"The third man's fleet was annihilated by the officers and sailors who suddenly appeared? What's going on! Didn't you say that the official army was still blocked in Baling by the second child! Last night, I also received a military intelligence from the second child, saying that it would take at least three days for Shen Shuren to come to Baling in person! Where did this come from! ”

Knowing that his supply lines and troop convoys on Dongting Lake had suffered unilateral massacre heavy losses, Zhang Xianzhong was stunned for a long time, and finally shouted these questions in an almost angry and roaring tone.

Feng Shuangli, the general who was responsible for helping him contact scouts and sort out military information, was also anxious.

But he could only bite the bullet and try his best to sort out the poor sources he knew and report them to the king in detail.

"King, now it seems that we should have fallen for the Shen Shu people's delaying tactics! It is impossible to find out who will lead these sailors, but according to the report of the defeated soldiers, there are about 180 sharp clippers and nearly 10,000 men and horses.

If you talk about the number of people alone, this point is nothing, but the key is that their warships are sharp, and they have many firearms, Franc machines, and those small boats of our army, so they are invincible.

The losses have not yet been calculated, but at least five or six thousand people have been annihilated directly on the surface of the lake. The rest of the scattered and abandoned ships were immeasurable for a while, but fortunately, the second general should be unharmed, and the defeated soldiers who fled back said that the second general was either in Changde at that time, or had just set sail.

The second general is witty, and after learning that the former army was intercepted, even if it is still on the lake, he will definitely find a way to escape back to Changde - for today's plan, please make a decision first, how to deal with the second general's next step?

Our army is now at least divided into two parts, and we cannot take care of each other, and if the officers and troops find out the truth and choose one of them to concentrate their forces to break each other, I am afraid that it will be very dangerous. ”

After all, Feng Shuangli is a senior general who can be one of the governors of the five armies in Zhang Xianzhong's army in history, even if he has little reading, he has followed Zhang Xianzhong for nearly fifteen years, and his sense of smell on the battlefield is already very sensitive.

He is still very clear about those basic taboos in the art of war. So after sorting out the information just now, he was able to point out the key contradiction at once: Zhang Xianzhong's army has now been temporarily divided.

Feng Shuangli said that it was divided into two parts, but it still saved face.

In fact, now Zhang Xianzhong, Li Dingguo, and Liu Wenxiu are fighting separately, and they are divided into three parts.

"Invincible Begins with Sacrificing to the Ancestors"

Zhang Xianzhong was in Changsha, Li Dingguo was in Yueyang, and Liu Wenxiu was in Changde, and the three sides happened to be in a zigzag shape, surrounding the Dongting Lake to form a military presence. One due west bank, one northeast corner, and one southeast corner.

Of course, this division is not unsolvable. Because it is possible to gather troops by marching directly around the shore of the lake without crossing the lake.

It's just that the distance around the lake is definitely much longer than crossing the lake, Changde, Yueyang, and Changsha are at least more than 300 miles away from each other, and the infantry relies on two legs without baggage to march forcibly for three days, and if the normal march is five days.

In the presence of a strong enemy, and at least stronger than any of the three parts of the thieves, three to five days is absolutely fatal, and probably some of them will be swallowed by the official army.

Zhang Xianzhong must be a dead horse as a live horse doctor, and immediately make a decision, let these three parts of the soldiers and horses consider how to dispatch, move, and assemble, and they can't stay where they are anyway.

Zhang Xianzhong paced back and forth in the lobby of King Ji's Mansion with angry eyes, and he was still restlessly playing with some trophies and small animals in his hands.

In the end, he finally made up his mind, and the strength in his hand naturally tightened, pinched and killed a Persian cat raised by King Ji, and commanded:

"It's so decided, let the second child find an opportunity to retreat slowly, at least come to Hunan to join our army first. Let the third child continue to stay in Changde, bluff as a suspicious soldier, and help us to contain the attention of the officers and soldiers.

However, let the third child be clever himself, if the main force of the official army really rushes to him, he can fight if he can, and defend Wuling County and consume the official army.

If you feel that you are invincible, you will abandon the newly captured soldiers in Changde, as well as other new attached troops, and only take the brothers from the old camp in Henan and Shaanxi, flee back to Shizhouwei, and find a way to return to the state to join Wang'er.

