"Both Changqing and the three thousand battalions were repulsed."

Looking at the battlefield in front of him, He Baodao also felt a burst of depression, the Tianyi Battalion was still fighting with the armored battalion side by side, but the two battalions were fighting far away, and the Fierce Shooting Battalion refused to leave their existing positions, and the Tianyi Battalion had no intention of approaching. The battle between the two battalions was far less intense than on the side of the armored battalion, and it seemed that the casualties were limited, and it was impossible to tell the winner for a moment.

"Let the Xiliu battalion immediately go into the attack," He Baodao ordered loudly, although the offensive of Changqing and Sanqian did not achieve the expected effect, but in such a close fierce battle, the opponent's physical strength and troop losses could never be negligible, and now Xu Ping's forces were contained, although Tianyi failed to consume many troops of the opponent on the opposite side, but it was obvious that they could not go to reinforce the attacked armored battalion: "That group of owls is Xu Ping's most elite troops, and it is not bad for a group of recruits to fight like this, and continue to attack." and don't give them a respite. ”

The Guards Battalion and the Armored Battalion, He Baodao knew that these were the two trump cards in Xu Ping's hands, and there was also a Western First Battalion that was also a great achievement, but at least it should not be on the battlefield now. He Baodao still remembered that Xu Ping personally led this battalion to fight more than once, such as the Hebei Army that attacked Yang Wenyue last time, and it was this battalion that broke the 100,000 army of the Governor of Baoding, although Yang Wenyue said that there were 300,000 people in the army, but He Baodao did not believe it at all: "It is impossible for every intruder to have such combat effectiveness." ”

However, the Xiliu battalion, which was lined up behind three thousand, did not launch an attack for a long time, and He Baodao saw that the Shun army was able to recover its morale and organization, and hurriedly sent people to ask questions.

"General Zhou thinks that the art of war avoids reality and strikes falsely, this armored battalion is a hard bone, and the battalion next to it looks softer, General Zhou thinks that it is better to put a hard bone first, and replace the Tianyi battalion for a while, first break through the flank of this group of owls and then flank them?" A herald of Zhou Xuzu rushed to He Baodao's banner and explained.

"Nonsense!" He Baodao was furious, and stretched out his hand to point to the front line that was fighting: "When does General Zhou plan to wait?" Tianyi Battalion doesn't tell the winner for a moment, he has been working on the side to see if he can't do it? ”

"General Zhou said that the art of war should avoid the real and attack the false." The messenger of the Hosoyanagi camp is still explaining.

"With such a small battlefield, how can you avoid the real and attack the false?" He Baodao was so angry that he almost ran to Zhou Xuzu to reason with him in person, but he couldn't leave his post, otherwise he would automatically abandon the responsibility of commanding the whole army: "Our elite troops are attracted to each other, even if General Zhou can change to another position to attack, this hard bone will not stand still, it will still follow the past, and it will still be gnawed away, sooner or later." ”

Although it doesn't make any sense to sprinkle his anger on a small herald, He Baodao can only regard this herald as the incarnation of Zhou Xuzu now, and persuaded him bitterly: "General Zhou, don't you remember what Hou Ye often said? Combat must grasp the center of gravity, the Guards Battalion and the Armored Battalion are the center of gravity in today's battle, defeat them will defeat the thieves, and we will win! Now that the center of gravity of the war is in front of General Zhou, immediately attack it! ”

"Yes, handsome."

The herald hurriedly ran away from the enraged He Baodao.

He Baodao ordered Changqing and Sanqian to immediately start resting to recover their strength and morale, relying on the advantage of troops, He Baodao did not take the small setbacks in front of him too seriously, he planned to attack the armored battalion in turns, so that it would not get time and opportunity to rest. No matter how experienced and battle-hardened the opponent is, He Baodao believes that as long as the flesh is long, there will be a moment of exhaustion, and as long as the army is composed of people, there will be a moment of bleeding.

"Sooner or later, the armored battalion will not be able to hold out." He Baodao decided to use more troops to fight with the armored battalion in turn, Xu Ping's strength was insufficient, and he probably only had the reserves of the Guards Battalion in his hands, when the armored battalion could not hold on, the fall of this banner would inevitably severely demoralize the Shun army, and in order to save morale and make up for the battle line, Xu Ping must let the Guards Battalion dispatch, and then continue to consume the strength of the Guards Battalion. He Baodao was determined to give full play to the advantages of the Ming army's superiority, and the repulsed Ming army battalions could always rest in the safe rear to restore their fighting spirit and morale, while the Shun army had to fight non-stop, and when the Shun army was weakened by the endless fighting, he dispatched the fire battalion to make a final decision.

