In the art of war, marching and fighting in rainy days is a taboo. This is because the cold weather in rainy days can easily kill important livestock such as mules and horses, and may also cause soldiers to be infected with diseases on a large scale. If you are not careful, you may cause the army to be destroyed.
The epidemic was rampant and destroyed the combat effectiveness of the entire army.
Moreover, during heavy rain, visibility will drop significantly, the organization of the army will be greatly affected, and the generals' ability to control soldiers will drop to an alarming level.
All of this will make a battle in the rain a huge adventure. The British army, which was as strong as the Opium War, was almost annihilated by the regiment training armed forces of various villages in Guangzhou in the torrential rain in Sanyuanli.
However, if the army is smaller in size, the situation will be somewhat different.
The Chuang camp, which has only a few hundred people and is divided into two teams, will be less affected in rainy weather. Although the infantry sent by Zuozhen to pursue the Chuang camp has a thousand people, Jin Shengheng and Dong Yuan both
Being good at military affairs, they divided them into several echelons and marched. The impact of rainy weather was not that big.
When Zuo Zhen's soldiers and horses were dispatched, the rain gradually became less intense. If not, given the discipline of the Zuo Army, and Jin Shenghuan strongly ordered them to dispatch troops on rainy days, it would not be surprising that a mutiny would occur.
But no matter what, marching and fighting in rainy days has a fatal impact on the morale of all armies. At this time, the battle for survival in the camp can still be supported. In contrast, the officers and soldiers of Zuozhen are still full of complaints.
Although the heavy rain had basically stopped, Jin Shenghuan and Dong Yuan had to give up riding their horses and march on foot due to the muddy mountainous terrain after the rain. After all, Jin Shenghuan was an experienced soldier who had participated in the Liaodong War in Dongjiang Town.
Acting very capable. At this time, the whole army was marching in the mud. The morale was low, but it could still be maintained. It was also because Jin Shenghuan had always maintained his prestige, and Dong Yuan had promised to plunder the troops after breaking through Zhuxi County.
After taking a breath, we finally arrived near Zhuxi County.
Dong Yuan's hair was wet from sweat or rain. He wiped the water droplets on his forehead with a handkerchief. With a worried look on his face, he said to Jin Shenghuan: "Although the rain has stopped, the road is better than when I broke out of Zhuxi."
When we were in the county seat, it was many times muddy."
Jin Shenghuan was wearing iron armor all over and was about to walk again. He was so tired that he was panting. He kept slandering Dong Yuan in his heart. If you weren't killed by bandits in Zhuxi County, why did you escape and harm us brothers?
Into this muddy water?
But of course Jin Shenghuan would not say this directly, not to mention that at this time the left army finally approached Zhuxi County and could already see the low city head of the county seat.
"No matter how difficult it is to leave, we have reached it now. Mr. Zhang Qian, hurry up and pick up the rear group. The bandits must be unprepared now. We took advantage of their unpreparedness and attacked the city immediately. They measured hundreds of thieves who were on their way out. How could they do it?"
You can't withstand the thunderous strike of my soldiers."
Looking at the city head of Zhuxi County that gradually appeared in his field of vision, Jin Shenghuan finally let go of the pressure in his heart. What he was most worried about was that the bandits would take advantage of the left army's march on the mountain road to set up an ambush and harass them. In the muddy mountain road,
It is difficult to give full play to the superiority in military strength, and the ship may capsize in the ditch at any time, but it is obvious that the thieves have no plan, and they do not seem to have expected that the officers and soldiers would decisively send troops.
Thinking of this, Jin Shenghuan's anger at Dong Yuan for trapping his brothers to go out to fight also reduced a lot. After all, judging from this situation, the military level of the bandits is really not high. Of course they still have city walls to rely on, but Zhuxi City is just a city.
It was a small county town with low and dilapidated city walls, which were not enough to offset the huge advantages in military strength and combat power of the officers and soldiers.