As long as you retreat to a dangerous place in the mountains, and when you retreat, you will be burned and killed along the way, and the walls will be cleared, and it will not be so easy for the officers and troops to catch up and fight a decisive battle. Shen Shuren wants to enter the mountain, and the trouble of transporting grain alone is enough for him to ponder for ten days and half a month, and the soldiers and horses suitable for the decisive battle in Dongting Lake may not be suitable for entering the mountain to fight. ”

After Zhang Xianzhong finished speaking, he couldn't help but sigh, at this point, the balance of trust in Sun Kewang and Li Dingguo in his heart finally fell to Sun Kewang's side.

It was Sun Kewang who persuaded him to be serious before the war! The news that "the main force of the Shen Shuren was transferred to Henan Station by Yang Sichang" may be deceitful, and it may be that the Shen Shuren showed weakness to lure the enemy. Now it has all come true!

Li Dingguo asked him to take the initiative to attack as soon as possible, saying that he could no longer catch a limited number of enemies such as Guizhou and Badong, and that the people would be killed sooner or later.

As a result, it has now fallen into the pit! I knew that this would be the case, what is the heart of a person in just one or two state capitals! You should kill more people and eat more meat! Continue to stay up for a while and wait to see what happens!

That's not all, Li Dingguo blocked the mouth of Dongting Lake in Baling, and this task was too poorly completed! Not only did it not be blocked, but fake news was also sent back!

Originally, even if it wasn't blocked, he would have reported a letter back, so that Liu Wenxiu could warn in advance and no longer take the lake to transport troops, so that there would be no losses in today's battle.

disappointed again and again, coupled with the old account of Ai Nengqi's killing last year, under the superposition of the triple bad influence, Zhang Xianzhong finally decided to go back and deprive Li Dingguo of his status, and no longer give him the same level of military power as Sun Kewang and Liu Wenxiu.

……

After all, there were only 6,000 sailors in the official army, so after the arrogant slaughter on the surface of Dongting Lake, it could only end here for the time being.

If Shen Lian and Li Yu landed directly in Linxiang County, went upstream along the Xiang River, and fought a land battle with Zhang Xianzhong's main force, they would not dare to borrow a few of them.

In the evening of the same day, the officers and troops at most reached the mouth of the Xiangjiang River near Linxiang County, killed all the boats on the lake that could be seen, and then collected their troops and went back to the direction of Changde to continue searching for the remnants of the enemy.

In the next few days, all they could do was to continue to patrol Dongting Lake, cut off the possibility of Zhang Xianzhong's army resuming water transportation, and see if any stunned young people who were not afraid of death would come out to die again.

If not, it will be difficult for Shen Lian and the others to form effective support for the frontal land battlefield for a while.

And the focus of the battlefield has also revisited the land battlefield in the direction of Baling, Yuezhou, and at the north entrance of Dongting Lake-

Liu Wenxiu shrank in Changde, put on the defensive, and contained the official army and the navy, there would be absolutely no danger, if the main force of the official army really turned around and went to fight Liu Wenxiu first, he would just run.

Taking a step back, Liu Wenxiu's existence, even if he didn't do anything, still contained 6,000 officers and soldiers - because the officers and navy had to keep an eye on Liu Wenxiu at all times, and once it was diverted for other purposes, maybe Liu Wenxiu would gather the remnants of the ships to continue to smuggle them to Changsha.

Liu Wenxiu's value in the follow-up period of this battle is roughly equivalent to that of the German Navy in World War I, as a "presence fleet", although it does not leave the port, it can contain the forces used by the enemy country to block him.

And Zhang Xianzhong's main force is in the south, and the people of Shen Shu can't reach it for the time being, and they are separated by hundreds of miles, so what can be fought right now is Li Dingguo.

Shen Shuren learned that Shen Lian and Li Yu had succeeded in the sneak attack, and they were slightly later than Zhang Xianzhong - because the sentinel ships on the lake were definitely slower than the fast horse messengers on land who spared no horsepower.

The speed advantage of the waterways existed only in large-scale burden-bearing marches. And in terms of intelligence transmission, it is always slower than the land route.

