Huang Dagen led the main force of the Second Division from Mianzhou to Zitong County, although it was only a distance of more than 100 miles, but it took more than ten days, which was really not smooth. Although this road is located in a mountainous area, it is a part of the ancient Shu Road Jinniu Road, after thousands of years of repair, in addition to the heavy artillery is difficult to pass, it is not rugged and difficult for light troops. The reason why it took so long was mainly because the Mongol Han army under Wang Weizheng harassed and blocked all the way. The 2nd Division, negligently, suffered three major losses.

The cavalry brigade of the 2nd Division suffered the first big loss. Although Dong Hu repeatedly warned against arrogance and rashness, the successive capture of the Shiquan Army and Longzhou made the cavalry brigade feel proud and contemptuous of Wang's Mongolian army. The cavalry company, which was the vanguard, blindly rushed alone, but unexpectedly ran head-on into a cavalry team of 100 of Wang's family, and the two sides immediately had an encounter.

It can be said that with grenades and short muskets, the cavalry of the Thunderbolt army and the elite cavalry of the Mongolian people also have the power to fight. It's just that the cavalry of the Thunderbolt Army did not release a dense outpost due to their carelessness, and the warning range was only one mile, so they did not find the hidden Wang cavalry in front.

When the sound of horses' hooves sounded in the distance, the cavalry company commander knew that he had been ambushed. The enemy is coming very fast, and you can't escape, as long as you face it head-on. It's just that the horses are in a hurry, and the speed of the horses can't be improved at all. Therefore, after a hedge, the cavalry company of the Perak Army suffered a great loss, either died under the enemy's cavalry spears, or was knocked down the mountain road, and only a dozen horsemen escaped by luck.

In addition to being caught off guard by an ambush, the reason for the disastrous defeat of the Thunderbolt cavalry was that the weapons and equipment were not adapted to the terrain. The narrow mountain road here is very conducive to the Mongolian army riding spears at high speeds, but not to the thunderbolt army's grenades and short muskets. Another reason is that the armor rate of Wang's cavalry is much higher than that of the Thunderbolt cavalry, especially the more than ten cavalry who led the charge, all equipped with iron cuirass and helmets.

After this encounter, Dong Hu strictly ordered the forward troops to act cautiously. After that, Wang's cavalry launched several surprise attacks, although they were all defeated by the Thunderbolt army, but the speed of the march naturally slowed down. There were also high-ranking people in Wang's army, and even though the Thunderbolt army marched cautiously, they were still caught off guard and were ambushed and suffered a second big loss. This time, even the experienced Huang Dagen was tricked and almost died under his ingenious trap.

The place where the Thunderbolts were ambushed was in a precipitous area. Here the cliff is high and the forest is dense, the wall next to the road stands thousands of miles, and the road side is also a deep stream. Dong Hu had ordered people to reconnoiter on the cliff above the road before the former army passed, and there was no ambush by the Mongolian army. There was nothing unusual during the smooth passage of the front army, but when the Chinese army passed, a large number of boulders suddenly rolled down from the mountain, and rolled straight into the marching army, killing and wounding more than 300 people.

It turned out that Wang's Mongolian army had already chiseled the wind-moved stones on the cliff and barely maintained them with ropes. As the Thunderbolt army passed, the hidden dead cut the rope and sent the boulder tumbling down the cliff. This technique is exactly the same as Huang Dagen's ambush of the Mongol army at Widow's Cliff. The difference is that Wang does not have the explosive powder of the Thunderbolt Army, otherwise the consequences will be unimaginable.

These two attacks made Huang Dagen more and more cautious, and also made the officers and men of the Second Division restrain their contempt for the enemy. In the following march, Dong Hu, who felt deeply remorseful, attached great importance to the forward reconnaissance, and every time after several reconnaissance teams reported no abnormality, he had to personally inspect it, which made the marching speed naturally slow down. When the main force of the 2nd Division arrived at Zitong City, it was already mid-November.

