In less than two days, 3,000 cavalry pursued more than 200 miles, and 2,000 were able to follow in formation. Such soldiers and horses, in this era, can definitely be called elite.

Not to mention, many of them are because Gu Kecheng and Hao Shaoqi made a decision on the spot and ordered some cavalry to give up their horses, resulting in the initiative to fall behind.

However, Gu Kecheng and Hao Shaoqi kept up, but it is difficult to say how much the combat effectiveness of the cavalry under their command can be maintained after several days of galloping.

After they confirmed that the pursuing Ming army had all taken refuge in the city of Dezhou, they set up camp about fifteen miles north of the city, intending to rest for the night before making plans.

It's not that Gu Kecheng and Hao Shaoqi have slackened, but Zhou Shixian's deployment has made them have no choice for a while.

First, Zhou Shixian occupied Dezhou City, while Gu Kecheng and Hao Shaoqi brought cavalry and did not have the ability to attack the city. However, both of them were full of confidence and believed that the Ming army in the city would not dare to go out of the city to fight.

Second, in the eyes of Gu Kecheng and Hao Shaoqi, the Ming army's invasion of Dezhou City was simply self-defeating, and it seemed that they could defend the city, but as long as the reinforcements behind them arrived, these Ming troops would no longer be able to run.

After all, after the destruction of the capital, there will be no more Ming court soldiers and horses who can fight with the Shun army in the entire north, and it is pointless to stick to the city in isolation.

As for whether the Ming army would escape overnight, Gu Kecheng and Hao Shaoqi couldn't ask for it even more.

Because the Ming army entered the city, the distance between the two armies has now been shortened to fifteen miles. At such a distance, the boats were not as good as the cavalry, and it would not take long for them to catch up.

In other words, after some analysis, Gu Kecheng and Hao Shaoqi, two battlefield veterans, both came to the conclusion at the same time - with horses against boats, the advantage in this battle is mine.

At this time, in the city of Dezhou, under the guidance of the locals, Zhou Shixian personally took Zhu Maozhen and others to open the warehouse of the government office, and sure enough, they found the armor and firearms urgently needed by the army, as well as grain, grass and horse fodder.

As for the hundreds of thousands of taels of silver that should have been lying in the warehouse, when various officials such as the Caoyun warehouse in the city, the city defense guards, and the county government three classes and six rooms fled, they had all been divided, and there was not a single copper plate left.

During the Yongle years, Dezhou carried four million stone of grain transportation every year, and for this alone, I don't know how many interests are entangled.

After the Dongyu ravaged Liaodong, especially after the civil unrest in the northern provinces, the Ming court spent more and more money, and the goods of the southern Zhili, Zhejiang and other places were more exported to the north, and the geographical location of Dezhou was also more important, and at the same time, more wealth was accumulated.

It's a pity that Zhou Shixian came one step late, most of the wealthy businessmen in the city have fled, and the officials are nowhere to be seen, and a large amount of military spending is gone.

However, from a certain point of view, if these treasury were not controlled by those officials Qingpi, perhaps the contents of them would have been looted by the people in the city.

Of course, it was precisely with the swords, guns, armor and grain in the treasury that those officials had the capital to recruit green-skinned gangsters and control the people of the city.

But when a more powerful force intervenes, the situation can change dramatically at any time.

This is the case with a small Texas, and the same is true with the huge Huaxia, the former is the Ya Servant Qingpi, the latter is Li Zicheng, and the latter is the Taqing Dynasty, they will all be defeated and destroyed by the forces that were originally despised, or ignored.

Without waiting for Zhu Maozhen to lead people to calculate how many supplies there were in the treasury, Zhou Shixian had already arranged for all the soldiers and horses to take turns to get the equipment, and in less than an hour, the two thousand soldiers and horses had basically completed the redress.

In the warehouse of the Dezhou Mansion, there are more than 300 muskets of all kinds of high-quality guns, but they are all birds. There are more than 100 foot bows, nearly 200 riding bows, more than 2,700 pairs of various armors, and more than 150 well-made scale armors.

In addition, there is no shortage of knives, guns, arrows, lead bullets and gunpowder, and there is more than enough equipment for 1,500 soldiers.

These weapons and equipment were originally supposed to be exported north to the Beijing battalion, but now they are all stranded in Texas.

Of course, if it weren't for being exploited layer by layer, the number of weapons in the Texas arsenal should be larger, and there should not be any high-quality and unusable arguments.

However, Zhou Shixian now can't care about the indiscriminate things that have accumulated in the arsenal, far exceeding the number of available armor. The decay of the Ming Court, he has already experienced it.

After a brief review by Zhou Shixian, except for the soldiers on duty in the city, the rest of the men and horses were gathered in the compound of the government and began to rest for a short time.

And Zhou Shixian summoned the generals of various ministries and began to deploy his counterattack plan.

Gu Kecheng and Hao Shaoqi were right, and they could even be said to be in one sentence, hitting the nail on the head. But they all ignored one point - Zhou Shixian will not be beaten passively, he now has the ability to fight back.

In fact, if there was not enough armor in Dezhou City, Zhou Shixian would not stay in Dezhou at all, and Xue Lao Er and Zhang Hong took the lead in attacking in order to figure out the armaments in Dezhou City.

Of course, Zhou Shixian will still leave a group of men and horses to occupy Texas, bluff, and then quietly take Emperor Chongzhen to continue south.

After all, they have arrived in Shandong, even if there are only five or six hundred escorts and horses, which is enough. As long as the defenders in Texas City hold on for a day and a night, it will be impossible for the Shun army to catch up.

