"Second general, before it gets dark, the officers and soldiers stick in advance, how is this good? At present, if the soldiers are informed of the retreat plan in advance, I am afraid that the morale of the army will collapse immediately! But if you hide it from the soldiers and fight to the end, I'm afraid it's ......."

Bai Wenxuan and Cai Shirong were already secretly preparing for retreat,

At least the relatively sophisticated equipment and belongings, as well as the fine food in the grain and grass, especially a small amount of precious meat, were secretly packed and transported, ready to be carried away by the henchmen's army.

The advance attack on the camp by the officials and soldiers obviously disrupted the steps of the thieves, and also pushed Li Dingguo to the brink of life and death.

"Suspend the retreat plan! The whole army is holding the camp! I don't believe that the official army will be willing to fill in the lives of people and storm the camp where we have more than 20,000 people to hold if they have Hongyi artillery!

Even if we have more officers and troops than us, and our armaments are better than ours, we have the geographical advantage of the defender, and even if we are bombarded with some earthen walls and fences, it is still better than field warfare on flat land!

According to my observation in the past two years, Shen Shuren is a benevolent person who loves soldiers like children, and if he is sure of victory, he will definitely be reluctant to waste his life with us! Definitely want to win more beautiful!

We pretended that we hadn't received our father's retreat order, pretended to be ill-informed, and didn't know that a major change had happened on the other side of Dongting Lake, and we were still ordered to defend and block! ”

When Bai Wenxuan and other generals heard this, they were also stunned for a while, and they couldn't react for a long time.

What is this operation? Knowing that your rear is collapsing, you still have to pretend not to know? How can this be pretended? And even if you pretend, the enemy doesn't know you're pretending?

Bai Wenxuan couldn't help but persuade: "I'm afraid this plan is a bit ...... Have one's head in the clouds. The last general did not object, but he was afraid that his efforts would be in vain, and after a long delay, there would be more casualties in the end. ”

Bai Wenxuan usually didn't dare to talk to Li Dingguo like this, but today, Li Dingguo's thoughts really made him feel dangerous, and he burned his eyebrows, so he had to be rude once.

In addition, when Zhang Xianzhong's messenger came to deliver the order earlier today, Bai Wenxuan was also present, so he knew what Zhang Xianzhong had brought to Li Dingguo.

From Zhang Xianzhong's orders, Bai Wenxuan can keenly observe some clues: the trust of the eight kings in the second general seems to be gradually crumbling because of several consecutive defeats and leading the army astray......

It is precisely this change in Zhang Xianzhong's attitude that makes him more polite to Li Dingguo.

Fortunately, Li Dingguo didn't care too much about red tape, he was now focusing all his energy on analyzing the battle situation, and didn't pay attention to Bai Wenxuan's straightforwardness.

He just seriously thought about Bai Wenxuan's suggestion about things and not people, and finally insisted on his opinion:

"To tell you the truth, I'm not sure how to 'pretend not to know when I knew I was going to withdraw', but I believe it's best to stick with it. Only when we actually fight can we adapt to the situation and seize the opportunity to deceive, and if we can't catch it, it is also providential.

Don't say more, just do it. Normally, I can listen to your advice more, but in times of such a crisis, I can only identify a path and carry it out without any doubt! The Sinking Tree is a suspicious person, and the more suspicious they are, the more they may give the enemy who pretends to be stupid a chance. ”

Bai Wenxuan had no choice but to carry it out, and there was inevitably a trace of thought in his heart: if it was proved to be right in the end, it would be fine, if it was wrong and caused unnecessary losses to the army, then it must be made clear in front of the eight kings afterwards......

……

Li Dingguo's order was quickly carried out.

The 20,000 rogue troops in the battalion were really blocked by the news that "the eight kings asked them to withdraw their troops immediately to the south, and the official army and naval division had already circled behind", and they still had the will to fight and stick to the camp and block the mouth of the lake.

Some of the old battalions with high morale are still fantasizing even to this moment that "the second general has not attacked the city in the past few days, nor has he attacked, he must be showing weakness, and he wants to lure the officers and troops of Chenglingji to rush to save the city and take the initiative to attack, so that we can besiege the city and send reinforcements, with the real purpose of annihilating the official army and reinforcements."

It can only be said that Li Dingguo still has a hand in governing the army, and the morale and morale of the troops he personally led have always been very good.

It is also a skill to make your own soldiers have the confidence of being confused.

Although there is an ancient adage that "arrogant soldiers will be defeated", since ancient times, what we are afraid of in war is actually the arrogance of the commander, not the arrogance of the soldiers. If you can ensure that the commander is calm and the soldiers are arrogant, it will only increase the courage and be good cannon fodder, and you will not make mistakes.

If he had been replaced by military generals like Jiao Guangqi and Cai Shirong before, I am afraid that under the psychological offensive and external propaganda of Shen Shuren, it would have collapsed long ago.

