When Wang Chaofeng led his army back to the north and planned to continue to the Tonggu Acropolis fifteen miles away, he had only walked for more than an hour when suddenly there was a report from the reconnaissance cavalry, saying that a large stock was found four miles away to the left.
The Ming army has no less than two thousand troops!
"There are pseudo-Ming thieves in the vanguard? And there are two thousand of them?" After Wang Chaofeng learned the news, he immediately started making calculations in his mind.
Where did this Ming army come from? Is it the same Ming army that attacked Tonggu Acropolis before? Or is there another Ming army that went south and crossed Tonggu Acropolis and came here.
This place is more than ten miles away from Tonggu Acropolis, and according to previous intelligence, a large number of Ming army main forces had just entered Liping Prefecture at this time, and were still some distance away from Tonggu Acropolis, and after they entered the northern border of Liping Prefecture
, even if they stopped heading south, I don’t know whether it was because they stopped to rest for a few days, or because they were preparing to stop completely, waiting to arrive at Liping Mansion with the West Route Army coming from the western and central areas of Guizhou, and then return to Liping Mansion.
Continue south.
In short, the main force of the Ming army has stopped about ten miles north of Tonggu Acropolis!
But at this time, the Ming army was discovered here again. This seemed a bit strange. Could it be that the main force of the Ming army had gone south in advance, but why was there no other intelligence or sign indicating this situation?
Wang Chaofeng did not know at this time that the Ming army discovered by the reconnaissance cavalry of the Fifth Infantry Battalion was from the Ming army forward Qiu Yu who had fought against him. When Wang Chaofeng learned from the reconnaissance cavalry that the Ming army appeared in the front left
, Qiu Yu also learned about the discovery of a large number of puppet Tang rebels ahead from the outpost scouts at almost the same time.
Qiu Yu took his headquarters for two days to walk more than ten miles, but no matter how slow he walked, he would eventually encounter the puppet Tang bandits.
No, now he has encountered it!
"There are only 400 people in the Puppet Tang bandit army?" After Qiu Yu heard the scout's report, his first reaction was that this might be a scam!
Ever since he led his men and horses south from Tonggu Acropolis, he had been vaguely aware that there must be the main force of the puppet Tang bandit army waiting for him right in front of him, otherwise he would not have wasted his time walking slowly.
, isn’t this because they are afraid of walking too fast, being too far away from the main force in the rear, and then running into the main force of the puppet Tang rebel army alone.
Since there are hundreds of pseudo-Tang rebels ahead, the main force of the pseudo-Tang rebels is probably not far away, but how far is it? Three miles? Five miles?
Immediately, he ordered: "Disperse all the scouts and find the main force of the puppet Tang rebel army!"
He would not believe that the Puppet Tang thief army would send hundreds of people alone. There would definitely be the main force of the Puppet Tang thief army behind them, but he didn't know where they were or how many.
He still doesn't know that the Fifth Infantry Battalion is actually struggling just like him. The main force in the rear is still twenty miles away. The reason why he led the army back north is to attract the main force of the Ming Army to speed up its move south.
, creating time for the main force in the rear to start the decisive battle in the Bronze Drum Acropolis in advance.
Such a mission can be said to be quite dangerous. Maybe the main force of the Ming army will arrive before the main force of one's own side comes up. Even if his 500 men can fight, they will not be able to defeat the 20,000 main force of the Ming army!
But with the order in hand, even though he knew clearly that there was danger ahead, he could only bite the bullet and lead his troops forward!
Wang Chaofeng immediately said: "The reconnaissance cavalry will continue to search for the main force of the puppet Ming thief army, expand the scope, and then send orders to the entire army to prepare for war!"
The forward generals of the Tang Army and the Ming Army almost made the same choice, which was to expand the search area and try to find the main enemy forces that might be nearby. But in fact, their efforts were destined to be in vain.
Within a radius of more than ten miles, they were the only two armies, and the main forces of each other were still behind.
Since both sides have discovered each other's existence, and both sides are destined to be enemies to the death, and the generals of both sides are people with orders, it is impossible to turn a blind eye to the enemy, and the only way is to fight first.
.
The reason why these two people have the courage to continue leading their troops closer to each other is because they both have their own confidence.
Wang Chaofeng's side is simple. They have already rested and replenished some soldiers and the most important ammunition. And the more important point is that the new army of the Tang Dynasty is best at field battles, especially head-on confrontations, critical battles and defensive operations. In fact, they are all
This is not the strength of the New Army of the Tang Dynasty.
Similarly, the reason why Qiu Yu dared to continue to lead his army to fight was because of the field battle.
This time, the puppet Tang rebel army did not have a strong city to rely on, and it also had a small-scale cavalry. It was of little use in siege battles before, but in today's field battle, it can display a huge strategy.
functional.
For many reasons, Wang Chaofeng and Qiu Yu unanimously chose to take the initiative to fight each other after discovering each other.
The speed of the two parties approaching each other was not very fast. The distance was only more than four miles, but they walked for more than an hour.
