Xu Ping observed the gate tower of Dezhou, he saw that there were several black holes on the cannon muzzle, Xu Ping pondered and asked, "How many cannons are there in Dezhou City?" Where are they deployed? How is the gunner training? How far can these cannons hit? ”

"There are ten cannons in Texas City, and they are all deployed in the most conspicuous place of the city tower!" Lin Guangyi replied fluently: "But none of them can be used, so there are no gunners either." ”

Xu Pingqi said: "Have you tried it?" When did you try it? Xu Ping knew that there might be no gunners in Texas, but he brought thirty gunners this time, and planned to let his gunners go into the city to test the guns.

"You don't have to try." Lin Guangyi said quickly: "They will definitely explode!" I heard that there were originally four artillery pieces cast by the Shandong Command Envoy in Dezhou, which had been taken away by the Lu army during the Battle of Jinan last year. Now these ten cannons are all cast by the Beijing Division and issued to the Shandong Command and Embassy. The cannon cast by the Ministry of Industry, do you still need to try? ”

Since it is a weapon cast by the Ministry of Industry of the Ming Dynasty, there is really no need to test it. At that time, Qi Jiguang stipulated the manufacturing standards of the Daming bird gun, each bird gun must be made with 20 catties of iron, the barrel needs to be drilled out by a craftsman, and the caliber and length also have uniform regulations. According to the standards set by Qi Jiguang, the fire gun is said to be unable to escape even the birds in the forest, so the bird gun is also named. After Qi Jiguang's death, the Ming Ministry of Industry had to make tens of thousands of bird guns every year, and although the price of each bird gun reported to the imperial court remained the same, the muzzle of the gun became thinner and thinner, and the wall of the chamber became thinner and thinner, but at least this "new bird gun" semi-charge could still shoot. But the most "new" standard for the manufacture of bird guns is already to drill the corners of the iron and then glue them into the barrel. The barrel of a bird gun is often made up of a dozen, or even dozens of iron cylinders, and the iron pieces on it are square and round, and even triangular and polygonal. After this bird gun was issued to the Ming army, there were no soldiers willing to use it at all. The three-eyed firearm can't hit people and can be used as a hammer, and the new weapon of the Ming Ministry of Industry, the compound bird gun and the stick, will disintegrate and fall apart.

"Our army is no longer in the city." Xu Ping told Lin Guangyi: "Our army will be stationed outside the city and form a horn with Texas." ”

"This ......"

Lin Guangyi's words of opposition began, and Li Wuyan, who was behind Xu Ping, jumped up first: "General Xu, don't do it, our army is full of recruits, and only with the help of the defense of the Texas city wall can we have a chance of winning." ”

Seeing Xu Ping's face sink again, Li Wuyan realized that his actions were very rude, in the final analysis, the general in front of him was too young, and Li Wuyan could not have enough sense of awe, he hurriedly bowed down and said: "Well, the humble position thinks so, please make it clear to General Xu." ”

"The task assigned to our army by the General Staff is not to defend the city of Texas, but to prevent the traitors from passing through the official roads near Texas." Xu Ping waved his arm towards the outskirts of Texas in a big circle: "Here in Texas, there are no mountains and mountains, and the Weihe River has been frozen, so it has no impact on the march." If we take refuge in the city, the traitors will be able to pass through the plain without hindrance and draw up our entire line from the flanks as long as they leave a small number of troops to watch over us and block us outside the gates. ”

"General Xu Mingjian," Lin Guangyi shouted again, "with the existing strength of Texas, it will be difficult for us to resist the onslaught of the traitors. ”

"I led two thousand new troops to camp outside the city, and the traitors did not dare to storm Texas with all their might." Xu Ping said confidently: "The deployment of our army outside the city has the same effect as that deployed inside the city. ”

Li Wuyan looked around at the reinforcements around him, scratched his neck, and tried to persuade him: "General Jin's order didn't say that we can't hold on to Dezhou City. ”

Xu Ping became a little impatient: "I made it very clear, the rebels are not going to take Texas, but to attack the flank of the fire battalion through Texas, and seize our supplies and storage along the way. ”

Lin Guangyi still didn't give up: "General Xu forgives his sins, what if the rebels attack Texas?" ”