Zitong is named after Zitong water, which is called Tongshui in the upper reaches of the county and Zishui below the county seat. Tongshui originates in the mountains, and its river flow is turbulent, which is not suitable for navigation. The Zishui flows into the Fujiang River through Yanting County and Shehong County, and can be navigated seasonally in Zitong, and can even be navigated by large ships when the water is abundant in summer. It's just that in the current dry season, only large ships can sail in Yanting County. The upper reaches of the river could only be carried by small boats, and artillery warships could not go up the water.

The county seat of Zitong is surrounded by mountains and is surrounded by a slightly flat river valley, which is suitable for large-scale military deployment. Just before the Thunderbolt army reached the county seat of Zitong, Wang's Mongolian army organized several small-scale assaults, and the Thunderbolt army repulsed them. Through this period of contact, Wang Weizheng also knew the strength of the Thunderbolt Army, and knew that it was not easy to take Mianzhou, so he chose Zitong City as the decisive battle.

When they first arrived at Zitong City, the Thunderbolt army suffered a third big loss when they set up camp. The people around the camp were taken captive by the Mongol army, and their food and belongings were looted. The Perak army camped close to the water source to facilitate access to water. There are many corpses of people slaughtered by the Mongolian army floating in the river near Nazhi, which obviously cannot be used as a water source. As a rule, wells should be drilled to get water in this case. But after a day's walk, the soldiers were tired and thirsty, and dozens of them took water from wells in the surrounding villages. It was expected that the Mongolian army had poisoned the well water, and all the soldiers who drank the poisoned water were killed.

The cunning and cruelty of Wang's Meng army made Huang Dagen more cautious. He abandoned his previous idea of a quick victory and decided to wait until he had enough chance of winning before attacking. The strength of the 2nd Division of the Perak Army this time was a cavalry brigade and two infantry brigades, plus a division battalion, and there were still 4,000 men and horses lost on the road, plus 5,000 basic militia. Wang's Mongolian army had 1,000 cavalry, 3,000 Mongol Han infantry and 5,000 new annexed troops, with a total strength of 9,000 men and 8,000 people.

The Thunderbolts had superior firepower, but the Mongols had an absolute superiority in numbers, plus a large number of defenses and civil fortifications were built. What's more, although the current water of the Zitong River is shallow and narrow, it is not easy for the Perak army to wade through the water and force the crossing, and it will inevitably pay huge casualties. More importantly, the Second Division is still transporting food and ammunition, and has not yet made the effort to launch a large-scale offensive operation. This led to a balance of power between the two sides for a while.

Due to the constraints of road transportation, Huang Dagen only brought small and medium-sized field artillery this time, and the heavy artillery of the two infantry brigades of the Second Division was not transported to Zitong. Medium and light artillery are effective in the field, but they are less effective against enemies hiding behind deep trenches in high trench walls. The power is not enough, the number is to make up. In order to ensure the density of fire, it is necessary to have a sufficient number of shells, and it takes time for shells and grain to arrive in large quantities.

After Ouyang Xuan learned of the military situation on the Zitong front, he also instructed Huang Dagen to be safe, not to rush to attack, and wait for the arrival of reinforcements. As soon as Cao Ergou defeated Yang Dayuan, he received an order from the General Staff to lead his army north to aid the military operation of the Second Division. It's just that the location of the first division is about 400 roads away from Zitong City, and it takes ten days to reach it by land. In order to shorten the time and save physical strength, Ouyang Xuan asked Cao Ergou to lead one to go first, and the other to escort heavy artillery and baggage, first arrived at the bank of the Fujiang River, and after being sent by the navy to Yanting County, and then went to Zitong by land along the east bank of Fushui.

The Thunderbolt army did not attack, and Wang Weizheng did not move. Wang's Mongol army had suffered enough from firearms in the previous tentative attacks, and knew that the Thunderbolt army was by no means in vain, and began to frantically build civil fortifications. In Wang Weizheng's view, the party has occupied the strong city, and there is a river as a natural risk, occupying the right time and place. Moreover, there is enough food and grass, and the supply line of the Thunderbolt army is too long, as long as it lasts for a few months, the Thunderbolt army of the labor expedition will inevitably retreat due to lack of food and grass.

Out of different calculations, the two sides immediately confronted each other across the river. The Thunderbolt army occupied the west bank of the river, while the Wang Mongol army occupied the east bank of the river, where the city of Zitong was located.