"Drive! Drive! ...... driving"

"Mozhou urgently, quickly move away from the horse rejection pistol!!"

At noon on August 18, when a fast horse went south and arrived outside the city of Zhending, south of the Hutuo River, the camp outside the city, which stretched for more than ten miles, also lifted the horse rejection gun and gave it unimpeded.

Zhang Bao on horseback pretended to be eager, and rode his horse through several miles of camp in one fell swoop, and rushed into Zhending City.

After a short time, he arrived in front of the Zhending Yamen, turned over and dismounted, and rushed into the yamen in embarrassment.

"Mozhou Emergency!"

Worried that someone would stop him, he shouted and rushed into the yamen, until he arrived in the middle hall, and then he saw Geng Bingwen, Ning Zhong, Wu Jie, Li Jian and others who were deliberating.

"General!"

After Zhang Bao rushed into the middle hall, he knelt on the ground, crying silently.

"Zhang Bao? You're not guarding the city in Mozhou, what are you really doing here? ”

After all, Geng Bingwen is old, and his thinking is not as fast as when he was young, so he asked this question more.

"General, the main force of the Yan army went south, there were 40,000 people, they captured Xiongxian, and then went south to encircle and annihilate the Pingdu Governor and Yang Song, Pan Zhong and others 9,000 fine cavalry."

"I didn't receive any news, and I was caught off guard by the Yan army moving south, and there were Yan soldiers and Yan soldiers in the city who opened the city gate."

"Although the last general commanded the defenders of Mozhou to resist the enemy, the defenders were outnumbered, and finally the city of Mozhou was broken, and the last general had to go out of the city by waterway and find a post station to come quickly."

"On the way to the end of the general, the main force of the Yan army seems to be preparing to leave the city, and it is coming to Zhending......"

Zhang Bao couldn't cry, and in the face of his words, Li Jian, the commander of the horses, frowned and said: "Impossible, Mozhou is three hundred miles away from Zhending, and Xu Kai is stationed dozens of miles south of Mozhou, even if the Yan army goes south, it should be to attack Xu Kai, why would they go to the near and far?" ”

As soon as Li Jian spoke, Wu Jie next to him also nodded and agreed: "The lone army went south, and handed over the retreat to our army to cut off, which obviously violated the taboo of soldiers, Yanshu people have always known soldiers, how could they make such a mistake?" ”

"When did you leave?" Ning Zhong didn't think he was as self-righteous as Wu Jie and Li Jian, but first asked Zhang Bao about the departure time.

"Yesterday, the city was broken, and the city came south by the waterway, day and night." Zhang Bao replied truthfully.

"That's a day and a half of the night." Ning Zhong nodded when he heard this, then looked at Geng Bingwen and said:

"Marquis Changxing, if the Yan army really broke through the city and headed south early yesterday morning, we should soon receive the news that Hejian was besieged."

"As long as you don't receive the news that Hejian is besieged before dusk, it means that the Yanshu people really have no intention of attacking Hejian."

Ning Zhong is different from Wu Jie, Li Jian and others, his father, Ning Zheng, the founding hero of the country, did not die of illness until the twenty-ninth year of Hongwu, so in his own life of more than 30 years, Ning Zheng continued to teach him, so among the second generation of martial arts, he is also one of the few generals who can train a Dusi soldier and horse alone.

On the way to the north this time, Ning Zhong studied with Geng Bingwen for several months to march and fight, so in the face of the real battlefield, he was able to calm down and analyze.

His thoughts coincide with Geng Bingwen's thoughts, but they lack practical action.

In front of everyone, Geng Bingwen said slowly: "At present, our army has 150,000 troops in Zhending City, Xu Kai's 5,000 cavalry and 10,000 foot soldiers in Hejian, and 20,000 soldiers scattered in the rest of the places. ”

"Five days ago, I had already sent 60,000 troops to cross the Hutuo River and set up camp in the northeast of the Hutuo River, so that his troops could smoothly receive our army to cross north."

"Before dusk today, if there is no urgent military intelligence from the river, 70,000 troops will be arranged to cross the river, and 20,000 will stay in Zhending City."

After saying that, Geng Bingwen looked at everyone: "An Luhou is now going to Hebei to command an army of 50,000 and wait for dusk to meet our army." ”

"The last general commands!"

