The Juma River, also known as the South Juma River, has two tributaries, one flowing from the northwest of the city and the other from the southwest. They merge into one ten miles south of the city and go straight southeast to Baiyangdian.
Li Yan fell in love with the place where three rivers converged ten miles south of the city. The river was only a small stream because of the drought, but the river bed was full of green grass, which was very pleasant.
The situation was tense and everything needed to be done as soon as possible. Li Yan immediately ordered his soldiers to dig a trench here, cut off the flow and store water, and set up camp at Erlijia on the shore. At the same time, he sent scouts south to investigate, and learned about Zhou Yuji from Jia Waixiong.
At this time, in Dingzhou, southwest of Baoding, thinking of what he had discussed with the young eunuch, he made a bold decision and ordered the scouts to bypass Baoding and try to contact Zhou Yuji's tribe.
After an afternoon of non-stop work, Li Yan set up a camp at the intersection of the third stream of the Juma River in the south of the city. In front of the camp, the river overflowed its banks and there were several deep ditches. The rebels could not attack the camp head-on, so they could only go eastward for several miles to bypass this section.
They crossed the river and attacked from the side, but trenches were set up on the other side to block the horses.
At dusk, the red lady and Wu Weiying arrived together. Shenjiying was ordered to return to the capital from outside the pass. However, the baggage was too heavy and it was not as fast as Li Yan's horse, but it was not too slow. What Wu Weiying didn't expect was that there were still ten kilometers away from the capital.
When he was still a few miles away, he had to report that Wang Jiayan, the governor of the capital camp, was coming with his troops. This made him very happy. The governor of the capital camp came to greet him personally, which was a great honor!
Unexpectedly, it turned out to be a basin of cold water. Wang Jiayan was not here to greet him, but to deliver supplies of cannonballs and gunpowder. At the same time, he sent a message to Emperor Chongzhen to let him go south to follow Chang Yu to suppress the bandits, so hurry up!
Go again? Why me! Wu Weiying didn't even have the chance to go back to Beijing to make connections to replace herself, so she had no choice but to bite the bullet and pass by the capital and hurried south.
Later, they finally caught up with the unhurried follow-up troops of the Red Lady, and walked side by side southward. When they arrived at Dingzhou, they were ordered to move grain, grass, baggage, etc. dozens of miles away and settled in the new city. The remaining troops and the Shenji Battalion camped outside the city of Dingzhou!
The power of Shenjiying's firearms shined brightly in the battle at Ningyuan outside the pass. Chang Yu relied on this to defend Xishan and Wu Sangui, and they cooperated with each other to defeat Dorgon in one fell swoop.
After this battle, the soldiers of the Shenji Battalion grew up rapidly after killing people and seeing blood. They finally had the feeling of a strong and strong man. At least they were not ridiculed by other soldiers when they first left the capital and arrived outside the customs.
Made fun of.
Red Lady's medical soldiers entered the city, and the rest of the army, led by General Qin Songwang, was stationed on the west bank of the city. The heavy artillery of Shenji Battalion was set up at the head of Dingxing City. The troops camped in an empty village a few miles northwest of Li Yan's army. Two troops were placed in the camp.
More than a hundred field guns.
It was late at night when everything was ready, and all the city defenses were basically complete. Li Yan gathered the generals in the city to discuss whether he should take the initiative to test tomorrow or stay put and wait for the little governor to listen and act?
Everyone has learned from Jia Waixiong that Chang Yu has gone to Baoding City and left a message that he would not enter the city before leaving. If he does not return in two days and no news comes, he will gradually advance southward.
With the Second Battalion accompanying him, and the young eunuch being so brave and cunning, Li Yan and Jia Waixiong believed that nothing bad would happen to him and that he could still run away if he couldn't be beaten.
If that's the case, let's wait until tomorrow.
But at this moment, a scout sent information: first, the governor had moved his troops southward; secondly, in Xushui, Rongcheng was recaptured and the thieves were used as an outpost; thirdly, the thieves were trapped on the south bank of the Juma River.
Several people were shocked. If Chang Yu went south to mobilize troops, it meant that the net would be opened within a few days. They were not worried at all that the young eunuch could not mobilize the troops, because they knew that if the young eunuch could not mobilize the troops, he would be slaughtered on the spot. Shi Kefa
In this regard, both the means and the deterrent power are far inferior to him.