"Our field troops are outside the city, how dare the rebels storm Texas?" Xu Ping began to get angry: "Our army wants to resolutely drag the rebels outside the city of Dezhou, let them advance and retreat, and wait for the fire battalion and direct guards to annihilate them in one fell swoop." ”

Looking at Lin Guangyi and Li Wuyan, who were silent, Xu Ping added: "If I don't understand General Jin's order correctly, that's it." ”

The people around him still didn't speak, so Xu Ping added: "Gentlemen, the fire battalion and the direct guards are rushing to reinforce us, they may arrive at any time, our army is not fighting alone!" ”

"Obey, General, and obey your orders!" Li Wuyan had no choice but to obey.

"Obey orders, general, and immediately deploy the Texas defense." Lin Guangyi hurried back to the city.

Although Dezhou is a large plain, it is slightly higher in the southwest, and Xu Ping finally decided to deploy field troops here, which caused opposition from Li Wuyan and Liao Kezong.

"General Xu, although the northeast direction is low, the traitors will probably come from the southeast. If we deploy our troops in the southwest, then when the traitors arrive, our deployment will be a horizontal line for them, and we will form a head-on conflict with the traitors! ”

"Mr. Li Qian, Mr. Liao Qian, we are at war, and we were originally going to clash head-on with traitors."

"Yes, General, but we are full of recruits anyway," Li Wuyan said, "and I think we should make use of Texas as much as possible, even if we are not stationed in Texas City." Li Wuyan persuaded hard: "If our army is deployed horizontally in the northeast, then the traitors will first crash into Dezhou, behind Texas is the right wing of our army, behind the right wing is the general's headquarters, behind the general's headquarters is the left flank of our army, and the rebels cannot divide the retreat of any part of our army." If they try to outflank us, then our army's front and Texas will be like a sword, first separating the rebels, which is very detrimental to the command and coordination of the rebels, and in this way we can use the towers of Texas to observe the movements of the rebels clearly. ”

"I think our army should be deployed in the northwest. Most of the benefits are the same as what Li Qian said, you can use the city wall of Texas to form a vertical line of defense against the rebels. In this way, each army has friendly troops behind it, so that even if our army is slightly defeated in the front, it can retreat into the cover of the friendly forces behind it. Seeing friendly troops behind us is a great benefit to the morale of our recruits. Liao Kezong put forward a reason that was more favorable than the deployment in the northeast: "The direct guards who came to reinforce us came from the direction of the southwestern ancient city, and we deployed reinforcements closer to our troops in this way, and they could form close cooperation with our army as soon as they arrived at the battlefield." ”

"Hmm." Xu Ping was almost persuaded by them, and he was indecisive for a while.

Liao Kezong saw Xu Ping's hesitation, and proudly added another sentence to his deployment plan: "Our army's deployment in the northwest can also cover the official road in the southeast, if the rebels set foot on this road, then our army will threaten them from behind." ”

Li Wuyan also nodded again and again: "Brother Liao is very right, whether it is deployed in the northwest or northeast, we have protected the official road very well, and there is no need to hold the idea of blocking the rebels on the front line and not letting them come into contact with the official road." ”

I don't want it to be the smug expressions of these two people that angered Xu Ping, he saw their contempt for him from the eyes of these two thousand presidents, and felt the kind of "Didn't you climb to such a high position just by having a good father-in-law!" Xu Ping said categorically: "No, the general's decision has been decided, and our army is to be deployed on the highlands in the southwest." ”

Li Wuyan and Liao Kezong were stunned, and after a while, they shouted at the same time: "General Xu, please think twice." ”

"I've thought twice." Xu Ping retorted unceremoniously: "What if...... If our army is deployed in the northeast, then if the rebels really attack Texas, will we care or not, and a group of officials in Texas will really be able to resist the rebels' onslaught? ”

At first, Xu Ping felt that he had some strong words, but as he continued to speak, he also felt that it made sense, and his thinking became more and more open. He pointed to the northwest again: "If our army is deployed in the northwest, then what should we do if the rebels go around Texas and go straight to Wu Bridge?" Liao Qian said that he was deployed in the northwest to threaten the rebels, did he not have confidence in Liao Qian's ability to stop the rebels, but he was full of confidence in pursuing the rebels? ”

Looking at Li Wuyan and Liao Kezong, who were stammering, Xu Ping sneered and said, "No! We are going to deploy in the southwest, connect with Texas to form a horizontal defense, and never allow the rebels to get close to the official road! ”

Xu Ping quickly selected three positions in the southwest of Texas, and his own general flag was located on a small high post more than ten meters high, in addition to Li Wuyan and Liao Kezong's 500 soldiers each, and let them occupy two other ten meters high soil slopes a few miles away on both sides of his general banner.