Wu's masterpiece was revealed, and Geng Bingwen looked at Ning Zhong again: "Prepare to arrange for the army to cross the river and build the camp overnight." ”

"Yes!" Ning Zhong responded, and Geng Bingwen looked at Zhang Bao: "You go down to rest first, it's not to blame for the loss of Mozhou." ”

"The last general is ashamed...... Zhang Bao bowed his head and retreated, and Geng Bingwen looked at Li Jian, the commander of the horses: "Please send Li Duwei to the river to Tang to determine whether the river is surrounded." ”

"Yes!" Li Jian followed, and then the three generals withdrew from the yamen.

Seeing them leave, Geng Bingwen didn't believe in his heart that Zhu Di dared to go on an expedition, and left the side and rear to Xu Kai to attack his own army, which was four times his size.

It's just that he didn't believe it, but he fell into Zhu Di's trap......

"Kill!!"

While he didn't believe it, Zhu Di had already arrived in Wuji County, which was less than 100 miles away from Zhending, after a long journey of two days and one night.

The shouts of killing sounded in a wilderness, and the Ming soldiers who were in charge of escorting grain and grass did not have time to put on their armor.

Facing the menacing thousands of cavalry, they were soon surrounded by the Yan cavalry, and they could only lay down their weapons and surrender.

"We will surrender!"

The Qianhu official who was in charge of escorting the grain and grass stood up, and Zhu Di also walked out of the Yan army that surrounded them.

"His Royal Highness King Yan......"

Qianhu officials had obviously seen Zhu Di, so they hurriedly knelt down.

Seeing him kneeling, the soldiers of the Ming army who were responsible for escorting the baggage behind him also knelt down.

The foot soldiers faced the weakness of the cavalry, that is, when there was no Tang cavalry to sentry, it was easy to be raided by the cavalry, and the war evolved to the Ming Dynasty, which side encountered a surprise attack, and could not be slaughtered by the armor.

Under the thunderous attack of the Yan cavalry, the more than 1,000 soldiers and people who escorted grain and grass did not expect that they would encounter the Yan army less than a hundred miles away from Zhending, so that until they were surrounded, few of them put on armor.

Now that they are exposed to the nose of the Yan army, they dare not make any attempt to pierce the armor, for fear of causing misunderstanding and being slaughtered.

"How much grain and grass are being escorted here?"

Zhu Di turned over and dismounted, walked to the cart of grain and asked the Qianhu officials, with a smile on his face.

"Three thousand two hundred stones."

Qianhu officials didn't dare not answer, and Zhu Di nodded when he heard this: "Go and transport it to Zhending, and tell Changxing Hou that I have led the army to Wuji, and tell him to prepare to fight me." ”

"Huh?" Qianhu officials were stunned by Zhu Di's words, but Zhu Di didn't say anything more, got on his horse directly, and led the army out of this plain.

After they left, the Qianhu official reacted, and hurriedly commanded the soldiers behind him: "Quickly untie the next horse, and quickly go to Zhending to deliver the news." ”

"Yes!"

Wuji was attacked by the main force of the Yan army, and the news was sent from noon until dusk to Zhending City.

Geng Bingwen summoned the generals above the command envoy in the army, and dozens of people crowded into the Zhending County Ya, listening to the news that had just been delivered, and only felt unbelievable in his heart.

Zhu Di really came to fight Wuji, and he had already led the main force to arrive in Wuji County.

"Wuji County is only a hundred miles away from the Hebei camp, general, at the moment, we should immediately lead the army to cross the river overnight, so as not to become a lone army in Hebei."

"No, how dare Yan Jun let Hejian leave it alone and come to fight Zhending?"

"Indeed, it is a taboo for soldiers to do this, so Yan Wei is equivalent to getting into the pocket of our army, once the back road is cut, tens of thousands of troops will be wiped out."

"This is a good opportunity, we can take this opportunity to annihilate the Yan rebellion in the plains again, and then put down the rebellion and achieve merit!"

Many generals who survived the Hongwu years and have been active on the front line are discussing how to annihilate Zhu Di.

Li Jian didn't know, so he had to say: "On the plain, it is easy for the cavalry to choose the battlefield to target our army, and the task of our army is to hold the defense line and prevent Yan from going south. ”

"Du Wei doesn't know ......" Hearing Li Jian's words, many veterans said with a smile:

"Isn't it cavalry? Back then, tens of thousands of cavalry of the Hu people were entrenched in the Central Plains, didn't we use spears to drive back to Shangdu? ”

"Right now, even the upper ones have become the Kaiping guards of our dynasty, and they can only run back to Mobei to survive."

The strength of the cavalry does not need to be explained by Li Jian, but the problem is that the veteran general in the Hongwu period is not a good rider who can ride on foot.