"Xiaoqi, pass the order, start preparing to attack the city immediately!" Jin Shenghuan shouted to several Xiaoqi officers around him, asking them to convey military orders to each battalion and team, mobilize men and horses, first adjust from the marching columns, one by one,
Rectify and gradually deploy your troops.
Most of the officers and soldiers in Zuozhen were wearing waterproof coir raincoats. Under the thatch, they were wearing red cloth armor and robes. At this time, they all took action. The sound of armor leaves and swords and guns rubbing against each other was heard in the wind after the rain.
It was still very clear. Amidst the clattering sounds, the officers and soldiers of Zuozhen, holding swords, guns, or swords in their hands, advanced step by step towards the gate of Zhuxi County.
At this time, some bandits appeared on the city wall of Zhuxi County. After the heavy rain, the bows and crossbows were dampened and lacked strength. It seemed that these bandits could only watch the officers and soldiers continue to advance towards the city gate, and did
There are no effective countermeasures.
Jin Shenghuan felt that the situation had become more optimistic. Marching in the middle was indeed extremely difficult, but attacking the city and eliminating hundreds of thieves who were desperate and lacked food and clothing should not take much effort.
At this time, he said to Dong Yuan: "The bandits were caught off guard. I think their death is imminent. It is also thanks to Mr. Dong's cleverness that our soldiers were able to fly to report this victory."
Dong Yuan waved his hand and pretended to reply: "Nothing to say, nothing to say, I just did a small job!"
Zhuxi County did not even have a moat, and the bandits did not dig trenches under the city wall. Therefore, the Ming army approached the battlements without any effort. The city wall was too low, and many officers and soldiers had already climbed up the city wall.
, ready to take advantage of the situation and attack the city. Due to the promise of a large-scale plunder after breaking the city, the eyes of these officers and soldiers were all shining, and they were planning to vent their grievances that had been soaked in mud on the bandits.
But at this moment.
The officers and soldiers on the battlements suddenly screamed in surprise. Originally there were only a dozen or so sparse bandits at the top of the city, but suddenly several times as many guards appeared.
These bandits were covered with thatch and crouched behind the low wall. It was not until the officers and soldiers climbed onto the city top that they suddenly counterattacked. Most of them were holding swords, shields in one hand, and short soldiers in the other. Although they were not wearing armor, they were on the top of the city.
In combat, they are much more flexible than officers and soldiers.
Especially at this time, there was a lot of water at the top of the city, making it easy to slip. The officers and soldiers had almost no place to stand. When the bandits counterattacked, they were caught off guard. A dozen people were immediately killed by the bandits or fell from the city wall.
Come down. The entire offensive was affected by this and was also contained.
Jin Shenghuan was shocked. The previous performance of the bandits had already made him think that the military level of the bandits' generals was extremely low. Therefore, he did not make careful arrangements for the siege, thinking that it would be possible to defeat the city in one go. At this moment, he was counterattacked by the bandits.
, and then suddenly realized that things were very difficult.
"Hold it, hold it!"
A Zuozhen General Banner on the top of the city, holding a long knife in his hand, was fighting with a bandit who was only wearing a rag, while calling on the left officers and soldiers on the top of the city to hold their ground. He wore the clothes himself
Wearing a cloth mask, the thief on the opposite side slashed him several times, but they didn't cause much damage. Taking advantage of the gap where the thief's attack was blocked by the armor leaves again, the commander-in-chief slashed the thief's body with his backhand.
His head was severed and blood spurted out all over his face.
When the other officers and soldiers in the city saw this scene, their morale improved somewhat, and they finally stabilized their position, preparing to use their huge advantages in equipment to destroy the counterattack of the bandits.
But soon, another celebrity thief rushed over. He had a sword hanging on his waist and a spear in his hand. He had a beard like a raging dragon. He looked very brave, so he was naturally responsible for staying behind. Liu Zongmin.
