(A big chapter with 6,000 words, please vote for me)
Lin Fu was in Yuzhang and gave Huang Binghao a deadline of mid-August to accept the surrender conditions.
Zhang Xiongshan led a vanguard of 3,000 troops and was intercepted by more than 600 Huaidong elite cavalry in the west of Xinyu City. When the news reached Xia Yuan, Huang Binghao and others only thought that they were troops sent by Yuzhang to Yuanzhou to promote the surrender, and
I didn't feel anything else unusual.
When sending troops to Xinyu, Huang Binghao still wanted to keep the last bottom line and not quarrel with Huaidong, but he learned that more than 600 cavalrymen from Huaidong were also marching to Xinyu, hoping to block Yuanzhou's troops and horses outside Xinyu City. In fact, his name was Huang Binghao.
There is no other option.
If the world hadn't laughed and said that Yuanzhou's 30,000 troops were frightened by Huaidong's 600 cavalry, Huang Binghao would have had to bite the bullet and ask Zhang Xiongshan to drive away or annihilate Huaidong's 600 cavalry and seize Xinyu City.
Although Xia Yuan was very optimistic about expelling or annihilating the more than 600 cavalrymen from Huaidong who entered Xinyu, and Chen Zishou led the Chinese army without hesitation and accelerated the march towards Xinyu, Zhang Xiongshan, who was actually facing the enemy, felt completely different.
The scouts detected the traces of six hundred cavalrymen in Huaidong. They were in the south of Yangle County, at the west foot of Shizi Ridge in Moshan Mountain, more than 70 miles away from Xinyu City. At that time, Zhang Xiongshan led his troops to the south of Tanglong Ridge in Mengshan Mountain, about 70 miles away from Xinyu City.
The city of Chongqing is about thirty miles away, but it is only more than fifty miles away from the western foot of Shiziling Mountain in Moshan. Such a wide scope of scouting is enough to show how cautious Huang Binghao, Chen Zishou and others were about sending troops to Xinyu.
Zhang Xiongshan has three thousand soldiers. They were originally Huang Binghao's guards. They were the old soldiers brought out by Huang Binghao when he was the governor of Jiangzhou. At the beginning, Chen Zishou was the general. By the time Zhang Xiongshan became the third general, various school officials
They are all Huang Binghao's trusted confidants.
Over the years, this army has eliminated the weak and retained the strong. It is Huang Binghao's most trusted elite army. Although the number is not large, whether it is suppressing bandits in Poyang or sticking to Jiangzhou, they have made outstanding military exploits, paid and provided military food.
They were all superior to other soldiers. After Huang Binghao surrendered to take over the defense of Yuanzhou and the war against Tanzhou, in order to supplement his troops, he forcibly recruited a large number of men from Yuanzhou to join the army. The only guards in the camp were all descendants of Huang Binghao's clan or fellow villagers.
If it weren't for the fact that he wanted to ensure that the capture of Xin Chongqing was foolproof, Huang Binghao would not be willing to ask Zhang Xiongshan to lead his guard camp as the vanguard.
All the cavalry in Yuanzhou's army totaled no more than a thousand, and almost all of them were concentrated in the guard camp.
Zhang Xiongshan was worried that the Huaidong Army would advance quickly to Xinyu and wait for reinforcements, so he gathered a thousand cavalrymen and personally led the team to Xinyu to seize the opportunity, and asked the remaining two thousand infantry to follow.
Come.
When Zhang Xiongshan led the cavalry to advance, the sun was setting in the west, and the sunset shone on the mountains on both sides, as if covered with a layer of purple mist. The horses' hooves galloped in the valley, as if a storm was hitting the rocks.
When it was getting dark, we stopped in the west of Xinyu City.
Walking in a hurry, half of Zhang Xiongshan's face covered by his beard was a little gray. He looked at the dilapidated city head of Xinyu. The city gate had long gone, and only the empty city gate hole remained, which looked like an open beast in the dusk.
mouth.
Zhang Xiongshan came with his cavalry, and three or five men in green clothes and short coats and hemp shoes came out from the city gate to greet them.
"Tian Xiu, is there anything unusual in Xinyu City?" Zhang Xiongshan reined in his horse and asked the leading man.
