Because she had not found out the situation of the Zhen Army, Chen Lihua did not want to hastily go into battle, but on the second day, the Zhen Army actually took the initiative to come out of the camp to challenge.
The strength of the Zhen Army was small, only two thousand men, but the leader of the army was very well-established, and it was none other than Raymond, who was known as one of the two most powerful men in the rebel army.
Lei Meng is not only powerful in martial arts, but also extremely powerful. In the battle between the two armies, he has the courage to defeat ten thousand people.
Hearing that the Zhen Army only came out with 2,000 men to challenge, the Sichuan Army would naturally not be timid. A partial general from the 16th Army Corps who was the first to fight was led by Raymond without even meeting him.
The horse was smashed to death in front of the two armies.
The second person from the Sichuan Army to fight was also a partial general of the 16th Army. He was slightly better than the previous one, but he only lasted three rounds and was picked up by Raymond on his horse, following in the footsteps of the previous one.
Next, the Sichuan Army sent three more generals, but the result was the same. No one returned alive, they all died under Lei Meng's heavy sword.
Lei Meng's bravery now shocked the Sichuan army. Among the five generals, they didn't even hurt a hair of the enemy general, but they themselves lost their lives one after another. This general was too powerful.
Chen Lihua no longer sent generals to fight, but discussed with the generals how to defeat the enemy in the Chinese army tent in Sichuan Camp.
The generals in Zhongchuan all had their say. Some were afraid of Lei Meng's force and suggested that our side should temporarily avoid the battle until Lu You's reinforcements arrived. Others suggested launching an all-out attack to directly overwhelm the Zhen army with their absolute superiority in strength.
.
After all, the Sichuan generals were eventually divided into two groups, one group advocated fighting, and the other group advocated waiting for reinforcements. The two sides argued so hard that Chen Lihua lost her mind for a while.
The Sichuan generals were still debating whether to fight or not in the camp. Raymond, who came out to challenge, saw that no one accepted the challenge, so he returned to the camp. However, he did not stay longer in the camp, and led 2,000 soldiers from the north camp.
Enter through the gate, exit from Nanying Gate, pass through the camp, and head towards the hinterland of Bainan County.
There were many Sichuan Army spies around the camp. They did not dare to get too close to the camp and could not see the situation inside the camp. However, they could see it when Raymond led his people away from the camp and headed south. The Sichuan Army spies immediately
Send the information back to the Sichuan Army camp.
Hearing that the Zhen general Lei Meng who came to challenge had withdrawn, and also withdrew from the Zhen army camp and headed south, the Sichuan army generals headed by Chen Lihua were all shocked. What was going on? Lei Meng had been killed consecutively.
Why did our five generals, whose morale was so high, suddenly withdraw? Moreover, they did not retreat back to the camp, but passed through it.
"General Chen, Zhenren's behavior is a bit abnormal. The traitor Raymond is so powerful. Why did he go south if he didn't stay at Zhen camp?" Gao Peng, the commander of the 11th Army Corps, frowned with confusion on his face.
said.
Yes, Raymond's behavior is indeed abnormal! Chen Lihua also doesn't understand what kind of medicine is sold in Zhenjun's gourd.
While he was deep in thought, a Sichuan general suddenly exclaimed: "Could it be that Zhenren is using a strategy of suspicion? The main force of the rebels has already withdrawn to the hinterland of Bainan County?"
"How is that possible? The Zhen camp is right opposite our army..." Gao Peng said in a deep voice. Before he could finish his words, Chen Lihua had an idea flash in her mind and said, "Perhaps, that is simply an empty camp!"
"Empty camp?" The expressions of the Sichuan generals all changed, and their eyes fell on Chen Lihua. The latter stood up and said: "The rebels are trying to make things up, and there must be a deceit in them. Send my order, and the whole army will attack immediately.
Rebel camp!"
Chen Lihua gave an order, and the Sichuan army moved up and down. The army drove out of the camp one after another and went straight to the Zhenying camp on the opposite side.
At the beginning, the Sichuan army was still cautious and wary when advancing. However, when the Sichuan army entered within a hundred steps of the Zhen camp, there was not even a movement in the Zhen camp, let alone no counterattack.
When the Sichuan army entered the camp fifty steps, they saw that the camp was still calm. At this time, the Sichuan army began to advance from a slow advance to an all-out charge.
The former army was the first to rush into the camp, but after entering, there was not even a single person in the huge camp. There was no one in the large and small tents, and everything had been illuminated. It can be said that there was only one person in the camp now.
Rows of empty tents were left.
When Chen Lihua and a group of Sichuan generals saw this situation, they were so angry that they stamped their feet. What a cunning rebel, and they really used a trick of suspicion! Seeing Chen Lihua's ugly face, the Sichuan generals stepped forward to persuade them: "General Chen, there is no need to
Angry, the rebels used a trick to escape, which shows that the rebels also know that their strength is not as good as our army. What's more, the monks who can escape cannot escape the temple. Gongcheng is not far from here. Our army should seize this opportunity to capture Gongcheng in one fell swoop.
, first create a gap in Bainan County!"
"That's all we can do." Chen Lihua nodded and said, "General Yu!"
"The general is here! What are your orders, general?" A burly Sichuan general stepped forward and stepped in to salute.
Chen Lihua said: "General Yu immediately led two regiments to attack Gongcheng. Gongcheng is just a small town with no large amount of troops. It should be easy to capture Gongcheng. Presumably, the main force of the rebels has fled south, and the generals have followed them.
Shuai pursues him with all his strength!"
"General, I obey!" All the generals stepped in to respond, and then started to act separately.
Chen Lihua led the main force of the Sichuan army to pursue southward, while Sichuan general named Yu led two regiments to attack Gongcheng.