(Note: The proud soldiers will be defeated from the "Hanshu Wei Biography": "Relying on the greatness of the country, the people of the people, and those who want to see the enemy, they are called arrogant soldiers, and those who are proud of the soldiers are destroyed.") Combined with the context, it can be seen that the arrogant soldiers here refer to "the troops of the monarch/commander who arrogantly bully other countries by relying on the large size and population of their own country", and they are "the soldiers of the arrogant lord", and the key harm lies in the arrogance of the ruler, not the madness of the small soldiers. ）

The officers and thieves soon launched a fierce battle against the camp. After the Hongyi artillery fire was prepared, the bayonet bird gun team of the Shen family army also stepped forward one after another, and began to advance one by one, using the stacking method to fire and suppress.

The Hongyi artillery blasted many openings in the barracks, and all the troops who tried to block the mouth were also killed one after another under the blows of the bird guns, and they could only retreat to the rammed earth walls and trenches that had not yet been bombarded, and wait for the officers and troops to rush closer before fighting.

Considering that the terrain of the gap was not wide enough after all, Zuo Zixiong did not dare to use cavalry to clash easily, so he decided to use heavy infantry to step forward and fight hand-to-hand. Once successful, let the bayonet bird team step forward to seize the wall, and rely on the wall to shoot into the camp.

He prepared this tactic to Shen Shuren, and Shen Shuren didn't say anything, but said without hesitation: "Facing the enemy, tactical command, don't ask me about these." There is a specialization in the art industry, and you must believe in yourself tactically. ”

Shen Shuren knows very well the boundaries of his ability, and he is not good at things at the tactical command level, he only needs to control the general strategic direction and attack strategy.

If a person from a literati background has to do tactical micro-manipulation, it will only bring disaster, so what is the difference between it and "let the machine gun position advance fifty meters"?

And Zuo Zixiong didn't actually ask for such details, or because he was put on a strategic deception by Li Dingguo a few days ago, he always wanted to atone for his crimes, so he was cautious to this extent, and he couldn't let go of tactics.

Soon, as the elite soldiers in the Ming army wearing iron and cotton armor stepped forward to attack the gap, the main force of the thieves who was originally hiding behind the broken bunker also poured out again, and the two sides soon entered a meat grinding battle.

The Ming army was better equipped, and there was heavy artillery that scared some of the enemy's courage in advance, and the impact momentum was even better.

After a while, a hundred and ten corpses were dropped in front of several gaps, but Li Dingguo's troops still fought to the death, and a steady stream of reserves were thrown in. That momentum made the officers and soldiers a little suspicious.

Why don't these enemies know what to fear?

In the midst of the chaotic battle, Li Dingguo personally held his sword and went to the front line to supervise the battle, and shouted hoarsely and encouraged, and the officers and drummers around him also encouraged the encouragement, beating the drums, and shouting the incentive slogans that had been explained in advance:

"Brothers, hold on! The king has already broken through Changsha! King Ji's Mansion seized 10 million taels of treasure! The king's main force will arrive to support us one day!

The officers and soldiers have been stuck with us! When the time comes, they will be killed! As long as you fight to the death today, everyone will be rewarded at that time! The war dead will pay a hundred taels to their families! ”

was shouted by the thief side, some front-line soldiers of the Shen family army who did not know the truth were a little suspicious, and thought that Li Dingguo's ministry was really just a bait, and Zhang Xianzhong solved Changsha, so he could come over for reinforcements-

In fact, Zhang Xianzhong had already recognized the situation, seeing that Shen Shuren came so quickly, and the surface strength of the warship was absolutely superior, how could he dare to come to Baling to teach Li Dingguo? Of course, it is to let Li Dingguo run south as fast as he can to meet him.

It's a pity that these problems are not something that front-line soldiers can see and figure out clearly. Li Dingguo's internal incentive deception was very successful, and he suddenly made the fight scorching.

Even if the officers and troops are absolutely superior in casualties, and the melee bird artillery cooperates, at least five times the exchange ratio, but Zuo Zixiong is still a little distressed about the loss.

The bloody battle lasted for more than a quarter of an hour, and Zuo Zixiong looked at the face of Shen Futai, who was watching the battle next to him, several times. Seeing that Shen Shuren didn't have any expression fluctuations, he didn't know whether he thought he was playing well or playing badly, so he suggested again:

"My lord, it seems that Li Dingguo is strict in governing the army, don't the thieves know that they are about to be divided and broken? So that morale has not yet been discouraged? Why don't you temporarily retreat today, and then use other methods to attack your heart and slowly find out the truth about the hearts of the enemy camp? ”

Shen Shuren glanced at Zuo Zixiong with a little meaning, but he didn't have an absolute grasp of these tactical judgments, and after thinking about it, he felt that it would be a better choice to kill fewer people and destroy the enemy more lightly, so he decided to stabilize his hand and figure it out.