And when they got close to a distance of about 500 meters, they stopped in unison and started to form a team!
The Fifth Infantry Battalion of the New Army of the Tang Dynasty has already listed the square formation according to the standard!
The square formation of the New Army of the Tang Dynasty is very simple, and it is still the same as the old one, because from more than a year ago to now, the New Army of the Tang Dynasty has always played like this.
In field battles, spearmen are in the center, musketeers are on the two wings, and behind are sword and shield soldiers, cavalry, archers and other troops.
If the infantry battalion is strengthened with battalion cannon, the two battalion cannons will be located on both sides of the spearmen, one on each side.
This square formation, regardless of the spearmen or musketeers, lists the standard thickness of the six front and rear rows to maintain sufficient troop thickness to deal with any impact.
When the actual battle comes, changes will be made based on changes in the enemy forces. The most commonly used change is to change the musketeers from six rows to three rows, and then implement salvo tactics.
However, in the early stages, the musketeers of the New Army of the Tang Dynasty usually maintained six rows to cope with any possible changes.
The Ming army on the opposite side also listed their formations early. They also listed several huge square formations, divided into central army, left wing, right wing, etc., as well as spearmen, sword and shield bearers, archers and even gunners, cavalry, etc.
Take their respective positions.
At this moment, if you look down from the sky, you will find that there is actually no difference between the two armies. Everyone plays the same phalanx, but the phalanx is different and the weapons used are also different.
.
Qiu Yu looked at the puppet Tang bandit army in front, and then looked back at the huge phalanx composed of more than 2,000 people, especially the more than 100 cavalry in the rear, and finally a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.
He had already received conclusive information from the reconnaissance cavalry before: there was no second Puppet Tang Bandit Army around, let alone the main force of the Puppet Tang Bandit Army.
This means that all he has to deal with is the five hundred puppet Tang bandits in front of him!
This time, he is determined to kill everyone and wash away the shame of his repeated defeats in the Bronze Drum Acropolis!
We have a full four times strength advantage, and we also have a hundred-man cavalry that can be used as a decisive force. Even with the firearms that the Puppet Tang thief army has the upper hand, we also have five bowl-mouth cannons, which is more powerful than the Puppet Tang thief army opposite.
There are three more doors.
This battle must be won!
At the same time, Wang Chaofeng is also full of confidence!
This time, his troops had sufficient ammunition, and they had added nearly a hundred grenades. With sufficient ammunition, he was confident of sweeping the Ming army in front of him, even if the Ming army on the opposite side was several times his own.
Wang Chaofeng didn't care much about the multiple times of military disadvantage!
Because after several battles between the New Army of the Tang Dynasty and the Ming Army, you will find that the New Army of the Tang Dynasty has never had a military advantage. Even in a situation of balance of forces, it has always been at a military disadvantage.
Although he is at a four times strength disadvantage today, the Ming army on the opposite side is not the real core elite recruits of the Ming army. It is just a group of guard soldiers. He was able to defeat them at Tonggu Guard City, and he can also defeat them here.
.
During the Second Battle of Lanjiang, Hao Bainian was able to win despite leading 800 troops against 2,500 Ming army recruits. Today, he led 500 troops against 2,000 Ming army guards, and there was absolutely no reason to lose.
!
After waiting for the soldiers to be ready, Wang Chaofeng immediately ordered: "The whole army is here, march together!"
Suddenly, the military band of the 5th Infantry Battalion started beating the small drum hanging in front of them. The rhythm of the drum beat was not rapid, but matched the pace of the march.
The military music used for marching and fighting was randomly modified by several theater troupes that Li Xuan brought to Xingquan Mansion. It sounds good and definitely not good, but at least it is pleasing to the ear, and the rhythm matches the pace of marching and fighting.
As the drum beat sounded, the soldiers of the New Army of the Tang Dynasty began to line up and march forward in unison!
Listening to the puppet Tang bandit army on the opposite side marching slowly to the beat of drums, Qiu Yu showed a sneer: "Send the order, beat the drums, move forward!"
Suddenly, a few strong men standing on the big stand, still naked in the winter, showing their strong muscles, raised the drumsticks in their hands, and then slammed into the huge drum in front of them, and the rumble of the drums sounded.
Later, more than two thousand people from the Ming army also started to move!
Almost at the same time, both the New Army of the Tang Dynasty and the Ming Army chose to take the initiative to attack. Whether they were the generals or ordinary soldiers of both sides, they were full of confidence.
Wang Chaofeng and other Tang army officers did not take the two thousand Ming army in front of them seriously because of the impressive achievements of the new Tang army in the past.
As for Qiu Yu and other Ming army officers, because their own forces were several times that of the Puppet Tang thief army, and no other troops of the Puppet Tang thief army were found nearby, they were full of confidence and believed that the next battle would be fought without hesitation.
win.
Including Qiu Yu, many middle- and high-level generals of the Ming Army were already dreaming about being promoted and making a fortune after winning this battle.