At that time, the Northern Yuan Dynasty often went south, and every time they tried to raid the Ming army, they were outflanked by the Ming army with their legs, and the cavalry that died under their guns was seventy or eighty thousand, and they would be afraid of Zhu Di's thousands of cavalry?

It's not just this group of veterans who thinks so, Geng Bingwen also thinks so.

Back then, he fought with Zhang Shicheng, and Zhang Shicheng's troops were seven or eight times that of him, but he was beaten by him and even chased and killed by him all the way through the city gate.

He Geng Bingwen had never seen any scenes, and now he told him that there was a junior with thousands of cavalry, and he needed to prepare for a surprise attack......

Hearing this, Geng Bingwen couldn't help but want to laugh.

Of course, it's one thing to joke, it's another thing to fend off the Yan cavalry.

"An Luhou ......" Geng Bingwen called out Wu Jie, and then said: "Prepare to receive our army to cross the pontoon bridge to the north bank, and the front army led by you is ready to dig trenches and set up horse rejection guns, so as to prevent the Yan cavalry from attacking our army from the north." ”

"The last general commands!" Wu Jie should go down.

After everyone responded, Geng Bingwen did not let go, but said:

"There are a large number of Yanwei cavalry, and they have now made a detour to Wuji County, and they may be preparing to cut off our army's grain route, so I will sit in the main army on the north bank to support Zhending at any time, and at the same time coordinate the Shanxi grain road, so as not to cut off the grain route in Zhending."

Geng Bingwen was not afraid that Zhu Di would attack him head-on, and he didn't think that Zhu Di would be stupid enough to attack him head-on from the north, and it was his intention to cut off the army's food route.

This is not surprising, after all, Zhu Di has few people, if he really wants to fight his own army of more than 100,000, I am afraid that the annihilation of the Yan army will not be able to inflict heavy damage on himself, but will be imprisoned.

If he really dares to go to the south, he will send people to block the bridges he has to go north, and completely destroy him in the south of the Hutuo River.

"Stand down."

After making all the arrangements, Geng Bingwen persuaded the generals to retire.

Soon, the generals in the yamen left with a smile, just because they all felt that Zhu Di was already poor in donkey skills and tried to fight to the death.

Everyone was saying that he was vain, and he didn't wait for the Bohai Shu people in Liaodong to go south before launching a decisive battle, but took the initiative to attack with eggs and stones.

Taking advantage of the dusk, the main force of the Ming army in Zhending City began to cross the river.

More than 80,000 people crossed the river, and it took at least a day and night to rely on those few pontoon bridges.

During this period, the front army on the north bank also began to dig trenches under the command of Wu Jie and arrange horse repellent pistols to prevent Zhu Di's surprise attack.

They all focused on the northeast, due north and other directions, but this is exactly what Zhu Di needs.

Time passed little by little, and the main force of the Ming army crossing the river at night began to build a camp on the north bank, constantly digging earth.

The area of the camp required for 80,000 people is not small, even if it takes a day to build normally, not to mention that it is still dark at the moment.

Geng Bingwen made an inspection and made sure that the camp on the north bank could be completed before noon tomorrow, so he rested on the spot.

It wasn't until early in the morning that Geng Bingwen slowly got up and subconsciously asked the general on duty outside the camp: "Is there any news of Yan Rebellion?" ”

"In the northeast, our army Tang Cai searched for the traces of the main force of the Yan army in Xinle County, fifty miles away, I am afraid that the Yan Shu people are shaking a shot in Wuji, and the target is still in the north."

The general brought Geng Bingwen the latest news, that is, the main force of the Yan army appeared fifty miles northwest of Wuji County.

Calculating the time, this is just enough for Zhu Di, who appeared in Wuji County yesterday, to go north and arrive in Wuji County.

"This Yanshu man, the old man thought that he was going to cut off the old man's grain, but he never thought that he would be afraid and return north."

"But that's okay, our army has already built trenches and repelled horse guns in the north, and it is difficult for his army to surprise attack, and we can also rely on the Taihang Mountains in the west to encircle and suppress it."

Geng Bingwen was much more relaxed, but at the same time, he also felt that Zhu Di's military talent was not realistic.

He and Zhu Di have not met, when Zhu Di traveled thousands of miles and forced to land in Nai'er, he once thought that Zhu Di was a general who could be stationed in the north, but now it seems that ......

Geng Bingwen shook his head, walked out of the camp tent and inspected the camp, only to find that the north direction of the camp had been built, and now due east and west were being built.

Judging from the current progress, it should be able to be repaired before noon.

