Heavy snowfall delayed the crossing of Puguanshui for three days, and more than 10,000 new troops and tens of thousands of people who helped transport supplies did not begin to cross the Yellow River until November 7. The soldiers of the Forces nouvelles, under the supervision of the officers, pushed the wagons like hills with the people, and their supreme commander frowned as he watched the army struggling to move on the ice.

In the morning, the ice broke because of the heavy burden, and the officers of the Tianyi Battalion of the engineer team personally jumped into the icy water, and it took a quarter of an hour to rescue the baggage cart that was deep in the icy water, and the officers and men who participated in the rescue work were exhausted afterwards. Just now, a surface of ice that had been surveyed as safe suddenly collapsed again after a large number of vehicles passed through it continuously, and with a palpitating cracking sound, the baggage cart plunged into the water and disappeared from the field of vision of the officers and men in the blink of an eye. The eight horses dragging the cart were also dragged into a huge hole in the ice, and disappeared under the ice before they could even scream. Many of the soldiers on the cart were also trapped, struggling to cry for help in the biting cold, but the soldiers farther away had no time to help, and after escaping from the crevasses that had spread, they could only watch as the unfortunate comrades and the padded clothes of the people quickly filled up with the water, and sank to the bottom of the river with their owners.

As a result of this disaster, the Forces nouvelles lost all the gunpowder in the main car, and soon after, another cart loaded with shells fell into the water. Pu Guanshui had no choice but to order the march to be halted and the baggage transported on each cart was redistributed. After working on the ice for more than an hour, the sappers finally unloaded half of the gunpowder and shells, and placed the rest evenly on each cart. While lightening the load on the wagons, the engineer officer in charge of the exploration also redrew the route and commanded the army to march slowly toward the west bank again.

"This year, the ice surface of the Yellow River is too unsolid."

"Yes, in previous years, it was frozen like iron and stone, but this year it cracked all at once."

"And this snow, it came at a bad time, I think it's almost two feet deep, and it's heavy enough to press on the ice, and the sappers can't find the ice below."

The staff officers' complaints kept coming to Pu Guanshui's ears, and there was another loud rumbling noise as he spoke, this time not the ice cracking, but a large cart slipping and capsizing in the ice and snow, and the rice bags piled on top of it rolled down like an avalanche. The procession came to a halt again, and the sappers cursed and gathered around the cart, banging in all directions, checking the solidity of the ice around it, and calculating to make the vehicles behind it detour.

"My lord, we are too far behind the schedule to catch up no matter what."

The staff officer's report was not at all surprising to Pu Guanshui, and he had to bow to reality and began to transfer manpower from the convoy to build a camp on the other side of the bank for the night. As for the baggage wagons that are still on the east bank, there is no need to go down the river, it is impossible to cross the Yellow River in its entirety today, and I hope that the river will freeze stronger tomorrow.

……

"The main reason why the new army was unable to eliminate the Shandong Righteous Army for a long time was that the new army was insufficient. In the case of insufficient troops, the new army did not dare to wipe out the rebels with a battalion, because the last battle of Shandong had proved that the Dongjiang Army was capable of rebuilding the isolated troops of the new army. Xu Ping's tent was very warm, and the generals of the intruding army blocking force were conducting a final discussion on the battle plan: "After the first battle in Qixian, our camp also proved that we have the strength to annihilate an isolated battalion of the new army, so that the new army also does not dare to fight in Henan with a battalion as a unit, which is very beneficial to our army!" ”

Xu Ping's judgment is one of the cornerstones of the overall plan of the army. As early as after hearing that Pu Guanshui was leading the troops to come, Xu Ping told Li Dingguo and other generals: Although Pu Guanshui has a prestige in the new army, he has no experience in leading troops independently at all.

"It is understandable that the imperial court did not let the Marquis of Zhendong lead troops, but this was a greater military mistake than the winter attack. Separated by hundreds of miles, it is impossible for Zhendonghou to arrange everything for General Pu, he can only explain a few brief precautions to General Pu before sending troops, if my estimate is not bad, Zhendonghou must have repeatedly warned General Pu not to divide his troops. Xu Ping asked himself, if he was in the position of Huangshi, he would not expect Pu Guanshui to be able to flexibly command the three battalions to attack together. After the army cleared the official road, they arranged a long snake formation along the official road without any scruples, without the slightest fear of being flanked or outflanked by the new army.

