Shiliang City.
The flag on the school field was pulled repeatedly by the cold wind, and even the flagpole began to shake violently.
Rows of wooden spikes were erected outside the school grounds.
The top is filled with processed human heads. The heads have shrunk and are lined up in a row, which is quite terrifying.
The three gates of the school grounds were open, and knights were coming in and out, passing each other.
Many soldiers in the school field were re-arranging their formations at this moment, and an officer loudly scolded them and led them to change formations repeatedly.
The formation they are practicing now is different from the formation they used in the past.
The archers and chariot throwers were at the front, and the crossbowmen were at the end. The army was divided into long vertical formations that were not adjacent to each other. These long vertical formations were finally formed into a whole. From a bird's eye view, this is
A large square array, but the gaps between them are huge.
After they changed their formation, they returned to the most basic Long Snake Formation.
They practiced over and over again, just switching between these two formations.
Wang Lin stood on the high platform, staring at the soldiers below, and then looked at several large campuses elsewhere.
"Yoke Formation"
He looked puzzled at Liu Taozi, who was standing further ahead.
Liu Taozi now put on a thick cloak on his armor, which made him look a bit more burly. His beard gradually became thicker and had not been trimmed for a long time.
He looked resolutely at the soldiers training below without saying a word.
Wang Lin whispered: "General, something is wrong."
"What's wrong?"
"During these days, we fought many battles with Huang Fasu and Xu Du. Huang Fasu pressed hard, turned from defense to offense, and kept pursuing us, trying to drive us back."
"At this moment, it suddenly stopped moving."
"Previously, the captured soldiers confirmed the news that the enemy was going to send Chun Yuliang to lead the troops, but he has not shown up yet."
"I think Chunyu may have gotten ahead of himself."
"Go around the back?"
Wang Lin said seriously: "They have the advantage of a naval force. They can rush to our rear by water, and then send troops to block our way back to Guangqing."
"Huang Fazhu suddenly stopped attacking. Are you preparing for a flanking attack?"
"Our logistics are not stable, and now they all rely on local governments. The Qi officials in these cities hate us more than they hate the Chen people. If this delay continues, we will look like outsiders, and they will become local fighters."
"There are many waterways here. Once the enemy occupies a favorable city, the logistics can advance together."
"Not to mention that the general has taken over these bandit armies of Lou Rui and Wei Pohu."
Wang Lin looked disdainfully at the people practicing below, "We were forced back by Huang Fazhen because of these people. They are no match for Chen Ren and have been defeated repeatedly."
"I think it is useless to spend energy to train them now. Qinzhou cannot be defended at all. Now that the officials have been withdrawn, we can gradually retreat to Qingguang. The Chen people are determined to capture Lianghuai
, we can’t stop it.”
The situation is reversing bit by bit, becoming more and more unfavorable to oneself.
When they first defeated Wu Mingche, they almost beat the Chen people back. However, Wang Lin did not expect that the new emperor of the other side was not incompetent. He dealt with the domestic opposition. Instead of withdrawing his troops, he
The investment is even greater. If Wu Mingche is included, then Chen Guo has invested nearly 200,000 troops. Several powerful generals in the country have been sent out one after another. They basically spare no effort and go all out.
Huang Fazhu behaved very conservatively at first, only defending but not attacking, only retreating but not advancing.
After morale gradually recovered and logistics became more stable, Huang Fasu used his military advantage to play split-push tactics with Liu Taozi.
He would lead his troops to fight against Liu Taozi, and Xu Du would be responsible for advancing. If Liu Taozi went to Xu Du's side, then Xu Du would be involved in the defense and Huang Fazhu would be responsible for the advancement.
This is a very simple tactic, but in the hands of different people, it can often produce different effects.
The effect of Huang Fazhu was very obvious. Liu Taozi could not appear in two places at the same time, and the soldiers and generals under his command did not support him in defeating it in two ways.
As soon as Liu Taozi appeared, the enemy stopped fighting and defended the city. The other side took the opportunity to start a fierce attack.
