Chapter 202 It's finally time to hit the county seat
Li Xuan looked at this simple map and tried to analyze the movements of the enemy and ourselves marked on the map as to what the Ming army wanted to do.
The rudimentary map is based on the original official abstract map of the Ming Army, and was finally compiled based on numerous oral experiences and field investigations by a few spies.
Naturally, the map produced in this way cannot be said to be very accurate, and the scope is not broad enough. If it is used as a detailed military map, and if you directly use the markings on the map to conduct operations, you may not know where you are walking.
But no matter what, a map with simple errors is better than no map at all. With this map as a reference, and grabbing some local people to lead the way along the way, and supplementing it at any time, it is barely enough.
This simple map clearly marked the movements of the New Army of the Tang Dynasty and the Ming Army, as well as the deployment of some of the Ming Army's forces.
Judging from the map, the Ming army seems to have sent a large number of troops from Zhengtai County to advance due north, and the new army of the Tang Dynasty is just north of Zhengtai County.
Why did the Ming army suddenly run out of Zhengtai County? This is a bit strange!
Previously, the main force of the Ming army had been shrinking in Longhua Town and Zhengtai County due to lack of troops and fear of loss in Zhengtai County or Longhua Town. However, the spies stationed in Zhengtai County three days ago suddenly came back to report.
There were great changes in the Ming army in the city, and large groups of Ming troops frequently left the city.
If only a few Ming soldiers left the city, it would not be noteworthy. However, several groups of Ming soldiers, numbering fifty or sixty people, left the city one after another, which had to attract Li Xuan's attention.
Since he couldn't figure out what the Ming army wanted to do for a while, he could only stop the robbery first, find a night to get rid of the tracking of the Ming army spies, and sneak into the remote Yang
Jiacun went into hiding.
On the one hand, this is to temporarily hide the traces and avoid the tracking of the Ming army. On the other hand, it is to stop quietly and see what the Ming army wants to do, and then take corresponding targeted measures.
After looking at the map for a long time, Li Xuan suddenly said: "It seems that the Ming army in Zhengtai County has dispatched at least 250 people out of the city. If they continue to send people out in the future, then the Ming army in Zhengtai County will
Isn’t it so empty?”
Zeng Ziwen said: "The county seat is a more important place than Longhua Town. It is absolutely impossible for the Ming army to relax the defense of Zhengtai County knowing that we are nearby. The Ming army currently stationed in Zhengtai County is mainly
The total number of Fairy Stone Qianhu Office and some of the recruited young men and county government officials should be able to reach a thousand people."
"Even if they sent more than 200 people out to look for us, there should still be at least 700 people in the city at this time!"
However, Li Xuan showed a trace of ridicule and said: "Qingzhuang? They want to defend Zhengtai County just by relying on Qingzhuang? Is it possible?"
The combat effectiveness of the young men who have not undergone complete training and are only recruited temporarily by recruiting young men is quite poor. Especially the young men recruited by the government organization, their combat effectiveness is not even as good as the rural warriors organized by the landlords and powerful men in the countryside.
Li Xuan and the bandits from Huangzhushan had fought against the Ming army many times, and he had a certain understanding of the Ming army's combat effectiveness. Among the Ming army, the most powerful ones were the soldiers commanded by officers at all levels.
Next are the recruits from the city, then the ordinary guardsmen, then the young men who are temporarily recruited and equipped with weapons, and the last are the civilians who transport the baggage.
Among these Ming armies, the ones that Li Xuan was more afraid of were the regular troops in the Ming army, including guardsmen and recruits. As for the young and strong men recruited temporarily, they were basically used to make up the numbers.
When Li Xuan and the others were trying to figure out what the Ming Army wanted to do, the movement on the Ming Army's side was getting louder and louder. In the next two days, another Ming Army patrol team came out one after another.
, and the size of this Ming army has reached 150 people.
Moreover, with the increase of Ming army patrols, the scope of activities of the scouts of the New Army of the Tang Dynasty was severely reduced, making it difficult for the spies of the New Army of the Tang Dynasty to monitor the movements of the Ming army as unscrupulously as before.
At this time, Li Xuan and others in Yangjia Village also realized that the Ming army must have a bigger goal, otherwise the Ming army would be mobilized so frequently for no reason.
After staying in Yangjiacun for five full days, Li Xuan chose not to wait any longer, but left Yangjiacun with his people.
On this journey, he did not go towards the north or west, but directly towards Zhengtai County over there.
The reason why he went directly to Zhengtai County was not just to contain or scare the Ming army as before. He wanted to test the Ming army to see if Zhengtai County was really empty of troops. If it was really empty,
What do those transferred Ming troops want to do?
This was an armed test to see if the main force of the Ming army could be drawn out.
The dozens of miles of plains outside Zhengtai County were already filled with spies from both sides. Fortunately, the new army of the Tang Dynasty had been hiding in the remote Yangjiacun, and the Ming army could not find them.
But as soon as they came out, they were immediately informed by Ming army spies.