After the Shangrao War, Huang Binghao was afraid that the Huaidong Army would advance westward along the Yuanshui River and abandon Xinyu, which was surrounded by relatively open terrain. The troops and horses retreated to the area west of Xia Yuan City, which was easy to defend and difficult to attack.
Although Huang Binghao did not station troops in Xinyu, he always had a large number of informants deployed inside and outside Xinyu City to grasp the latest trends in Huaidong towards Xinyu. To be honest, he was afraid that the Huaidong Army would send troops to Xinyu first.
Tian Xiu was the chief scout of Yuan Zhoujun in Xinyu. He had suffered from smallpox in his early years. His face was full of pits. He was wearing a short coat and had a sword on his waist. He walked up to Zhang Xiongshan and saluted him.
Said: "When I heard that General Xiongshan was coming, there was chaos in the city. There was nothing unusual. However, the scouts from Xiaozhushan saw that two or three hundred Huaidong cavalry had approached the north of Xiatanggou and were wading across the river!
"
Huang Binghao abandoned Xinyu and refused to defend it. He even demolished the gates of the four cities of Xinyu before abandoning the defense. However, Xinyu has not been severely damaged by wars in recent years. There are many people in the city and they have not fled much.
After May, Lin Fu in Yuzhang did not rush to send troops and horses to march westward along the Yuan River. Instead, he sent people into Yuanzhou to recruit surrender. On the one hand, Huang Binghao also responded positively, and on the other hand, quite a few people believed that Huang Binghao would
They succumbed to the force of Huaidong and chose to surrender, so the people of Xinyu and Chongqing did not flee to other places on a large scale to avoid the war.
At this time, the major shareholder of Yuanzhou's troops and horses entered, which naturally caused chaos among the people of Xinyu.
Zhang Xiongshan knew that Huaidong would not have no spies in Xinyu City, but as long as they did not cause serious harm, he did not bother to pay attention to them. What Zhang Xiongshan was concerned about at this time was the more than 600 cavalrymen from Huaidong coming from the north.
Xiaozhushan is located in the north of Xinyu City. Xiatanggou is a stream that originates from Xiaozhushan, which is only ten miles away from Xinyu City.
"Go to Xiatanggou!" Zhang Xiongshan was not in a hurry to enter the city. Instead, he reined in the reins, drove his horse through an arc, causing smoke and dust to rise, and directed more than a thousand cavalry to go north along the northwest corner of the remaining city of Xinyu.
He rushed to Xiaozhushan in front of him to meet the Huaidong soldiers and horses coming from the south.
For Zhang Xiongshan, it is not enough to enter Xinyu City first.
The terrain around Xinyu City is open. If they lead their troops into Xinyu City and call more than 600 Huaidong elite cavalry to go around to the west of Xinyu City and around to the hilly area between Mengshan Mountain and Qiqiang Ridge, they will delay the main force of Chen Zishou's Chinese army.
The speed of westward march.
Zhang Xiongshan still did not mean that the Yuzhang side knew about their plan to invade Xinyu as early as the day before yesterday, and he believed that the six to seven hundred cavalry who appeared in the north of Xinyu were a small group of troops sent by General Huaidong to Yuanzhou to promote the surrender.
, thinking that even if this group of soldiers and horses rushes back to Yuzhang to report the news, the main force of Huaidong's cavalry in Yuzhang will not be able to reach Xinyu until two days at the earliest.
This means that the main force of the Chinese army led by Chen Zishou must enter Xinyu City within two days, deploy Xinyu's defense line, and also establish Yuan Shui in the north of Xinyu, Xiaozhushan and the east of Xinyu.
Build defensive barriers downstream so that you can seize the initiative in the war.
Zhang Xiongshan led the main force of the cavalry north to Xiaozhushan to attack the Huaidong cavalry, but left 200 troops for Tian Ji and his deputy Liu Yaoqi to take over Xinyu City. The 2,000 infantry left behind would attack after dark.
Entering Xinyu City, the main force of Chen Zishou's Chinese army will be delayed on the road for a day and will arrive at Xinyu City before noon tomorrow.
*******************
Chen Daozi reined in the horse and hung the reins tightly. The horse raised its hooves and neighed, then kicked hard against the creek rocks in the shallow water, causing a large splash of water.
