Su Tingzhan, wearing red armor and looking like a blazing sun, walked in and out along the south bank of the Yanyan River surrounded by his guards.
Lin Fu stood on the garrison and looked out, pointing at Su Tingzhan who was wearing red armor, and said to Zhou Pu: "That man should be the butcher scholar Su Tingzhan, the person She Fei Xiong relies on most in the East China Sea. Unexpectedly, She Fei Xiong
Leave him in charge of the Northern Front..."
"Let him retreat to the Hecheng military fortress. I'm afraid it will be difficult to recapture Hecheng suddenly. Do you want to send someone to intercept him?"
"I'm afraid it's too late," Lin Fu shook his head and said, "Don't think that if you become fat in one bite, you can annihilate most of Cheng Yiqun and Shu Qingqiu's troops. Even if you complete the task, it will slightly relieve the hatred of the two thousand soldiers and civilians of Xisha Island who were massacred."
The garrison was only five miles away from the Hecheng military fortress, and the bandit's riverbank position was even closer to Hecheng. Su Tingzhan was accompanied by dozens of guards, so it was not that easy to intercept. The target of this battle was not the Hecheng army.
Lin Fu did not expect to be able to defeat the invaders in Hecheng in one fell swoop.
"The enemy soldiers on the ship can reinforce the river beach position at any time. The flanks are strong. Our army can only attack from the front. It is very difficult and the casualties will not be small. You accompany me to supervise the battle. To win, our morale cannot be weakened." Lin Fu
He said, no longer staying on the garrison to watch the situation and walking to the middle of the soldiers.
The west garrison of Hecheng was not large and could not accommodate too many garrison troops. The army gathered in the west garrison of Hecheng formed a camp around the garrison. The Jiangdong Left Army was fighting a civil war in Chongzhou, so it was much more convenient to obtain supplies than the invaders. Besides, the garrison was
The fort also had supplies. Although the fort was hastily expanded more than twice in one day and one night, it was much stronger than the walls built by the soldiers in the river beach formation.
On the east side of the garrison and the south camp is the starting position. Chongzhou Infantry Camp has just been replaced and rested. On top of Fengli Infantry Camp, Ning Zechen organized the third wave of offensive there. In addition to Fengli Infantry Camp, there are still other troops gathered here.
There were nearly 500 defeated soldiers and more than 600 civilian warriors with strong morale. Ning Zechen organized a group of people from among them to contain the west wing of the Japanese soldiers, prevent the Japanese soldiers from attacking from the west wing formation, and threaten them to directly attack the river beach.
The array of soldiers in the position.
When Lin Fu came down from the garrison, the soldiers who were about to go into battle to kill the enemy were all in high spirits, completely fearless of the difficulty of attacking the enemy's position from the front. Even the soldiers who had been repelled by the first two troops felt guilty for not conquering the position in one go, and lowered their heads and did not dare to fight.
Shi Linfu's inspection.
"The bones of this group of bandit soldiers are very hard and difficult to chew - if the enemies are all soft-faced people who are easy to bully, it will not reflect the combat power of the Jiangdong Left Army! I have been watching you attack and attack again,
You fought well. The temporary retreat is nothing. We threw out our fists and did not knock down the enemy at once. We pulled the boxers back to make the next attack more powerful and fierce. You have nothing to be ashamed of.
They are all good men of the Jiangdong Left Army, hold your chest high..." Lin Fu walked up to the first two groups of soldiers who had been repelled, boosting their morale and not letting the temporary setback affect their morale.
"This group of soldiers is from our Chongcheng Infantry Camp. I ask that we continue to fight up. The brothers from Fengli Camp have just come over and have walked all night. They haven't had a good rest yet. We can't let them work hard!" Chongzhou Infantry
A captain of the battalion stood up and took the initiative to ask for a fight. He did not want to be replaced. He watched Fengli's infantry battalion attack the enemy's formation. They were repelled twice. If Fengli's infantry battalion succeeded in charging the enemy's formation, wouldn't it be possible for Fengli's infantry battalion to attack the enemy's formation in the future?
