Dashun Yongchang

Going further, the army began to enter the modernization under the development of the industrial revolution. This has little reference value for the current pre-industrial revolution army, because the agricultural era simply cannot supply the consumption of the modern army. Educating soldiers is not something that any current agricultural country can afford.

Although crawling out of the warm quilt caused some soldiers to say a lot of strange things, but seeing Li Zicheng appearing in the playground neatly dressed, everyone immediately fell silent.But what everyone didn't expect was that Li Zicheng only planned to select some people to attack with him. This made the soldiers who were not very happy to go on the road at night start to compete for the qualification to be selected. After all, the opportunity to fight with Li Zicheng It has become less and less.

From Huangtuzhuang to the Battle of Tianjin, Li Zicheng only served as a commander in name, and let the generals below lead the troops to fight.When he went south, Li Zicheng didn't even appear on the battlefield.Although this made those veterans of the Peasant Army who had been fighting with Li Zicheng all the time not used to it, but the results of these few battles were quite good, so everyone gradually got used to the days when Li Zicheng no longer came to the battlefield in person. .

But tonight Li Zicheng is going to lead the army in person again, and everyone is naturally excited for a while, after all, such qualifications will become less and less in the future.Previously, when the Marshal's Mansion distributed rewards to meritorious soldiers, seniority was a very important scoring method. When did they fight with Li Zicheng, and did they follow Li Zicheng into Shangluo Mountain?

If it is said that most of the soldiers of the Peasant Army were not used to the fact that they were already officers until the time of conquering the city of Beijing, then with the rewards for meritorious soldiers in the southward movement this time, the soldiers of the Dashun Army began to pay attention to their own dignity. qualifications, and regard this qualification as their own honor.This also resulted in a result, that is, the seniority in the Dashun Army was calculated according to the distance between him and Li Zicheng, so the various mountains and hills in the original Peasant Army were integrated again.

In the past, although the middle and lower ranks of the Dashun Army respected Li Zicheng, they still knew who they really were. Some regarded themselves as Liu Zongmin, while others regarded themselves as Li Guo, Li You and other generals.The reason why they think so is because they feel that Emperor Yongchang may not be able to see their achievements. Only with the recommendation of these superiors can they put their achievements in front of Li Zicheng.

But the reward this time is equivalent to Li Zicheng telling everyone in the army in writing that I remember who you are, so as long as you follow me, I will never forget your achievements.Unless it is the kind of adopted son or servant who was brought by Shangguan since he was a child, no one will not accept the bond thrown by Emperor Yongchang and insist on living and dying with Shangguan.

Faced with the enthusiastic appeal of the soldiers of the three cavalry regiments, Li Zicheng could only come forward to comfort him: "Whether it is by my side or in the rear to support me, it is necessary for this war.

I chose you not because I don't trust other people, but because time is running out, and the soldiers in Cao County are waiting for us to rescue them.What higher priority is there than rescuing our fellow soldiers?So there is no need for you to fight, because we are just taking the first step, and you need to catch up as soon as possible.

Compared with our light-packed advance tonight, the remaining talents need to pay more sweat and will. Without your support, how can we take back Cao County and rescue those soldiers and civilians who were besieged in the city by Jiannu..."

Under Li Zicheng's personal reassurance, the soldiers who were vying to go to the battlefield finally calmed down. Finally, soldiers from two cavalry regiments followed Li Zicheng. 800 people, plus a squadron of personal guards around Li Zicheng, about 900 cavalry and nearly 3000 horses.

Two cavalry regiments, one led by Qi Sancai, and the other brought by Li Laiheng, Qi Sancai led the troops to open the way in front, while Li Laiheng guarded Li Zicheng behind.Although the wind is cold, the moonlight tonight is not bad, and the reflection of the white snow on the ground is not too dark.

After resting twice on the road, the sky finally brightened. Li Zicheng and others quickly stopped in a village beside the road. Qi San, who opened the way ahead, stayed behind and called the people in the village to arrange breakfast. They had a big rest in this village, had breakfast and fed the horses before continuing on the road.

When the sun rose into the middle of the day, the city gate of Shan County finally appeared in Li Zicheng's vision.The officials of Shan County were all waiting in front of the city gate. Li Zicheng did not dismount. After chatting with these officials, he knew that Zuo Guangxian had personally led an infantry regiment to the front. The magistrate ordered: "Go and get some food and horse feed, we will go on the road immediately after replenishing..."