Xu Ping judged: "The 12,000 new officers and soldiers, as well as more than 30,000 people, will slowly press over in a group, and the speed will be very slow, and they will soon be exhausted under the continuous resistance of our four wings." They will be weakened with every step forward, and when they climb under Kaifeng, it will be time for us to launch a counterattack. ”

The new army, which had only crossed the Yellow River on the 8th, met with fierce resistance from the invading army on the 9th, and by the afternoon of the same day, the Chizhuo battalion had not been able to capture the position of the invading army. When Pu Guanshui personally rushed to the front line to inspect, he saw through the telescope layer after layer of trenches and the low wall of the fortress behind it.

"The banner is the 3rd Infantry Wing of the Invasion Army, and according to intelligence, it is the troops of the first battalion of the Invasion Thieves. They built a fortress and used it as the core to resist. The gang numbered about fifteen hundred and had a large number of firearms, but no artillery was to be seen. ”

The staff officer's report made Pu Guanshui feel even more bad, the battalion in front of him was not Xu Ping's guard battalion, but they were very similar to the new army in terms of tactics and equipment, and they also knew the various methods of the new army very well: "The last battle report also said that the western battalion did not have the ability to block our army's attack, why are they so strong in just a few months?" ”

"It must be Xu Ping who sent his troops to the west camp," the staff officers comforted Pu Guanshui: "Our army has just crossed the Yellow River, and the soldiers are very tired, and it is nothing if they can't attack it for a while. ”

As the staff had predicted, after a morning of fierce fighting, the vanguard of the Forces nouvelles was still unable to fill the trenches and pressed under the low walls.

Li Dingguo deployed a considerable number of infantry in the trenches, and when the new army advanced, it would first be shot at behind the low wall and the trench, and when the new army approached further, the soldiers in the trench would attack to prevent the new army from approaching the trench, and the engineers of the Tianyi battalion would not be able to fill the trench without repelling these troops. The face-to-face battle in front of the trench is very beneficial to the invading army, they can get the fire cover from the fortress, Li Dingguo personally stood on the fortress to command, if he found that a certain place was the main offensive line of the new army, he would command the trench troops to retreat, with low wall fire to stop the new army from pursuing. And when the new army tries to fill the trenches, the invading army will launch a counterattack.

"We can't fill the trenches without driving out the sappers, and our troops can't stand in front of the enemy's fire." The fortress cooperated with the flintlock rifle, so that the commander of the Tianyi battalion was at a loss, and Pu Guanshui ordered the staff officers of the Chizhuo battalion of the Chinese army to come forward to watch the battle, these people had participated in the battle of Lanyang, and Pu Guanshui hoped that their experience could help him.

"As in the Battle of Lanyang, the thieves did not cower behind a low wall, but deployed a large number of soldiers in the trenches and fought with us repeatedly." The staff officers of the Chizhuo battalion pointed out to Pu Guanshui that if the intrusive army was introduced into a battle mode similar to Lanyang, it might lead to heavy casualties of the new army, and they suggested that they wait until the artillery was deployed in place before launching a strong attack.

"Okay." Pu Guanshui had to agree to this request, looked at the small fortress across the road, and sighed: "Xu Ping, he really deserves to be an engineer. ”

Pu Guanshui ordered the new army to continue to maintain pressure on the invading army in the afternoon, and at the same time carry out the construction of artillery forts and overnight camps. It was clear that it was not possible for the army to make significant advances to the west today, and it would have to spend the night nearby.

