The battle in front of the stronghold was extremely fierce, with the sound of artillery blasting and smoke covering the ground. The Baoding soldiers were no more powerful than the Henan officers and soldiers. Their morale and momentum of attack were much stronger. There were also many elite swordsmen among them, and they had crossed the stronghold several times.
They broke the wall and rushed into the military camp. Li Laiheng and Zhang Pili personally led the cavalry to fight back before they could be driven out.
But the overall situation was still extremely bad for Li Laiheng. Although the Baoding Army did not devote all its troops, he estimated that Yang Wenyue and Hu Dawei should have sent three to four thousand men. Their offensive was very rhythmic, and the artillery stopped for a while and then fired.
For a moment, it seemed to be deliberately attracting a counterattack from the defenders in the village.
Ma Bao explained to Li Laiheng that the official army might want to consume the gunpowder of the intruders. After all, they were besieged in the camp, and the gunpowder relied on a small amount of temporary seizures and collection, and sooner or later it would be used up.
"This is actually a good thing..." Li Laiheng breathed out and said to Yang Chengzu, who looked very nervous, "It seems that Yang Wenyue feels that we have been surrounded by Baoding soldiers and the entire army is annihilated just around the corner. So he doesn't want to rush into the stronghold too hard and sacrifice
There are too many casualties, and we just want to stop and fight half-fight to engage in a war of attrition, so that we can hold on longer! We will definitely wait until reinforcements arrive."
As Li Laiheng guessed, Yang Wenyue was setting up a camp near Shangcai at this time. He and Hu Dawei were sitting inside, discussing important military matters.
Yang Wenyue repeatedly emphasized to Hu Dawei: "General Hu, the Baoding soldiers are one of the few elites in the imperial court. The two of us spent a lot of time and a lot of food and pay to turn them into a powerful army with a sharp edge.
You must be good at using troops, and you must not suffer too many casualties!"
Hu Dawei had a strong body and looked as tall as two Yang Wenyues. It was once rumored in the Ming army that Hu Dawei was suckled by a female tiger and grew up, so he was so powerful.
Without Yang Wenyue's reminder, Hu Dawei would not have paid too many casualties in the desperate battle. Among the stronger generals, Hu Dawei was considered to be one of the generals who obeyed the imperial military orders. Lu Xiangsheng died in the battle before.
, Hu Dawei was one of the generals who stayed by Lu Xiangsheng's side before finally escaping.
But as the chief military officer, his military strength is his capital. Many of his servants are supported by his own money. He will not let them lose easily unless it is absolutely necessary.
"What Zhu Tai said is absolutely true. The intruders don't have much gunpowder. I see that they are firing less and less guns in these waves. They must be reaching their limit." Hu Dawei nodded and said, "It's just that the intruders will never stop.
There are more than a thousand scattered ones, so there must be other thieves around. We still need to retain the main force and guard the perimeter at all times to prevent the thieves from rushing from the flanks while I am surrounding the stronghold."
Yang Wenyue was also quite worried about the distribution of troops in the Chu army. Although he was one of the most familiar officials in the imperial court with military affairs, he was also a civilian leader and could not go to the front line in person most of the time.
Yang Wenyue had no choice but to ask Hu Dawei to bring more Qingqi to explore the surrounding areas to find traces of other troops of the Chuang Army. At the same time, Yang Wenyue also realized that the intention of the Chuang Army to storm Runing Mansion was very obvious, which was to drive away
Before the officers and soldiers encircle and suppress in multiple directions, focus on breaking through one area.
He estimated that the Chuang army would concentrate all its forces in this direction and it would be difficult to deal with it independently, so he seized the time to send envoys to urge Fu Zonglong, Li Xianfeng and other officers and soldiers to go south.
After all, Hu Dawei was a veteran general. He did not focus all his attention on the troops of Li Laiheng and Yang Chengzu. Instead, he besieged the camp and sent troops to dig additional trenches and build camps around the camp to prevent the raids of other intruders.
.
This watertight approach really made Li Shuangxi, who had already rushed nearby, find it particularly difficult.
The troops of Luo Dain and Luo Yanqing had not arrived for a while, but Li Shuangxi, Dang Shousu, and Gu Kecheng had already rushed to a place very close to Li Laiheng's camp.
He tightened the reins, walked slowly on the bridle, stood on the mound, held the bridle in his left hand, raised his whip in his right hand, pointed at the situation of the officers and soldiers in the distance, and looked at Dang Shousu on the left and right. Gu Kecheng analyzed: "Hu Dawei is really a member of the army."
What a seasoned veteran! He moved really fast. After surrounding the little tiger and Yang Chengzu, he didn't rush to attack the stronghold. Instead, he dug trenches and built a camp on the outside. He wanted to eat both the little tiger and us at the same time."
Gu Kecheng, who participated in the vanguard army with Li Shuangxi, fought alongside Li Laiheng in Yiling, and he still remembered Liu Zongmin's last words... He always had a sense of responsibility in his heart to try his best to help Li Laiheng.