Chapter 336 The Battle of Cao County Part Three

In less than half an afternoon, Aixinjueluo Bahana commanded troops to invade Cao County, but the Qing army immediately lost discipline after entering the city, and began unorganized robbery, murder and adultery Woman, this made Cao County soldiers and civilians who had planned to give up resistance once again took up arms and followed Zhang Xiu and other generals to resist.

As the sky was getting dark, the soldiers and civilians of Cao County, who were familiar with the geography of the city, gained the upper hand in the melee under the protection of the night. The Qing army who invaded the streets in the city was forced to retreat back to the city wall, thus giving the soldiers and civilians in the city more opportunities to strengthen the defense of the county government. time.

Early on the morning of the 28th, Bahana and Tu Guobao separately attacked the city center from the north gate and the east gate of the city. At noon, they finally drove the resistance soldiers and civilians in the city into the county government.

Although Bahana wanted to attack the county government in one go, the county government surrounded by streams was a small city. After a day and night of fighting, the soldiers and civilians who fled into the county government also gave up the idea of ​​surrendering to the Qing army. The resistance was extremely tenacious. Even after Kerkun took the lead in charging twice, he was blown back by the military and civilians in the county office with explosives.

Kerkun then told Bahana that the Kabush soldiers he led should not be used up in this way. None of his Kabush soldiers were injured during the siege, but three people were killed when they beat the county government twice. , seriously injured five people, the loss is too great if the fight continues like this.

The Kabush Xianbing is the elite of the Paiyala soldiers. It was formed by drawing a few people from the Eight Banners, divided into two battalions on the left and right, and directly under the command of the Great Khan. Manchurian Mele Zhangjing is above Kerkun, but he cannot force Kerkun to obey him in his position.

Seeing that the Manchu generals around him echoed Kerkun, thinking that the Tu Guobao Army should be allowed to slowly consume the resistance will of the soldiers and civilians in Cao County in the county government office, Bahana finally understood why Kerkun was in the Zhenglan Banner He has a great reputation, but no one in the upper class likes him, because this person is too arrogant and always wants to order the superior to do things. Although his proposal looks good, it is a shame for the superior.

Thinking of asking Kerkun to help him, although Bahana's expression changed, he still agreed with Kerkun's opinion, ordered the Manchus to retreat to the second line of archery cover, and let Tu Guobao's army independently undertake the task of attacking the county government. Task.

Although this order satisfied the Manchu officers and soldiers, it gave the soldiers and civilians in the county government a chance to breathe.In the previous attacks led by the Manchus, almost every time they tried their best, they once put several defense lines of the county government in jeopardy. However, after replacing the army of Tu Guobao, these Han troops who surrendered had room to attack. In order to prevent the inability to escape in time when the crisis comes, this greatly reduces the intensity of the battle.

Of course, if such attacks continued, the Qing army would win in the end, because there were only more than 300 soldiers in the county government office, and there were more than 300 government servants and strong squads, and the rest were one or two thousand old and weak women and children.Even if only a few people lose their combat effectiveness in each attack, the defensive strength will be exhausted within two or three days.

However, on the evening of the 28th, the cavalry of the Shun Army appeared near Cao County. Beginning on the morning of the 29th, a small number of cavalry from the Shun Army began to launch tentative attacks at the south, north, and east gates of Cao County, which greatly restrained the Qing army's attack on the county government in the city.Ker Kun led the Kabush virtuous soldiers to attack. Although they repelled the cavalry of the Shun army, the cavalry of the Shun army did not leave the city.

After returning to the city, Kerkun suggested to Bahana: "We should capture the county government office as soon as possible. Since the cavalry of the Shun Army have arrived, their reinforcements should not be far away."

Bahana had no opinion on Kerkun's suggestion this time, but the soldiers and civilians in the county office had already attacked the Qing army from the outside. The change realized that the reinforcements were approaching, so they took a more resolute counterattack against the Qing army's attack. In the afternoon near Shenshi, the Qing army still failed to open a breakthrough.

Today's last attack even launched a counterattack against Cao County soldiers and civilians in the county government, causing the attacking Qing army to drop fifty or sixty corpses, and then the repelled Qing army fell to the ground one by one, refusing He gave Tu Guobao an order to continue the attack with the whole team.

