhao Ning are even more young people, bent on fighting with the Shun army in a dignified manner, and they also fully echoed Wang Qinian's proposal, so the Ming army suddenly stopped the steady and steady pattern two days ago, and went straight to the Taiping Mansion at full speed.

I didn't want to be able to take the Taiping Mansion in my pocket, and suddenly found that Xu Ping had sneaked nearby, Commander Li's first thought was regret, but after the initial panic, Commander Li thought carefully and found that he still had an advantage. After an afternoon of reconnaissance, the Ming army was convinced that the Shun army rushing out from Gaochun was no more than 10,000 people, and Commander Li asked himself that he had brought 40,000 troops (the two divisions and the military headquarters had a total of 35,000 soldiers and horses), Xu Ping's troops were only three or a quarter of his own, and the Ming army had already set up camps in Huangchi and Yongyang, and he was convinced that Xu Ping had lost the opportunity to make a surprise attack - and by the time Xu Ping's backup arrived, the Ming army had already consolidated its position.

Yi Meng of the 13th Division thought that this was an opportunity, and he firmly advocated leading the headquarters to turn around immediately and use all the strength of the Seventh Army to attack Xu Ping.

Chen Ning, who was closest to the Shun army, was relatively conservative, he didn't think that Xu Ping would dare to rush out to challenge the Seventh Army with only 10,000 people, and the officers and soldiers of the Seventh Army were all on the battlefield for the first time, Chen Ning guessed that Xu Ping was still followed by a considerable army, so he supported Commander Li's opinion, that is, to first set the defensive situation and Xu Tu to forge ahead.

Wang Qinian and Ji Xinghui, on the other hand, did not believe the prisoners' confessions, believing that Xu Ping shouldered the heavy responsibility of commanding 100,000 Shun troops north and south of the Great River, and would never command 10,000 vanguards on light horseback. The so-called war must first study the road, these days the Seventh Army has been calculating the passage capacity of the roads in Taiping Mansion and Yingtianfu, since the Chunhua side has not yet sent an alarm, it is impossible for the main force of the Shun Army to leave for too long.

"There is only one official road from Chunhua to Gaochun," Wang Qinian reminded everyone that it is impossible to send tens of thousands of troops to the Seventh Army so quickly by relying on this road alone, which is also one of the reasons why the Seventh Army dares to speed up its pace: "Unless Xu Thief divides the tens of thousands of troops into several roads at the beginning, let them go their own way, and then meet at the designated place." ”

"Since it's not Xu Ping's command, shouldn't we fight them?" Yi Meng is still stubborn, 10,000 troops is not a small number, and if this Shun army is annihilated, it will also be the biggest victory since the Northern Expedition.

"Ten thousand troops is not a small number," Ji Xinghui said for Yi Meng: "Xu Thief would not send such an army casually, he must be planning a large-scale attack." And he has always had a great appetite, and this time the target will definitely be our whole army. ”

Under Ji Xinghui's analysis, everyone gradually realized that Wang Qinian's initial intuition was probably right, Xu Ping was indeed likely to send the army in batches to meet the Ming army, and the staff officers randomly and urgently calculated, and the approximate results made the senior officers of the Seventh Army immediately realize the seriousness of the problem - if Xu Ping let several troops go their separate ways, then it was indeed possible for him to transport 40,000 to 50,000 troops here in such a short time.

"Fifty thousand!" After hearing this rough number, Li Junchang shouted, and suddenly felt as if his head was about to explode: "We only have 30,000 people!" Just now, Commander Li was proud of thinking that he had an army of 40,000, and now he immediately reduced himself by 10,000.

"But it's dangerous to go your separate ways, so it's easy to be broken by each one." Wang Qinian hurriedly comforted the army commander: "And it takes time for them to assemble, now we don't know if they have completed the assembly, we don't know where their scheduled rendezvous point is, well, in fact, it is difficult to say how many troops have reached the predetermined rendezvous point, maybe they haven't completed it at all." ”

"So we should attack quickly before they have gathered and defeat these ten thousand first!" Yi Meng immediately found another reason to attack immediately.

"But they may have done it, we just don't know." Zhao Ning was worried that before the 10,000 troops were defeated, the tens of thousands of Shun troops behind them rushed to the battlefield.

"And there may be one to the north of the servant division." Ji Xinghui reminded that when the staff officer calculated just now, he also counted the roads of Taiping Mansion, otherwise the number would not have reached a terrifying 50,000: "This army is even more unlikely to be commanded by Xu Thief himself, if he is really on the front line, then how can he command the entire army?" ”

If Xu Ping was really in command of the whole army, then everyone thought that he would be on the road with stronger troops, and the staff officers set the strength of the Shun army at 50,000 according to the principle of leniency for the enemy, then the direction of Taiping would definitely be a stronger road - they estimated that the road from Chunhua to Gaochun could only allow about 20,000 Shun troops to pass quickly.