After traveling three hundred miles in two days and one night, even a brave man like him was somewhat tired. He dismounted from his horse, still holding the reins in his hand, and dipped his face into the cool stream, took a big drink, and then untied himself.
He took out his trouser belt, took out a fluffy bird, stood by the stream to relieve himself, and screamed happily.
Three hundred horsemen dispersed to the left and right along the north bank of the stream. Without Chen Daozi's instructions, those exploring the waterway and those looking for high places to reconnoiter the enemy's situation also started their own actions, while the others dismounted to rest and eat.
I saw several heads of people on the cliffs of the North Ridge of Xiaozhu Mountain. Those who were still interested in watching at the top of the mountain must be the scouts sent by the Yuanzhou Army. Chen Daozi came over with a riding whip in hand and sent out ten soldiers to catch up.
Go over and kill them.
He led his troops first, and his duty was to clear out and isolate the scouts deployed by Yuanzhou Army around Xinyu along the way, and completely blind Huang Binghao and Chen Zishou's eyes on the periphery to cover the whereabouts of Huaidong's main force.
The scouts in front came back from wading through the water, reined their horses in front of Chen Daozi, and reported: "More than a thousand enemies have ridden to the foot of Xinyu City, but two to three hundred people are left behind, and about eight hundred others are coming here."
…”
Although there were only over 300 horses here, when they heard that 800 to 900 enemies were riding over to fight, the people around them were excited. Several primary schools came over with their horses and urged Chen Daozi to allow them to wade to the south bank of Xiatanggou to meet the enemy.
.
Chen Daozi spat, scolded everyone away, and said: "What the hell, Yuan Zhoujun put all his money on the bet. You would be stupid if you follow the bet. Send someone to tell Zhao Bao that we will kill the enemy."
Riding to the west, if he can go around, go around; if he can't go around, just come with the enemy's tail and pack them up with us!"
The more than 600 cavalry in the front, with Chen Daozi and Zhao Bao as generals, were divided into two teams at the southwest foot of Moshan. One team was led by Chen Daozi, put on new horses, and galloped to Xiatanggou to meet the enemy. Zhao Bao led
The remaining team, in addition to one person and one rider, also had to restrain twice as many horses, falling behind and moving at a slightly slower speed.
It is difficult to force the main force of Yuanzhou's army to enter the city, and to alert the main force of Yuanzhou's army to abandon Xinyu without seizing it and to escape from Yuan's trouble before the main force of Huaidong army arrives - this is indeed a bit difficult.
Zhang Xiongshan, the enemy's vanguard, was the first to arrive outside Xinyu City. He had 3,000 infantry and cavalry, and was quite capable of fighting. If a defensive formation was established along Xiatanggou at the western foot of Xiaozhu Mountain in the north of Xinyu City, it could cover the troops led by Chen Zishou.
The main force of the Chinese army entered Xinyu, and Chen Daozi and Zhao Bao could only bite the bullet and forcefully cross Xiatanggou.
However, it is obvious that Zhang Xiongshan has 3,000 elite troops, including a large number of cavalry. Seeing that the Huaidong Army entered Xinyu with only more than 600 troops, how could it be possible to defend the northern flank of Xinyu City honestly?
Zhang Xiongshan led the cavalry to take the initiative to fight, which was exactly what Chen Daozi wanted. Chen Daozi looked up and saw that the twilight was closing, and the pale moonlight had risen in the eastern sky. He waved his whip and pointed to the surrounding generals.
: "This is a good night for a night battle."
****************
Chen Daozi led his team to walk westward along Xiatanggou, and Zhang Xiongshan pursued him westward, crossing Xiatanggou, sparse forests, and hills, and followed them relentlessly.
At this time, even if he knew that there was another team of more than 300 riders in Huaidong who took the opportunity to go around the east foot of Xiaozhu Mountain to the foot of Xinyu City, Zhang Xiongshan did not take it seriously.
Another two thousand infantry led by him are also approaching the foot of Xinyu City. In addition, there are nearly two hundred cavalry left in Xinyu City. Zhang Xiongshan does not have to worry that the two thousand or so cavalry will not be able to stop the three hundred Huaidong.
cavalry.
