"The army is resting here. We sent messengers to inform the vanguard officers in front to slow down and send more people to inquire about the situation in Cangzhou City." Hearing that it was less than a hundred miles away, there was nothing unusual at the moment. Therefore.
, Zhong Xingcan, who was addicted to pleasure, was naturally unwilling to give up this good time and ordered the army to rest.
"Report to the general, the people who just came back said that the three thousand people in front are less than twenty miles away from us. And there are no scouts sent out to explore the situation in Cangzhou." The general on the side said with a grimace.
Unexpectedly, Zhong Xingcan was not angry, but said magnanimously: "This Liu Lu is really so slow. Even if he is a pioneer, he doesn't want to go faster, so it doesn't matter, as long as he doesn't miss important things. Tell him first.
Stop and rest, then go straight to Cangzhou City later today, I will scare the emperor to death!"
After that, he got into the temporary camp, and there was a burst of laughter in an instant. The soldiers standing guard around him were envious. They wanted to peek out but were scolded.
"Those in charge of security should spread out for five miles, and those on guard should hold on to your spears! Don't cause chaos!"
…
While Zhong Xingcan was resting, the army led by Zhu Ling had already approached them. The two armies were nearly ten miles apart. Fortunately, the scouts sent by the general only intended to explore within five miles and did not go any closer.
, but if we go a little further two miles, we can see their whereabouts.
They did not set up camp this time, but directly ordered people to pick up the map and present it in front of everyone for inspection.
"Our army is less than ten miles away from them, but our army is now a little tired due to the rapid march. I suggest not to launch an attack for the time being, and wait until night to attack directly when they are unaware!" Wang Jiayan said with his hands.
"The general also thinks it's feasible, so he makes some torches first and lets each cavalry member hold one. When attacking the enemy's camp, throwing the torches out will cause the fire to ignite, and the cavalry charge will inevitably destroy their fighting spirit."
Sima Jingru also made suggestions.
"Huang Bodang, when will the rain come?"
Zhu Ling seemed more cautious, and surrendering to the enemy with a torch was definitely feasible. But he remembered what Huang Bodang said about the rain, and couldn't help but ask.
"The high probability is that it will be in the latter half of the night. As long as His Majesty can launch the attack before midnight, we will definitely be able to defeat the enemy!" Huang Bodang looked at the sky, made some calculations, and then said.
"Okay, send an order to all battalions to prepare for war! Send someone to tell Meng Zhangming and Fan Xianchao that once Sima launches a charge, they can directly attack the enemy camp without delaying the opportunity!"
"As you command!"
Fan Xianchao here constantly sent out scouts to detect the movements of the intruders, and also roughly understood the distance between the two armies. But for some reason, no messenger from His Majesty's side arrived, which made him a little nervous for a while. According to the previous arrangement,
His Majesty will send someone to inform him of the next order every once in a while.
But now several hours have passed, and no messenger has arrived. He originally wanted to send someone to inquire, but in the end he resisted the idea. He wanted to make a name for himself in this battle, and if he delayed the opportunity by sending a messenger, he would eventually
In order to avoid losing the opportunity to make meritorious deeds, in the end we just sent scouts to monitor the intruders.
Just after entering the camp and sitting down, one of his young generals hurried in and reported: "General! Unfortunately, the messenger sent by His Majesty has been intercepted!"
"What did you say!" This news really made Fan Xian extremely angry. He never expected that the worst news would come. The arrest of the courier would inevitably reveal the whereabouts of the cavalry he led, and it is very likely that
Cause the whole plan to fail!
"Send more scouts out to see what the intruders are doing? Go quickly!" After driving away the young general, Fan Xianchao was also quite angry. This useless mistake would expose him directly to the intruders' sight. Twenty thousand
Either the Chuang army was not prepared, or they would attack him directly.
If you don't want your plan to fail, there may be only one way.
That is to directly lead the army to attack the enemy. In this way, the intruder will definitely try his best to fight with him. Then their weakness will definitely be exposed at that time. As long as Meng Zhangming and His Majesty see it clearly, this plan is still feasible.
.But the price is much higher. It is very likely that my thousand and fifty cavalry troops will suffer heavy losses.
Let’s not talk about merit for now, I’m afraid it’s already pretty good if I can survive.
