Several people continued to discuss the arrangement.
"Oh? We are continuing to discuss the military situation all night~"
The relationship between these generals is very good. They only have different opinions during the day, and they will not form resentments and factions due to different opinions among the civil servants.
Tong Zhongkui looked at Zhou Dunji, and Wang Hongyu smiled: "You are here to say that you will no longer continue to defend along the river, right?"
"Yes, Jiannu will launch a night attack at the earliest tonight tonight and at the latest tomorrow night!"
Everyone's pupils shrank when they heard this.
Jiannu had just attacked Shenyang during the day and suffered a defeat by the Hun River. Would he launch a night attack so soon?
"Fengji Fort is east of Shenyang. It was raided in Shenyang before midnight yesterday. Li Bingcheng and his men fled in a hurry. After crossing the Hun River, they were not pursued and continued to retreat to Liaoyang. This is our confirmed news."
"That's right." Several generals nodded.
"But from yesterday afternoon to tonight, there was no news from them. This means that either they retreated very quickly or they were unable to send back the news."
"Are you saying that his 10,000 people can't send back the news when facing thousands of slaves?" Tong Zhongkui didn't think the friendly forces were so weak.
"It's very possible. After all, the troops and horses have been defeated, and the situation is not optimistic."
This is just a guess, but Li Bingcheng also has many spies. If it were Huang Taiji, he would certainly be able to eliminate their defeated troops.
"So, we think we should immediately withdraw all the soldiers and horses along the river, retreat two miles, and set up defenses at the Hunhe Bastion." Zhou Dunji added his thoughts.
Tong Zhongkui had great trust in Li Bingcheng's friendly forces, but after such analysis, he also felt that the situation might become dangerous in an instant.
Qin Bangping and Qin Minping also explained their purpose:
"Two generals, we originally wanted to propose a night attack with General Ran Yuelong, but after listening to Wang Gueryi's analysis, we also felt that we should continue to hold on along the river, but after going back and thinking about it, this arrangement is not conducive to night operations."
They are Qin Liangyu's elder brother and younger brother. Previously, the white pole soldiers, Sichuan soldiers, and Zhejiang soldiers had strengthened their night combat training. They arranged torches and fire light barriers hundreds of steps outside the military formation.
The enemy was illuminated when they approached, and the Ming army, which was at a certain distance across the light barrier, was in an effect similar to darkness under the lamp. In this way, the tragedy of Dusong Salhu was overcome.
However, the Zhejiang soldiers used lines to defend themselves along the river, and the enemy was still in the dark. Jiannu was able to sneak across the river in the dark, and even took advantage of night fighting.
After they talked about their ideas, Chen Ce and Tong Zhongkui also understood this truth. Now think about the deployment of artillery along the river during the day, the effect is very different from that at night.
"It's too late to order an immediate retreat!" Zhou Dunji said firmly.
Having said that, it is very dangerous to suddenly move troops to retreat at night. Once chaos occurs, or the enemy spreads the idea that "our army has been defeated", a camp roar may occur.
How to retreat, the order in which to retreat, and which troops and horses to cover the retreat are all important.
Chen Ce looked at Wang Hongyu in front of him and saw that he had a resolute expression and a calm expression. He spoke very fast but did not feel panic at all, so he asked:
"The entire army retreats late at night. I will personally ensure that all units move in an orderly manner. However, retreating at night is also the time when the entire army is at its weakest. If a night attack occurs, how does Wang Guerrilla respond?"
Wang Hongyu replied confidently: "The general has already thought about this matter. He just listened to everyone's thoughts and now has a more detailed plan. Tonight, Jianu is likely to launch a night attack, and the time must be late at night, and it may be from two directions. A pincer attack!"
"A pincer attack from two directions!?"
The generals suddenly became nervous.
"One direction is to cross the river secretly from the north to the other side, and the other direction... is either to the east or to the southeast!"
"East or southeast? Is this the direction of friendly forces?"
"Yes, we must guard against the direction in which Li Bingcheng retreats tonight!"
At this moment, the scout rushed in.
"Report! Report to the Commander-in-Chief and all the generals! The fourth group of messengers who went to contact Commander-in-Chief Li still haven't come back. The scouts sent in their direction didn't see anyone, but they came back with an empty horse and no one!"
Chen Ce and others have been on the battlefield for a long time and know that something is really wrong.
Wang Hongyu made the suggestion without hesitation: "Our 400 cavalry are all elite. They can cover the retreat. Once encountering an enemy attack, they can immediately provide cover to buy time for the infantry and artillery to re-arrange."
His prediction was correct. The generals had previously recognized his deeds of training troops and flying the blue flag. Now that the prediction was correct, their trust has been deepened.
"Okay! Just follow your plan!"
The Ming army assembled overnight. Fortunately, all the troops were elite veterans with high morale. The assembly was completed in just one stick of incense. Except for necessary clothes, weapons, armor and easy-to-carry food, other tents, quilts, personal belongings, etc., should be discarded.
give up.
This time the Zhejiang soldiers were the first to go south, followed by the Guangdong soldiers, the Tusi soldiers, the Sichuan soldiers who were best at close combat, and the white pole soldiers who were still at the rear.
Zhou Dunji personally led an ambush, preparing to ambush the Jiannu soldiers who secretly crossed the river.
Wang Hongyu led one sentry of heavy cavalry and three sentry of light cavalry to guard the east and southeast directions.
The Zhejiang soldiers were approaching the Hunhe Bastion, and the 1,000 defenders originally left here opened the door to respond. Everything seemed to be going smoothly.
Seeing the long line of infantrymen holding torches marching rapidly towards the Hunhe Bastion, Wang Hong and others felt a little at ease.
He and the cavalry did not use torches, but kept their horses in their hooves and remained silent, covering 200 steps away from the infantry column.
At this time, the fourth watch has passed, and it is not long before dawn. If I persist for a while and it is daytime, I will no longer be afraid of building slaves.
Wang Hongyu and the cavalry looked to the southeast and outside. It was indeed dark on a moonless night. They could not see the enemy, and the enemy could not see them.
At this time, the previous night fighting and hearing training will play a key role.
In the dark night, you can hear the sound of the Ming army carrying heavy objects such as artillery, and there is also the faint sound of some armor plates rubbing against each other.
Something's wrong!
Half of the Zhejiang soldiers not far away were in light armor, and half were wearing mandarin duck war robes. The sound of the armor plates rubbing against this heavy fish-scale armor was different!
Wang Hongyu hit a cavalryman next to him with his riding crop. Two light strikes and one heavy blow meant that he discovered the enemy but was not discovered by the enemy.
The cavalrymen conveyed the signal in turn, and three light cavalry quietly retreated to report the message.
After half a stick of incense, the Zhejiang soldiers quietly changed their ranks while marching.
Just now, they were moving quickly in a long snake formation, but now they have chariots outside, infantry and artillery inside. They lowered their voices and marched slowly, while preparing their spears and muskets.
As the Ming army quieted down on the road, Wang Hongyu could hear more enemy voices.
There was the slight scraping of armor plates, the occasional sound of horses panting, and a faint, incomprehensible whisper.
Suddenly, all these sounds disappeared!
The enemy discovered that our army was aware of them!