"Prepare for defense right away." Although Wang Qinian comforted him just now and said that parting ways and marching was a difficult tactical maneuver, it was not long before Wang Qinian reminded him that he was completely capable of doing it at Xu Ping's level.

The Seventh Army was determined to let the public servant division go north and the honest division to the east to form a defensive fan, and urgently mobilized the air force to release all the reconnaissance balloons tomorrow, and the 35,000 Ming troops immediately occupied all the communication arteries and key hills, in Wang Qinian's words, to establish an iron bucket formation that could not be killed by the heavenly soldiers and generals as quickly as possible, and to consolidate the position between Huangchi and Yongyang before the arrival of the main force of the Shun army.

In this plan, Yi Meng was under the heaviest pressure, the 13th Division had to camp on the road, and if the Taiping Mansion really had 30,000 Shun troops assembled, he had to stop it at all costs, and then slowly retreat to join the headquarters of the Seventh Army and the 14th Division. After calming down, Yi Meng also felt the pressure on his shoulders, and began to regret his recklessness just now, if the public servant division blindly marched eastward, causing the main force of the Shun army to go south to cross the river easily without hindrance, then they would sweep the flank of the Ming army.

"Don't worry, Junzao," Yi Meng swore to Commander Li when he left the military headquarters: "The last general will definitely be able to stop Xu Ping to death." ”

……

The next day, as soon as dawn Xu Ping got up, he took the staff officers and guards straight to the front line, and the infantry of the sniper battalion behind him were opening the camp gate in large numbers. Due to the presence of Huang Chi Ming's army, Xu Ping had effectively lost control of the Left Route Army, and the order he gave to Li Laiheng was to act on camera.

"Why should the general be in danger alone," Liu Zongmin saw that Xu Ping was about to rush to the front line again, and couldn't help but persuade: "The general is not a captain, leave this investigation to the sons and daughters, can't the general trust them?" ”

"It's not that I can't believe it, it's just that I don't have those things flying in the sky, and it takes time to run back and forth, and I can't see it with my own eyes." Xu Ping smiled: "Everyone in the world says that I am a disciple of Duke Qi, and Duke Qi, who always takes the lead in commanding the front line, how can there be a disciple who will only stay in the camp and give orders?" ”

After running for a few miles, Xu Ping saw a group of cavalry staying on the side of the road and stopping to watch to the west, and this cavalry team belonging to the first cavalry wing Shunjun saw Xu Ping and saluted him one after another, and reported to him: "General, there is a position occupied by the Ming army in front. ”

Xu Ping nodded and stepped forward, he didn't need a telescope to see the activities of the Ming army on the opposite side, this was obviously a vanguard force, about four or five hundred people, struggling to dig field fortifications on the mountain in front of Xu Ping.

"They want to establish a position here and block our offensive line." Ji Huaiyu, the captain of the cavalry behind him, said to Xu Ping: "I am planning to repay the general and let the infantry come quickly. ”

Xu Ping snorted, obviously the follow-up troops of the Ming army will also drive towards this intersection, if the Shun army troops cannot be killed before the arrival of the Ming reinforcements, the Ming army will occupy this position.

"Of course," Xu Ping ordered a herald to urge the infantry of the sniper battalion without thinking, and then turned back and asked, "Do you just watch them build the fortifications?" ”

The cavalry captain who led the two hundred cavalry looked into Xu Ping's eyes and blurted out, "No." ”

After finishing speaking, Xu Ping did not look away, Ji Huaiyu was stunned again, and suddenly shouted loudly: "Obey, general, obey!" ”

After speaking, Ji Huaiyu drew his saber with a swipe on the ground, waved it vigorously in the air, and shouted to his subordinates behind him: "Kill me." ”

The leader of the Ming army who was building a position was an old subordinate of the Taishan battalion brought by Ji Xinghui, although he had no official military position, but the captain of this infantry team obeyed him. He had already noticed the small group of cavalry of the Shun army, but the other party was only half of his own number, so he ignored it and busied himself with building fences and digging trenches. When he saw the Shun army rushing towards him with a bright saber, he was startled at first, and then hurriedly asked the captain to order the infantry to fight, and when the Ming soldiers jumped up to resist, the veteran did not forget to remind: "Stab the horse's belly first!" ”

Xu Ping watched the progress of the battle intently, and the assault Shun army rushed up the hill of the Ming army, and in a blink of an eye, there was a sword and sword shadow, and from time to time the cavalry of the Shun army was shot down and dismounted. Some of the Shun cavalry who fell off their horses stood up on the spot as soon as they rolled on the spot, and continued to fight with the Ming infantry around them with handcuffs and sabers, while most of the Ming infantry who were attacked by the surprise also quickly gathered into a formation, surrounded the officers in the middle and formed a formation with bayonets, and soon this phalanx began to fire from the inside out, knocking down more Shun cavalry and dismounting.