But this is also a great risk, as the abandoned Texas defenders, that is, Sun Hu, Weng Dajie, Kong Tao and others, are very likely to surrender directly to the Shun army.

This is also why Zhou Shixian, in the current situation, when the Shun army may catch up at any time, did not easily adopt this seemingly more foolproof strategy, and chose to defend the city with the whole army.

Different situations and different decision-making, being able to keenly perceive opportunities, make accurate and timely judgments, see both benefits and hidden dangers, as well as courage and courage, these military careers have given Zhou Shixian training, which is where he is better than others.

"What is the situation of the Shun army pursued from the capital?" Zhou Shixian looked at Wu Xingye and asked calmly as always.

"The Shun army has now set up camp in the north of the city, and the war horses have been put to the river to drink water, and it seems that they plan to rest for the night before moving." Wu Xingye paused, and then continued:

"The number of this Shun army is about 2,000, all of them are cavalry, basically one person and three horses, and the flags are Gu and Hao, which are definitely the elite cavalry of the Shun army, and their combat power should not be underestimated."

"Damn, these rogues don't take us seriously either." Zhang Hong listened to it and said indignantly. If it weren't for Zhou Shixian being here, he would probably have to scold and pound the table at the same time.

"Gu Kecheng and Hao Shaoqi, it seems that Li Zicheng guessed that the Holy Lord is in our team!" Zhou Shixian said, but a smile appeared on his face.

There are some things that I am most worried about when they don't happen, but I don't feel anything when they happen, and I feel relaxed.

"If this is the case, it is absolutely impossible for the pursuing Shun army to have only 2,000 cavalry, and it is very likely that the main force will arrive in two days after tomorrow." When Li Banghua heard this, he couldn't help but get nervous in his heart:

"Gu Kecheng and Hao Shaoqi are both thieves and soldiers, horses, for the sake of safety, the holy driver must not stay in Texas overnight, otherwise when the main force of the thieves arrives, we may not be able to escape even if we have wings!"

Zhou Shixian did not talk to Li Banghua and other ministers, or even the generals under his command, nor did he say anything about his counterattack plan, after all, it seemed too risky and incredible.

But it is precisely because of this that such a counterattack is full of power, so that it can deal a heavy blow to the elite Shun army that pursues, or even directly crush them, and cut off their minds to continue the pursuit.

As soon as Li Banghua's words came out, although the rest of the generals did not express their positions, Zhou Shixian knew at a glance that they were just hindered by their own attitudes and were waiting.

However, this also shows that Zhou Shixian's efforts during this period of time have achieved obvious results, and he has now truly become the most authoritative existence in the entire escort team.

A team that is always in danger needs such an authority to stand out when decisions need to be made.

Many times, what is more terrible than a bad decision is not making a decision.

"Meng Weng is not in a hurry." Zhou Shixian looked around, then retracted his gaze, and said: "Gu Kecheng and Hao Shaoqi are indeed fierce generals in the Shun army, they can have one person and three horses, and the two thousand cavalry they lead are definitely elite. ”

As Zhou Shixian spoke, a gust of cold wind blew into the county hall, and several rows of candles burning on the side fell to the side, many of which were almost blown out, and the hall suddenly darkened, but soon returned to normal.

"But I ask you." Zhou Shixian's words changed sharply, and he said sharply:

"From the capital to Dezhou, more than five hundred miles, from Qingxian to Dezhou, it is more than two hundred miles, and the Shun army is chasing all the way, how many soldiers are there who can fight? Even if you can fight, how much combat power is left?

And, now, do we really have a chance to go? It is not possible to defend the city for the time being, and how can it be the enemy in a flat field battle? Within a hundred miles, no matter how boats and horses run, I'm afraid it will be difficult to get rid of these Shun troops!

How can I not know that I can leave the soldiers and horses to block the attack and cover the evacuation of the Holy Master, but who should I keep? How long can it be blocked? Could it be that Gu Kecheng and Hao Shaoqi would not divide their troops? ”

Zhou Shixian directly finished talking about all kinds of possibilities in one breath, and the generals, like Li Banghua, looked at each other for a while, speechless, if so, wouldn't they just wait for death?

"Horses, the last general is willing to lead the troops to attack the thieves' camp at night to delay time for the horses." Zhang Hong suddenly stepped forward and said with his hands clenched into fists.

And since Zhang Hong has taken the lead in expressing his loyalty, Xue Laoer, Wang Chaodong, Wu Xingye, Sun Hu, Weng Dajie, Kong Tao and others will naturally not be left behind, and they all instantly became righteous and awe-inspiring.

In Zhou Shixian's view, the night attack on the Shunjun camp was a strategy to break the enemy, but in their eyes, it was no different from sending them to death.

Of course, as the elite of the Beijing camp, they are not so unbearable, they are just doomed together.

After all, the former is to raise the strength of the whole army, and the latter is to drag the Shun army with some soldiers and horses.

Although the Shun army will divide its troops, it will be too late to divide its troops when it is attacked by a sneak attack. But the problem is that the difference in strength between the two armies is "visible to the naked eye", even a sneak attack, and it may not be very effective.

This is the truest thought in the hearts of the generals in front of Zhou Shixian.

The Ming army has been defeated too much, and the morale of the army has long been defeated, and it is not easy for Zhou Shixian to rebuild. There is no other way but to win a big battle.

"No, now that the armor is complete, let's take a boat all the way, and we should take the initiative to attack, instead of being so passive." Zhou Shixian looked at the generals in front of him who were asking for his life, and said in a firm tone.