After resting for two hours, the escort army in the city woke up one after another, Zhou Shixian was recruited from the city for three taels of silver, and the men who were the chief armor as a guarantee immediately began to kill pigs and make food, and the soldiers and cavalry of various departments began to adjust the team and check the equipment.

There were nearly 2,000 soldiers and horses in the whole army, except for more than 200 soldiers who stayed behind, the rest were assigned to different generals.

Of course, this is not a dismantling and reorganization, but basically an overall allocation of "two teams, one team of 12 people".

Otherwise, this battle will not be able to be fought, the Ming army at this time has not completed standardized training, and the formation of combat effectiveness requires soldiers to run in through long-term training, and it cannot be broken into zero.

After the officers of each unit clarified their respective combat tasks, checked their equipment, and filled their stomachs again, the time had come to three o'clock in the morning.

More than 30 sentinels were the first to set out, and they were to clear the army of ambushes and rangers on the road of the night attack.

Most of these sentinels are not relenting at night, and most of them will dismount and walk on the way, quietly approaching the enemy who has already figured out their location.

In the northern night sky at the end of March, a crescent moon hangs high, and the thin moonlight makes the entire plain and wilderness dark with no fingers visible.

On the flat and open North China Plain, groups of soldiers ranging from more than 100 to as many as 3,500 were advancing in the dark, and under the cover of the wind, if they did not approach, they could hardly hear any sound.

Naturally, it is impossible to light a torch for a sneak attack at night. Instead of lighting torches, spear heads, silver armor, and new-edged axes that might reflect light had to be wrapped in cloth.

The vast majority of the soldiers were led forward by those with night vision by the faint light of the stars, the soldiers pulling their belts at each other, and the cavalry pulling the tails of the horses in front of them.

At the same time that Zhou Shixian and the generals were discussing the night attack plan, he had already asked Wu Xingye to send sentry cavalry to find out the peripheral deployment and barracks location of the Shun army camp, as well as the road conditions in the middle fifteen miles.

The four large battalions of the Shun army were all close together, no more than fifty paces apart, three in the east for the soldiers to rest, and the other near the canal, which was convenient for the horses to drink water and rest and regain their strength.

As for the deployment of the camp of the Shun army, it can only be said that it is extremely simple, that is, the trenches on the periphery of the camp have not been dug, and the surrounding area is bare, and it is even more impossible to resist horses and fences.

Gu Kecheng and Hao Shaoqi only sent out a dozen secret sentinels, and the same number of scouts were on guard around.

After all, when the Shun army came after them, it was already dark, and the surrounding areas were plains, and most of the villages had been deserted for many years, so they were not suitable for stationing.

Moreover, Gu Kecheng also deliberately chose a flat land far away from the deserted village, so that there is nothing to hide around, and there is no need to worry about being sneak attacked.

Of course, more importantly, in the face of a defeated army that fled with their backs to their lives, Gu Kecheng and Hao Shaoqi couldn't help but slack off the enemy, and they didn't feel that there was anything wrong with their deployment at all.

The country roads on the plain are not difficult to walk, except for Xue Changfu, Sun Hu, Weng Dajie, and Kong Tao, who need to cross the river and detour, which is quite troublesome, the rest of the people and horses only need to do not alarm the enemy.

There are no big rivers running from east to west, no dense forests, not even mountain slopes, there are some ponds, but they do not affect the march, and the only thing Zhou Shixian needs to consider is to ensure the quiet during the march.

For this reason, the "nocturnal march" was a must, and each soldier was given a piece of wood similar to chopsticks, which he bit in his mouth to avoid making a sound while marching.

According to military law, during the march at night, the soldier who made a sound, for whatever reason, the officer would immediately behead the public.

But that's not all: the wood chips were to be put away by the soldiers themselves before the battle began, inspected after the battle, and if they were lost, they were also dealt with by military law.

In fact, everyone's name is engraved on the wood chips, so as not to rob others of impersonation after someone loses it, but in today's situation, Zhou Shixian can't have time to prepare, so he can only keep everything simple.

He followed Wu Xingye's soldiers with a dozen of his personal guards, and soon after leaving the city, he began to lead his horse away, and the horse's hooves were wrapped in cotton cloth, and he could hardly make a sound.

As they headed north, the ground under their feet was yellowed by continuous drought and war, and there was hardly a trace of life in sight. The people in the surrounding villages have long been lost due to natural and man-made disasters such as drought, taxes, and rebellions.

These fields have not been replanted for a long time, so they are not difficult to walk, but they are certainly not as good as the country roads. Along the way, the team is sometimes fast and sometimes slow, mainly based on the crow cry in front.

This is the early warning method proposed by Zhang Hong and Wu Xingye, which reports the military situation with the cries of birds and beasts, and the different numbers of voices represent different enemy situations and orders, so as to ensure the communication of the army while effectively avoiding the detection of the enemy.

And the reason why it is sometimes fast and sometimes slow is because of the Shun army and the rangers in front. Zhou Shixian just saw the bodies of two Shunjun secret sentinels on the side of the road, and they died directly in a deep pit, and it seemed that they were killed without reacting at all.

At this time, it was the most exhausted and lax time for the Shun army, they didn't expect the Ming army in Texas City to dare to go out of the city to attack at night, let alone at this time.