The cavalry of the Shun army scattered more and more, circling around the phalanx of the Ming army from a distance, Xu Ping nodded slightly, this cavalry officer is worthy of being a veteran who participated in the Battle of Kaifeng, and he is very clear about his combat purpose and is not hot-headed at all.

After the reinforcements of the Ming army appeared next to the mountain bag, Xu Ping saw that Ji Huaiyu first covered his subordinates who had lost their horses, and then withdrew from the battle with the remnants of the cavalry.

When this group of Shun cavalry retreated to Xu Ping's side, there were less than a hundred cavalry with horses left behind Ji Huaiyu, and they also caused considerable casualties to the Ming army.

"Well done, Captain Ji." Xu Ping solemnly called the other party's surname and rank, and the fifteenth infantry wing of the sniper battalion behind him was running forward: "It's up to them next." ”

As soon as the Ming army climbed the mountain bag, before they had time to catch their breath, rows of black-clad infantry appeared in front of them, and before the Shun army loaded their bayonets with their guns, the rumbling drums were beaten, and they marched towards the Ming army with neat steps, and their commander was personally directing the attack.

……

Within half an hour, Chen Ning received three urgent reports in a row, showing that there was a problem in his defensive line, the Shun army was attacking the official road connecting Huangchi and Yongyang, the first report said that the northernmost position of the 42nd Regiment was fiercely attacked, the advance team sent by the regiment to occupy the position failed to complete the construction of the position, and as soon as the supporting team arrived, this naked hill was attacked by more than 2,000 infantry of the Shun army from many sides, and soon lost the position to the opponent, The two teams of the Ming army held on for less than a quarter of an hour, and the defeated Ming army was fiercely pursued.

The second report came from the 42nd Regiment, which launched a counterattack with their own strength, but failed to regain their position and only blocked the pursuit of the Shun army.

The third balloon report pointed out that the Shun army was passing through here in large numbers, and that a steady stream of infantry and cavalry were pouring through the gap over the official road to the rear of the defensive line. However, the balloon also pointed to an opportunity, that is, the total strength of the Shun army was not large, and there were no troops worth mentioning in other directions.

Chen Ning waited for another moment, but there was still no alarm on the other defense lines, so he decided to send his division directly to assist the 42nd Regiment to recapture the position and cut off the retreat of the Shun army that had invaded the Ming army's front.

Ji Xinghui hesitated when he saw that Chen Ning had given half of the order, so he volunteered: "Master, let me command this counterattack." ”

Ji Xinghui, who didn't expect this battle to break out so early, didn't have time to stay in the rear, so he planned to take the opportunity to gain some military merits, and although Chen Ning was still a little worried about the issue of military power, Ji Xinghui's performance during this time had dispelled most of his suspicions, and there was indeed no better candidate besides Ji Xinghui at this time.

"Then there's General Lauge." Chen Ning nodded, he felt that he still needed to sit in the division headquarters to coordinate the whole army, so he asked Ji Xinghui to rush to the battlefield immediately with his direct troops, and at the same time sent a large number of reservists to the 42nd Regiment to help them recover, and reported the situation to the military headquarters.

……

At this time, Xu Ping had already continued to advance westward with the sniper battalion, and before leaving, he carefully explained his thinking to several staff officers: he would pass through this small gap at full speed with the sniper battalion and the first cavalry battalion, and then go around to the rear of the Ming army, and when the sharpshooter battalion rushed up, he would flank the 14th town of the Ming army with them.

"There's these things from the sky!" Xu Ping stretched out his finger and pointed to the Ming army balloon on his head: "We must move quickly, we can't stop and wait, so that the sharpshooter battalion will also run and fight." ”

Xu Ping felt that only by maneuvering quickly could he slightly level the intelligence level of the Ming army and the Shun army, and the breakthrough point he chose in advance was not only this mountain bag located at the junction of the thirteenth and fourteenth towns of the Ming army, but also the junction of the forty-second and forty-first regiments of the fourteenth town.

"Don't stop fighting, we're just going to win in chaos."

After hearing this, several staff officers agreed in unison, and then went separately to convey orders to the commanders of each wing, and Xu Ping took the lead and led the guards to run in the direction of the forward.

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