It was after dark that Chen Daozi led his troops to counterattack the Yuanzhou cavalry who were chasing after them.
It was the night before the Mid-Autumn Festival, when light clouds covered the sky, and the bright moon shone like water. The mountains, rivers and valleys all around seemed to be bright but not bright. I could see the scene in the distance, but I couldn't see it clearly.
Zhang Xiongshan saw that he could not catch up with the enemy soldiers and saw that the night was already dark, so he led his troops back to Xinyu. Riding horses at night among the streams, mountains and forest valleys, he could only walk in small steps. If he rode at a gallop, he would easily encounter uneven terrain.
The horses were kicked. In order to protect the hard-won war horses, many soldiers even dismounted and led the horses away.
At this moment, more than 300 cavalry led by Chen Daozi rolled back from the hills at the eastern foot of Mengshan Qiqiang Ridge at the other end of Xiatang Valley.
Hearing the sound of horse hooves approaching, it turned out that they were galloping from the sparse forest at night. Before Zhang Xiongshan could react, dozens of arrows shot at him. The seat under Zhang Xiongshan was shot by an arrow from his right eye.
It shot through the skull, and another arrow hit Zhang Xiongshan's shoulder armor, and it fell with a clang. The mount collapsed to the ground. Zhang Xiongshan took off his spear, jumped to the side, changed his horse and mounted it, and ordered the soldiers and horses on the left and right to gather around and resist.
Night attack by the Huaidong Army.
However, dozens of horsemen from Huaidong fired arrows, and after a slight contact and seeing the elaborate formations here, they immediately dispersed into the forest. Zhang Xiongshan led his troops to chase, but dozens of horsemen from each side of the forest came out to intercept them.
Zhang Xiongshan had to retreat to the stream and use the moonlight to organize his array on the slightly flat beach beside the stream.
Yuanzhou's cavalry would have no difficulty traveling at night along the road, but they were definitely not good at traveling at night among mountains, rivers, forests, valleys and fields where there were no existing roads.
Speaking of which, there is still a lack of training.
Jiangxi does not produce horses. The horses introduced from Guangnan and eastern Sichuan are all short camels. Huang Binghao has been choosing some tall and walking horses from the camels for riding.
Horses are so precious, and the cavalry's night training in the field is particularly harmful to horses. If a hoof is accidentally kicked, a good war horse will be completely useless and can no longer be ridden. It can't even be used as a walking horse. How can Huang Binghao be willing to train troops at all costs?
, he doesn’t have this resource either.
Although Zhang Xiongshan has a rough personality, he is not a stupid person. Seeing the Huaidong cavalry attack and retreat from the mountains and forests so quickly and orderly under the weak moonlight, we know that although the Yuanzhou cavalry he led is said to be elite, it is not as good as Huaidong.
The elite cavalry is far from the same level.
The night battle between the mountains and rivers was definitely not going to work, so Zhang Xiongshan ordered some of them to give up their horses, and the formation marched on the outside of the cavalry with swords, shields and crossbows to resist the Huaidong cavalry. As long as it lasted until dawn, the gap between the soldiers of the two armies would be
The gap will be reduced, and with more troops, they will be able to regain the initiative.
In addition, in Zhang Xiongshan's opinion, as long as they survive tonight, the main force of Chen Zishou's Chinese army can reach the foot of Xinyu City and defend the city, and there is no fear that Huaidong's main force of infantry and cavalry in Yuzhang will arrive in two days.
From the middle of the moon to the twilight of dawn, the Huaidong cavalry, although small in number, occupied the main force in night operations. They entered and exited from the mountains, forests, shallow streams, and hills and gullies to harass Zhang Xiongshan's troops. The harassment lasted for six months.
Each time, thirty or fifty cavalry attacked in batches, but after dawn, the Huaidong cavalry suddenly withdrew.
At dawn, the sky was dim, and the morning light shrouded the mountains in a mist. Seeing the Huaidong cavalry withdrawing, Zhang Xiongshan sent people to reconnoiter the terrain, and found that they had been fighting and marching all night, and had reached the Chitu Gang area at the eastern foot of Mengshan Mountain.
, falls about thirty miles west of Xinyu City.