Tu Guobao had no choice but to ask Bahana to suspend the attack. He justified his subordinates: "Our army was transferred from Dongchang Mansion and participated in the attack on Cao County without rest. , It has been ten days. The soldiers are exhausted, and the rebels in the county government are quite stubborn. If they continue to force them to fight, the lower officials are worried that a mutiny will be stirred up."

Although Bahana was annoyed at the ineffectiveness of the Tu Guobao Army, he still suppressed his anger because he knew that the newly surrendered Ming Army was different from the Eight Banners Army.After the rectification of the Eight Banners army by Nurhachi and Huang Taiji, the two generations of Khans, both in terms of equipment and fighting will, surpassed the troops with the best morale in the Ming army.

However, the treatment of these newly surrendered Ming troops is not as good as that of the slaves under the banner of the Eight Banners. The place can be robbed.

These former Ming soldiers who surrendered to the Qing Dynasty did not surrender because they admired the Aixinjueluo clan. They surrendered because they were unwilling to sacrifice for the Ming Dynasty or Dashun.And the reason why they are willing to fight for the Qing Dynasty is that they can follow the Manchus to the south to plunder, not for the grand goal of helping the Manchus fight for the world.

After capturing the outer city of Cao County, these former Ming soldiers lost discipline in the city, which is the best proof.But they were stopped by Bahana before they could satisfy their desire to rob, and then they were dispatched to attack the county government, and naturally their morale began to drop.Now these former Ming soldiers are threatening the general in this way, in exchange for the general letting go of the military law that restrains them.

Bahana did not restrain the military discipline of the Qing army because of his compassion for the Han people, but Cao County was at the point of attacking Guide and Xuzhou, killing all the population here, and then it would cause serious damage to the army's attack. It's a hindrance, because the army can't let the soldiers do everything, and the trivial things that have nothing to do with the battle are always done by the civilians.

After thinking for a long time, Bahana finally rejected the suggestion of looting the city after the war.He agreed to let Tu Guobao's army rest for one night, but emphasized: "...but the county government must be captured tomorrow. Tomorrow, I will take decisive measures against those who delay the military plane..."

Although he severely criticized Tu Guobao, Bahana also clearly told the other party that if the county government is taken down tomorrow, then the county government and the southeast area of ​​the city will be stationed by them, and he will not interfere in any way.

After understanding the meaning of Bahana's words, Tu Guobao promised the Manchus that he would personally lead a team to attack the county government office tomorrow, and must wipe out the rebels entrenched in the county government office within the specified time.

Putting pressure on Tu Guobao to solve the resistance forces in the county government as soon as possible can only make Bahana relax half of his heart, while the other half of his heart is restrained by the Shun army reinforcements outside the city.

As Jialaerzhen Xingnai said, "Taking Cao County is certainly a great success, but the purpose of capturing Cao County is to cut off the back road of Dingtao and open the passage to Guide Mansion, but if we are trapped If we were in this city, it would be contrary to the original intention of the two adults, Nikan and Tong Tulai. Because not only can we not threaten Dingtao's Shun army, but we have become targets that need to be rescued."

Bahana felt that what Xingnai said was very reasonable. Nikan and Tong Tulai ordered him to attack Cao County, hoping to put pressure on Tao's Shun army, and did not intend to open another battlefield in Cao County, because the Yuyuan bandits and Under the restraint of the Jiaxiang thieves, their strength is already very tense.Being able to mobilize these 600 people has almost cut the mobile power in the hands of Nikan and Tongtulai by half. If they are trapped in this small city, it will be quite a problem.

Bahana thought about how many reinforcements the Shun Army had received, and whether he could repel them with his own strength.At this time, the Tanqi who searched outside the city finally brought back good news. They found the Shun army reinforcements stationed.

The spies leading the team reported back to Bahana and others: "...These thieves finally gathered in the southeast of the county seat, about eight miles away from the city. Behind the sand embankment is the Taihang Embankment River, and the other three directions are plains and small forests. The view is very wide, which is suitable for cavalry to gallop. Looking at their camp, there should be about a thousand people, all cavalry..."

After hearing this, Ker Kun immediately said: "You should defeat them while they are not on their feet. Once the infantry behind them comes up, it will be difficult to defeat them with the cooperation of infantry and cavalry."

