Where did the officers and soldiers come from for reinforcements? At this time, Chang Yu had not yet reached Fanchang County, and the main army led by Chang Yanling was crossing the Zhang River far away. The nearest Ma Ke had not yet received a request for reinforcements and was in Fanchang County to organize city defense matters.
After Ma Ke entered the city last night, he immediately divided his troops to guard the city gate. Worried that the hundreds of surrendered soldiers in the royal body were unstable and might cause trouble, he ordered them to patrol the city and not come down without orders, and then worried about the gentry in the city to appease them.
At dawn, the people in the city suddenly discovered that the king's flag was changing at the top of the city. After a good sleep, the officers and soldiers regained Fanchang County. Of course, some were happy and some were worried. But fortunately, the officers and soldiers did not cause any harassment. Ma Ke issued the strictest military order.
, those who disturb the people will be executed without mercy!
Although Fanchang is small, it has an important strategic location. After Ma Ke inspected the city several times, he left the city and explored the terrain for dozens of miles. When he returned to the city, it was already dark, but there was no news about Wu Sangui, who suspected that he could enter.
Tongling City was secretly glad that the few people who were pioneers had a good time this time.
It wasn't until late at night that the men guarding the south gate came to report that Wu Sangui's people came to ask for help. He was surprised. He quickly let the people in and asked them carefully. He couldn't help but stamped his feet in regret. If he could have entered the city earlier, but in reality he didn't
So many what-ifs, now the two armies are helpless and are facing each other outside the city, each waiting for reinforcements from the rear. The rebel army does not know where the reinforcements are and how many, but Marco knows that something is wrong!
First of all, I was ordered to garrison Fanchang and could not leave the city easily. Secondly, what can these 800 cavalry be used for? There are more than 800 casually available sources for the rebel army, and it will take noon tomorrow at the earliest to send reinforcements. I am afraid that the thief
Military reinforcements arrived early, but Wu Sangui was defeated...
Ma Ke was very hesitant and paced back and forth in the room. If he called for reinforcements, he might be negligent in his duty and his troops would be weak and powerless, and his trip would be in vain. If he didn't call for reinforcements, he would be adding insult to injury... That's all. Ma Ke gritted his teeth and immediately
Send an order to summon troops and horses to march out.
He decided that no matter what the outcome, he could not ignore death! Because he had done this kind of thing before. During the battle between Songjin and Wu Sangui, he and Wu Sangui had both ignored death and escaped from the battle. Songjin was defeated.
People also have responsibilities. Now that he plans to achieve nirvana and be reborn, he must throw away all the darkness in his heart from the past. Even if he dies in battle, he must live a grand life, because there is no chance of a third comeback in life.
, the little eunuch gave him the second time, and he must grasp it.
Ma Ke left 300 cavalry to garrison Fanchang County, but took away more than 100 people from the royal body. More than 600 people took advantage of the darkness and galloped south to rescue Wu Sangui. At the same time, he sent people north to pass information to Chang Yu.
At dawn, Ma Ke had led his troops to the banks of the Shun'an River, which was only thirty miles away from Tongling. He looked up at the gloomy sky and the mist in the distance. He did not dare to be careless, so he ordered his men to repair on the spot and sent exploration horses to cross the river for reconnaissance. That night
There was no news from Wu Sangui in the meantime, leaving Ma Ke unable to guess what the situation was like in Tongling. Is the confrontation still going on? If the rebel reinforcements had arrived, Wu Sangui would have been defeated and retreated. They should have encountered them.
Tan Ma quickly returned, and Yan Yan encountered a bandit army ten miles away. Ma Ke quickly asked how to tell if they were not from the King's Body? After all, the people in the King's Body were newly recruited thieves, and they all dressed the same.
"My subordinates originally thought they were people from the King's Body, but when they first saw us, they immediately turned around and ran away. Logically speaking, if they were people from the King's Body, they shouldn't have run away..." After Tan Ma analyzed it, Ma Ke understood.
He raised his eyebrows and said, "Wu Sangui is too big."
The subordinates didn't understand what he meant and quickly asked him. Chief Ma exhaled: "There are only two possibilities at this time, either Wu Sangui has entered the city, or the rebel reinforcements have arrived and defeated him or captured him!" Everyone was shocked!
Shame, some people don’t believe it. If they were defeated and fled north, they should have encountered them long ago.
"Maybe he was cut off at that time." Marco turned his head and looked eastward: "The mountains there are vast, maybe he fled into the mountains." He sighed: "He only has a few hundred riders. If he is surrounded, he has the greatest chance of being captured."
, of course, we don’t rule out entering the city.”
"Commander Wu is brave and good at fighting. Even if he is surrounded, he can still fight his way out with Guan Ning's cavalry. The whole army will not be wiped out..." His subordinates were a little unbelievable.
Are you defecting?" Everyone said and fell silent.
"These are just my guesses. Let's find out more about the specifics!" Ma Ke narrowed his eyes and looked at the mist on the other side of the river. His face gradually became serious, and he ordered his troops to prepare for war.
Half an hour later, Tan Ma hurriedly came: "General, the bandits have led their troops to come, with more than 2,000 troops already ten miles away!"
Ma Ke's face immediately became solemn: "Where can we find Mr. Wu?"
"Back to the general, there are bandits everywhere ten miles outside the city. It is difficult for us to get close..."
Outside the city? Ma Ke frowned and smiled: "Wu Sangui has entered the city!"