There is a stream to the south of Chitugang. Zhang Xiongshan didn’t know the name of the stream. Looking at the map, crossing the stream was the same road they took to Xinyu yesterday. When they rode to the stream, they saw dozens of corpses lying in disorder on the bank.
, they are all Yuanzhou military uniforms, and the blood soaked into the stone crevices and condensed into black.
Looking at the scattered hooves of horses around, it seems that a few soldiers and horses of the vanguard infantry were lured here at night to surround and kill them.
After crossing the shallow stream, a dozen remnant soldiers fled towards this side and saw an infantry colonel under his command. Zhang Xiongshan summoned him to ask about the situation in Xinyu and the Chinese army led by Chen Zishou.
"Colonel Cao Teng was ordered by the general to lead two thousand infantry to Xinyu. However, he was still more than ten miles away from the city. He called more than three hundred enemy cavalry to rush to the formation. It was already dark at that time, and the road to the front gorge was narrow.
, but the general went somewhere unknown, and saw that the enemy's cavalry had heavy armor hidden in them, and they were charging and killing them very fiercely. Colonel Cao ordered everyone to stop and form a defensive formation, and also asked us to each lead a group of infantry to attack and drive away the enemy.
The enemy cavalry was attacking from the flank. Our troops were cut off by the cavalry and could not join forces with Captain Cao at night, so we headed west instead, not wanting to meet the general here."
"You bastard!" Zhang Xiongshan spat. With more than 2,000 cavalry, only more than 300 cavalry from Huaidong were holding them back even an inch. They were only more than ten miles away from Xinyu City and could not enter. His face was humiliated to the sky.
.
Zhang Xiongshan didn't care about anything else. While sending people to Chen Zishou who was parked thirty miles to the west, he led his troops to rush to the south road to meet up with the two thousand infantry and enter Xinyu City first.
They also didn't sleep a wink all day and night. Zhang Xiongshan, a dozen generals and nearly a thousand cavalry were all very tired, and the horses were a little unable to carry them. In order to save horsepower, Zhang Xiongshan and the generals dismounted and walked, and they had not yet walked east to Xinyu City.
On the road, I heard shouts of killing from both sides. From the valley and the woods, a group of men and horses galloped out to stop them and kill them.
Looking at the size of the soldiers who were killed, it turned out that more than 600 Huaidong cavalry who had entered Xinyu first were gathered here!
Zhang Xiongshan couldn't help but feel a little panic. He didn't expect that the Huaidong cavalry, which had disappeared before withdrawing before dawn, rushed here to rendezvous and set up an ambush. Zhang Xiongshan got on his horse and held a gun in his hand. The Huaidong cavalry stopped him and killed him.
Come, he can only divide his troops to attack on two sides.
Although Zhang Xiongshan's men did not sleep a wink all day and night, the Huaidong cavalry coming from Yuzhang would only be harder and more tired than them. But the more extreme the situation, the more it reflects the general's combat effectiveness.
Nearly a thousand Yuanzhou cavalry were ambushed. They were caught off guard and panicked. They hurriedly divided their troops to attack from both wings. The formations were not organized, the chaos was not smoothed out, and many people did not even open their crossbows. They called the Huaidong cavalry general.
The first arrow was drawn and rained down.
Seeing that the formation was very scattered and his troops no longer had much advantage, Zhang Xiongshan knew that it would be difficult to win, so he ignored the two scattered wings and was massacred by the Huaidong Army.
Open the distance and then adjust and reshape it.
Zhang Xiongshan's tactics are not wrong at all. Except for his cavalry, the advance infantry is more than twenty miles away to the east, and the main force of the Chinese army led by Chen Zishou is only thirty miles away from them.
Break camp and move closer to them.
Galloping up the road, going east and west, there are large groups of infantry joining our side. Naturally, we cannot ask the Huaidong Army to completely defeat and annihilate the remaining few hundred cavalry in a shallow valley.
************
Seeing Zhang Xiongshan leading hundreds of cavalry to escape south, Chen Daozi, holding a machete, could only kill the enemies around him first. After meeting up with Zhao Bao, the hundreds of cavalry had already fled far away, and Lao
Driving nearly two miles.