As for the rebel army searching for Chang Yu's whereabouts, they reoccupied Xushui and Rongcheng, and learned that reinforcements from officers and soldiers were coming from the north, and had already begun investigation. With Li Zicheng's virtue at this time, a large army will definitely arrive tomorrow, and within three days
There must be a battle.
Prepare for war!
When Li Yan sent orders to the three armies, they seemed very excited and inexplicably melancholy. Their former colleagues had become life-and-death enemies.
As expected, Li Yan's troops finally received accurate information at noon the next day after resting for a night and a half. More than 10,000 bandits were marching north, and their commander, Liu Gu, had raised his flag and was already twenty miles away.
The banner bearing the character Gu was either Gu Ying or Gu Kecheng, or both of them came together. There were many Liu in the bandit army, but only three or four of them made it to the stage. Liu Tiren was wounded and captured in Taiyuan, and Liu Zongmin was the former
It is impossible for the military commander to come in person, so Liu Fangliang and Liu Zhong are the only ones.
Liu Fangliang's Eastern Route Army has made great achievements in battle, and today he is more famous than anyone else. However, he may not come in person. Li Yan guessed that it is most likely Liu Zhong, who was named Pingnan Bo by Li Zicheng.
However, Li Yan still guessed wrong. Liu Zhong was actually left in Lu'an Mansion to guard the Changzhi area by Liu Fangliang, and it was Liu Fangliang who came. Although he guessed the wrong general, Li Yan firmly believed that the other party should know this after a day and night of investigation.
The officers and soldiers were led by him.
At this time, within a hundred miles of Baoding City, it can be seen that both sides are spying on horses and concealing each other's whereabouts. When they meet on a narrow road, they will inevitably fight and even impersonate each other. However, Li Yan's identity was revealed by some officers and soldiers.
, the reason is very simple, the spies under his command are originally traitors, and it is not ruled out that some traitors may take the opportunity to escape or be captured and confess.
Li Yan didn't care about his identity being exposed. Since he had changed his mind, he would serve the court well. He would not show mercy to those who deserved to be killed, and he also knew that Li Zicheng would never spare him.
In the afternoon, the bandits formed a formation several miles away and faced each other across the river a few miles east of the officers' camp. They sent men and horses to convey a message and invite Li Yan to speak.
Li Yan looked at each other across the river and just asked: "Is this Liu Zhong here?"
The other party informed me that they were Liu Fangliang, the Cihou of Dashun Kingdom, and Guying, the Marquis of Jin.
Li Yan was silent for a while, then said to the visitor: "Let him prepare to die. I hope my colleagues will leave his body intact!"
For some reason, everyone who followed the little eunuch became very arrogant.
When Liu Fangliang heard this, he was furious. He said "F*ck," and immediately ordered a fierce attack! But who knew that Li Yan was reborn from the ashes? Not only did his mentality change drastically, but his equipment was also replaced by cannons. His strength was greatly increased. When the bandits came to kill him,
, first there was a heavy rain of arrows, and then there was a barrage of artillery fire from behind.
Liu Fangliang was shocked. He even brought out field artillery. This method of attack was rare but simple and practical. The rebel army was timid. At this time, Li Yan gave an order and led his troops to cross the river to kill the thieves. The rebel army collapsed and ten people were pursued.
Yuli.
cannon fodder?
Chang Yu's subordinates all understood this term, and Li Yan also knew that although he was sure of victory, it was still a surprise to defeat Liu Fangliang so easily. He immediately realized that this was just the cannon fodder of the bandit army, used to consume his own military strength.
.
After three days of farewell, the soldiers treated each other with admiration. To say that Liu Fangliang was surprised, he had worked with Li Yan for many years and knew his strength. Li Yan was a counselor and did not command troops, but he had a personal army under him. Although the number was small, the military discipline was strict.
, and the combat power of armies with strict military discipline is generally higher than those with lax military discipline, so the combat power is superior among the bandit armies.
But in front of him, Li Yan's strength was far better than when he was in the rebel army. Almost the entire army was equipped with cavalry, and they were fully equipped with swords, armor, bows and arrows, and even field artillery. This strength was only possessed by King Chuang's troops.
Yes! I thought that the cannon fodder brought this time could at least damage his muscles and bones, but unexpectedly it didn’t even break his skin!
After being shocked, he quickly sent someone to tell Li Zicheng that this kid was in trouble now, and it would be best to send some more cannon fodder over to stir up trouble. He wanted to have a good fight with Li Yan!
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