One thousand and five cavalrymen directly charged and killed the 20,000 infantrymen who had taken a break. They were clearly going to die! Thinking of this, Fan Xianchao couldn't help but feel angry. He punched the desk hard and the wooden board exploded. His situation was not good at all.
That’s it!
"Send the order, the whole battalion prepares for war!"
The last sound was almost a roar.
…
Zhong Xingcan, who had received the news about the whereabouts of Fan Xianchao's army, was even more proud at this time. He never expected that there was a cavalry from the imperial court on his southern flank. He almost thought that this cavalry was Chongzhen's team.
I was afraid that I got the news from nowhere, so I wanted to escape.
But the scouts sent out saw from a distance that they were just stationed there and showed no signs of escaping. Although Zhong Xingcan, who had little experience, judged correctly this time, this cavalry was probably a deserter from the imperial court.
!
He wanted to leave Chongzhen and leave independently. This speculation made him even happier. In fact, it is normal to have such thoughts. Since this year, King Shun has been heading north all the way without encountering any decent resistance. He either ran away or ran away.
Surrender directly. If there are too many surrenders, naturally they also feel that the imperial army is nothing more than this.
Furthermore, the scouts sent in other directions found no trace of the enemy troops, so he thought that the enemy troops were just deserters. But he also wondered why they didn't leave. He definitely couldn't defeat them, but they were all
If the cavalry wants to escape, they can't stop it.
But he was not stupid. He directly sent three thousand heavy infantry to line up in the direction of Fan Xianchao, and then he felt relieved. But these three thousand infantry were said to be heavy, but they only had a layer of armor and a piece of wood.
It was just a shield. But even such a crude heavy cavalry gave him great confidence.
After all, he didn't know what the equipment of the cavalry was like. If he could see with his own eyes that the cavalry were wearing heavy armor, carrying long bows on their waists, carrying muskets on their backs, and holding long swords in their hands, he would definitely send out five thousand more infantry.
As night fell, Fan Xianchao did not attack or escape, and the disturbed Zhong Xingcan really did not enjoy the afternoon. For fear of any movement from the cavalry, he had to get dressed immediately to deal with it. After pushing away the two women, he dressed himself up.
If you don't carry armor and a knife, you won't be able to leave the camp quickly.
He called the young general to ask about the situation: "Is there any movement on the part of the cavalry?"
"Reporting back to the general, there is no movement. We have been sending people to monitor, and we have not seen any movement from them." The young general, who was only wearing a layer of light armor, held a knife and leaned over and said.
These words made Zhong Xingcan extremely irritable. He looked at the torch over there and cursed a few times. What on earth did he want to do? Advance but not advance, retreat but not retreat! Suddenly, at that moment, he seemed to understand something.
Looking intently at the enemy, he suddenly realized. Could it be that this cavalry wanted to delay his arrival in Cangzhou?
Yes! That must be the case! There are not many of them, but they are all cavalry. And they just look at him from a distance without making any moves. If I send people to charge and kill them, they will definitely withdraw immediately. If I continue to advance, they will turn back.
Come.
Thinking of this, everything seems clear, but also a lot of irritation!
"Come here, order the three thousand infantry to hold down the cavalry. The rest of the troops will organize the army and set off immediately!" Zhong Xingcan could not help but be so serious for once. He no longer thought about enjoyment but held the stars above his head and ordered the army to set off immediately.
.
Others quickly advised: "General, it's still late at night! We are all infantry. If we are attacked by the opponent when we march late at night, we will not be able to see the opponent clearly, and we will most likely suffer heavy losses!"
"Hahaha!"
Hearing this, Zhong Xingcan burst out laughing, mocking them for being stupid, and said: "It seems that I want to march immediately, but in fact I have separated a part of the army to surround them! When they see us setting off, they will definitely pursue us, and they will definitely relax.
Be alert, we immediately stopped and turned back, and then ordered the army we had sent out to surround them and cut off their way back!"
After saying that, he put his hands on his hips and was very proud of his strategy, and laughed and said: "This enemy army will be destroyed in the hands of this general today!"
Everyone around him also flattered him after hearing this, and they were all happy for their general's wit.
When Fan Xianchao in the south saw that the intruders suddenly started to move, he couldn't help but be a little confused and couldn't figure out the intruders' intentions. However, to be safe, he immediately ordered the army to mount their horses and respond at any time.