The emergency retreat of the Guide army and civilians began amidst such a farce. Fortunately, the Chuang army did not regard Guide City as a key offensive target at this time. Their main forces were deployed in Xiayi County and the ferry on the south bank of the Yellow River.
And the vital Ma Muji is nearby.
Ma Muji controls the main road between Guide and Xuzhou, and is a battleground for military strategists in eastern Henan.
During the Republic of China period, the strongest voices of the new warlords' melee, Jiang Feng and Yan, were the strongest voices in the Central Plains War. The opening battle in Eastern Henan was centered on the Mamuji battle. Sun Dianying and Wan Xuancai were defeated by the Chiang Kai-shek army near Mamuji, which caused the reaction of the rebels.
The Chiang Kai-shek coalition faced a very passive situation.
After that, Feng Yuxiang's counterattack also focused on Guide and Ma Muji. It was here that Sun Liangcheng and Ma Mu launched a fierce counterattack, almost defeating the Chiang Army.
Chiang Kai-shek was captured alive at a station near Germany.
It is a pity that although the Chuang army moved very quickly, they were busy seizing key points in eastern Henan such as Xiayi County and Yucheng County and were unable to allocate troops to occupy Mamuji at the first time.
As a result, Chen Yongfu and Yuan Shizhong made a decisive decision. After quelling the chaos caused by the Guide gentry, they took their servants and soldiers to Mamuji personally for reinforcements at all costs.
Chen Yongfu also transported all the money he collected from the Guide gentry to Mamuji. He was obviously ready to risk his life here and fight against the odds.
The Ming army moved quickly, Chen Yongfu's determination to fight also exceeded Li Laiheng's expectations, and Yuan Shizhong also showed extraordinary efforts at this time.
The core strength of the Xiaoyuan camp was indeed no less than that of the Lao Chuang army. They gritted their teeth and fought hard near Mamuji, and withstood the cavalry offensive of Hao Yaoqi's troops who were the first to arrive near Mamuji.
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Although the intruder cavalry was equipped with special handguns specially used for mounted shooting, Hao Yaoqi advanced too quickly and did not carry even light artillery, so his ability to attack difficult areas was very limited.
The Ming army quickly dug two trenches around Mamuji. Bamboo sticks were inserted into the trenches, and temporary antler fortifications were erected between the two trenches.
This kind of civil fortification was originally Li Laiheng's specialty. In several defensive battles in western Hubei and Henan, he used this method to contain a large number of Ming troops with a smaller force. Therefore, this kind of defensive tactics and fortification form have long been used.
It became very popular among the army.
Yuan Shizhong had been fighting with Li Zicheng for a long time and was very familiar with the military tactics of the invading army. Naturally, he also mastered this tactic of temporarily building civil fortifications for defense.
At this time, Xiaoyuan's camp quickly deployed its troops in Mamuji, dug heavy trenches, and built strong walls. Chen Yongfu also concentrated a large number of artillery and muskets in the market town for defense.
Under the salvo of guns and artillery, Hao Yaoqi failed to succeed in several attacks. Instead, he caused many casualties to his precious horses and cavalry soldiers.
After so many wars, Hao Yaoqi is no longer the Wu Xia Ameng he was before, and he will never engage in unnecessary disputes of temperament based on personal likes, dislikes and impulses.
After he saw the cavalry's failure in the attack, he immediately realized that the strength of the Ming army gathered in Mamuji should not be underestimated. It could not be defeated by him no matter how hard he fought, how brave he was, and how he was not afraid of sacrifice.
Therefore, Hao Yaoqi quickly withdrew his troops. In order to create a more favorable situation for the attacking corps of the Chuang Army to arrive later, while monitoring Ma Muji, he dispersed some of the cavalry for reconnaissance, and
He personally led hundreds of cavalry between Mamuji and Guide.
It was Hao Yaoqi's good luck. The soldiers and civilians of Guide were retreating in a hurry. The way from Guidefu City to Mamuji was full of gentry and people with grievances and chaos.
Hao Yaoqi rode galloping and took the risk to cut into the enemy's rear. He happened to bump into the large group of gentry and civilians who were being retreated to Mamuji by Chen De and Yuan Shitai.
Hao Yaoqi judged from the astonishing number of vehicles in this team and the deep ruts made by the wheels of those large carts in the mud that this must be a team carrying Guide's belongings and fleeing to Mamu.
Assembled team.
Although such a team is protected by powerful generals such as Chen De and Yuan Shitai, it is impossible to keep everything intact despite their strength.