"As I said, there is a specialization in the art industry, and if you think it is appropriate, then do it. However, if you retreat, beware of the thieves running away tonight—

Maybe Li Dingguo just wanted to run away, for fear of being pursued by us and wiped out, so he had to grit his teeth and pretend to be very confident. If we can seize the opportunity, we will be able to pay less and reap more results than the battle of the trapped beasts at this moment. Shen Shuren said without praise or disparagement.

Zuo Zixiong gritted his teeth, took responsibility, and ordered the temporary ringing of gold. Then he also paid attention to the point reminded by his boss very sincerely, and immediately asked Zhu Wenzhen's cavalry troops to organize patrols and circulate after retreating, and always keep an eye on whether Li Dingguo would retreat with a false shot after the sky was completely dark for a while.

……

A fierce frontal assault camp battle came to an end for the time being, with at least one or two thousand corpses left on the battlefield, and many more wailing wounded, most of whom belonged to Li Dingguo's department.

If Li Dingguo hadn't deceived his own people, making them really think that "Zhang Xianzhong's plan is for the whole army to go north to join forces and take the initiative to attack and swallow the Shen Shuren", plus his own side is a dog jumping over the wall and fighting against the water, with the morale of the thief troops, it will definitely not be able to hold this step.

After each of them collected their troops, Li Dingguo and his generals did not dare to slack off, and still kept an eye on the enemy's situation at all times.

No anti-theft

It didn't take long for Bai Wenxuan to come to the big tent of the Chinese army and tell Li Dingguo a bad news: "Second general, although the officers and troops have retreated, their cavalry activities are more arrogant than before.

Zhu Wenzhen has already gone around to the south of our camp, and even put forward that he wants to set up a new camp south of us, which is to encircle and cut off our back road. From this point of view, even if Zuo Zixiong collects his troops and does not attack the camp for the time being, the more it drags on, the more difficult it will be for us to break through.

And if you follow the original plan and immediately risk death to break through the siege, you will definitely not be able to secretly open the distance between you and the enemy first, and if you can't go five miles, you will be discovered by Zhu Wenzhen's cavalry and chased by the tail! I'm afraid I won't be able to run away when the time comes! ”

"You mean, Zhu Wenzhen is so bold that he dares to detour our back road?" When Li Dingguo heard this, his eyebrows were twisted, his face was gloomy for a long time, and his teeth rubbed back and forth back and forth more than a dozen times before he seemed to have thought of a countermeasure.

"Well, when things come to this point, it is already extremely dangerous, only a dead horse is a live horse doctor, take a step at a time - you immediately choose a few henchmen and dead soldiers, and be willing to be the kind of death, it is best to have a family member on your father's side to eat Lu as a hostage.

Then, I forged a few letters from my father to me, and asked them to sneak the patrol cavalry that bypassed Zhu Wenzhen to infiltrate a little south, and then go north, and take the initiative to 'accidentally' be caught by Zhu Wenzhen! Got it! ”

Bai Wenxuan felt a chill in his heart, and pondered for a long time before he realized Li Dingguo's strategy, and he had no choice but to implement it quickly.

Li Dingguo's forged "letters from Zhang Xianzhong to himself" were copied several times and handed over to several "messengers" to take out; once caught, whether they were caught on the way out or on the way back, they had to say that they came from the south.

These dead soldiers may not all complete the task as Li Dingguo expected, maybe they will run away after infiltrating out, but there will always be a few who can complete the task.

On the shore of the lake south of Li Dingguo's camp, there was soon an infiltration of the black cavalry, and the horses' hooves of the patrols rumbled, occasionally mixed with a few shouts of slaughter, and cries for mercy and surrender.

Sure enough, less than an hour and a half later, some of the letters were captured by Zhu Wenzhen's cavalry patrol. Zhu Wenzhen just glanced at it, and immediately sent it to Zuo Zixiong.

Zuo Zixiong didn't dare to be self-conscious, this kind of thing that needed to be identified with his brain to identify conspiracies and tricks, he immediately reported it to Shen Shuren and let his boss decide.

Shen Shuren was originally ready to rest, but an oil lamp in the big tent had not been extinguished, and after Zuo Zixiong came in, he did not take the lake and immediately put on his clothes again.

"It turns out that Li Dingguo really doesn't know that our sailors have already cut off their troop transport routes? How could Zhang Xianzhong's messenger run so slowly? Only now to send the order to Li Dingguo? ”

After Shen Shuren saw it, his first reaction was not to believe it, but he would not blindly draw conclusions, but immediately summoned the messengers sent back by Zhu Wenzhen, as well as Zuo Zixiong, and several staff members, all together, and carefully interrogated and discussed.

"Have you asked the messenger? Is there only one messenger, or are there several? Why did it take more than two days to get here from Changsha, have you asked? ”