The spear in Liu Zongmin's hand stabbed the general flag's lower abdomen hard, but due to the obstruction of the cloth armor, it did not penetrate deeply. But Liu Zongmin moved very quickly, and he immediately let go of the spear in his hand, pulled out his waist knife, and cut The distance between the two people was extremely close. The Zuo Army General Banner endured the pain and slashed with his sword, but Liu Zongmin knocked it away with his waist knife with great strength. Liu Zongmin then grabbed the General Banner's long sword with one hand. , swung the waist knife with his other hand and split the face of Zuo Zhen Zongqi.
Liu Zongmin was the most powerful among those who broke into the camp. Even the two tigers known for their bravery, Li Guo, nicknamed One Tiger, and Liu Tichun, nicknamed Two Tigers, were far inferior to Liu Zongmin. As soon as he went into battle, he immediately This changed the pattern of melee fighting at the top of the city. The officers and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty were frightened and retreated one after another. More than ten people were either killed or fell into the city.
During this breakout, Liu Zongmin only led a hundred men. It was an extremely difficult task to fight and flee, stop Jin Shenghuan's army, and at the same time preserve as many of the old troops who had broken into the camp as possible.
He also considered abandoning Zhuxi County and taking advantage of the difficulty of traveling in the mountains after the rain to ambush troops on the mountain roads and attack Zuozhen.
However, the risk of a mountain road ambush, especially with such a small force, is too great. Although this can offset the left army's strength advantage to a certain extent, once the attack fails, Liu Zongmin has no confidence that he will be able to break out of the chaos. The veteran soldiers of the battalion were brought back.
Now there are only a few core troops left in Chuangying, and each one of them is an extremely important and precious seed. Liu Zongmin and Li Zicheng have raised armies together and have conquered the world for ten years, and they are fully aware of the importance of these seeds in the future expansion of the army. sex.
Therefore, he was still determined to hold on to Xianying City and then break out at an appropriate opportunity.
This was not an unwise move. Liu Zongmin also considered that it was extremely difficult to march in the mountains after the rain. It was impossible for Zuozhen to use a real large army to attack the small Zhuxi County town and the hundreds of bandits. It must be a smaller force. Strong soldiers come to attack.
In this way, it will be difficult for Zuozhen to completely encircle Zhuxi County. Liu Zongmin can take the initiative to break out after holding on to Pingcheng for a period of time. Moreover, he is very familiar with Zuozhen's military discipline style. If Zuo Liangyu's army were in Zhuxi The city suffered considerable losses, so their first reaction after seizing the city must be to enter the city and massacre to vent their anger. This would leave sufficient time for the camp to move.
The fighting on the city wall became more and more intense, and rain mixed with blood flowed all over the ground. The fierce resistance of the soldiers who broke into the camp greatly surprised Jin Shenghuan. It was so difficult to deal with the dozens of thieves who were trapped and struggling.
The narrow city wall limited the strength advantage of the officers and soldiers. The fierce counterattack by Liu Zongmin and other soldiers who broke into the camp finally caused the first wave of offensive by the officers and soldiers to fail.
Jin Shenghuan's face became extremely ugly, and water dropped down his livid face. He asked Dong Yuan: "Are these the few remaining thieves left by Mr. Dong after he killed dozens of people?"
Dong Yuan also looked hesitant. In the previous night battle in the city, because the situation was too chaotic, he did not really see the fighting power of this bandit. Dong Yuan reluctantly replied: "The bandits have few soldiers, so they will not be able to hold on for long."
"Hmm...wait a minute, Mr. Dong, how many remaining thieves do you think there are in the city?" Jin Shenghuan looked at the fierce battle on the top of the city and suddenly realized a problem.
"Well, there should be hundreds of people."
"There are hundreds of people... When I look at it, I feel that there are at least a hundred thieves in the city..."
Jin Shenghuan narrowed his eyes. He felt that the bandits seemed to be trying to spread suspicion. Zuo Zhen had been chasing the bandits for a long time, especially Zhang Xianzhong, the most cunning among his fellow thieves, often fought against him.
Yu was sure of victory and escaped with his life. The experience of fighting Zhang Xianzhong gave Jin Shenghuan a little more confidence in judging the movements of bandits.