Of course, Liu Taozi also took the opportunity to pretend that he was not there, then attacked Xu Du and killed some people.
However, this did not have much impact on the overall strategy. The enemy was still advancing, and Liu Taozi was still retreating.
In addition, problems in various aspects began to be exposed, and Wang Lin had already begun to think about quitting.
If they fight like this, they will die in the south sooner or later.
You know, they came here just to capture Gwangju. Look now, where have they gone?
Wang Lin looked at Liu Taozi, who was still silent, and said hurriedly: "I'm not saying that the general is not the opponent of Huang Fazhu and others, but the general is the lord of the Northland, and he has been away from the Northland for a long time.
The day is over, and if this delay continues, I really don’t know how many more things will happen in Hebei.”
"General, you must not be angry."
Liu Taozi then looked at Wang Lin and said, "My lord, don't worry."
"After Wu Mingche was defeated, Huang Fazhu stood firm and did not retreat. At that time, I knew that I might not be able to stop them."
"What about the general now?"
"At that time, I sent someone to inform Zu Jue and asked him to arrange for the dead from various places to enter Qingzhou and Guangzhou."
"The population in the south is very large, but the livestock here are even more. Of course you know it best. This is the most fertile farmland and the most dead people."
Wang Lin nodded. He was still confused at first as to why Zu Jue suddenly disappeared. It turned out that he was busy robbing people.
He added: "But Chun Yuliang took the opportunity to attack Guangzhou."
"Zu Jue still has some troops there, and Kou Liu and others can go to support at any time, so don't worry too much."
"If Chun Yuliang appears behind us, Zu Jue will send someone to inform us."
"I feel that he is not behind us, he is to the east of us"
"With his strength, there is no way he can cut off our retreat horizontally. Instead, he can hide at the ferry to the east of us and cooperate with Huang Fazhu to attack us while we are in action."
Wang Lin thought about it and felt that it made sense, "Then when will we evacuate?"
"Now once we evacuate, they will take the opportunity to go north and seize the rest of Henan except Heluo."
"We can't withdraw yet. We have to fight again to make them unable to go north again."
Wang Lin looked surprised, "You still fight??"
"Hit me again."
"General, except for the Mandrill Camp, these are the people."
Wang Lin looked at the people below again. These people's weapons and equipment were not bad in all aspects, but the quality of the soldiers was too scary.
An army of 100,000 soldiers was easily defeated by Huang Fashu, who was known as the elite of Yecheng, but was beaten to the ground by Xu Du.
After the general's rectification, their military discipline has been greatly improved. The number of people who died under military law exceeded that of the enemy. Huang Fazhu and others were too lazy to capture these people. They just released them, which seemed to be deliberately disgusting.
These people not only slowed down the marching speed, but also affected the overall morale and consumed a lot of supplies. For Wang Lin, she really should have dismissed them all and told them to get out!!
"General, please forgive me, if the general wants to rely on these people to defeat the Chen people, it would be better to find a way to swim across the river to attack Jiankang."
Liu Taozi just looked at those people and said softly: "Their progress has been quite obvious. They used to run away when they saw Chen people and their military discipline was lax. Now they can abide by military laws. Moreover, they will not run away easily when facing Chen people."
"They only lack one victory now, as long as they can win once"
"Just once."
Wang Lin frowned, "Huang Fazhu, Xu Du and others are extremely cautious and don't give them a chance at all. How is the general going to win this time?"
"Then naturally we need a bait."
Liu Taozi squinted her eyes, "Weighing Yoke Formation, Long Snake Formation."
"It only takes once for a dog to become a wolf."
Wang Lin stood aside, thoughtful.
At the Chen Army camp forty miles away from Liu Taozi, Huang Fashu was holding a pen and scribbling on the map hanging in front of him.
Huang Fazhu became much thinner again, and his eyes were full of bloodshot eyes. He sometimes chuckled at the map, sometimes felt distressed, and sometimes shook his head.
Liu Taozi is indeed a difficult opponent.
It took a lot of effort for him to push Liu Taozi to this point.