"Where's Ox Tail Where?"

Seeing off Zhou Xuzu's envoy, He Baodao hurriedly asked with concern about the battle on the other side, where there has been artillery fire since the beginning of the battle, but there has been no news of success, and from a distance, the black flag on Xu Ping's camp is still flying proudly. Although he knew that the progress would not be fast, He Baodao still couldn't help but care: "How many troops does the thief have?" Can you get to the edge of the trench? ”

"There is no progress, the two battalions of Taishan and Dongsen are not at a loss," a staff officer told He Baodao, they had urged him several times just now, and the Xu Ping camp in Niuweizhuang was a fortress structure, and the Shun army relied on their civil fortifications to greatly offset the strength advantage of the Ming army.

He Baodao, who had no choice but to continue to wait, refocused on the central front, and the Xiliu battalion finally launched an attack, which made He Baodao breathe a sigh of relief, and he clenched his fists tightly: "We can't let the thieves have a chance to breathe, and we must not give them this opportunity." ”

He Baodao knew that the combat effectiveness of the new army could no longer be compared with that of a few years ago, but with such a superiority in troops, he could not see any reason for defeat.

……

At this time, the 6th Infantry Wing had replaced the 5th Infantry Wing, which had been fighting for a long time, and the 5th Infantry Wing had paid the price of hundreds of casualties in three consecutive fires, and the soldiers who had been highly nervous were also tired.

The officers and men who had retreated stayed behind Li Laiheng's owl flag, and many of the soldiers were fighting with the new army for the first time, and these people were excitedly talking about the battle just now, and their noise seemed to be somewhat out of place in the atmosphere of the solemn slaughter on the battlefield where the artillery was blazing, but not a single officer interfered with them. Li Laiheng had already explained that the soldiers of the Fifth Infantry Wing, especially the recruits in it, should be fully relaxed, and he believed that such discussions would not only not damage discipline and morale, but would make the soldiers completely overcome their fear of Zhendonghou and the new army.

"On the opposite side is the Xiliu battalion," Li Laiheng watched the new Ming army camp move towards the sixth infantry wing, he had heard Xu Ping mention the tacit understanding between this battalion and the Shun army: "Pass the order, let Wang Yiguan hold his position, and you can't attack without my order." ”

……

"General Zhou, what is this fighting?"

He Baodao had been paying close attention to the battle situation on the opposite side of the armored battalion, and the fine willow battalion stayed at the limit of the musket's firing range, and the armored battalion was firing weakly: "What is the difference between being so far away and letting go of an empty gun." ”

Based on the current distance between the infantry line of the armored battalion and the Xiliu battalion, He Baodao estimated that a salvo of 100 people could only kill one or two people, which was still under the premise that it did not exceed the range of the musket - He Baodao could not say whether it was within the range or outside the range of the musket.

"Report to the marshal, the progress in Niuweizhuang is not very smooth." A staff officer brought bad news again, the battalion officer of the Dongsen battalion was a close subordinate and old friend of He Baodao, and he was also a person who resolutely supported the Ming court and was unwilling to turn his back on Chongzhen. Although the fortress of Ushiozhuang was not an easy target to overcome, the Dongsen battalion still planned to attack with all its might, at least to consume the strength of the Shun army's defensive forces to create conditions for the follow-up troops to further attack and take the Ushiozhuang camp.

"Originally, it was said that the Taishan battalion would attack with us," said the officer of the Dongsen battalion who came to report the battle situation, "but they fought softly, and only blindly bombarded with artillery, and refused to send the infantry up. Outcome...... Results ......"

After encountering the blocking fire of the Shun army's fortress, the infantry of the Taishan battalion retreated, and at this time, the Dongsen battalion, which thought that the attack on the other side had contained a considerable number of troops of the defenders, rushed to the front of the trench of the fortress, and the sappers also rushed up to fill the trench and blast the wall. When they arrived closer, a large number of Shun ambush soldiers suddenly appeared on the wall and fired fiercely at the Ming army, and the officers and men of the Dongsen battalion suffered heavy losses under the crossfire of the Shun army.

He Baodao, who couldn't bear it, temporarily put down the command of the whole army, and rushed to the vicinity of Niuweizhuang with his personal guards, and when he arrived, he saw that the Taishan battalion was still outside the safe range, and continued to bombard Niuweizhuang with artillery in an orderly manner.