Xingnai also agreed: "Lord Kerkun is right. Today, these Shunjun cavalry are pretending to attack around the city, probably because they want to familiarize themselves with the geography. It can be seen that the general leading the troops is not a reckless person.

If they are eager to use cavalry to attack the city, it means that there may not be many reinforcements behind them, but now they are only holding us back with cavalry, which means that there must be a large force behind us.

Our army defeated these cavalry of the Shun army first, and then whether to fight with the reinforcements of the Shun army or return to defend the city, the initiative is entirely in our hands.The next official seconded. "

Bahana thought for a while and asked the two of them: "They have nearly a thousand cavalry, how many people do you think can defeat them?"

Ker Kun said indifferently: "Didn't you already fight against them today? Although these Shunjun cavalry are not bad, they are still not as skilled as the Liaodong Ming Army and Mongolian cavalry. To deal with them, just give me Three hundred vests are enough to break it."

Bahana's eyelids twitched, but he watched the surrounding Manchu generals remain silent, and finally he didn't speak out to reprimand Kerkun for his arrogance. Instead, he said in a gentle tone: "The lion must do his best to fight the rabbit." What's more, at such a critical time now, you can take all the [-] vests in the city tomorrow. As long as you can defeat these cavalry cavalry as soon as possible without causing too many casualties to our army, then the first victory of this expedition will be yours. "

Ker Kun replied with a proud face: "Then please Mr. Zhang Jing take a good look at it..."

Chapter 337 The Battle of Cao County IV

On the evening of December 12, Li Zicheng on the horse had closed his eyes and let the horse lead him forward.Although he snored from time to time, he would wake up soon, and then he snored again at some unknown time. The whole person was in this mysterious state that seemed to be sleeping but not sleeping, and he didn't know where he was.

However, there are several horsemen on his left and right closely next to him, for fear that he will fall off the horse.Compared with Li Zicheng who looked exhausted, the young Li Laiheng was still full of energy, patrolling back and forth in front of the team from time to time, reminding the drowsy cavalry to keep up with the team, and restraining the entire cavalry unit to advance in an orderly manner.

Around midnight, the two cavalrymen who were exploring the road ahead hurried back and reported to Li Laiheng excitedly: "Master, we have encountered the regiment of Master Zuo, and they are staying at Liangmiaozhuang about three miles ahead. That is a There are thousands of households in Datuweizi, which is enough to accommodate us. Mr. Zuo heard that His Majesty has arrived and is making room for us..."

Before Li Laiheng could speak, he heard a voice behind him, "I want to pay for the vacated house."

Li Laiheng immediately turned his head and looked behind him, only to see Li Zicheng stretched his waist, then rubbed his cheeks with his hands to wake him up a bit, and then asked the two cavalrymen in front of him: " How far is Liang Temple from Cao County? Are Ma Bao and the others with Master Zuo?"

Li Laiheng turned the horse's head subconsciously and gave the position to Li Zicheng. The younger of the two cavalrymen immediately replied to Li Zicheng: "Return to your majesty, Liang Temple is about 20 miles away from Cao County. Master Ma is not here. However, Master Ma sent someone to inform Master Zuo, and he is stationed in Baliwan Village in the southeast of Cao County..."

After Li Zicheng heard the report, he shouted loudly to the cavalry behind him: "Brothers, hold on, you can rest when you reach Liangmiao. Master Zuo has already prepared hot meals and hot soup for everyone to eat. You can have a good night's sleep at night…”

The numb cavalrymen in the team suddenly became sober when they heard Li Zicheng's shout, and they all cheered.After driving for two consecutive days in such cold weather, there is no better news than hearing that you can sleep in a hot quilt.

Unlike the First Guards Cavalry Division led by Ma Bao, who were mostly veterans, the Second Division led by Li Laiheng was mostly young people. Some of these young people came from orphans adopted by the Peasant Army, and some came from despotic and powerful soldiers from all over the country. children.Although they are not as good as those veterans in terms of hard work and hard work, they are more energetic than others.

After hearing that the campsite was just ahead of the long line that had been procrastinating, these young cavalry immediately regained their strength and regrouped to follow up.The next three miles will be over soon.

