"Lord Tongzhi is really clever, which led Liu Xiyao to send cavalry to come to this Huangqikou Town to sneak attack and intercept first. is just this little bit of people, let's just give them a dismount, destroy their vanguard and frustrate their spirit. ”

Zuo Zixiong stood on the highest guard tower in Huangqikou Town, and with the faint light of the morning light and the guidance of the sentinels, he used a telescope to look at the river beach in the northwest, and finally found the thief vanguard brought by Liu Xiong.

Zuo Zixiong couldn't help but secretly praise in his heart, the sixth child has not squatted in vain in the past two days, and he has finally squatted to someone. A telescope that imitates the Franc machine is also really good.

After putting down the binoculars, he immediately ordered: "Let the soldiers hurry up and get ready, the wall that should be on the wall, and the gag that should be plugged." But don't make noise, after you are in place, all bow down, obey orders, and violate military law! ”

A considerable number of the troops he brought were elite members of the Shen family, and some were veterans of the previous regimental training, and their combat quality and morale discipline were still relatively reliable.

The troops of about 2,000 men were soon in place according to the instructions.

As for the pure recruits, most of them were left in Qizhou County to defend the city, and they would not be sent out to fight in the field all at once.

This time, Zuo Zixiong came, and there were a few old subordinates he brought, who were originally at the general level.

There is also a captain of the Shen family who ran to the sea before, named Shen Lian, who is now also a middle-level officer, which can be regarded as a supervisor. He is relatively low-key, as long as Zuo Zixiong does not do anything to be sorry for his young master, he will not talk too much, and completely obey Zuo Zixiong's command.

In the end, it was the Spanish head Pizarro, as a tactical staff officer.

Shen Shuren considered that he might have to use a spear and musket formation to fight against the enemy cavalry, so he specially sent Pizarro to fight the actual battle. Lest Zuo Zixiong, who was born in the Mandarin Duck Formation, study the Mandarin Duck Formation, and fail to pay attention to some details in actual combat.

But there is no doubt that the command of these 2,000 people belongs entirely to Zuo Zixiong, in order to prevent the government from going out of several ways.

At this moment, watching Zuo Zixiong quickly transfer the men and horses in place, Pizarro couldn't help but suggest: "The enemy doesn't look less than us, so showing weakness like this will not encourage the enemy to attack."

The town has no walls, and the wooden fence can only block the north and south sides, and the east side is completely open. I'm not afraid of a vicious battle, our Spaniards' large phalanx, field battles can block cavalry charges, not to mention that now we only have to defend one side.

I just think that if the Tongzhi Lord had already thought about fighting the enemy in this town from the beginning, why not send a little more troops? If there are 4,000 people, and the enemy is about 2,000, the chances of victory will be even better, and the results of the battle will be expanded. ”

Zuo Zixiong raised his hand and motioned him not to talk too much, paying attention to military law: "Mr. Pizarro, your duty is only to ensure for a while that there are no tactical mistakes when I execute the musket spear phalanx, and nothing else should you consider."

Tongzhi adults have their own overall considerations. The key to the success of our army in luring the enemy here this time is that Liu Xiyao did it himself, and at first he had to send a fine soldier to mix in with us, and then it turned out to be like this.

If the vast majority of the main forces are deployed in this Huangqikou Town, the defense of Qizhou County will be empty, in case there is a mistake. Second, it is easy to make Liu Xiyao alert, realizing that he was tricked from the beginning, rather than 'just ineffective in the implementation of the plan'.

What we have to do is to know how many troops the Lord has given, and use the troops at hand to fight every battle well! Besides, the enemy army just looks like it's not small, and in fact it can't be all cavalry - I've seen some donkeys just now, so I guess I'm just looking for some mounts to make up the numbers. ”

When Pizarro heard this, he couldn't help but shrug his shoulders very Westernly:

"You Oriental people just like to play conspiracy and tricks, and the enemy has been tricked, can you still make them unable to react after being beaten and not realize that they have been tricked? It's a fantasy. Okay, who made you the leader, I'll see how long Shen Tongzhi can deceive Liu Xiyao after this battle. ”

……

Zuo Zixiong commanded two thousand soldiers to quickly set up a formation, and Liu Xiong on the opposite side was also proud, and he didn't realize how difficult this hard bone in front of him was.

Yesterday evening, his father received a report from a fast horse spy who traveled 300 miles a day, saying that he had found the Shen family's reinforcement convoy 70 miles downstream of Qishui, and then he quickly dispatched troops.

Because this section of the Yangtze River is going upstream, the river surface is still relatively narrow, and the water speed is relatively fast, so it is good for the boats coming downstream to sail 70 miles in half a day.

Calculate the time, and hurry up all night, it should be just in time to intercept the fleet at Qishuikou.

At this moment, he looked at the sails and shadows in the town, as if there were indeed many big boats parked by the river, and his heart was even more excited, and he finally caught the fat.

In a keen mood, he was quite sensible, and used the military knowledge he had learned from his father for many years to observe the terrain of the town, and quickly screened out the direction of the attack.

The boundary of Huangzhou is poor and the mountains and rivers are bad, the people are fierce, and now the soldiers are in chaos, so it is not surprising that any town has an earthen fence.

As an important wharf town, Huangqikou Town has a long sliding earth fence along the north bank of Qishui, and there are sharp wooden piles on some weak points that are rammed and buried on the earth fence to strengthen the defense.

If you don't want to attack the wall, then you can only choose the gaps on both sides of the wall to attack-

In the northwesternmost corner of the town, near the bank of the Yangtze River, there is a gap of less than dozens of steps. Because of the rise and fall of the Yangtze River, the original rammed earth has soaked and collapsed, and the wooden stakes cannot be built.