But the situation here was not as good as Wang Lin expected.
The situation faced by Huang Fasu was equally severe.
He has no cavalry, and his scouts are always intercepted and killed by the opponent. The speed of getting information is always one step slower than Liu Taozi, and in many cases, he can only rely on prediction.
The three armies are separated from each other, and the message connection is extremely poor.
When the army goes on an expedition, the most important thing is to pass on information, especially when they are operating separately, but now Huang Fashu feels like he is fighting Liu Taozi with his eyes and ears blocked.
Liu Taozi, this ungrateful bitch, actually used his mandrill camp to intercept and kill his own scouts.
Huang Fashu stared at the map in front of him and pondered hard.
Chun Yuliang had already crossed the river. He docked secretly on the east side and was already moving in the direction of Liu Taozi, preparing to attack from three sides with Huang Fazhu and Xu Du to completely keep Liu Taozi in the south.
But based on Huang Fashu's current thinking, this is difficult. It is too difficult to communicate with each other. The three of them have not had any contact before, so there is no tacit understanding. They are attacked from three sides and it is easy for them to send each other off one by one if they are not careful.
Xu Du was very opposed to Chun Yuliang's plan and felt that he should not engage in a head-on battle with Liu Taozi, so he continued to delay it until the opponent withdrew his troops.
However, these more than 100,000 troops are lined up on the front line, and the food they consume every day is incalculable.
Chen Guoke could not bear such huge consumption for long.
Huang Fazhu took on the important task of leading the troops instead of Wu Mingche. These matters required him to make judgments, which made him even more entangled.
Just when Huang Fasu was deep in thought, a person pushed open the door curtain and walked in quickly.
The person who came was none other than the military advisor general Pei Ji.
He rushed into the tent quickly, panting and looking excited.
"Something big happened!!"
"Something big happened in Hebei!"
Huang Fasu trembled and looked at him hurriedly. Pei Ji took out a letter from his arms and handed it to him.
"This was sent by the Zhou people. It is said that Duan Shao will join forces with the Zhou people and lead people to leave Jinyang and go to Heluo Xingtai!"
Huang Fazhu was confused, "Duan Shao joins forces with Zhou people??"
He took the letter, glanced at it a few times, and then shook his head, "This is probably the Zhou people bragging. Duan Shao will never join forces with the Zhou people."
"The people of Zhou want to form an alliance with us and have sworn to us. They cannot deceive us on such a matter."
"Perhaps he wants us to stop attacking. The people of Zhou cannot be gullible."
Huang Fasu handed the letter to the other party, not believing it.
Pei Ji said: "What if it is true? Dugu Yongye still has soldiers who can fight, and if Duan Shao wants to leave, he will definitely lead the elite. If they can go all the way east along the river, wouldn't they be able to fight on all sides?
Are you attacking Liu Taozi from both sides?"
"When the time comes Liu Taozi has no place to escape, and sooner or later he will be surrounded and killed by us!"
Pei Ji also looked at the map in front of Huang Fasu. He stepped forward and pointed at several important locations.
"If the Zhou people join forces with them, it will be a three-party encirclement and suppression campaign, and Liu Taozi will definitely be defeated!!"
"We just need to attack"
Pei Ji began to think of this wonderful strategy.
Huang Fasu stood aside with an expressionless face. Looking at the excited Pei Ji, he suddenly asked: "Did your Majesty rush you?"
Pei Ji's face froze, he pondered for a moment, and then said slowly: "There is no other way."
"When we set out for the expedition, we planned to capture the two Huaihe Rivers within four months and end the war."
"Winter is about to begin, but the war is far away. Do you know how much our daily expenses are now?"
"Even if Your Majesty continues to support me, can you still conjure food out of thin air?"
"Emperor Wen's accumulation over the past few years has been exhausted. If we continue to delay, I don't know if the soldiers can adapt to the cold winter, and whether the temple will have to bring out supplies for the winter. Anyway, we will definitely not be able to survive the cold winter.
In the cold winter, even if the soldiers can bear it, the treasury cannot."