"Master Baozi was able to arrive with the main force of the cavalry camp at noon. Chen Zishou was completely unaware of it. After dawn, he broke out of the camp and marched eastward. He was already twenty miles away. It seemed not good for us to chase Zhang Xiongshan," Zhao Bao and Chen
Daozi said, "It's better to let Zhang Xiongshan go. Let's attack the two thousand infantry outside Xinyu City first. Then we can ask Zhang Xiongshan and Chen Zishou to meet up and then rush on horseback to rescue!"
"That's fine!" Chen Daozi didn't say much, and he and Zhao Baobing split into two groups and galloped eastward between the hills and mountains.
Yuanzhou had two thousand infantry stationed on the road 12 or 3 miles west of Xinyu City. Chen Daozi and Zhao Bao led the cavalry to entangle them. Of course, these two thousand Yuanzhou troops were soldiers of Huang Binghao's guard camp and were not strong in combat.
Weak, moreover, they are united in formation, heavily defended, equipped with armor, bows and crossbows, and huddle up like a turtle. No matter how sharp the Huaidong cavalry is, they have no chance to attack.
Chen Daozi and Zhao Bao were not in a hurry. They just tried their best to monitor the two thousand Yuanzhou Army while monitoring the progress of the main force of the Yuanzhou Army led by Chen Zishou. More importantly, they blocked the communication in the north to cover the main force of the cavalry battalion led by Zhou Pu.
Enemy soldiers are not allowed to detect it in advance.
***********
Zhang Xiongshan first met with Chen Zishou, who scolded him bloody.
With an absolutely superior force, but careless and careless, he ordered more than 600 Huaidong cavalry to lose nearly 500 of their troops, and even beat the remaining cavalry into disarray. Zhang Xiongshan had no shame to complain to Chen Zishou.
It was learned that this Huaidong cavalry rushed to the west of Xinyu City and entangled his two thousand infantry outside Xinyu City. Judging from the situation, they actually intended to eat the two thousand infantry before the main force of the Chinese army arrived.
, Zhang Xiongshan was so angry that his blood surged: He had never been so despised by the enemy in his life.
This Huaidong cavalry force, consisting of 600 men, was entangled outside Xinyu City and refused to retreat. Chen Zishou was secretly surprised by their strong fighting spirit, but he didn't think much about it.
In the view of Chen Zishou and Zhang Xiongshan, Huaidong will send intelligence back to Yuzhang City, and then dispatch the main force of infantry and cavalry from Yuzhang to fight in Xinyu. Even if the cavalry goes first, they should at least arrive in Xinyu after dark tomorrow.
Chongqing; and as long as they drive away this Huaidong cavalry and enter the remaining city of Xinyu before dark tomorrow, they will be able to take the initiative.
"Who leads the cavalry in Huaidong, or who does Huaidong send to Yuanzhou to preside over the surrender?" Chen Zishou and Zhang Xiongshan asked not to affect the army's advance, so they went to the roadside to discuss the military situation. "They actually relied on
Six hundred cavalry stopped our 30,000-strong army from entering Xinyu before dark tomorrow, how bold it is!"
The main force of the Chinese army is less than 40 miles away from Xinyu City. There is no way they can enter Xinyu City today. However, the battle last night was so useless that Zhang Xiongshan felt depressed.
Zhang Xiongshan immediately asked Chen Zishou to allow him to lead his troops to Xinyu first, meet up with the two thousand infantry in front, and clear the passage into Xinyu City.
There are still 600 cavalrymen under Zhang Xiongshan. Although they were panicked by the killing, they are still capable of fighting. Furthermore, heading east from Chitu Gang, the terrain is relatively open, and the infantry and cavalry are advancing in chaos, so they are not afraid of the Huaidong cavalry again.
There is a chance to ambush you.
Chen Zishou dispatched another two thousand infantry and Zhang Xiongshan's more than 600 cavalry to attack the Huaidong cavalry. He also urged the main force of the Chinese army to move eastward quickly.
At this time, Chen Zishou ignored the chaotic battle in the north of Xinyu City last night, and had wiped out all the scouts they deployed in the north of Xinyu City. Without the scouts in the north, Chen Zishou would not have known that a group of more than 3,000 people
The Huaidong cavalry unit formed, each with two horses, has left the south bank of Jinshui River, entered the eastern foothills of Moshan Mountain, and rushed all the way to Xinyu.