When we reached Liangmiaozhuang, the gate had already been opened and several fires were lit for lighting. Zuo Guangxian and several elders in the village stood outside the gate and waited.Li Zicheng got off his horse at a distance of more than ten steps from the crowd, and then went up to meet the crowd. After meeting with Zuo Guangxian and others, he bowed to the elders in the village: "Today It’s been a long time since Guizhuang was tormented so badly, I want to apologize to everyone first.”

The few elders in the village were just standing on the sidelines with a forced smile. These days, no matter whether they are soldiers or thieves, they can't afford to offend them. To be honest, the military discipline of these Shunjun soldiers is pretty good. Forcing them to kill pigs and cattle is nothing more than asking them to vacate a few houses and burn some firewood.

It's just that the lives of all the people in their village are in their hands, so they can't rest assured no matter what.Moreover, a big battle was about to happen around them, and they couldn't help but worry about the damage caused by the rout after the war. Therefore, although they stood in front of the gate to welcome Li Zicheng, they didn't welcome Li Zicheng's arrival in their hearts.

It's just that Li Zicheng's current posture really frightened them, several elders quickly knelt down on the ground, and humbly replied to Li Zicheng: "No fuss, no fuss, Your Majesty's visit to Bi Zhuang is really a blessing that Bi Zhuang has cultivated for several lifetimes." .We have already prepared thin wine, if Your Majesty does not dislike it, please drink a cup to relieve the cold..."

Seeing the reaction of the old people so much, Li Zicheng couldn't say anything more, so he could only ask them to get up, and then followed into the village.Because of the war, Liangmiaozhuang was built like a small castle, with parapets, trenches, turrets and other defensive facilities.This is probably the standard configuration for villages on both sides of Henan and the Yellow River, because these places were the most chaotic areas in the late Ming Dynasty, and the fortification of the countryside was precisely to cope with this troubled time.

Liangmiaozhuang should be one of the larger villages in the vicinity. You can tell by the huge square after entering the gate. After seeing this square, Li Zicheng no longer worried about the problem of having no land for the horses he brought.

When Li Zicheng was walking towards the village, Zuo Guangxian and Bai Bangzheng were also observing the cavalrymen entering the village. Seeing that these cavalrymen were still full of vitality, they could not help but nodded slightly in approval.

Li Zicheng came overnight, which really surprised the two of them. Although Cao County fell, they felt that this was not a big problem.Now that they have arrived, it is a matter of course to take back Cao County.Of course, if there is another new force to support it, then there is nothing wrong with it.Now it seems that the cavalry brought by Li Zicheng can still provide some help.

After toasting Li Zicheng a few glasses of wine, several elders in the village tactfully retreated to rest, and gave up the place to Li Zicheng, Zuo Guangxian and others.After watching the elders leave, Li Zicheng also put down his wine glass and yawned: "I haven't slept for two days, and now I just want to find a warm place to lie down. If you are all right, let's stop here tonight, tomorrow Wake up in the morning to discuss things again?"

Zuo Guang looked at Bai Bangzheng first, and saw that the other party shook his head towards him, so he got up and cupped his hands and said, "Then your majesty should rest early, and the next thing will be left to us to settle down. Discuss how to take back Cao County."

Li Zicheng nodded, got up and walked to the back hall led by a guard.I scalded my feet with boiling water and went to bed, and fell asleep with the pillow on.When he opened his eyes, the room was already bright, but not very bright. He glanced at the window subconsciously, and found that the window paper was still pasted here, no wonder it felt a little dark.

Li Zicheng put on a cloak, went to the window, opened it and looked out, and found that the sun had already risen above the treetops, and it was about eight or nine o'clock.After putting on his clothes and washing up, Li Laiheng also walked into the courtyard to greet him.

After Li Zicheng asked where Jinwei's breakfast was, he walked out and asked Li Laiheng, "Have Master Zuo and Brigadier Bai eaten? If you haven't eaten, please invite them to come over and have breakfast together, and chat by the way." Let's talk."

Li Laiheng agreed, and asked a guard beside him to notify the two, and then reported to Li Zicheng: "There were 914 people when we set off, but only 809 people arrived at the roll call before going to bed last night, and they arrived one after another before morning." 27 people, about 78 people have not yet arrived, I sent a small team to the rear to collect the fallen people in the morning."

Li Zicheng nodded and responded, "Let the laggards rest first, but you have to make a note of it once. Has Ma Bao sent someone to contact you?"

