Just when Kudu rushed to Zizhou on the order of a hundred slaves, the cavalry brigade of the second division of the Perak Army also quietly crossed the Mianshui and suddenly appeared in front of the newly attached army camp on the east bank of the river. This made the soldiers of the new annex army chaotic, and also made Yang Wenan shocked. When he first led his army to attack Mianshui, Kudu was ordered to lead 2,000 cavalry to help in the battle, although these cavalry did not change the situation of confrontation between the two sides, but also restrained the movement of the Thunderbolt army, so that it did not dare to cross the river easily. Although he took with him a thousand cavalry when he went to Luzhou, the remaining cavalry was still an effective deterrent to the Thunderbolts. Just a few days ago, Kudu led the remaining cavalry to Zizhou, leaving only the new annexed army on the Mianshui front, which made Yang Wenan's heart uneasy.

I was really afraid of something, and just a few days after I left, the Thunderbolt army launched an offensive. What's even worse is that the new annex focused on the Thunderbolt infantry on the other side of the river, but unexpectedly, the Thunderbolt cavalry quietly crossed the river twenty miles downstream. By the time Yang Wen'an's scouts reported back the news, the Perak cavalry had already crossed the river and appeared half a day later in front of the new garrison.

Yang Wen'an's troops suffered heavy losses during the Mianshui confrontation, losing nearly 2,000 people under casualties and epidemics, although Yang Dayuan continued to replenish his troops, and now there are still 3,000 people, but the combat power of the additional troops later is far less than the previous elite. Yang Wen'an, who has been in battle for a long time, understands that if his 3,000 people fight in the field, they are not the opponent of the more than 1,000 Thunderbolt cavalry in front of him, not to mention that the other party will definitely not only send cavalry.

Yang Wenan did not guess wrong. Just as the cavalry brigade of the 2nd Division began to cross the river, Huang Dagen had already led his army from Shifang County to the Mianshui front. In order to paralyze the Mongolian army, the Perak Army Staff not only ordered Cao Ergou's first division to lead the army to retreat to the rear, but also asked Huang Dagen to retreat with the main force of the second division.

This kind of transfer made Niu Ling and Liu Heima judge that the main force of the Thunderbolt Army had gone to Luzhou by water, and it was also the reason why Baijianu urgently reinforces Zizhou. In Baijianu's view, the Thunderbolt army has already moved south, and there are only more than 1,000 troops left on the Mianshui front, and there are only more than a dozen light gunboats. Although Yang Wen'an's troops were still unable to cross the river, it was more than enough to defend the riverbank.

In order to make the deception operation more successful, the second division had only one battalion of regular troops on the Mianshui front, the rest were basic militia, the main force was hidden in the mountains of Shifang and other places, and the warships were anchored in the secret places of Hanzhou. It was not easy for the Mongolian scouts to cross the river, even if a small number of people were lucky enough to cross the river, they were chased by the Thunderbolt cavalry who rushed to the news, and they fled in panic, and they did not find the main force of the second division hidden in the snow at all.

When the scouts reported back the news that Kudu was leading his troops south, Huang Dagen immediately gave the order to march. The cavalry brigade, which had the fastest distance, was naturally the vanguard, and they were the first to cross the river to prevent the new annex from escaping. The cavalry of the 2nd Division was not fully equipped due to the lack of war horses, and there were only 1,200 men at present. Although these horses could not break through the strongholds of the new annex, it was easy to prevent them from escaping.

Among the three field divisions of the Perak Army, Cao Ergou's 1st Division had the strongest infantry and cavalry combat power, Zan Wanshou's 3rd Division was the strongest naval army, and the 2nd Division under Huang Dagen was relatively average in all aspects. According to the order of the General Staff, a main battalion of the Navy Brigade of the Second Division before the war was transferred to Luzhou to return to Wanshou Temperance, and there were only dozens of warships and more than 100 other auxiliary ships at present.