After the two thousand commanders were ordered to leave, Xu Ping and Cao Yun immediately urged the soldiers to build field fortifications along Gaogang in accordance with the regulations. Xu Ping originally planned to deploy a ring defense at the foot of the mountain and build a second low wall on the mountainside, but due to the lack of troops, it was decided to build only one ring defense. Digging a trench is the most laborious undertaking, and the time to dig two trenches is not in any case too late. After careful consideration, Xu Ping raised the defensive ring to the mountainside, so that the fortifications built in this way were shorter and more sure that they could be completed in time. After marching all day and all night yesterday, the army has not had a good rest, and it has only been a short repair for less than an hour after arriving in Texas this morning, but there is no time left. Xu Ping ordered half of the soldiers to rest on the high ground, and the remaining half immediately began to dig trenches. Fortunately, the tools and supplies in the Dongsen camp were very complete, and Xu Ping, out of professional habits, brought all the engineering tools with him in the army. Five hundred soldiers, each with a sapper shovel, cleared the snow from the ground and immediately began to dig up the ground. The frozen earth was thrown behind him, ready to be used to construct the low wall. The guards immediately dug a pit in the ground, buried the drum deep in the ground, and took turns lying on it to listen.

When there was still a quarter left before noon, the vigilantes heard the sound of horses' hooves coming from the southeast, and they quickly ran to the general to report to Xu Ping, who immediately ordered to inform Li Wuyan and Liao Kezong. Not long after his heralds were dispatched, the heralds of Li and Liao also rushed to Jiangqi and reported to Xu Ping that they had heard military information from the southeast.

Xu Ping took out his binoculars and looked in the southeast direction, and soon after, a rebel cavalry that looked like about one hundred or sixty people gradually appeared in the field of vision.

"It's a rebel scout."

As soon as Xu Ping made a judgment, a guard soldier ran up sweating profusely and shouted to Xu Ping in a panic: "General, a large group of rebels is coming towards us, countless cavalry and infantry!" ”

At this time, the rear team had already dragged two precious three-pounder guns onto Xu Ping's position. Xu Ping was about to give the order to inform Li and Liao of the military information he had just received, when he saw the heralds running from the positions on both flanks, and they were still far away and shouted: "General Xu, my troops have heard a large number of troops coming towards us. ”

"General Xu, a large number of rebels! It is already less than ten miles away from our army! ”

"I see." Xu Ping originally wanted to order Li Wuyan and Liao Kezong not to report to him again, but he was worried that he would have some negligence, maybe the two thousand would be able to find some problems that he didn't find, so Xu Ping said to the two heralds: "Go and tell Li Qian and Liao Qian, so that their heralds are more stable, and they don't have to shout and scream about everything." ”

The two heralds promised and were about to take the order, but Xu Ping shouted to them again: "No matter what the military situation, you remember to walk in front of the two thousand generals first, salute them, and then report quietly." ”

"Yes, General."

The rebel group of about 150 scouts and cavalry rushed to the Ming army's position, and Xu Ping had no troops to drive them away, so he could only salute them. This group of cavalry first ran to Liao Kezong's department on Xu Ping's left flank and looked carefully for a long time, and then went straight to Xu Ping's main formation. After approaching, they slowed down their horses and slowly walked in front of Xu Ping's formation. These scouts were very close, for fear that they would not be able to see the situation on Xu Ping's battlefield clearly, and Xu Ping could even see the beards on their faces and the fierce light in their eyes.

The rebel general led by him looked up at Xu Ping's banner, Xu Ping stood with his hands in his hands, first looked at the rebel general, and then slid his gaze behind him. The rebel soldiers, who followed the rebel general, demonstratively held their flags high in the air, so that Xu Ping could clearly see the word "Liu" on it.