Gu Kecheng looked at the heavy trenches dug by the army and said sternly: "The fortifications of the army have not been completely repaired, and the military formations have not been fully closed yet. Time is running out, so please give the order quickly. Our whole army will rush forward. Maybe we can
Disrupt their arrangements and rescue Shao Hushuai and others."
However, Dang Shousu, who was dissatisfied with the fact that Li Laiheng was constantly promoted rapidly and gradually surpassed Li Shuangxi's status, said coldly: "When I was in Shanxi, I fought against Hu Dawei many times. He was very good at using troops.
He is cunning, always has a lot of Chinese troops in his hands, and often deliberately leaves gaps and gaps in the formation. When you rush, he will smash the Chinese troops in to seal the gap, causing you to suffer a big loss."
Dang Shousu, riding on a maroon war horse, persuaded Li Shuangxi: "The tiger is mighty. This is the old trick. If we rush into the battle now, we will fall into a trap. Our best choice now is to dismount and dig trenches."
Camp, wait for Luo Dain and Luo Yanqing to join us, and then slowly confront Hu Dawei. When the generalissimo breaks through Ruyang, the army will definitely collapse without a fight."
Li Shuangxi frowned. Dang Shousu was his closest deputy in the army, and his opinions were always reliable. However, Li Laiheng, who was surrounded by the army and the army, had always been on good terms with him. According to his true feelings, Li Shuangxi
They prefer immediate rescue.
He asked again: "If we dismount and dig a trench, what will happen to the little tiger?"
Dang Shousu showed a smile at this time and said with a slight smile: "Isn't the young tiger commander very good at fighting? I heard that the supplementary commander and the commander Gong praised him as the best fighter, so I think we can hold a stalemate with the officers and soldiers on the outside and contain some of them.
With the strength of the army, Shao Hu Shuai will definitely be able to sustain it. Brother Shuangxi, don't worry too much, don't you believe that Shao Hu Shuai can fight?"
Li Shuangxi couldn't make up his mind, so he looked at Gu Kecheng and asked for his opinion. Gu Kecheng was Liu Zongmin's deputy general and an old friend who fought alongside Li Laiheng in Yiling. Naturally, he was interested in Dang Shouxu's backhanded words.
He was particularly dissatisfied and replied decisively: "The situation is so tense, how can it remain in such a stalemate? Shuangxi, Shousu, whether you charge or not, I will lead my troops to charge."
He prepared his broadsword and spear, and held his strong bow in his arms, and said: "I want to lead my troops into the camp to assist the Young Tiger Commander in the defense. If you feel it is not appropriate, just stay and dig trenches!"
After saying this, Gu Kecheng did not wait for Li Shuangxi and Dang Shousu's reply, and immediately led his team of cavalry to seize a gap in the army's formation and rush in.
Li Shuangxi was excited by Gu Kecheng and was equally enthusiastic. He felt that he seemed to be despised by Gu Kecheng, and he immediately led his troops to follow him and charge into the battle.
However, Dang Shousu held Li Shuangxi tightly and emphasized: "Brother Shuangxi! Have you forgotten what Mr. Shao said? In recent wars, you only care about your own pleasure and ignore the overall situation, which has made King Chuang very upset."
Dissatisfied! Are you going to be like this this time? Didn’t Mr. Shao teach you to learn to take the overall situation into consideration!"
Mr. Shao was Shao Shichang, the clerk recruited by Li Shuangxi when he was in Luoyang. In the history of Li Laiheng's later generations, this Shao Shichang was captured and killed by the army when the invading army abandoned Luoyang. However, now that Li Laiheng is guarding Luoyang, Shao Shichang has not been captured and killed.
He became an important person around Li Shuangxi.
After being persuaded by Dang Shousu, Li Shuangxi finally remembered Shao Shichang's recent suggestions and the various disappointments his adoptive father Li Zicheng had felt towards him in recent times. After much hesitation, he finally nodded, accepted Dang Shousu's suggestions, and did not follow him anymore.
After Gu Kecheng led his troops to attack the enemy position.
Instead, he ordered all ministries to dismount, obey Dang Shousu's orders, and dig trenches for confrontation like the officers and soldiers.
On the one hand, Hu Dawei deployed troops to block Gu Kecheng. On the other hand, he saw that Li Shuangxi and Dang Shousu's troops were not particularly large, and it was estimated that they were not the entire main force. So he only sent a small number of troops to attack the trench diggers.
The Chu army used larger forces to attack Li Laiheng's camp and Gu Kecheng, who broke out of the formation.
Hu Dawei said to the generals on his left, Feng Dadong and Zhang Pengyi: "You bring the Chinese army and capture the bandits that break out of the formation first. Those bandits who are digging trenches and building strongholds on the outside will divide their forces to attack, and wait until the bandits are eliminated.
After the thief, I estimate that the thief bandits must be frightened, and when the time comes, they will attack the thieves in the stronghold and the thieves digging the trenches in one fell swoop!"