On August 12, on both sides of the Hutuo River, leading to the vast land of Zhending, endless soldiers and horses were moving west to east.

The Hutuo River traverses the east and west, reaching Zhending in the east, Cangzhou in the west, and connecting Jinhai in the north.

Geng Bingwen decided to place all 130,000 soldiers and horses on both sides of the Hutuo River, which stretched for more than ten miles from east to west.

He has always sought stability in war, and he is also good at defense, which is his deliberate arrangement.

As long as he keeps the true determination, he can block King Yan in Beiping, and then lay the foundation for the strategic goals of the imperial court in the later period.

His requirement for himself is that this battle does not have to be won, but it must not be lost.

Just as King Yan thought, before starting to send troops, Geng Bingwen also considered landing from the direction of Jinhai and transporting all the soldiers and horses with a naval division.

But this plan was too radical, Jinhai was so close to Beiping, if King Yan knew that they were transported to Jinhai with a naval division, he would definitely ambush the whole army in Jinhai.

Geng Bingwen couldn't get the people on the troop carrier to disembark at the same time, and if he was taken by surprise, he would only be defeated.

Even if it is a complete landing, it will inevitably have a decisive battle with King Yan near the Jinhai.

Before coming, Qi Tai and Xu Huizu of the Ministry of War both told him that they didn't have to fight quickly, as long as they could drag it on, Yan Rebellion would be defeated.

So in the end, Geng Bingwen chose conservative tactics and focused on defense near Zhending.

Therefore, the imperial court counterinsurgency army sent troops to Beiping, just a pretense, if you really want to attack Beiping, there is nothing more radical than sending troops from Jinhai.

In order to stabilize his own defense line, Geng Bingwen asked Yang Song to lead 9,000 elite soldiers to defend Xiongxian County, Xu Kai to lead 100,000 soldiers and horses to garrison Hejian, and Pan Zhong to lead 30,000 soldiers and horses to defend Juzhou, forming a horn with his own 130,000 army.

At this time, the officers and soldiers, except for Geng Bingwen's own soldiers and horses, had all arrived at the predetermined position.

The rear of the official army is Linqing, which is the most prosperous river port wharf in the Ming Dynasty, extending in all directions, connecting all parts of the Ming Dynasty, even at the end of the Ming Dynasty, it is also an important water channel of the Ming Dynasty.

Geng Bingwen's 130,000 soldiers and horses, and the supply of soldiers and horses of Xu Kai and others, all of which were transported from all over the Ming Dynasty to Linqing by Linqing Water Road, and then hoarded to Zhending.

The huge state apparatus of the Ming Dynasty is operating in full force to support Geng Bingwen.

At this time, Geng Bingwen and several generals had already arrived on the south bank of the Hutuo River, south of Shulu County.

Geng Bingwen, whose hair was already gray, stood on a high place on horseback, watching a group of officers and soldiers line up in a steady stream of past them.

Geng Bingwen's 130,000 soldiers and horses were all drawn from the southern guards, and they all wore pig iron hats with wide brims, most of them were spears, and there were also a small number of firearms.

This is almost the standard configuration of the Ming army now, of the 130,000 soldiers and horses, there are less than 20,000 cavalry, and most of them are infantry.

Half of them will enter through the south gate of Shulu County and enter the north bank of the Hutuo River, using Shulu County as a passage to connect the two banks and garrison both sides of the Hutuo River.

In fact, this side is a tributary of the Hutuo River, and further on is the main stream of the Hutuo River that connects the rivers, but Geng Bingwen chose to garrison here, which is also a safe approach.

If the Yan army wants to come and attack them, they must also find a way to cross the main river of the Hutuo River, which gives them enough time to prepare.

"I haven't brought so many soldiers and horses for many years, it's like going back to the time when I fought with Taizu, it's really happy." Geng Bingwen watched more than 100,000 soldiers and horses pass in front of him continuously, and couldn't help but feel a little proud on his face, he gently stroked his long white beard, and his heart was full of pride.

He was followed by several generals, and someone immediately responded: "The old general's heroes are not reduced back then, and this battle will be a complete victory." ”

But it was Li Jian, the captain of the horse, who was patting him on the back.