The banner moved slowly under Xu Ping's gaze, and after leaving the main formation of the Ming army, these rebels began to accelerate again, running towards Li Wuyan's army, which was less than three miles away on the right flank.

Xu Ping shook his head, he had no choice but to watch them do whatever they wanted with this blatant snooping and provocation. After the experience of the first two times, the cavalry of the rebels obviously knew more and more that the Ming army had no way to deal with them, so in the end, they were particularly arrogant this time, and they did not slow down until they ran to Li Wuyan's position. Xu Ping stared at them, suspecting that they didn't want to go directly under Li Wuyan's nose to check the depth of the Ming army's trench.

That's exactly what they were going to do. Xu Ping watched them rush straight to the trench of Li Wuyan's department without slowing down, and even began to speed up!

Then Xu Ping saw those rebels suddenly draw their sabers, and one by one they jumped over the circular trench that the Ming army had just dug at the foot of the mountain, and rushed straight to the top of the mountain.

The silver sword light rushed to the top of the mountain, and in the blink of an eye, Li Wuyan's Qianzong Banner was surrounded by the sword light, and it disappeared from the field of vision after a few moments. A few miles away, the Ming soldiers were like ants washed by water, scattering and fleeing down the mountain.

After a while, the embarrassed Li Wuyan stumbled up to the hill where Xu Ping was, his loose hair was wet, and he didn't know if it was snow or sweat. Li Wuyan knelt in front of Xu Ping, his head deeply rooted in the ground: "General Xu, you should be damned, damn ...... of your humble duties."

Xu Ping's fists were clenched tightly unconsciously, and he hid his hands behind his back, trying to make his tone appear calm: "Li Qian is too careless." ”

"Damn it, damn it." Li Wuyan kowtowed heavily on the ground a few more times, and his voice changed in annoyance, as if he was about to cry: "The number of those rebels is only 30% of the number of the lowly department, and the lowly position didn't expect it...... The lowly still occupies the high ground, how could they think that they rushed up in a daze! ”

Xu Ping said unhurriedly: "Mr. Li Qian saw that they were observing in close formation in the main formation and on the left flank, so he thought that they were just going to observe in close formation, and he was completely unprepared. ”

"Yes," the cry in Li Wuyan's voice became even thicker: "It's really damn for being lowly!" ”

Thick smoke rose from Li Wuyan's original position, perhaps because the number of cavalry of the rebels was too small, perhaps because the main force of the Ming army was close to the left, or maybe they wanted to save horsepower for some reason or even the horsepower was exhausted. They set fire to the fence laid by the Ming army, destroyed the fortifications of the Ming army, and then held Li Wuyan's Qianzong flag, and jogged past Xu Ping's formation for the second time, and let out bursts of laughter. The first cavalry general raised his spear horizontally and shouted to the Ming army on the mountain: "I am Liu Zhewen, the general under Marshal Ji, don't forget my name!" ”

Li Wuyan lay on the ground motionless. The rebels passed through the main camp and ran again to mock the left flank. Xu Ping asked, "How much did our army lose?" ”

Jiang Yizhou whispered: "About 200 people have been lost, and 280 soldiers have fled back to their main position. ”

"Allocate another 200 people to Mr. Li Qian." Xu Ping pointed to another small hill two miles away from the northwest side of the formation: "Li Qian must hurry up, the main force of the rebels is already very close to us." ”

"Obey orders, general, you will definitely be guilty of meritorious service in your humble position." Li Wuyan jumped up from the ground at once, hurried down the mountain, and rushed towards the new position in a puff of smoke.

Cold sweat kept pouring out of his palms, Xu Ping looked at the rebel scouts who continued to provoke back and forth in front of his army, and secretly asked himself in his heart: "If they went straight to my general banner just now, can I stop them?" Thinking of this, Xu Ping couldn't help but shudder.

"General!" Behind him, Jiang Yizhou's shout brought Xu Ping back to reality, and Jiang Yizhou's arm pointed straight to the southeast.

Following Jiang Yizhou's arm, the black oppressed human head appeared in the Ming army's field of vision, and countless flags fluttered above this army.

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