Although the second division's naval brigade was not the strongest, and a main battalion was withdrawn, it was a very terrifying existence for the Mongolian army without a naval army. These warships are now under the command of Deputy Division Commander Dong Hu from Hanzhou to the Mianshui front. The two infantry brigades and the divisional brigade, which were the absolute main forces of the Second Division, marched along the official road from Shifang to Mianzhu, accompanied by 5,000 basic militiamen transporting baggage. Nearly 10,000 men and horses lined up more than ten miles long on the official road and headed north. The footsteps of people and the dust kicked up by the hooves of mules and horses made the official road gray along the road.

The soldiers of the new annex army on the east bank of Mianshui saw the dust on the horizon in front of them from a distance, and they were all shocked. The Thunderbolt soldiers in the riverside fort cheered, and they had already seen the battle flag of the 2nd Division through their binoculars. Due to the long march of troops, it took half a day from the arrival of the front team at noon to the arrival of the rear team near sunset.

Although the troops who arrived in front had already set up camp, Huang Dagen still ordered to continue to strengthen the camp defenses in case of a night attack by the new annexed army. The Thunderbolt Army is now far superior to the new annex army on the other side of the river in terms of number and combat strength, but Huang Dagen still does not dare to be careless. Ouyang Xuan often reminded the generals of the Perak Army that there is no trivial matter in combat, and you must not have the idea of underestimating the enemy.

On the second day, Huang Dagen did not order an attack, but waited for another two days, and only after Dong Hu arrived with his navy did he order to start erecting the pontoon bridge. There are more than 200 miles of waterway from Hanzhou City to the Mianshui front, although Dong Hu led the army to rush day and night, but because of the slow speed of the boat against the current, it only arrived at the destination on the fourth day. After the new annex army on the east bank of the river saw the confluence of the Thunderbolt army, the two or three miles of the west bank of the river was full of dense crowds, and the river was also full of boats, all of them were frightened.

When Yang Wenan saw this situation, he was even more panicked. On the one hand, he asked for help from the nearby Mianzhou, Tongchuan Prefecture and his uncle Yang Dayuan, and at the same time sent the dead soldiers to Zizhou to report to the hundred slaves and begged them to send cavalry to rescue them. It's just that during this time, his subordinates have been frightened by firearms, and they know that they will not go back to the night attack, so they will not go. Yang Wenxin was annoyed, and after killing the disobedient captain, he forced a few more captains and asked them to take their men to attack at night.

The dead soldiers sent by Yang Wen'an were unsurprisingly heavy in casualties, and they were beaten back by artillery before they even approached the riverbank. Huang Dagen is not as brave as Cao Ergou in battle, and his strategic awareness and political level are not as good as Zan Wanshou, but his character is calm and cautious, and his combat is stable and stable. Although the field artillery and warship artillery of the Thunderbolt Army could not reach the new garrison, it was easy to attack targets within two miles of the river bank. Under a round of concentrated fire, the 300 dead soldiers sent by Yang Wenan were killed and wounded by one-third in an instant.

The rest of the new annex dead survived thanks to the large number of trenches they dug during the standoff. In addition to the trenches, Yang Wen'an also ordered his men to build a large number of earthen walls and wooden fences, but since the Thunderbolt army transferred heavy tiger squat artillery, under the blows of curved fire, the effectiveness of these two civil fortifications has been greatly reduced.

The failure of the night attack made Yang Wen feel at ease. He knew that the Thunderbolts would cross the river by force, and that he was powerless to stop them. Once the Thunderbolts crossed the river, the barracks would be under fire from field artillery, and it would be very difficult to hold them. Although he ordered the earthen walls of the camp to be built high and thick, and three deep trenches were dug around it, he could not stop the Thunderbolt army from being overwhelming.

What's more, the Thunderbolts will not fight hand-to-hand at all, but will bombard them with artillery. Yang Wen'an had seen the power of the Thunderbolt army's heavy artillery, it was really terrifying, the stone city wall could not withstand the bombardment, let alone the hastily built earthen wall. It's just that the end of running away is even worse, and if you can't run far, you will die under the swords of the cavalry who are eyeing you, or be trampled into pulp by iron hooves.