How come the friendly troops on the opposite side are mixed up with the pseudo-Tang traitor army? And from the looks of it, it seems that they are still going to attack us together with the pseudo-Tang traitor army!
At this time, Zhu Zhihai still didn't know that out of the more than 4,000 people who came, only more than 1,000 were troops from the Second Brigade. The main force was the 10th Infantry Battalion and other auxiliary troops of the Second Brigade.
The remaining 3,000 people are all members of the 7th Infantry Regiment, and these 3,000 people were all soldiers of the Ming Army in the North Road not long ago. The Tang Dynasty was short of supplies, so naturally it was impossible to provide them with supplies in just a few days.
These soldiers of the Ming Army were given military uniforms, but they couldn't be allowed to fight naked in the cold weather, so they could only let them continue to wear the Ming Army's military uniforms, and then simply tie a white stripe on their arms.
The cloth strips were used as markers.
But Zhu Zhihai didn't know about this, so when he saw the 7th Infantry Regiment, his jaw almost dropped in shock!
Is this a friendly force? Has it rebelled? Who is the general leading the force?
If you let him know who it is, you must kill him severely, no, kill him directly!
How brave he is to lead his army to betray the imperial court and join the rebel army. Such a traitorous official and these rebels must all be killed, otherwise, how can they threaten the world!
If the rebel generals and rebel soldiers were not severely punished, the world would not be in chaos!
It's a pity that Zhu Zhihai now doesn't know who led the army to defect. Even if he knew, he couldn't kill him.
Unless he defeated these pseudo-Tang thieves in front of him!
Seeing the puppet Tang bandits and three thousand rebels appearing from the east, Zhu Zhihai was shocked and puzzled at first, but it didn't take long for him to put aside all the messy thoughts and seriously consider the situation in front of him. The more he thought about it, the more he thought about it.
The worse he feels!
The appearance of these pseudo-Tang bandits is definitely not accidental!
The more than 2,000 Puppet Tang thief army dared to block his way into the city. It was definitely not an accident. Or it was the unauthorized action of the general of the Puppet Tang thief army. It must have been an organized and planned action!
But what is all this action for?
Can it be said that the two thousand puppet Tang rebels in front of them and the more than a thousand puppet Tang rebels and three thousand rebels who appeared later can really stop their own army of more than 30,000?
In the past few hours, Zhu Zhihai had seen the battles of the puppet Tang rebels more than once. He admitted that these puppet Tang rebels were indeed extraordinary.
But it is not strong enough to say that it can defeat its own army of more than 30,000 people!
If they were really that strong, they wouldn't just hold on and contain them, but would take the initiative to attack!
However, if this were not the case, why would these pseudo-Tang rebels still do this?
When he thought of this, Zhu Zhihai suddenly had a very bad premonition in his heart!
However, he quickly shook his head and murmured: "Impossible, how could it be such a coincidence? These pseudo-Tang thieves are not immortals, how could they have expected that they would lead their troops to arrive at Liping City today, and if this is really the case
If so, I’m afraid the main force of the Puppet Tang thief army has already arrived, and it won’t be delayed until now!”
His premonition was that the puppet Tang rebel army had most likely already ambushed nearby and wanted to set up an ambush!
But this premonition is obviously unrealistic, because the Ming army also has reconnaissance cavalry. When they first arrived at Liping Fucheng, the Ming army's reconnaissance cavalry had already searched the nearby area of five or six miles in great detail, but did not find this place.
There are other pseudo-Tang bandits.
Judging from the report just now by the reconnaissance cavalry, the puppet Tang bandit army that appeared later from the east also just arrived!
In other words, they didn't ambush here in advance!
Is it really a coincidence?
When I first arrived, I met the puppet Tang bandit army?
Zhu Zhihai didn't know that all this was really a coincidence!
Of course, strictly speaking, it cannot be regarded as a coincidence. The new army of the Tang Dynasty was originally heading towards Lipingfu City, and the 3rd Infantry Regiment, as the vanguard, arrived at Lipingfu City before Zhu Zhihai's Ming army.
The reason for the current complicated situation is that Fang Xitong, commander of the Second Brigade of the New Army of the Tang Dynasty, saw the opportunity to have a decisive battle with the Ming army outside Lipingfu City!
And Fang Xitong knew even more that this kind of opportunity was pursued hard by His Majesty and even other colleagues!
So when he saw the opportunity, he did not hesitate to order the Third Infantry Regiment to contain it, delaying the Ming army's entry into the city, and leaving enough time for the main force led by His Majesty to arrive from behind!
Unbeknownst to Zhu Zhihai, Li Xuan was leading the main force at this moment. In order to speed up, the New Army of the Tang Dynasty even voluntarily gave up part of the baggage troops, preferring to let the baggage troops drive slowly behind instead of freeing up the troops.
More horses and livestock were bought to help the artillery troops move faster.