"Brother Ji!" He Baodao had just met with the battalion officer of the Dongsen battalion, who reported that the ambushed Dongsen battalion had lost more than 300 infantry, and nearly 100 valuable sappers were also killed and wounded in the battle, and now they urgently needed to rest and breathe, and they could not attack again for a moment or three: "What are you doing?" ”

"Our soldiers are flesh and blood, and they can't resist the bullets of the thieves." Ji Xinghui said confidently: "This is a place that cannot be attacked at all, and I can't let the sons and daughters go to death." ”

"There are no thousands of thieves in this oxtail village, they only have been running this camp for a few days, as long as we are not afraid of sacrifice, we will definitely be able to lay down." He Baodao admits that attacking such a fortress would cause heavy casualties, and even if it was not defeated in the end, it would not be particularly surprising to him, but he hoped that the attack on this place would attract Xu Ping to throw more reinforcements into Ushiozhuang. He Baodao also does not pursue the exchange ratio problem too much, even if it is one to four or one to five in the offensive stage, he doesn't care, as long as the Shun army is weakened to a certain extent, Xu Ping's strength is not enough to maintain the integrity of the battle line, and the new army will be given a chance to break through the division, even if the new army loses half, as long as there are 30,000 people left, it will not lose its offensive ability.

"The fortress can't be attacked head-on," Ji Xinghui was unmoved: "It must be suppressed by heavy artillery fire, and it can only be conquered after destroying it." ”

He Baodao looked at the pair of eyes that confronted him, and suddenly felt that the person in front of him had become very unfamiliar, if it was on Changsheng Island, first of all, there would not be such a blatant disobedience to orders, and secondly, Huang Shi could immediately remove any officer who dared to disobey his military orders, and replace him with another person to take over the duties and carry out the order.

But now He Baodao does not have any right to remove any battalion officer, not to mention him now, after the establishment of the new army, even Huangshi has no right to remove any battalion officer at will, they are already generals of the Ming Dynasty, neither Huangshi nor He Baodao are the ministers of the superintendent, they have not won the unlimited trust of the imperial court. And the new army is not even like the private army in the hands of other Ming army generals, at least in those armies, the generals have greater rights. And the various personnel dependencies of the new army have been almost smashed by Huangshi, and now the superiors have neither the authority of the traditional Ming army, nor the organizational structure of Changsheng Island.

"If they all preserve their strength like Brother Ji, then this fortress really can't be taken." He Baodao said angrily.

"Do you want to carry out an order that you know is ridiculous? Isn't my son-in-law raised by his father's mother? Ji Xinghui sneered at each other: "Could it be that the marquis's orders are carried out by the marshal without asking questions and regardless of right and wrong?" ”

He Baodao was immediately speechless by the rhetorical question, he could only persuade the Taishan battalion to help the friendly army more, Ji Xinghui also apologized to He Baodao by going down the slope, and then said that he would launch a fierce attack at the right time.

He Baodao, who had touched a gray nose, rushed back to his flag, raised his binoculars and observed the front line for a moment, put it down and asked the staff officers around him: "Has the Xiliu Battalion always fought like this?" ”

Now the Xiliu battalion is still in the position where He Baodao left just now, and the artillery of the Shun army has all hid behind the mountain, not giving the Ming artillery a chance to destroy them. Moreover, He Baodao noticed that although the Xiliu battalion was still fighting a salvo after round, the armored battalion had not even fired back, and it was obvious that the other party thought that this was a waste of ammunition.

Several staff officers nodded silently at the same time.

He Baodao let out a long sigh, his arm hung down a little weakly, the Evergreen Battalion and the Three Thousand Battalion were still resting, they could attack again in a while, but they couldn't and shouldn't hit the same armored battalion that had been recuperating for a long time. He Baodao still had a few battalions at hand that could participate in the rotational attack, but he still planned to encourage the fighting spirit of the Hosoliu battalion.

The so-called dispatch of generals is not as good as agitation.

He Baodao summoned a herald and ordered him to immediately bring his words to Zhou Xuzu, which should be exactly the same as the original words:

"If Brother Zhou's fine willow battalion is like this, then let General Zhou quickly give up his position, and I will let the other battalions go up, so as not to let the thieves have a chance to breathe."

After a while, He Baodao's herald returned, and he solemnly reported to He Baodao: "General Zhou said that he will give up his position immediately." ”

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