According to Chen Lihua's inference, the main force of the rebels has fled, and the huge camp is no longer needed. The nearby Gongcheng must be an empty city. Even if there are rebels stationed, the number of troops will definitely not be too large.
His inference was correct. The Zhen army only had about a thousand people left in Gongcheng. However, these thousand people were all elite members of the Zhen army. They also caused a lot of trouble to the Sichuan army that came to attack.
The Sichuan general surnamed Yu thought he could capture Gongcheng in just one move. As a result, the Sichuan army launched two fierce attacks but failed to capture Gongcheng, which was only garrisoned by more than a thousand people. Instead, the Sichuan army lost a lot of troops and generals.
Seeing this, the Sichuan general surnamed Yu was also panicked. He didn't know how many rebels were stationed in this small city of Gong. He hurriedly sent someone to send a message to Chen Lihua who was going to pursue the enemy, asking him to mobilize troops to reinforce the city of Gongcheng.
side.
After receiving the report, Chen Lihua had no choice but to detach another corps and order it to carry large siege equipment to assist the siege army on the other side of Gongcheng.
With the assistance of this corps and the many large siege equipment they brought, the Sichuan army finally broke through Gongcheng's defenses.
After Gongcheng was broken, the remaining Zhen army did not fight to the death with the Sichuan army. The soldiers threw away their weapons, took off their armor and uniforms, fled into the city, and mingled with the people.
The rebels are loyal people, and the people in the city are also loyal people. It would be even harder for the Sichuan troops who rushed into the city to pick out the rebels from the people.
If other countries encountered this situation, the general would have ordered the massacre of the city without saying a word, but the Sichuan Army would not do this. The Sichuan Army, which always prided itself on being civilized and noble, never bothered to use such bloody methods.
After occupying Gongcheng, General Yu only ordered to post notices, one to calm the people, and the other to offer rewards. As long as the people were willing to report the hiding place of the rebels, the Sichuan army would give them heavy rewards.
A heavy reward does not necessarily lead to a brave man, and this is the case with Zhenren. The people helped the rebels hide and avoid being hunted by the Sichuan army. These were all done voluntarily by the people. Even if the Sichuan army offered a huge reward, no one was willing to betray the rebels.
The people of Zhenren were unwilling to betray the rebels, and the Sichuan army didn't care too much. After all, there were only a few hundred rebels who escaped, so it was nothing to worry about. Afterwards, Yu surnamed Chuan would deliver the good news to Chen Lihua and ask him if he wanted to rush over.
Join him.
Chen Lihua responded quickly and ordered him to lead three regiments to stay in Gongcheng. It can be said that Gongcheng is the gateway to Bainan County. As long as Gongcheng is occupied, the main force of the Sichuan army can rampage in Bainan County without any worries.
Ensuring the safety of Gongcheng is equivalent to ensuring the logistics supply line of the main force of the Sichuan Army.
So far, the series of decisions made by Chen Laihua were all correct, and could even be said to be the most correct choice. However, he soon made a fatal mistake.
Bainan County is the largest of the three counties in Zhenxi. It has a large area and many towns. The Sichuan Army can penetrate deeply quickly, but its forces are also dispersed quickly. Along the way, the Sichuan Army has to divide its troops to garrison the towns it captures, with one group in the east and one group in the west.
In one wave, when the Sichuan army penetrated deep into Baiyang County, the westernmost part of Bainan County, only more than 100,000 people were left out of the original 250,000-strong army.
It can be counted from the time the Sichuan Army entered Bainan County until now, it has not experienced large-scale battles, but the main battle force has been reduced by more than half invisibly, and the reduction is not due to casualties, but due to its own division of troops.
Attrition.
This is a habit of the Sichuan Army in combat. The Sichuan Army has always focused on capturing and consolidating a place. To consolidate the place, troops must be stationed and left behind. Chen Lihua is an orthodox general of the Sichuan Army, and the decision he made at this time is also what the Sichuan Army has always done.
Habit.
At this time, Chen Lihua's shortcomings of being very disciplined and not knowing how to adapt were revealed. The policy and strategy of capturing one place and consolidating it cannot be said to be wrong, but it needs to be determined according to the situation. From the current point of view, this is the biggest challenge for the Sichuan Army after entering Bainan County.
Failure.
Of course, Chen Lihua was confident in doing this. Even though the Sichuan Army's main battle strength was only over 100,000, it still had an absolute strength advantage over the rebels.
Moreover, he and the Sichuan generals below also made a misjudgment. When the Sichuan army divided its troops to capture various towns, they encountered stubborn resistance from the rebels stationed there. This shows that the rebels also divided their troops and garrisoned the entire Bainan County.
There are many towns and cities, and the number of rebels that have been wiped out is definitely not a small number. Judging from the fact that the rebels have 80,000 troops, the current number of rebels is around 50,000 at best.
More than 100,000 people versus 50,000 people, which is almost three times the number of enemies. There is no suspense about victory.
Since the main force of the Sichuan Army successfully advanced into Baiyang County, the officers and soldiers of the Sichuan Army have become more relaxed. Judging from the speed of advancement along the way, several parties will be able to capture the entire territory of Baiyang County within half a month and completely wipe out the rebels. By then,
The additional reinforcements sent by the imperial court are still on their way, and all the credit for annihilating the rebels will be credited to them.
Gao Peng, the commander of the 11th Army Corps, Feng Yu, the commander of the 16th Army Corps, and Chai Song, the commander of the 17th Army Corps, have all come to see Chen Lihua. They quickly drew the portrait of the rebel leader Li Shu and posted it everywhere to prevent Li Shu.