Do you have to bow your head in front of the brothers in the battalion?
"Ma Sanwa, I remember you. You were brave in battle and a good soldier. I heard that you were forced to marry a widow by my mother. You screamed with grievance and hid in the military camp and refused to go back. What's wrong with being a widow? You look so good.
Jun, can give birth to babies, warm the bed, and be caring. You are fighting at the front, and she will help your house run smoothly without you having to worry about it. What's wrong with that?" Lin Fu smiled and walked to the front.
The captain of the capital army talked about his daily routine, which made the people around him laugh and said, "As for fighting, people have two fists, and they have to take turns to use them in a fight, so that they can attack the enemy more effectively——
So now it’s your turn to rest. After you’ve had enough rest, I still need you to fight again. You’ll have to fight some of today’s battles!”
After encouraging him here, Lin Fu went to cheer up the soldiers of Fengli Camp who were setting out to attack the enemy. He did not expect to break the enemy's formation from the front, so he took turns sending his soldiers to the top to maintain the offensive against the enemy's formation on the river bank, and possibly avoid too much damage.
casualties.
Then he went to boost the morale of Min Yong and Hecheng's defeated troops. In order to fully utilize his troops and avoid forming a tired army, Lin Fu used Min Yong and the Hecheng defeated troops gathered by Wang Chengfu to assist the armored soldiers in the frontal attack.
to contain the enemy's flanks.
Although the saltmen under the jurisdiction of the Salt and Iron Division are lacking in battle training, their morale is still good because they usually have no shortage of money and wages.
For the soldiers at the lowest level, who are simple in texture and have a simple mind of "eating the emperor's food to defend the territory", if it weren't for the officials and the generals who were greedy for life and feared death, abandoning the city and fleeing first, the East China Sea bandits would never have been so simple if they wanted to capture the Hecheng military fortress -
---This is also the main reason why since ancient times, a weak army can usually be reborn after solving the problems of officer corps and food and salary.
Wang Chengfu gathered his defeated troops, about 500 of them, and Lin Fu had the authority to arrest several battalion officers at the rank of captain and sent them to Chongzhou to be imprisoned to be punished later, but eight captains of the capital were allowed to stay and serve as assistants.
Soldiers participate in battles and are mainly used to contain the enemy's flanks.
These broken troops were forced to gather together. During the gathering process, there were even conflicts. The morale difference can be imagined. They were also forced to go into battle to contain the enemy's flanks. These broken troops were mixed into the civilian warriors, and they were timid at first.
However, the Jiangdong Left Army set a strong example in the frontal attack. Although the civilian warriors lacked training, they dared to fight with bravery, not even weak to the Jiangdong Left Army's armored soldiers, and even stimulated the Hecheng troops to collapse in mixed combat.
, after two attempts, they also realized that it was not too dangerous to contain the enemy's flanks. By this time, the organized broken troops mixed with the civilian warriors had some appearance.
Wang Chengfu saw the Jiangdong Left Army fighting on Dayangshan Island. It was purely an elite force attacking and seizing the fortress. Even if he commanded the battle, it was the generals below who presided over it. Wang Chengfu did not see Lin Fu have the opportunity to directly demonstrate his military talents.
Shi Daing had some feelings: The most important thing for a successful general is to have the personality charm that can successfully make the soldiers willing to go through life and death for him. There is no doubt that Lin Fu has such a trait, which cannot be replaced by other excellent generals.
The fundamental reason for his position in the Jiangdong Left Army.
************
After Su Tingzhan left, Cheng Yiqun was still worried about the safety of the river beach position.
Without a foothold on the riverbank, it would be impossible to achieve the goal of containing the main force of the Jiangdong Left Army's northern line at the west garrison in Hecheng. Cheng Yiqun took two hundred personal guards ashore to strengthen the defense of the riverbank position, and he personally stood on the high ground of the riverbank to supervise the battle.