Li Laiheng said: "I have sent someone over just now, and it is estimated that there will be no reply until noon..."

Sitting in the yard under the warm sunshine, Li Zicheng was holding a bowl of millet porridge in one hand and a piece of pancake in the other. While eating and drinking, he saw Zuo Guangxian and Bai Bangzheng walking in from the gate.Li Zicheng greeted the two of them and said, "This pancake is baked just right, you all come over and try it."

Zuo Guangxian and Bai Bangzheng walked to Li Zicheng's square table, thanked Li Zicheng for his hospitality, and unceremoniously picked up the pancakes on the table and ate them. Soon the guards also brought two bowls of millet for them. Porridge.The stack of pancakes was quickly eaten by the three of them, and Li Zicheng put down the bowls and chopsticks in satisfaction and asked the guards to clean up the tableware.

He patted his stomach lightly and said to the two of them: "On days like this, squatting in the sun to bask in the sun after eating should be a great joy in life. If the world is peaceful, I really hope that every day can Live a life of doing nothing."

Zuo Guangxian and Bai Bangzheng opened their mouths, but they didn't know how to answer Li Zicheng's words. It was wrong to agree, and even more wrong to oppose.After all, Bai Bangzheng was more flexible than Zuo Guangxian, and said to Li Zicheng: "Your Majesty is in charge of everything. Even if the world is at peace, I'm afraid it will be difficult to enjoy such a life. However, with His Majesty ruling the world, the people may be able to enjoy it." Live like this."

Li Zicheng smiled slightly, then got to the point and asked: "Let's talk about the business first. How many troops do you have? Do you know the situation in the city? How do you want to fight next?"

Zuo Guang breathed a sigh of relief, and then replied seriously: "We brought 4 battalions, about 1500 people. Including the troops brought by Master Ma and His Majesty, we have at least 3500 people.

We are sending people to investigate the situation in the city, but even if the rebellious soldiers and civilians in the city are suppressed by Jiannu, it is impossible for Jiannu to gain the support of the local soldiers and civilians so quickly.

Therefore, our suggestion is to join forces with Commander Ma first, and then launch a frontal attack on Cao County. As long as Jiannu makes a mistake in responding, then we can defeat the enemy in one fell swoop. "

Li Zicheng thought for a while, then nodded and said: "That's the case. Then our army will move to Baliwan to join Mabao, and a small number of troops will be left here to support the rear army. If our soldiers are injured, they can also be transferred here for resettlement..."

In Baliwan Village, Ma Bao, who had just finished his breakfast, saw the envoy sent by Li Laiheng, and when he heard that Li Zicheng had also arrived, he couldn't help but smiled and said: "With this little enemy army, how can your majesty need to go out? But since your majesty is here, I will Let's go to see His Majesty first."

It's just that Ma Bao hasn't mounted his horse yet, and the scouting horses he planted around the city reported back. Jiannu in the city sent more than 200 horsemen towards Baliwan.Ma Bao then said to the envoy: "Go and report to His Majesty, and I will go to see him when I break the cavalry team of Jiannu..."

Chapter 338 The Battle of Cao County Five

After Li Zicheng had breakfast here, he took the cavalry guards to Baliwan first. Liangmiaozhuang also sent two guides to lead Li Zicheng.

It is about thirteen or four miles from Liangmiao to Baliwan, and it takes about an hour for cavalry.Along the way, there are almost unobstructed plains, dotted with sparse forests, villages, rivers, and lakes.Although the ground has been covered by snow, one can tell by looking at the haystacks covered by snow that these places should be fields.

Generally speaking, this area looks more like the low-lying terrain south of the Huai River than the scenery in the north.Of course, from the guide's mouth, Li Zicheng roughly understood that the scenery here was not born like this, but was influenced by the Yellow River going south.

To put it simply, from here, the Yellow River has begun to rise above the ground, just as the Shandong section of the canal disrupted the Shandong water system and directly created artificial lakes such as Weishan Lake. The terrain along the coast has become low, so there are many lakes in Cao County because of the frequent breach of the Yellow River.