Starting from the next day, a steady stream of small-scale Ming troops surrounded them, trying to keep them under surveillance or even harass them. In order to expel these small-scale Ming troops, which ranged from a few to more than a dozen people, Tang Xinjun's
A small group of cavalry also frequently attacked to expel them, even at the cost of one death and one injury!
However, when the new army of the Tang Dynasty arrived at Zhengtai County, it was less than ten miles away, and there was still no trace of the main force of the Ming army. They only received reports from spies that Zhengtai County had been completely sealed off and prepared for defense.
That night, there was a tense atmosphere among the New Army of the Tang Dynasty stationed in the wild, because the main force of the Ming Army, composed of many Ming Army patrols coming out of Zhengtai County, still did not appear. If they continue to move towards Zhengtai County tomorrow,
If so, we can arrive at Zhengtai County tomorrow.
What should we do then?
Is there really going to be a fight? Let’s not talk about whether we can win or not. This attack on Zhengtai County is just like poking a hornet’s nest. How the situation will develop next is completely beyond Li Xuan’s control.
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That night, Li Xuan, Zeng Ziwen, Fang Dongquan, Wang Shanxu and other civil servants and generals discussed for most of the night, but in the end they could not reach a consensus. Some people thought that they should continue to move forward. Regardless of whether to attack Zhengtai County or not, the Ming army must be defeated.
The truth and falsehood are tested out.
Some people think that the Ming army is showing weakness to the enemy and attracting them to Zhengtai County, and the Ming army that left the city in batches must be ambushing somewhere, waiting for them to go to Zhengtai County and finally come.
Attack from front and back.
Seeing his subordinates arguing, Li Xuan's brows furrowed even more tightly!
This time the Ming army is really weird, and the most important thing is that they still haven't been able to find the few Ming armies that left the city in batches.
According to reports from spies lurking in the city, a total of five groups of Ming troops left the city, with a total strength of 400 people.
Moreover, the spies were very sure that the Ming troops never came back after leaving the city. It was not an illusion that they left the city during the day and then sneaked back to the city at night.
In the end, Li Xuan looked at the map alone for a long time, gritted his teeth and made the final decision: send cavalry to search the surrounding areas for the Ming army, and the main force would be stationed for a day to rest.
It was still dark the next day, so the cavalry squad of the New Army of the Tang Dynasty galloped out and searched in several possible directions, trying to find the main force of the Ming army that might be nearby.
On the same day, Diao Leixun in Longhua Town received a secret letter from Su Jiakang, asking him to send troops into the mountains immediately!
"Going into the mountains? Going into the mountains at this time?" Diao Leixun didn't understand why Su Jiakang would let him go into the mountains at this time.
Diao Leixun knew very well that the puppet Tang bandits were less than ten miles away from Zhengtai County. He thought Su Jiakang would let him reinforce Zhengtai County immediately, but he did not expect that Su Jiakang would ask him to enter the mountains to find and encircle Huangzhushan.
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What's more important is that Diao Leixun himself doesn't know where Su Jiakang is now. He only knows that Su Jiakang secretly left the city a few days ago and then gathered the Ming troops who left the city in batches. But now Su Jiakang brought
He didn't know where the five hundred Ming troops had gone.
Damn it, how can I still fight with this bastard Su Jiakang hidden away?
Diao Leixun was quite unhappy that Su Jiakang kept it secret from him, but he was unhappy anyway. Since Su Jiakang had sent a secret message, he could only obey it.
If you go into the mountains, just go into the mountains. Anyway, the main force of the puppet Tang rebel army is outside now. It is impossible to encounter the main force of the puppet Tang rebel army when you enter the mountain now. The danger is not great.
The Ming army in Longhua Town entered the mountains in large numbers, and Li Xuan was informed of the news immediately.
"The pseudo-Ming thieves in Longhua Town have entered the mountains? Li Xuan frowned and murmured: "This time they don't follow the routine!"
My main force is still wandering around Zhengtai County and Longhua Town. Why do the Ming army dare to enter the mountains so boldly? Aren't they afraid that they will take the opportunity to attack Longhua Town or Zhengtai County?
It has to be said that Li Xuan was a little confused by the actions of the Ming army that did not follow the routine in the past few days. No matter how you look at it, these actions of the Ming army do not look like normal actions.
The more abnormal it is, the more worried Li Xuan is about what big move the Ming army is planning!
Li Xuan has a hundred reasons to believe that the Ming army's plan this time is definitely not simple. There must be a conspiracy behind this seemingly abandonment of Zhengtai County and Longhua Town!
Since the Ming army has a conspiracy, and since the Ming army does not follow the routine, then I cannot let them lead the way, and I must break the deadlock!
And how to break the deadlock?
The simplest and most effective way is to make a gesture of attacking Zhengtai County. He still doesn't believe that Su Jiakang and the others can watch the fall of Zhengtai County!
Although the main mission this time was to test the strength of the Ming army, in any case, Li Xuan finally led the Tang Dynasty King's Division to attack Zhengtai County!
And this is of great historical significance to the Tang Dynasty!