"General Huang, we have to find a way to kill Liu Taozi!! We have to complete our strategy!!"
The more Pei Ji talked, the more excited he became.
His appointment was actually more like a supervisor than a military advisor who made suggestions. Just as Yu Wenyong liked to dispatch deputy generals, he also watched over the generals on behalf of the emperor.
However, he also shouldered the important task of communicating with the emperor.
For many things, the emperor couldn't directly ask Huang Fashu and was unwilling to give him strength, so the strength was given to Pei Ji.
Pei Ji was in a dilemma. When he saw the letter from Zhou people, he almost lost his composure.
Seeing Pei Ji's expression, Huang Fashu was unwilling to say anything more. He looked at the map in front of him again.
People in Zhou still couldn't believe it.
He agreed to form an alliance with the Zhou people, but what he wanted was for the Zhou people to send troops to implicate the enemy for him, not to fight with the Zhou people or to trust the intelligence they provided.
Even if Pei Ji tells Hua, Huang Fasu will not be shaken.
However, as Pei Ji said, he must complete the strategy as soon as possible and cannot continue to waste time like this.
At this moment, Huang Fazhu also made some mental decisions.
"good."
"During these days, I have never had a direct confrontation with Liu Taozi, I have only forced him to retreat."
"I will defeat him, and then the army can gradually withdraw, leaving some people to defend."
Pei Ji was stunned and said hurriedly: "General Huang, don't be impatient. I was just impatient. You can't send troops rashly because of my words."
Huang Fasu didn't know at this moment whether Pei Ji was really worried about his defeat or about taking responsibility. However, he didn't care about these. He just said calmly: "The situation is getting more and more complicated. At least before the Zhou people intervene, you can occupy the two Huai Rivers now."
Be prepared."
"only!!"
Huang Fazhu knocked heavily on Shiliang City where Liu Taozi was, with a fierce light in his eyes.
"Someone is coming!"
"Order the army to reorganize and send out troops tonight!!"
"only!!"
The temporary camp suddenly became lively. Huang Fazhu had a strong control over his own army. Therefore, after Wu Mingche's defeat, his soldiers were still able to maintain their morale. The advancement in recent days has made them explode again.
Courage, no longer be so afraid of Liu Taozi.
The knights were the first to go out, to contact Xu Du and Chun Yuliang, and prepare to start the encirclement and suppression of Liu Taozi's army together.
And their suddenly frequent scouts also made Liu Taozi's troops aware of the enemy's desire to attack.
Needless to say, Xu Du was the first to cooperate with Huang Fazhu, followed closely behind, and Chun Yuliang also appeared at this moment. As expected, he was east of Liu Taozi, occupying many cities along the coast, waiting for opportunities, and his army started from
The waterway quickly went ashore, and proclamations were posted along the way calling on officials from all over the country to join in the crusade against Liu Taozi.
The three armies attacked from three sides, marching at different speeds.
Everyone under Liu Taozi's command was not unanimous in their opinions. Some felt that we should hold on, others felt that we should attack, and some decided to retreat.
Liu Taozi himself had no hesitation.
After almost detecting the enemy's troop movements, he chose to dispatch troops at the same time. He summoned the army stationed in several cities and attacked in the direction of Huang Fashi without hesitation.
This looks like diving directly into the enemy's pocket, leaving no escape route for yourself.
Although the generals under his command had their own ideas, Liu Taozi had made a decision and they did not dare to disobey it.
The mighty army advanced towards Huang Fasu's tribe.
The distance between the two sides also continued to shorten, and then shorten again. Huang Fasu's scouts encountered several attacks, and he could even hear the sound of the scouts fighting with the enemy's cavalry.
At this moment, Huang Fasu had more than 30,000 soldiers under his command, and Liu Taozi had more than 20,000 miscellaneous soldiers except Shandrill Camp.
The apparent numerical difference between the two sides is not large, but there is a difference in combat effectiveness.
The two sides formally encountered each other on the plains of Jingzhou.
Chapter completed!