Therefore, after Li Dingguo received the bad news from Zhang Xianzhong, a few hours later, the Shen Shuren in the camp in Chenglingji to the north of him learned the same news.

At this moment, the two sides are basically clear about each other's next move - Shen Shuren knows that Li Dingguo will definitely not spend any more time in Baling, and it is meaningless to hold the mouth of the lake again when the official and military fleets have entered the lake on a large scale.

The soldiers of the official army and the navy will definitely not consume supplies very quickly, and it is estimated that they will not be able to eat all the food brought with the ship for ten days and half a month. Therefore, it is impossible to expect to rely on a long-term blockade of the mouth of the lake to achieve "cutting off the grain routes of the officers and soldiers and the water divisions, so that their food will run out and collapse themselves."

If tens of thousands of main forces of the official army were ignoring the grain route and directly taking a boat to sneak across Baling, then Li Dingguo might as well consider cutting off the grain route. Now there are too few officers and soldiers infiltrating behind enemy lines, and the transportation capacity ratio is not to that extent at all.

……

Li Dingguo received Zhang Xianzhong's order on the afternoon of 16 June.

When he first received the order, he was still a little surprised, but then he quickly understood his dangerous situation - he was out of touch with his father and third brother's soldiers and horses, and he was the only one who had to face the main force of the official army. If the withdrawal is too late, and you will be bitten by the officials and soldiers, I am afraid that it will be more than lucky.

Therefore, there is no time to think about how to withdraw troops in order to "retreat without chaos" and "pretend not to retreat if you want to retreat", and the most important thing is to leave quickly.

Li Dingguo didn't hesitate for too long, just sighed for a while, and then summoned Bai Wenxuan and Pan Shirong to announce his plan.

"I'm afraid the number of officers and soldiers on the opposite side is no longer under our army. Moreover, the success of the sneak attack by the officers and soldiers will definitely boost the morale of the officers and soldiers, and it will be more and more unfavorable to our army if the fight continues.

Although we also have boats, it is no longer possible to retreat by water, so we can only walk. At the beginning of tonight, we will make food and add food to the soldiers, and we will set off on the second watch, ready to walk at night.

Pan Shirong, you leave some new annexes that can be abandoned, stay behind the rear camp hall, and pretend that we haven't left tonight. I will leave you a thousand horsemen, and if the official army makes a tentative attack tonight or tomorrow morning, and you can't resist it, you can abandon the cavalry and flee first to catch up with the main force. ”

After Li Dingguo's order, Pan Shirong heard that he could still bring some cavalry, so even if he carried out the post-break mission, he would have the opportunity to escape, so he agreed and went to prepare without mentioning it.

Bai Wenxuan, who was on the side, thought for a while, and added another suggestion: "Second general, the last general thinks that it is better to let the main force take the boat tonight, and it will be difficult for the officers and troops to intercept it in the dark night."

And now that the troop convoy of the three generals has just been intercepted and destroyed, maybe we are in the dark here? Let's divide some new annexed troops and people who can give up, and let them serve as oarsmen and row a boat all night. In this way, the main force can sleep a few more shifts, and when it is almost dawn, they will abandon the ship and go ashore and retreat on foot.

In this way, even if we encounter a search by the officers and soldiers at night, we can avoid being washed away, and if we really find that the officers and soldiers have a large number of patrol boats on the lake, we will immediately abandon the ship and rush to the beach-the big deal is that we should sail closer to the shore at the beginning, and do not go beyond two miles. ”

After Li Dingguo heard this, he felt that what Bai Wenxuan said was also reasonable, so he adopted these two details from the good side.

Li Ding's camp was preparing, but the officers and soldiers did not intend to let them stop.

He originally planned to leave after dark, but the officials and soldiers didn't wait for dark, so Zuo Zixiong brought a firearms battalion and Hongyi artillery to bombard Li Dingguo's camp.

Zhu Wenzhen's cavalry battalion was also neatly draped and lined up on both sides, and at a glance, the firepower of the officers and troops was ready to transform into a full-scale attack at any time. When Li Dingguo saw this battle, he knew that Shen Shuren must have also received the news that the official army and sailors had succeeded in the sneak attack on Liu Wenxiu.

"I don't know how many people will be able to evacuate after today." A chill rose in Li Ding's heart.