This is how fast the brain of a veteran on the battlefield turns. If Wu Sangui is defeated or captured, those in the city will surrender immediately regardless of whether the king's body turns against him before the battle. The rebel army should also have entered the city. Once they have entered the city, there is no need.
Such a tight blockade was set up outside the city, let alone sending troops for thirty miles to intercept the reinforcements. In addition, there was no news about Wu Sangui entering Shiniu and the sea. After a comprehensive analysis, it was speculated that he was besieged after entering the city. As for how he entered the city
I do not know.
After hearing his analysis, his subordinates were overjoyed: "Now that General Wu has entered the city, we don't have to fight with the thieves. Why don't we return to Fanchang and wait for the army in the rear?"
Ma Ke was a little hesitant. Looking up to the south, he could vaguely see the formation of the bandit army. According to the spies, the bandit army had two thousand soldiers, more than half of which were cavalry, and he only had 600 cavalry. Do you want to fight? Although there is no chance of a battle in this battle.
It was necessary to fight, but he always wanted to come here because he wanted to show off the majesty of the bandit army and show off his reputation. Otherwise, the vanguard would have no merit and would be used as a wedding dress for Wu Sangui.
While hesitating, he suddenly heard something strange behind him. He turned around and saw more than a thousand horses galloping towards him from a few miles away. Many of his officers panicked and raised warnings. Ma Ke was shocked. Could it be that he had fallen into a trap and was attacked from both sides?
When deploying troops to respond, the scouts who went to visit reported that they were one of their own!
Not just one of our own, but to be precise, the third battalion under Dongchang, the most capable and capable troops in the Ming Dynasty, comparable to the Guan Ning Army!
That's right, Tu Yuan, Jia Waixiong and Lao Jiu came with their troops.
It's just that the three of them were not traveling with Chang Yu. How could they be here? Maybe the little eunuch was also here. Ma Ke felt a little excited and hurriedly rode forward to meet them.
Chang Yu did not come. After crossing the Zhang River, he continued to walk slowly, but Tu Yuan and others were extremely anxious. They went south just to make meritorious deeds, but there were more wolves and less meat, so it was not his turn. He originally wanted to be a pioneer.
However, Wu Sangui was snatched away by Ma Ke. The three of them were unconvinced and pestered Chang Yu to take a step forward to see the situation, maybe they could help.
The little eunuch couldn't stand the entanglement of the three men, and he also felt that the troops in front were too weak. Although he wanted to vent Wu Sangui's anger, he could not hurt his roots, so he agreed to the three battalions to go forward, while he continued to slowly stay behind.
Yuu waits for the army at the rear.
Tu Yuan and the other three were eager to make great achievements and rushed all the way to Fanchang County in the middle of the night. However, they met Ma Ke's messenger. After asking about the situation, the three men were so excited that they chased Ma Ke regardless of exhaustion.
, we arrived at the bank of Shun An River in just over an hour.
While the four of them were talking, the bandits on the other side were arrayed three miles away. After listening to Ma Ke's speculation, Lao Jiu immediately shouted: "Now that Wu Sangui has entered the city, we don't have to worry about anything anymore. Let's just do it!"
"Yes, it's just a mere thousand cavalry with two thousand people. The four of us join forces to slaughter the damn sheep." Jia Waixiong also clamored to start the war immediately, but Tu Yuan was a little hesitant: "Once we have traveled a long distance, our troops are exhausted."
We are short of horses. Secondly, if the enemy crosses the river and suddenly sends reinforcements and increases their troops, we will be at a great disadvantage."
Everyone thought the same thing, the Shun'an River is easy to cross but difficult to retreat! It's okay if you defeat the opponent after crossing the river. If reinforcements come again without defeating the opponent, you will suffer heavy losses if you try to retreat to the river bank at that time, unless
Lure the rebels from the other side so that they can advance and retreat with ease regardless of whether there are reinforcements behind them. But how to lure them over?
"Other than scolding you, what good thing can you do? You can't just take off your clothes and lure them here," Lao Jiuyi yelled. Everyone laughed, and decided to provoke the thieves from across the river and lead the thieves across the river to fight.
The leader of the thieves on the other side is not Wang Yi'en but Yuan Sanzhong, one of Bai Wang's five tiger generals. It is said that his father's original intention in giving him this name was one loyalty to heaven and earth, two loyalty to the king, and three loyalty to the ancestors. But obviously, this guy has nothing to do with the king.
Loyalty can be said to have started as a thief and started to rebel, and he has also made quite a name for himself.
When Bai Wang heard the news that the camp in the east of the city was preparing to attack the city, he found officers and soldiers scouts in the north and knew that reinforcements were coming. After careful inspection, he learned that there were only a few hundred soldiers on the other side of the Shun'an River thirty miles away, so he asked Yuan Sanzhong to lead two troops.
Qian went to intercept him. If he crossed the river, he would defeat him. If he didn't, he would hold the river bank and buy time for him to attack the city. Bai Wang believed that as long as he was fully prepared, this small Tongling city could survive in two hours at most.
It could be broken, and he had to take action quickly before the army of officers and soldiers arrived.
The bandits dispatching troops outside the city attracted the attention of Wu Sangui and Wang Tizhong who were on the city. The two looked at each other and immediately smiled, knowing that reinforcements were coming!
But he soon frowned, Bai Wang was about to prepare to attack the city!