In a small village called Wangyun River, more than 20 miles south of Liuzhou City, Hao Bainian's temporary headquarters was set up here.
And this place has long been turned into a huge military camp where the army gathered. More than a hundred villagers had already run away, and the few who didn't ran were shivering and hiding. Many villagers even wanted to join the Tang Dynasty King's Division on the spot.
Don’t ask for anything, just give me a mouthful of food!
For those who voluntarily surrendered to the army, the Tang Dynasty King's Division always gave them preferential treatment. The officers of the Ministry of War who marched with the army would quickly take them away, register them, and then send them to the new military camp.
The only three-entry house in Wangyun Creek was already occupied by Hao Bainian and many of his subordinates.
In the flower hall in this courtyard, there is a huge rectangular table in front of the huge flower hall. On more than ten chairs on both sides of the table are the main generals of the army going south.
They were chatting with each other and talking about the recent situation!
"If you ask me, there is no need to wait. Wouldn't it be better for us to go straight up and kill them directly in the river? Why are we wasting time waiting for them to come over on their own initiative!" The voice of the person who spoke was a little rough.
, but the rank of major hangs on his shoulder.
This person's words made many people want to refute, but the person who spoke was Xu Dazhuang, the battalion commander of the 3rd Infantry Battalion of the 1st Infantry Regiment.
The commander of the main infantry battalion naturally has weight in what he says, and others find it difficult to speak easily.
But at this time, someone said: "It is not impossible to take the initiative, but since we can wait for work, why don't we take advantage of the geographical advantage of Wangyun River. As long as we add up our cannons, not even one of their ships can get through. When the time comes, they must
If they come to attack our Wangyun River, then it is not impossible to repeat the Battle of Lanjiang."
At this time, everyone looked at the speaker and saw that he was twenty-five or six years old. He also had the military rank of major, but in everyone's hearts, this major was much more important than other majors!
Because this person is Major Xu Ke, commander of the 1st Infantry Battalion!
At this time, Xu Ke continued: "Look, the Wangyun River we are currently occupying happens to have a mountainous area, and the protruding part is just suitable for artillery. It doesn't need to be many. A few artillery is enough to block the entire river. The enemy will definitely be there by then."
You have to give up taking the water route, get off the boat and fight us on foot!"
While these officers were chatting, suddenly the messenger outside loudly shouted: "The general is here!"
In an instant, all the officers in the flower hall stood up in unison!
At this time, Hao Bainian also walked into the flower hall with several senior officers. Hao Bainian took the lead, Li Chunjing was on the side, Huang Xueren, and Chen Keqiao were one step behind.
Hao Bainian walked to the main seat and sat down, and then said: "Sit down!"
After the voice fell, the group of officers sat down together again, then sat upright, with their heads raised and their chests raised, their eyes not squinting, and their hands hanging on their thighs.
Hao Bainian looked around and said, "Hao just received His Majesty's latest order!"
When they heard that there was an edict issued, everyone who was already extremely serious suddenly became even more serious!
Hao Bainian continued: "His Majesty said that the soldiers who went south have worked hard, and he also said that he expected good news from the soldiers who went south as soon as possible!"
This is actually just an ordinary condolence edict, with no actual content. However, for these soldiers fighting on the front line, His Majesty's condolences are enough to find some comfort in their hearts and let them know who they are fighting for!
They are fighting for the Tang Dynasty and for Li Xuan!
Of course, there are deeper reasons, such as fighting for promotion and wealth, fighting for glory and wealth, and fighting just to have a full meal.
But many things cannot be said on that stage, so they need a high-level reason and excuse!
Fighting for the Tang Dynasty and fighting for Li Xuan are undoubtedly slogans that are quite in line with the great era!
Hao Bainian continued: "There is also news from friendly forces. A few days ago, the Second Infantry Brigade, the First Guard Brigade, and the Second Guard Brigade have successively conquered central Guizhou and many prefectures and counties in the north. The troops will be able to arrive soon.
Guiyang, the capital of Guizhou Province!”
"In addition, the Fifth Infantry Regiment has announced the official reorganization of the army, and His Majesty has also ordered the formation of the Sixth Infantry Regiment, the Seventh Infantry Regiment, and the Eighth Infantry Regiment!"
Listening to Hao Bainian's words, many of the officers below showed excitement and joy, because what they heard was all good news. The friendly forces were winning consecutive battles in Guizhou, and their own troops were getting larger and larger. They were
I have forgotten to think about how to get those guns if a new infantry regiment is to be formed.
In short, Hao Bainian's words sum up that the future of the Tang Dynasty is bright!
Everyone's eyes lit up after hearing this!
Hao Bainian smiled and suppressed it at this time, and then continued: "Now the friendly Second Infantry Brigade is going on a killing spree in Guizhou, and we and other soldiers of the First Infantry Brigade cannot fall behind!"
At this point, his tone became serious: "I have received a report from the reconnaissance cavalry. The Ming army's troop transport ships are less than twenty miles away from Wangyun River, and the puppet Ming thieves have also discovered me.
The army set up an ambush at Wangyun River. While I was speaking, the puppet Ming rebels had already begun to park their ships and the soldiers began to disembark!
As expected, these Ming troops should want to bypass us and then head to Liuzhou City!"
"But can we let them pass?" Hao Bainian seemed to be asking others, but also seemed to be asking himself, because he quickly said: "Of course not!"