Seeing the sudden smoke erupting from the garrison, Cheng Yiqun was also suspicious. He was worried that Lin Fu had planned a back-up plan first. After the war with King Yan Nanqin, Lin Fu was famous for his good plans. Cheng Yiqun also suspected that the garrison suddenly erupted into smoke.
Perhaps it was a tactic that made them suspicious and voluntarily abandon the river beach position and withdraw to the Hecheng military fortress.
In any case, it is not easy for Cheng Yiqun to become the leader of the Taihu Bandits, and he is not someone to be frightened. Even after the Jiangdong Left Army's boat master captured Hecheng, the sky was clear and cloudy. Even if no scouts were sent, the view
The range of the outpost is also ten miles and twenty miles away, and it is only four or five miles away from the Hecheng military fortress. It is completely late to retreat. Although Cheng Yiqun hesitated, he was not particularly worried. He just wanted to build the wall first.
Defend the river beach position that has been broken for a long time.
Until noon, there was no movement outside. Even though the Jiangdong Left Army had organized seven consecutive offensives, Cheng Yiqun also confirmed that the smoke in the early morning was Lin Fu's suspicious plan, causing them to lose an extra hundred or ten people.
At noon, the Jiangdong Left Army's offensive, which had slowed down, suddenly became fierce again. Not only did the Jiangdong Left Army's forward position advance a hundred steps eastward, Cheng Yiqun also saw that the Jiangdong Left Army's cavalry battalion, which had not been dispatched all morning, also entered the front line.
Position. Judging from the deployment, the cavalry battalion is likely to directly attack the west flank of the river bank, and more than two hundred cavalry are invested at one time, and four trebuchets are assembled on the Jiangdong Left Army's forward formation.
The river bank is very close, and if you calculate the distance, you can directly hit the boat array on the west side.
During the seven uninterrupted offensives of the Jiangdong Left Army, the west side of the river bank position almost completely collapsed. There were some obstacles, but they were all low and could not stop the cavalry battalion from rushing over. Moreover, the Jiangdong Left Army's trebuchets were facing the river.
The warships inside were a direct threat. Cheng Yiqun secretly thought that the Jiangdong Left Army might be making its final effort at this time.
Cheng Yijun sent someone to send an order to Shu Qingqiu, asking Shu Qingqiu to continue to disperse the western ship array to the west and move closer to the south bank. In addition to directly attacking the Jiangdong Left Army's trebuchet positions and preventing the Jiangdong Left Army's trebuchets from taking effect, Shu Qingqiu also asked him to
Send people directly to the south bank and directly form flank positions with the people on the west side of the slipway to prevent the cavalry of the Jiangdong Left Army from attacking the flanks of the main river bank position from the west.
After waiting for a while, Cheng Yiqun could not see any movement in the ship formation on the west side. He neither sent ships to move west to attack the trebuchets deployed by the Jiangdong left army against the river embankment, nor did he send troops ashore to strengthen the flank positions.
Cheng Yiqun cursed Shu Qingqiu secretly. Seeing that Jiangdong's left army would delay for a while before launching an offensive, he walked quickly to the west and shouted to Shu Qingqiu on the bow: "General Shu, what's the matter with you?
I asked you to drive the ship westward, attack the enemy's catapults, and send troops ashore to strengthen the flank protection. Why did you wait for a moment without making any move? The next offensive of Jiangdong's left army will be very fierce, and you need to block and intercept it on the west flank.
, be sure to protect the flanks of the river beach from attack..."
Shu Qingqiu was so anxious that he was sweating profusely. He shouted across the river more than fifty steps: "Somehow, the river suddenly became shallower. The boat was stuck on the mud and couldn't move!"
"How is that possible!" Cheng Yiqun was shocked. His greatest strength was to rely on the ship formations that were assembled in two places and could move freely to protect the flanks of the river beach position from attack. They could also support the river beach position at any time, so they were not afraid of resisting Jiangdong Zuo's front.