The Ming army under Chen De was not the elite of Henan Town. At this time, all the elite troops of Henan Town were defending in Mamuji. Chen De only had some second-rate soldiers left by his father.
With just these soldiers and horses, it is really difficult to protect the gentry and the people in such heavy rainy weather!
Although Chen De and Yuan Shitai had more troops than Hao Yaoqi, they were on the march and dragged a large number of gentry and civilians with them, so Hao Yaoqi had no fear.
This strong general as tall as a mountain increasingly showed his growth. Hao Yaoqi pointed the jujube stick at the connection between Chen De's troops and Yuan Shitai's troops, and said to the general with a smile:
"Xiao Yuan and Chen Yongfu have been hanging out together for a while. Why don't they know how to use troops? They actually mixed soldiers, horses, civilians, and baggage in one place for marching. They even forgot the basic way for our rebel army to arrange the old camp for marching!"
The soldier beside Hao Yaoqi replied in a low voice: "Little Yuan Ying is at Ma Muji. The general here looked familiar to me when I just raided the formation. It seems to be Chen Yongfu's son, Xiao Chief Soldier Chen De."
"Hey! Who cares!"
Hao Yaoqi pointed at the junction of the two armies of Chen De and Yuan Shitai. The temperaments, queues, and formations of the officers and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty and those of Xiao Yuan's camp were completely different. It was obvious who was who at a glance. So Hao Yaoqi could tell at a glance.
After seeing the unstable connection between the two armies and the chaotic formation, he ordered:
"Xiao Yuan doesn't know how to use troops, and the future is not long! I will lead the charge first, and everyone will go straight to the junction of Chen and Yuan's second camp. There will be a hundred cavalry plundering formations left to support... All come with me!"
Hao Biao's elite cavalry galloped in like a whirlwind. They cut through the barrier formed by the rain as fast as they could, their spears stood upright, and their sharp metal spearheads pointed at the Ming army.
The soldiers of the Xiaoyuan camp under Yuan Shitai were known to be good at fighting, but their morale was low, and their equipment was lagging behind that of the Ming army and the Huguang army. But at this critical moment, Chen De's auxiliary troops from Henan town were of no use at all. Several hundred people
The formation actually collapsed when Hao Yaoqi charged.
At the critical moment, Xiao Yuan Ying has to take the lead himself!
Yuan Shitai was also a ruthless man. He got off his horse, exposed his arms in the rain, and held a big sword with two handles. He cut people with his hands and chopped horses with his hands. He turned around like flying, showing great bravery.
Encouraged by Yuan Shitai, the soldiers of Xiao Yuan's battalion also tried their best to maintain the battle line and blocked the fierce charge of Hao Biao's cavalry from the convoy.
The two sides fought desperately in the heavy rain. Because there were large groups of baggage and gentry and civilians in the Ming army, they were unable to make any effective maneuvers. The formation was like a scattered piece of dough, with no trace at all.
Cohesion and initiative are completely at the mercy of others.
Hao Yaoqi's Jingqi not only had the advantage of mobility and the initiative to attack, but also took advantage of the chaotic coordination between Henan Town and Xiaoyuan Camp to break through Chen De's defense line.
Only after a huge chaos did they evacuate safely.
However, Hao Yaoqi only had a few hundred cavalry at his disposal, and his military strength was at a huge disadvantage compared to Chen De and Yuan Shitai.
He knew that the reason why the Chuang army could attack the Ming army at will was because the Ming army was caught off guard and could not react. In addition, the weather conditions made it difficult for Chen De to grasp the full picture of the Chuang army's cavalry.
Therefore, after the Chuang army achieved certain results, Hao Yaoqi decisively ordered a retreat. Yuan Shitai originally wanted to lead the soldiers of Xiaoyuan Camp to pursue them, but the famous gentry in the Ming army were already frightened to the extreme. They tried to dissuade them in every possible way.
He resolutely refused to let Yuan Shitai divide his troops to pursue.
At this time, although Chen De had gradually discovered that Hao Yaoqi's troops were weak, out of consideration of the overall situation, he also felt that he should be cautious and evacuate Ma Muji and Chen Yongfu as soon as possible to join Yuan Shizhong.
Therefore, Yuan Shitai's request was also rejected.
Yuan Shitai could only receive it angrily, and whispered with a sense of resentment: "What are we here to do? Now that we have joined the imperial court, aren't we inferior in every way? It would be better to be in the army when the generalissimo wants to exclude us.
, he would not break us up and devour us so blatantly. No matter what, the Generalissimo is very superficial and will never treat our brothers like this!"