However, this gap does not look very easy to attack, firstly, it is too narrow to spread the troops, and secondly, because the river washes out, the mud is very soft, and if you step on it, you will directly fall into the mud and quicksand, even if you don't drown directly, it will become a live target, and it will also cause the rear army to squeeze on and trample on each other.

After ruling out this option, the best point of attack is only a large gap in the easternmost part of Tuweizi -

In this section, the Yangtze River runs approximately north-south, while Qishui is almost perpendicular to the Yangtze River, flowing into the Yangtze River from east to west. The gap to the east of the town is the direction of Qishui's road.

The town did not have the financial and material resources to build the Water Gate Tower across the river like a city, and there were many roads on both sides of the Qishui River, so there were no defenses in that direction.

"It's decided, just follow the bank of the Qishui River and the main road by the river, and go directly into the town! Rob the Shen family of all the arms, weapons and materials! After Liu Xiong observed, he muttered to himself and prepared to give an order.

A henchman and thief general beside him, the bandit named "Yidougu", couldn't help but persuade when he saw this:

"Young master, the king let us first explore the truth and reality, if the enemy army is strong, you can besiege but not attack, and wait for the main force of the king's infantry army to arrive. Although it seems that the town is unprepared now, it is time to test it first.

I heard that the Shen family is a wealthy family in Suzhou, with hundreds of sea ships and many outlaws begging for a living at sea. Even if there are no officers and soldiers here to meet them, the enemy's fleet of ships transporting ordnance will be escorted by sailors on board, and these people should not be underestimated. ”

Liu Xiong listened to it and was very dissatisfied. This "Yidou Valley" was originally a small thief head, but later he couldn't get along, and was taken over by his father "King of the World", because the commander of the cavalry has a bit of ability, so he was sent to help this time.

Liu Xiyao actually wanted to find an old Jianghu to check for his son, help his son gild and control the army by the way. But Liu Xiong is young and vigorous, and he doesn't feel that he needs this kind of uncle's staff to dictate him.

He pointed with a horsewhip: "The best time for a sneak attack is Foxiao, no matter how early it is, it will inevitably be impossible to distinguish between the enemy and me in the chaos, and if it is too late, the enemy will be ready." If you test it first, how can you surprise the attack?

And even if the Shen family is also the master of killing people and goods, these water ducks have come ashore, and they are not the fish and meat of our fierce and stubborn sons in the northwest! Immediately, the whole army moved to the east of the town, concentrated along the gap on the bank of Qishui, and killed from the upper reaches down! With a high view, it can be like a bamboo! ”

"Yidou Valley" had no choice but to take the young master, so he had to do so, and took the cavalry in the army to make a detour first.

And Liu Xiong took those "horse infantry" who rode pack horses and donkeys, and followed behind Yidougu as the second echelon-

For a thief like Liu Xiyao, the total number of elites in the old battalion will not exceed five or six thousand, and the cavalry will only barely have about a thousand. Half of the 2,000 men who were put together this time did not have at least no war horses, and could only march on ordinary horses or pack animals.

Liu Xiong's movement was as small as possible, but as the sky gradually brightened, the people in the town still reacted. On the north bank of Qishui and on the streets at the east entrance of the town, columns of officers and soldiers began to appear one after another.

"The Shen family is really alert!" Liu Xiong couldn't help but feel a little annoyed when he saw the officers and troops arrayed at first glance, but his detour was still exposed, and he lost the best fighter.

However, after a closer look, his mood improved a little, and it turned out that he saw that these officers and soldiers were not wearing the uniform color of the regular army of the Ming Army, but a kind of clothing that was neat but had a very different color and shape, a bit like that worn by people running boats.

"These people should just be the Shen family's family members and sailors, right? Sure enough, it was to escort the fleet transporting ordnance! Not a regular officer! Hurry, don't miss the opportunity, the whole army charges! ”

After thinking of this, Liu Xiong, who was overjoyed, desperately urged, and the cavalry under the command of Yidougu had to launch a desperate charge.

……

"The rogue cavalry rushed up first! The pikemen remain scattered! The bird gunners are divided into three teams and come forward in turn! ”

Zuo Zixiong's face was pale, and at this moment, he had already rushed to the only gap at the eastern end of the town to personally supervise the battle.

It's not that he likes to use the musket tactics of "three-stage strike" or "stacking", but he can't do it at this moment.

The width of the front of this gap at the eastern end of the town is still not very large, only a few dozen steps wide of muddy land on the north bank of Qishui, plus a few streets in and out of the town, and some of the vacated fields vacated by the street vendors at the entrance of the town, the entire width is only 200 steps.

He had a thousand firearms under his command, and even if he had to set aside some of them to monitor the enemy's rear in other sections of the wall, he would have at least seven or eight hundred guns left in the front.

To squeeze more than 700 guns into the front of the battlefield 200 paces wide, one or two rows would definitely not be able to squeeze in, so they could only naturally use a three-stage stacked *** stream to fire.

In the distance, the cavalry of Yidou Valley finally rushed to about one hundred and twenty steps in front of the formation.

As soon as Zuo Zixiong gave the order, the two hundred and forty turtledoves in the first row opened fire first.

"Bang bang bang-" The loud sound that shook the sky was several times more powerful than an ordinary musket salvo, and Rao is Itogu was also surprised when he saw the world.

"Why did the officers and soldiers open fire so far away? This fire bell sounds so loud! "Itogu couldn't react at all.

This can't be blamed on him, all he heard was the old-fashioned firearms of the northern official army, and they were only charged with four dollars and one shot. When encountering such a large-caliber heavy musket with a charge of more than one or two, of course, it will not be able to adapt to it.