As the army attacked one after another, he never expected that the boat in the middle of the river would suddenly become unable to move.
"Look at the river embankment!" Shu Qingqiu shouted.
"..." Cheng Yiqun lowered his head and looked at the inside of the river embankment. Water marks were clearly visible. The water level of the Yanyan River dropped at least three feet throughout the morning. The water level of the Yanyan River was already shallow, and it suddenly dropped three feet. Except for small boats, the water level was slightly larger.
Even if some troop-carrying warships are in the center of the river, they are directly shallow on the mud at the bottom of the river and cannot move, let alone docking for support.
At this moment, Cheng Yiqun felt dizzy, his throat felt sweet, and he almost spit out a mouthful of blood: "Lin Fu, that beast, sealed the river upstream at night! He sent troops non-stop in the morning to attack from the front, just to prevent us from paying attention to the changes in the river water!
"
At this moment, the sling crossbows guarding the Taitung position began to rattle, and several rounded stone bullets fell into the shallow water, causing a splash of water. These were just stone bullets to calibrate the direction and distance, and were operated by experienced soldiers. Two or three
After dialing it, the shooting will become more and more accurate. Shu Qingqiu shouted from the bow: "Big shield, big shield, carry it with a big shield. If there is no big shield to cover it, go to the cabin first..."
Cheng Yiqun did not dare to stay on the west embankment and hurriedly retreated to the river beach position.
Without the boat array to cover the flanks, the river beach position was extremely weak. At this moment, Cheng Yiqun also understood that he was in a dead end. If he led the river bank troops to retreat on his own initiative, he would not only be directly hit by the Jiangdong left army cavalry from behind, but would also inevitably be attacked by Jiangdong left army cavalry.
Seventy or eighty ships stuck in the river mud and unable to move, and seventeen or eight hundred men and horses were abandoned - this was almost half of his family fortune, how could he let it go?
Su Tingzhan only had 800 soldiers and horses at Hecheng Military Fortress. Although it was only four or five miles away, he couldn't spare any manpower to support him in a short period of time. He had to hold on until the troops from the north could gather. This battle would be difficult to win.
!
The catapult was fixed on the river embankment, and the boat was stuck in the mud of the river bed. Both sides were fixed. Several waves of stone bullets were fired more and more accurately, but what was fired next was not a stone bullet, but a clay pot filled with kerosene.
…
Fire prevention is the most important thing in a water battle, but a fleet that is mainly made of wooden boats, no matter how strong its fire prevention ability is and cannot avoid it, cannot withstand being doused in kerosene and then shot with rockets. Smelling the smell of kerosene, several horsemen and archers ride their horses.
He came close, holding a rocket in his hand, and when he got close to a stone's throw away, he threw the rocket into the air. Watching the rockets coming, and the clay pots filled with kerosene kept coming, Shu Qingqiu's heart went cold, so he decided to do this now.
The only option is to abandon the ship and go ashore, join up with Cheng Yiqun, or hold on to the river beach position, or retreat eastward back to the Hecheng military fortress...
At this time, Shu Qingqiu forgot that although the nearest boat to the shore was twenty or thirty steps away, the Salt River had been in disrepair for hundreds of years, and the river bottom was silted so deep that if a person wearing armor jumped off the boat, his lower body would be trapped immediately and he would be unable to move.
Even if the pallets are laid on the mud of the river bottom and a wooden path is built, and all the boats and people are rushing to get off the boat, how many people can escape in one time? More people will be pushed over by the crowd and fall into the mud, with no one to rescue them.
He couldn't move at all.
At this time, the eighth wave of Jiangdong Left Army's offensive launched rapidly and fiercely. In addition to the armored soldiers on the front, all cavalry battalions were also dispatched. One team monitored the east flank, and the other team suddenly charged in from the west flank...