"There are probably only more than 1,000 thieves holding on to this fortress, and the loss of our army's frontal assault will not be small, when this loss cannot be in vain." Pu Guanshui ordered the Chizhuo battalion to prepare for the attack, while the Tianyi battalion rested, he personally participated in the tactical discussion of the Chizhuo battalion, and approved the battle plan for tomorrow's engineers, artillery and infantry to work together: "Tomorrow the Chizhuo battalion will launch an attack, the Tianyi battalion will outflank from both sides of the fortress, let the horse teams of the two battalions check the horseshoe well, tomorrow if the thieves do not retreat, it is the best, if we retreat, we must pursue fiercely, we can't let them run." ”

In the early hours of the next day, the sentry reported that the fortress on the opposite side was on fire, and Puguan ordered that he should not act rashly. After daybreak, reconnaissance learned that the intruders had indeed abandoned their fortifications and retreated last night. Pu Guanshui took his staff to personally observe the defense system of the intruding army, and felt that it had not been seriously damaged in the previous day's attack, and the losses of the defenders seemed to be very limited.

With doubts in his heart, Pu Guanshui ordered the three battalions to set off. When the Chizhuo camp marched less than five miles in the direction of Kaifeng, another fortress appeared in front of them, which was also protected by layers of trenches.

"The leader of the thieves on the other side is named Li Dingguo, and he seems to be very familiar with our regulations. After a brief calculation, if we had deployed our troops, arranged our attacks, and built artillery fortifications as required by the regulations, we would still not be able to launch a large-scale assault before nightfall to-day. A staff officer spread his calculations in front of the Jia Ming River, and the invading army took full advantage of the weather to limit the speed of the new army's attack.

"This damn Xu Ping." Pu Guanshui shouted angrily: "The Tianyi battalion builds a camp, the Chizhuo battalion follows, tomorrow the Chizhuo battalion will attack, and the Tianyi battalion and the Chizhuo battalion horse team are ready to pursue." ”

The Forces nouvelles had to work hard for a day. However, in the early morning of the 11th, it was found that the intrusive army had taken the initiative to retreat again. Shortly after the departure of the camp, Pu Guanshui received another report that the vanguard was once again blocked in front of the defensive position of the invading army. Pu Guanshui, who rushed to the front line, looked at the defensive area composed of cobweb-like horizontal trenches and communication trenches, and ordered the surrounding staff officers: "Investigate around and see if there are any other roads to go." ”

The result of the reconnaissance was of course no, the villages on both sides of the official road had been completely destroyed by the intruding army, and even if they left the main line of the official road, the new army had to set up camp for the night every day, and the road conditions were worse than the official road full of trenches and obstacles.

Pu Guanshui originally expected that he would encounter a strong position for the main force of the intrusive army to defend, rather than such a continuous series of small defensive positions. He had planned to use the superiority of artillery to destroy the defenses of the Chuang army while inflicting heavy losses on the enemy's troops, and then quickly reach the city of Kaifeng, crush the last possible resistance of the Chuang army, and relieve the siege of the Jiaming River. It seems that this wishful thinking is impossible to realize, and Pu Guanshui believes that this official road must be densely covered with similar defensive areas for the invasion army.

"Don't wait for the artillery, leave the artillery to the rearguard troops, the Chizhuo Battalion and the Tianyi Battalion will advance side by side, and launch an attack when there is resistance, we can't rub shoulders with Xu Ping like this."

……

On the 15th, when Xu Ping and his staff officers analyzed the battle situation, the New Army had launched a direct assault for three consecutive days without waiting for the artillery to arrive. The fighting in the past three days was much more intense than in the previous two days, and both the invading army and the new army paid much greater casualties than before. Li Dingguo, the former commander of the enemy, today put the 1st Infantry Wing of the Guards Battalion into defensive operations, rotating the two infantry wings of the Western First Battalion. Li Dingguo reported that he would put the 2nd Infantry Wing up tomorrow and let the 1st Infantry Wing, which had been fighting fiercely for a day, stand back and rest; The opposite side is also carrying out rotation work, and it is the Tianyi Battalion of the New Army that storms the first infantry wing today, and it is estimated that it will be the turn of the Chizhuo Battalion to go into battle tomorrow.