Du Du Ningzhong also immediately smiled: "If Yan Shun is interested and knows that the old general is coming, it is best to bind himself to the front of the battle, and the future of the province will be humiliated." ”

Geng Bingwen was proud in his heart, but he was still very calm on the surface, and at this time, he saw that a general on the side was silent, and couldn't help laughing: "What is General Sheng's opinion?" ”

But it is the general Sheng Yong.

Sheng Yong thought for a while and said slowly: "I watched the marching formations of all the armies, all of them were drawn from various guards, and they were not subordinate to each other, and the morale of the formations was completely different. ”

"There are few cavalry and many infantry."

The generals' faces changed slightly, and everyone looked at Sheng Yong.

Sheng Yong continued: "The northern army of Yan Rebellion has a large number of cavalry, and we should defend it with foot and cavalry, and it is lighter than attacking. ”

"It's like the battle between Liao and Song back then, but if you win ten times, you can't lose once."

After Sheng Yong finished speaking, the faces of the audience changed greatly, and Geng Bingwen's face was not good-looking.

Sheng Yong's meaning, there are more cavalry on the Yan King's side, we have more infantry, and the flexibility and mobility are not as good as the other party, even if we win, it is not easy to catch up with the Yan army, but once we lose, the consequences are unimaginable.

These words have boosted the morale of others, but Geng Bingwen can still listen to it.

He nodded heavily: "What General Sheng said makes sense, I heard that General Sheng's infantry training is excellent, but you have to rely on General Sheng more." ”

"Don't dare, don't dare." Sheng Yong hurriedly clenched his fists and said modestly, but the expression on his face couldn't be hidden, and he was obviously very confident in his step.

---

At the same time that Geng Bingwen's soldiers entered Zhending, Zhu Di, the king of Yan, was scolding his mother in Beiping.

Just two days ago, Zhu Gaoxu had just completed his wedding, and in order to buy time for Geng Bingwen's soldiers and horses to assemble, Wu Gao, the Marquis of Jiangyin, and Yang Wen, the governor of Jiangyin, raised troops from Liaodong to attack Yongping.

Yongping guard Guo Liang immediately flew to Zhu Di.

Zhu Di heard that Xun immediately led the army to relieve the siege, and Wu Gao heard that Zhu Di was coming, so he turned around and left.

Zhu Di took 20,000 cavalry to Yongping, but ran away.

He had no choice but to go back to Beiping, but as soon as Zhu Di left, Wu Gao led troops to attack Yongping.

Zhu Di came back again, and Wu Gao returned to Shanhaiguan.

Wu Gao is much more yin than Geng Bingwen in this battle, tossing back and forth a few times, Zhu Di scolded his mother angrily, and there was nothing he could do.

Zhu Di, the king of Yan, knew at this time that Geng Bingwen had reached the true decision, and he would definitely give priority to defeating Geng Bingwen, in case Geng Bingwen's soldiers and horses pushed forward again, then he would be exhausted and be attacked from both sides.

Of course, Zhu Di just didn't expect that Geng Bingwen didn't plan to attack at all, so he planned to wait for him to attack on the front line of Zhending.

So what to do in Beiping?

Zhu Di is a very routine person, after thinking about it, he wrote a letter to Guo Liang, saying that he would go all out to defeat Zhending Geng Shanwen, please you and Wang Zhen keep Yongping, but this king is most concerned about the safety of his brothers, if you really can't hold it, allow you to surrender, or abandon the city and come back, and said that Guo Liang's family can be sent to Beiping first.

After Guo Liang received Zhu Di's letter, he immediately fought like a chicken, desperately defending Yongping, fighting to the death, and refused to surrender.

After delivering the letter, King Yan gathered soldiers and horses to fight Geng Bingwen in a decisive battle.

On August 14, Zhu Di, the king of Yan, led more than 40,000 soldiers and horses, known as 100,000, to the vicinity of Zhuozhou, Zhu Gaoxu was the deputy general of the cavalry of the left army, and his subordinates had 1,000 and 500 cavalry (he himself had 1,000 people, and Xu Zhong had 500 cavalry. ）

At this time, with Zhuozhou as the boundary, the northern part has surrendered to the king of Yan, and the southern part is still under the control of the official army.

In fact, what King Yan wants to occupy most now is Baoding in the south of Zhuozhou, as long as Baoding is occupied, Beiping will have a barrier.

But now that Geng Bingwen's army is gathered, he can't care about attacking Baoding, and he has to defeat Geng Bingwen first.