It can also be seen that even though they wanted to rush on their way as quickly as possible, the New Army of the Tang Dynasty still did not give up its artillery units, but took as many of these artillery pieces as possible.
Because once these artillery pieces arrive on the battlefield, they will exert tremendous power!
The larger the battle, the greater the role artillery can play!
In such a large-scale battle where tens of thousands of people are expected to participate in the battle, the power that each artillery piece can exert is huge!
However, in order to reinforce the Second Brigade and the Seventh Infantry Regiment as soon as possible, Li Xuan has also ordered that Hao Bainian take the First Brigade to march lightly. The First Brigade will only carry combat-related supplies, and then rush to the destination as quickly as possible.
Liping City.
If nothing goes wrong, the First Brigade, the absolute main force of the New Army of the Tang Dynasty, will cross a distance of fifteen miles in two hours, that is, arrive at the gate of Liping Mansion at about five o'clock in the evening!
The normal marching speed of the troops and the light marching speed are naturally different, and can even be said to be worlds apart.
The long-distance daily march of large-scale troops can only cover about 15 kilometers to 25 kilometers a day on average. Well, this is based on the troops having complete transportation tools, and the discipline and organization of the troops are also very strict. Soldiers
The physical fitness is also relatively high.
During the American Civil War, their army was considered a standard modern army. In the case of long-distance marches, the daily marching distance was kept at about 20 kilometers, and it would only reach 30 kilometers in emergency situations.
The overall quality of the new army of the Tang Dynasty is naturally on par with the standard modern army of the 19th century. In addition, Liping Prefecture is mountainous and hilly, making the journey even more difficult.
Being able to walk ten kilometers in one day is already a pretty good achievement.
Now, if the First Brigade conducts a light and urgent march, this speed can be doubled or even tripled. It takes two hours to cover the fifteen miles, which is possible if it wants to do it.
It's just that it consumes the physical energy of the soldiers and has relatively high organizational requirements for the troops.
Among the entire new army of the Tang Dynasty, only the first brigade was able to do this. The other troops were more or less lacking, and these troops will continue to be led by Li Xuan personally and are expected to arrive at Liping Mansion tonight.
"When Ai Qing leaves, we must stop the main force of the Ming army outside the city and not let them enter the city!"
"But we must also pay attention to the way we fight to avoid unnecessary casualties. The real decisive battle is not today, but tomorrow!"
Before Hao Bainian led his army to leave, Li Xuan personally told him this!
The first brigade not only needs to complete its mission, but also needs to control casualties!
If the first brigade arrived at Lipingfu City after a day of urgent march, it would immediately launch a large-scale strategic attack with the main force of the Ming army. At that time, it is very likely that an accident would occur due to the lack of physical fitness of the soldiers.
And without the support of artillery and other friendly forces, even if the first brigade can fight, there may still be accidents.
To be on the safe side, Li Xuan just hoped that the first brigade could stop the Ming army from entering the city. As for the decisive battle, he would wait until the entire army gathered before fighting.
Not to mention that Li Xuan and Hao Bainian from the rear are rushing forward with their troops, let alone Fang Xitong!
At this time, he was wearing the uniform of a general in the New Army of the Tang Dynasty, a black cloak, and black leather gloves in his hands.
The officers of the New Army of the Tang Dynasty wore leather gloves. This was a tradition started by Li Xuan. At first, Li Xuan wore them to keep warm, and then some generals also followed suit. However, at this time, among the New Army of the Tang Dynasty,
Senior military officers wear gloves, and their purpose has changed from keeping warm to being purely decorative.
Ordinary soldiers will not wear gloves, because gloves cost money and will also affect the feel of the weapons they hold. The New Army of the Tang Dynasty will not find a way to equip thousands of soldiers with gloves in batches.
Well, the Ming army and even the armies of previous dynasties have a tradition of fighting without gloves. This is different from the ancient Western armies.
Fang Xitong, who was riding on horseback, could almost see the entire battlefield in front of him at a glance!
A large number of Ming troops are rushing towards the city gate. There is also a Ming army behind, confronting the main force of the 3rd Infantry Regiment. Another Ming army of several thousand people has obviously experienced a defeat, and the formation is loose.
In front of them is the reserve battalion of the 3rd Infantry Regiment!
Seeing this scene, Fang Xitong nodded slightly and said: "Okay!"
Song Tianbiao's Third Infantry Regiment lived up to his expectations. With only more than 2,000 troops, it contained the main force of the Ming army of more than 30,000 troops.
And it looks like he even won a small victory!
"Command, with the 7th Infantry Regiment as the forerunner, the 10th Infantry Battalion sweeps the formation and advances straight ahead, and the 4th Battalion Artillery Team follows suit!"
Although the 7th Infantry Regiment is not under the command of his second brigade, according to the military regulations of the New Army of the Tang Dynasty, the person with the highest military rank on the battlefield has the highest strategic command authority!
So theoretically, he has temporary command authority over the 7th Infantry Regiment!