"The battle is completely in our hands." Xu Ping was very optimistic about the progress of the war situation, and the retreating army could get more adequate rest, while the new army had to advance hard in the scorched earth war zone, and worked hard every day to build camp tents and repair roads. The huge workload is rapidly draining the physical strength of the new officers and soldiers: "According to the new army regulations, outflanking should be considered at this time, but General Pu has no way to outflank. I suppose someone is about to propose a division of troops to advance, but he will definitely not agree, and the Marquis of Zhendong must have repeatedly emphasized this to him beforehand. ”

……

"I can't agree to divide the troops!" At the same time, Pu Guanshui in the barracks of the new army categorically rejected the suggestion of Chengping, the battalion officer of the Tianyi Battalion: "The enemy is dark and I am clear, and if the water battalion leaves the main force, it may be ambushed by the thieves, have you forgotten the lesson of the county?" ”

"But when is this going to last?" Cheng Ping's face was full of distress, in today's battle, fifty people were killed in the Tianyi Battalion, and more than one hundred were wounded, because they were far away from the supply base of the Ming army, these wounded and sick could not be evacuated, and they had to stay in the battalion. In the past few days of crossing the river, more than 100 people have fallen due to the cold: "My lord, we must seek a decisive battle with the main force of the breaking army, and then go to Kaifeng to spend this winter." ”

Pu Guanshui reproached: "You are so impatient that you have fallen into the hands of a thief." Xu Ping used this tactic in the hope that we would not be able to hold our breath and divide our troops to outflank us, so that the thieves hiding in the shadows could defeat one of our battalions at a time. ”

"But my lord, in such an open field there will soon be more and more sick numbers, and when the number of wounded and sick exceeds a thousand, my battalion will be dragged out of offensive ability."

"So we have to improve our tactics and no longer be led by thieves."

On the 16th, Li Dingguo found that the New Army was not in a hurry to attack, and stopped to build a camp far outside the fortifications of the Chuang Army. After a day of peace and sound, Li Dingguo's old trick was repeated, and he ordered the invading army to abandon their positions and retreat. Now the commander of the 2nd Infantry Wing is a young lieutenant colonel named Zhang Wei, and after hearing the order, he asked Li Dingguo: "General Li, my troops are not fighting today, can we consider holding out for one more day." ”

"No." Li Dingguo said with a smile: "We still have to retreat according to the original plan, let the new army march and build camps every day, and let the wind and snow consume their physical strength." ”

"This humble duty understands," Zhang Wei nodded yes, but said: "But retreating without firing a shot, I am really unwilling." ”

"Brother Zhang," Li Dingguo smiled and stretched out three fingers: "First, it is obvious that the officers and soldiers plan to deploy tomorrow morning and calmly storm in the afternoon, causing us a large number of casualties; Second, the military strength of the officers and men has not yet been completely dragged down, and we forced them to be tired for a day before they advanced five miles, which is already very cost-effective, and people should not be too greedy; Third, there will be a time of hard fighting, and we must preserve our military strength. ”

"Yes, General."

……

Jingshi, Wolf's Lair,

"Xu Ping deployed positions in Henan to resist continuously, trying to consume the strength of our army," Jin Qiude felt a great headache about this tactic, like Pu Guanshui: "Winter is not a good time to fight, if the battle is decided or lost, it will be just that, so exposed to the wilderness, the troops will soon have more sick than wounded." ”

The staff officers didn't have any good ideas about the situation in front of them, and the instructor Song Jianjun of the teaching team was summoned by Jin Qiude: "Strengthen winter combat training, I don't have much time for you, emergency training for fifteen days, and then send it to the Henan battlefield, General Pu will definitely need a lot of supplements." ”

Song Jianjun felt very embarrassed, and the effect of such a short training time could be imagined to be not good: "Is it to ask the Hou Ye to suggest to the imperial court that the teaching team be temporarily moved to Shandong." ”

"You don't have to do what you know is impossible." If the Marquis of Zhendong had not been the prime minister of military training but the governor of Dadu, Jin Qiude would have established a large battalion in Shandong, received wounded soldiers nearby, and at the same time sent supplies and supplementary troops to this battalion. Just like when he was in the southwest, but this suggestion has been vetoed by the imperial court, which is unwilling to let the military power of the Marquis of Zhendong spread to every place where there is a beacon.

Jin Qiude looked at the map, although the speed of the retreat of the army was slower than expected, but this tactic alone could not avoid a decisive battle: "Xu Ping can't retreat like this forever, sooner or later he will have to turn around and fight to the death with our army." ”

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