When Hao Bainian learned that Li Xuan had sent him an entire 1st Infantry Battalion and half a Grenadier Team, instead of showing joy, he looked heavy instead.
Because when Li Xuan sent him reinforcements, he also asked him to defeat the main force of the Ming army at No. 2 Ferry as soon as possible, and then return to reinforce Lanjiang Ferry.
This simple sentence basically revealed Li Xuan's strategic intention. He placed all his hopes of winning this battle on Hao Bainian.
"Once the puppet Ming rebels at the Lanjiang Ferry cross the river in large numbers, I'm afraid the pressure will be great just relying on the remaining troops on your Majesty's side. Even if Li Yingguan's troops are transferred back to the Lanjiang Ferry, they will not be able to return to the Lanjiang Ferry.
It will take time, and as soon as Li Yingguan and the others start to defend themselves, the Ming army at Ferry No. 3 will also follow them southward. By then..."
At this time, Fang Xitong looked worried: "There are seven or eight thousand enemy troops. I'm afraid they won't be able to hold on for long at the Lanjiang Ferry!"
At this time, Hao Bainian said: "So, we must defeat the enemy in front of us as soon as possible, and then quickly return to the Fanglan River Ferry!"
"Destroy it as soon as possible? Then how should we fight? There are quite a few puppet Ming thieves on the opposite side, and as you have seen, Mr. Hao, they are well prepared." Fang Xitong still had a worried look on his face.
Hao Bainian said: "How else can we fight? When we are ready, we can directly attack them and defeat them with the frontal decisive battle that we are best at!"
Yes, although the new army of the Tang Dynasty was born as bandits, but since they were equipped with a large number of muskets, what they are best at is no longer the bandit tactics of retreating when the enemy advances, and when the enemy retreats and we advance. What they are best at has become a frontal decisive battle.
It means that both sides set up their formations and then rely on their strength to fight head-on!
Because in this case, the power of the large number of muskets and the rigorously trained formations equipped by the New Army of the Tang Dynasty can be brought into full play.
Comrade Fang Xi said: "Isn't it a bit risky to go directly up to the front for a decisive battle?"
At this time, Hao Bainian turned to look at Fang Xitong. Now he finally knew why His Majesty asked him to serve as the commander instead of letting Fang Xitong command the reinforcements on the spot. This Fang Xitong was too conservative.
Why don't you dare to fight head-on? That's what the New Army of the Tang Dynasty is best at doing. If you don't fight like this, how else do you want to fight?
Therefore, Hao Bainian showed a hint of displeasure, and then said: "Your Majesty has sent all the elite troops to me, and led the old and weak soldiers to guard the Lanjiang Ferry. Do I want to sit idle and play hide-and-seek with these pseudo-Ming thieves, and then wait for your Majesty to fall into crisis?"
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Fang Xi heard this and immediately said, "I don't dare!"
As a senior general of the New Army of the Tang Dynasty, Fang Xitong naturally knew that Hao Bainian was right.
Fang Xitong is very clear about the actual situation of the New Army of the Tang Dynasty. Currently, the New Army of the Tang Dynasty has four infantry battalions, two mixed battalions, one garrison battalion, as well as baggage, cavalry, archery, grenadier and other directly subordinate units. Among them, they can be regarded as the main force. In fact,
There are only the 1st Infantry Battalion, the 1st Mixed Battalion and the Grenadiers, and the other units have more or less deficiencies.
The First Infantry Battalion and the First Mixed Battalion are both time-tested units in the New Army of the Tang Dynasty. They are the units that retain the largest number of veterans in the New Army of the Tang Dynasty, and officers at all levels have rich war experience. Many soldiers were recruited at the beginning of this year.
He had already joined the army, had never fought in a battle, and had participated in the first Battle of Lanjiang a few months ago.
As for the grenadiers, although they are a newly formed unit, their soldiers are all selected from the best soldiers on active duty. They are all top-notch in terms of height, physical fitness, discipline and other qualities. There is no way, height
If you are not physically strong, there is no way you can throw these grenades thirty meters away.
Moreover, the distance for throwing grenades is relatively short, and you need to light the grenade before throwing it, which requires a high level of courage and quality of the soldiers.
Therefore, in terms of the quality of soldiers alone, the Grenadier Corps even surpasses the 1st Infantry Battalion and the 1st Mixed Battalion.
In addition, the grenades it is equipped with are extremely powerful, and it is also equipped with a musket.
Therefore, the Grenadier Corps was only a new unit for two months, but it had already become a veritable trump card in the new army of the Tang Dynasty.
Compared with the above three troops, although other troops will also have veterans, their combat effectiveness is still quite different from the first three troops.
However, now His Majesty has sent the 1st Infantry Battalion, the 1st Mixed Battalion and even half of the Grenadier Corps to Ferry No. 2. What does this mean? It means that His Majesty attaches great importance to the victory or defeat at Ferry No. 2.
For this reason, they even went so far as to weaken the defense power of Lanjiang Ferry.
However, after receiving reinforcements, there are only more than 900 people on our side. Can we defeat the well-prepared main force of more than 2,000 Ming troops?
Fang Xitong didn't know, and even had some doubts.
As for the first battalion officer Huang Xueren who had just arrived here, he had already consciously kept his mouth shut at this time. Although he was a bandit leader and a battalion officer, he was stronger than these two young men in terms of prestige and status.
Many, but he knows his own affairs, and these strategic and tactical issues have never been his strong point. Your Majesty sent him here to reinforce Hao Bainian.
He only needs to obey orders and do his own business. As for issues such as strategies and tactics, let Hao Bainian and Fang Xi argue with these disciples of the Emperor. How you decide to fight will be how he fights!
Hao Bainian insisted on having a decisive battle with the puppet Ming rebels on the opposite side now. In fact, he himself did not have much confidence.
Of course, there is still a little bit of confidence, but it is hard to say how many achievements it has achieved. We have to see the performance of the Ming army in detail to know.
It is certain that the Ming army on the opposite side is stronger than the ordinary Ming army, but how much stronger can it be? This is an unknown number, and this unknown number will directly determine the outcome of this battle.
After receiving reinforcements, Hao Bainian no longer wanted to wait any longer, because it was completely dawn at this time and the sun had risen. Estimating the time, it was already past six o'clock or almost seven o'clock.
The Ming army resting near the river beach has also begun to move out. If I don't fight with the Ming army at this time, these Ming troops will go directly to the Lanjiang Ferry. By then, His Majesty and other troops on the other side of the Lanjiang Ferry will
into a great crisis.
The crisis of total annihilation!
And this kind of thing is not allowed to happen by Hao Bainian!
After some preparations, Hao Bainian said without any hesitation: "Send the order, the whole army will change from columns to horizontal formations, we will charge forward!"
At this time, the forwards of the Ming army who had just left the camp also realized that something was wrong. They immediately reported to the Ming army generals in the rear. Soon, the Ming army stopped their marching formation, and then began to change formations, forming dense formations.
Battle formation.
Thousands of people from both sides have already formed their own battle formations in this small wilderness not far from the river beach.
The head-on confrontation between the two main forces has officially begun!