"We will stop them, annihilate them, and use these eight thousand Ming troops to offer His Majesty a New Year's gift!"
Having said this, Hao Bainian stood up and said: "Instruct all ministries to prepare for battle!!"
At this time, after Hao Bainian, Li Chunjing and other senior generals looked at each other, Hao Bainian continued: "Take the 2nd Infantry Regiment and the 2nd Cavalry Battalion as the vanguard and set off immediately. The rest of the troops will leave tomorrow with the Chinese Army!"
In fact, Hao Bainian and Li Chunjing had already discussed it before the many officers gathered together. The Ming army wanted to bypass them at Wangyun River and then go to Liuzhou. This kind of thing was naturally intolerable to Hao Bainian and the others.
Because this will not only increase Liuzhou's defense power and make subsequent sieges more difficult, but also crucially, Hao Bainian's first strategic goal is not to conquer a certain city, but to annihilate the effective strength of the Ming army!
The eight thousand Ming army in front of him couldn't let him escape no matter what!
After the Second Infantry Regiment and the Cavalry Battalion acted as the vanguard to pursue, the Ming army seemed to have noticed something and began to gather their troops.
However, the gathering of troops by the Ming army was a good thing for Hao Bainian. He was afraid that the Ming army would divide into several groups and go directly to Liuzhou regardless of the situation.
In this case, even if the soldiers and horses under his command have three heads and six arms, it is impossible to stop them all!
But these Ming troops seemed to be gathering their troops out of caution or for other reasons. Is it possible that they really planned to have a field battle with me?
After the battle in Liuzhou City, Hao Bainian already knew that most of the Ming army generals in Guangxi had heard of the reputation of the puppet Tang rebels, and all of them were hiding in the city and refused to come out to fight.
Now it seems that these eight thousand generals of the Ming Army want to have a wild showdown with themselves!
Okay, you are brave, I, Hao Bainian, like it!
Hao Bainian judged from the signs of the Ming army that the Ming army wanted to shrink and then fight him in the wild, but they were in a small village more than 20 miles away from Wangyun River.
Wei Yan looked at the messy scene, as well as the soldiers who retreated in front of them, even with blood stains on them, and he frowned and never came down.
In the morning, he received a quick report, saying that the puppet Tang rebels had set up dozens of heavy artillery pieces at Wangyun River, and that naval ships could no longer pass through.
In order to avoid an accident, Wei Yan directly ordered the ship to disembark more than 20 miles away, and then walked north to Liuzhou.
And he doesn't intend to go head-to-head with the puppet Tang rebels who are going to Wangyun River!
But just because he didn't go looking for the puppet Tang rebels doesn't mean that the puppet Tang rebels won't come looking for him!
No, starting from noon, the peripheral troops reported that they had discovered a large number of puppet Tang rebels and were fighting with each other.
Naturally, it was impossible for many people to be killed or injured in this kind of early contact, but for some reason, rumors suddenly spread in the army about how powerful the puppet Tang rebel army was, causing people to panic.
But this is nothing. What really worries Wei Yan is that the reconnaissance teams from both sides have been in frequent contact, which means that the main force of the puppet Tang rebel army seems to be not far away!
Once they encounter the main force of the puppet Tang thief army going south, it may not be easy to fight in the wild!
No matter how stupid Wei Yan was, he had heard rumors about the unparalleled field combat capabilities of the puppet Tang rebel army. He also knew that the fall of Rong County was because the three thousand soldiers guarding Rong County foolishly ran out to engage in field battles with others. As a result,
Well, Rong County was lost, and the three thousand soldiers also disappeared.
But Liuzhou is doing a good job. No matter how you shout outside the city and bombard it with heavy artillery, I won't come out!
This also made many Ming army generals realize a truth, that is, try not to engage in field battles with the puppet Tang rebels. It is best to engage in an offensive and defensive battle. You will collect them yourself, and the rebels will attack.
As for what to do if you encounter the puppet Tang bandits in the field?
What else can we do? If there are many troops, just rush forward in a swarm. If there are not enough troops, just retreat. Otherwise, go up and die.
Now Wei Yan is counting the 8,000 troops he has on hand. After careful calculation, it seems that there are not as many as 10,000 people in the puppet Tang traitor army!
If these troops are not enough, how can we fight in the field with the puppet Tang rebels?
In response to this, Wei Yan frowned. Seeing his employer's frown, his master proposed a strategy: station on the spot and defend to the death!
It is not advisable to fight in the field. Retreating will damage the prestige of our Ming Dynasty. It is better to set up camp and build a stronghold on the spot. In this way, the bandit army can be equipped with sharpness in field fighting and at the same time protect itself.
By then, when the soldiers and horses from other directions arrive, especially if the tens of thousands of soldiers and horses from Liuzhou leave the city, they will be able to form a two-sided attack advantage against the puppet Tang rebels. Even if they are in trouble, they can still break through by boat.
And go.
When Wei Yan heard this, he thought this was a good plan!
He immediately ordered all the generals in the army to build camps immediately and prepare to live permanently in this small village by the river!
As for the master who proposed this plan to Wei Yan, if anyone sees him, they will recognize that this person was Song Zhiwen's confidant master Wu Nuanzhi. Well, this person later became Zhu Zhihai's master!
This man fled to Guangxi after Zhu Zhihai was defeated and died. With the title of "proficient in the affairs of the Puppet Tang Dynasty", Wu Nuanzhi quickly gained the important position of Wei Yan, the governor of Guangxi.