It's just that time passed, and soon Geng Bingwen received a message...... Hejian sent a pond horseman to come.

Without delay, he summoned the generals and met with the Tang cavalry between the rivers in the main camp.

The generals lined up in the tent, Geng Bingwen sat on the main seat, and Ning Zhong stood next to him.

Inside the tent, the Tang cavalry sent by Hejian was reporting the situation to them: "The rebels did not attack Hejian, but the governor of Pingdu had indeed seen the fall of Mozhou when he went south. ”

"Got it, you go back and spread the news, and let the Governor of Xu and the Governor of Pingdu go north to recapture Mozhou and Xiong County, and cut off the retreat of the rebels."

Geng Bingwen spoke unhurriedly, already grasping the overall situation.

At this moment, not only him, but almost the entire camp of the generals felt that victory was in sight, but the situation often changed at such times.

"Buzz ......"

Suddenly, the faint sound of horses' hooves sounded, and before the generals could react, an overwhelming whistle and horn suddenly sounded outside the tent.

"Enemy Attack !!"

A terrible shout sounded, and the faces of the generals in the tent changed greatly.

They ran out of the tent and immediately rushed to the north gate of the camp, but they found that all the soldiers in the camp were rushing to the west.

But what's in the west? Isn't it Taihang Mountain in the west?

"Kill!!"

Geng Bingwen looked to the west and saw smoke and dust billowing above the west side of the barracks, and the shouts of cavalry, the sound of horses' hooves, and the clashing of weapons were intertwined.

Where he couldn't see, Zhu Di personally led the team to charge into battle, and thousands of Yan cavalry rushed towards the southern military camp.

All the people in the southern army were not aware of the possible threat from the west of the camp, because there was not only the Hutuo River but also the Taihang Mountains in the west.

But in the face of this impossible situation, Zhu Di appeared with thousands of cavalry, like a terrible torrent, rushing into the Ming army that was building a camp on the west side, and swept away all the enemies who were blocking the front.

Most of the soldiers of the Southern Army in the camp were only wearing 'thin' mandarin duck battle jackets, and in the face of the rolling torrent of the Yan army, many of them were scattered before they could raise their weapons, let alone wear armor.

The bright spears and sabers in the hands of the Yan army became a meat grinder to harvest the main force of the Southern Army, and the Southern Army screamed and fell to the ground everywhere it passed.

For a time, the entire camp was in chaos, the wails were overwhelming, and the northern fortifications prepared by the main force of the Southern Army were completely useless.

The Yan army attacked fiercely, and the 80,000 Ming troops who had crossed it were cut off in an instant, and the troops went straight to the guide army.

All the soldiers of the Southern Army along the way were unprepared for armor and could only respond in a panic, and the whole army was unorganized and unplanned.

In the face of the torrent of iron horses in front of him, he forgot to shoot in a panic, and everyone was running.

All this happened too suddenly, and Geng Bingwen and other generals of the Southern Army watched in horror as their camp turned into chaos in an instant.

"Stabilize the Chinese army around the camp, and use my guards to cover the army to cross the river and retreat south!"

"I personally went to the camp to the east and led the army to relieve the siege!"

Although Geng Bingwen is old, he is the fastest person to react, his guards have 3,000, and he has put on armor early, and he is the only force that can resist Zhu Di in the 80,000 army today, and the 60,000 army camp on the east side is the key to turning defeat into victory.

When Ning Zhong heard this, he immediately took the three thousand guards entrenched around the big tent and began to stop the Yan army's iron cavalry, and Wu Jie and others also led their guards to begin to collect the rout, commanding them to wear armor and prepare to resist the Yan army.

However, in the face of this situation, many soldiers of the Southern Army were running around, blindly looking for a foothold, and even worse, they had not obeyed the order to cross the river, and regarded Zhending City as a place to escape.

The crowded pontoon bridge could not withstand the pressure and collapsed, and hundreds of Confederate troops fell into the water and fluttered.

"Kill!!"

"The sons and daughters of Peking will be killed with me!"

At this time, the cavalry of the Yan army had already chiseled through the front of the 80,000 southern army and set fire to the tents with rockets.

For a time, the main camp of the entire southern army became a vast sea, and the cavalry of the Yan army was rampant, no one could stop it, the sword light was shining, and the sound of the blade was terrible.

Every knight's face was full of hideousness, and the weapons in his hands were even more vicious, which made the southern army tremble and was powerless to fight back.

"Beep-"

Suddenly, among the chaotic soldiers in front of them, a group of thousands of pikemen wearing armor and complete strength appeared, and they ran with spears, and the formation was not chaotic.