Zhou Shixian was tightly guarded in the middle of the army, although he couldn't see the situation in front of him clearly, and the road under his feet had always been the same, but he estimated the time in his heart and knew that he had walked more than halfway.

Soon, Wu Xingye's headquarters came to a place about five miles away from the Shunjun camp, and more than 200 soldiers and horses stopped here.

"Stand by and make no sound." As soon as the procession stopped, an officer came over and gave the order.

Zhou Shixian looked up at the moon in the sky again, and couldn't help but feel a little apprehensive in his heart, his plan was to launch an attack half an hour before dawn, and he didn't know if he could catch up.

After a while, another officer came to issue a "title" to the soldier. And Wu Xingye also came to Zhou Shixian together, bowed his fists and saluted, and then said in a low voice:

"The colt, if you go any further, it will be dangerous, and it may be discovered by the Shun army at any time. The pathfinder sentry in front of him just encountered a hard stubble, and the three sentry riders were killed and wounded before they dealt with each other, and they were almost exposed. ”

"Where did the sentinel you sent out?" Zhou Shixian listened, but his face did not change, and he asked in a low voice.

"I touched the place where the Shun army camp was three miles, and there were not many secret posts deployed by the Shun army, and it was basically solved, but further along, it was easy to alarm the main force of the Shun army." Wu Xingye said again.

"Five miles...... Sanli ......" Zhou Shixian muttered in his mouth, looked up at the position of the moon again, and then turned his head to look at Wu Xingye and asked:

"It's dawn in just over an hour, where can we attack recently?"

Seeing this, Wu Xingye also understood Zhou Shixian's determination, but after hesitating for a while, he couldn't help but persuade again: "Don't ...... the horse"

However, before his words could be spoken, Zhou Shixian directly interrupted: "At this time, don't talk nonsense, where this horse is, it's not up to you to decide, if there is such an encroachment again, the military law will deal with it." ”

"Yes." Wu Xingye saw that Zhou Shixian's attitude was so resolute, and he didn't dare to persuade him again.

"Where can you go lately? Xue Changfu and they bypassed the canal and dived from the north, can they get to a mile? Zhou Shixian continued to ask.

"This depends on the vigilance of the Shun army, but judging from the fact that there are only four secret posts and three rangers in the south, the Shun thieves should not be too heavily guarded in the west and north, and it is no problem to touch within one or two miles, but it is impossible to get closer."

Zhou Shixian listened and nodded: "Okay, you personally command the rest of the things, don't ask me." When this horse arrives in the army tonight, its only role is to put up the dragon flag and shout for our soldiers. ”

Wu Xingye listened, and immediately gave a military salute to Zhou Shixian, with a grudge in his eyes that he had never had in the army for more than ten years.

In this world, there has never been a saying of "defeating the strong with the weak", and Zhou Shixian never thought about defeating the strong with the weak, what he wanted was to achieve local advantages through night attacks, and then achieve global advantages.

No matter what era it is, morale and morale are crucial for an army.

As the commander of the first army, Zhou Shixian personally went to the battlefield to supervise the battle, and for a weak army, the morale blessing that can be brought is undoubtedly huge, which will make the local advantage of the Ming army greater.

After a while, Wu Xingye took out a piece of "title" and handed it to Zhou Shixian. After Zhou Shixian took it, he immediately took it into his mouth.

Soon, an officer came over and ordered: "All ranks, set off immediately, and those who speak will be beheaded immediately." ”

The team continued to move forward, and Zhou Shixian also saw the killed sentry on the road, and there was a slight smell of blood in the air.

The army still walked and stopped above the plains, and its figures were covered by darkness. The fields were covered with sparse bushes, and all kinds of insect chirps were ringing, and there were no animals suddenly popping out.

.

Xue Laoer, Zhang Hong and Sun Hu, Weng Dajie, and Kong Tao were already separated seven miles away from the north, and Xue Laoer still had a hundred cavalry under his command to go around to the east.

At this time, it was already a moment of time, and the originally dark surroundings had become somewhat clear, but only some. Above the plains, as long as it is a little farther away, it is still pitch black.

However, by this time, it is less than an hour before the sun rises, and the change in the sky is extremely fast, and even a nap may have made it already dark.

The two hundred cavalry under Xue Lao'er had already sneaked to a place more than 500 paces away from the camp to the west of the Shun army, and they hid behind a bush that was not overgrown, ready to attack at any time.

Zhang Hong's pikemen were sitting on the ground resting, unwrapping the cotton cloth from their weapons and inspecting their equipment, or picking up coconut scoops and drinking water. The sound of insects and the wind provided excellent cover for the rattling of the carapace of the carapace on their bodies.

The banners in the soldiers' mouths had all been taken off, but no one dared to speak the whole time in such a close distance to the camp. A soldier who had just twisted his foot because he stepped on the air and accidentally made a sound had his head cut off by Zhang Hong himself on the road.

Zhang Hong looked at the soldiers sitting on the ground in a row behind him, and then looked at the cavalry in front of him who were already ready and were constantly turning over their horses, and said to himself: "Dog's day, it's finally begun!" ”

When the Shun army was still unaware, this Ming army of more than 500 people, as well as the Ming army of more than 1,300 people in the south, north, and east, had already launched a battle formation.

After the last short rest and recuperation, the soldiers rose one after another, clenched their weapons in their hands, and waited for the officer's order.