Any obstacle that dared to stand in their way, whether it was the Yan cavalry or the Southern army's rout foot soldiers, was solved by them, in order to defeat them before the Yan cavalry could react.

"Come as I have been told, and call the cannon!"

Zhu Di did not fall in love with the battle, but took the lead in firing the horn cannon, and many cavalry behind him also sounded the horn cannon.

For a time, the thousands of cavalry of the Yan army, who originally intended to stop the waist and cut off the 80,000 army, began to turn their horses and retreat, and slashed all the way on the retreat road, and the southern army soldiers were killed and wounded countless times.

The 3,000 pikemen led by Ning Zhong failed to catch up with the Yan cavalry, but they succeeded in driving the Yan cavalry out of the camp.

"Are you all dizzy?!"

"Running naked, your armor!"

Ning Zhong scolded the routed troops who gradually calmed down in all directions, and at the same time sent people to reconnoiter the movement and number of the Yan cavalry on the west side.

Under Ning Zhong's shouting, some soldiers of the Southern Army finally calmed down, went to the camp tent to put on armor, and followed Ning Zhong towards the direction where Zhu Di had fled.

The scale of 3,000 armor soldiers began to grow, and in just a quarter of an hour, it grew to the scale of tens of thousands, and successfully reached the western camp defense line that was broken through by the Yan army.

Not to mention the rejection of horse guns here, even the trenches have not been dug out, and in the distance on the plain on the north bank of the Hutuo River, the Yan cavalry, which is only five or six thousand people, is turning back and replacing them with bows and arrows.

"Longbows and firecrackers ready to say hello!"

Ning Zhong led more than 10,000 people to defend the camp on the west side of his side, but the people who came with him came in a hurry, and most of them only took short soldiers, only Geng Bingwen's three thousand guards stuck their spears on the ground, took out the foot bow at their waist and put the bowstring, ready to use foot shooting to crush the Yan cavalry.

At the same time, the 60,000 troops responsible for defending due north also began to move out of the right flank camp and formed a formation to rescue the left flank camp that was still in disarray.

Many of the chaotic left-wing southern army began to calm down under the shouting and scolding of Wu Jie and others, and went to wear armor and march to the west with long and short soldiers to follow the right-wing army.

Zhu Di led the cavalry to dismount, changed into a foot bow, and began to fire arrows more than seventy paces away from Ning Zhong and others.

The arrow could not penetrate the heavy armor, but it angered the soldiers of the Southern Army, because it was more like a provocation.

Ning Zhong endured his temper, and Geng Bingwen also led the 50,000 troops on the right wing out of the camp after he was stationed on the western defense line of the left wing camp for half an hour, like a long snake arriving at the western position.

"That's the only one?"

Geng Bingwen rode his horse to Ning Zhong's front of them, and the Yan army not far away was still provoking with arrows.

"Back to the general, there are only these soldiers and horses!"

Ning Zhong gritted his teeth, and Geng Bingwen also grimaced, obviously he didn't expect that the 80,000 people under his command would be disturbed like this by these five or six thousand cavalry, and he had not regained his composure until now.

"The whole army follows up, there is our camp in the Taihang Mountain on the west side, and the only place where they can move is those dozens of miles of hills, annihilate them!"

Geng Bingwen was familiar with the terrain and began to order the whole army to attack.

Ning Zhong led his army to join them, and more than 60,000 armored soldiers began to move westward, trying to completely surround Zhu Di's thousands of cavalry to wash away the shame.

Just seeing the tens of thousands of troops, Zhu Di excitedly put away the bow in his hand and looked up at the sky.

"Zhang Yu, it's time for you to do it!"

"Woo-woo-"

It seemed that he had a heart, and when Zhu Di's words fell, the southern army, which was marching westward, heard the sound of horns resounding through the world due north, as well as the dull and dense sound of horses' hooves.

In an instant, tens of thousands of Yan troops riding various horses and mules appeared in the north, and they were like iron nails, rushing from north to south towards the southern army marching with long snakes, while the right-wing army that was originally responsible for guarding the fortifications due north had only 10,000 people left to defend the fortifications.

In the face of the onslaught of tens of thousands of horse infantry, these 10,000 people seemed to be useless.

They were crushed in an instant, and the trenches and repellents they had built were destroyed in an instant.

"Sons! It's time for us to show off what we can do! ”

For a time, the two Yan armies in the west and north converged, and the way they converged was to defeat the hundreds of thousands of southern troops!

"Rush with me!!"

(End of chapter)