Because of flooding, water accumulated in the low-lying areas on both sides of the banks. During the dry season, the accumulated water could not flow back to the high Yellow River, so lakes of various sizes were formed, and these lakes replenished water sources for those small rivers, thus forming the present The scenery of the southern water town.It is said that Bali Bay is the pool of water left by the breach of the Taihang Di River, a tributary of the Yellow River. It is also called Longtan because of the lush vegetation and pleasant scenery around it.

When Li Zicheng and his group walked for more than 2 quarters of an hour looking at the scenery on the side of the road, they happened to meet the messenger who had returned from Ma Bao and learned that Ma Bao was planning to encircle and wipe out the slave cavalry who had left the city. Looking at the generals around him, he said: "Ma Bao wants to give me a big gift, so let's speed up our pace a little and see how good this big gift is."

All the generals laughed and said they would go to see if Ma Bao was lying.Ma Bao was promoted to the commander of the Guards Cavalry Division because he was the first in the military competition, but he hardly showed any performance on the battlefield after that, because the main task of the Guards Cavalry Division was to protect Li Zicheng, not to fight on the battlefield. After returning, Li Zicheng almost never came to the battlefield in person, so Ma Bao couldn't play well.

Ma Bao only joined when the Peasant Army entered Shaanxi. Although he was promoted quickly, his qualifications were shallow.Although Li Laiheng was young, but as Li Guo's adopted son, he was raised in the army since he was a child, and he was supported by a group of boy army companions, so he was more prestigious than Ma Bao.

Ma Bao thought about annihilating the Jiannu who had left the city first, and then came to see Li Zicheng, and he felt like showing his abilities.Li Zicheng can understand Ma Bao's mood, thinking that this time he can let Ma Bao prove himself.

However, when they approached Baliwan, they found that two groups of cavalry were fighting each other, but their side did not have the upper hand.Seeing this, Li Zicheng took a deep breath. He rejected the request of his subordinates to join the battlefield immediately. After looking at the terrain on the left and right, he raised his horsewhip and pointed to the high sand dam one mile to the southwest: "The terrain is the highest there. Let's go to the dam first to see the situation clearly."

After reaching the top of the five or six-meter-high dam, Li Zicheng gathered all the officers above the squadron leader to his side. The 2 cavalry regiments included 4 cavalry brigades, 12 combat squadrons and 2 special service squadrons. people.

The field of vision on the top of the dam was extremely wide, and a battlefield three miles wide and nearly three miles long was quickly displayed in front of everyone.To the north of the battlefield is Longtan, to the west is the sand dam, to the south are forests and villages, to the east there is a small river and a small forest, but to the east it is still a flat land.

The Shunjun cavalry was divided into two parts, one part charged back and forth with the Jiannu cavalry in the open land in the east, and the other part was located in front of the village to resist the back and forth impact of the Jiannu cavalry.In addition to these two groups of troops, Jiannu also had hundreds of cavalry standing with their backs on Longtan, as if they were ready to join the two battlefields at any time.

With the help of a single telescope, the officers of the Shun Army on the Shaba could clearly see the situation on the battlefield below. Although there seemed to be more cavalry in the Shun Army on the battlefield, they were seen to be less than half of their number. The Jiannu cavalry was firmly suppressed, not one was suppressed, but two battlefields were at a disadvantage.

Li Zicheng looked at it with a telescope for a while, and finally saw that there was a problem. The troops led by Ma Bao should be fighting against the Jiannu cavalry in the east. Not bad, but the quality of the cavalry led by the two is more than a little different. Although Ma Bao is leading veterans of the peasant army, it is still difficult for these veterans to fight against these slaves who grew up on horseback. And the quality of the horses is not as good.

Therefore, in the binoculars, Li Zicheng could see that a slave cavalry needed at least two Shunjun cavalry to stop it, and two to three slave cavalry could contain a Shunjun cavalry squad.

In addition, the slave cavalry never broke away from their own team and fought with the Shun army. Two of the four cavalry teams collided head-on with dozens of cavalry led by Ma Bao, preventing Ma Bao from rescuing other attacked subordinates. The army kept attacking the cavalry of the Shun army who were trying to regroup, so it was obvious that Ma Bao had more troops, but it was difficult to form a local advantage on the battlefield.

As for the Shunjun cavalry fighting in front of the village, they were at a disadvantage because they were squeezed together by Jiannu cavalry. The inner cavalry was blocked by their own people on the outer layer. The four teams of cavalry took turns attacking the formation of the Shun army on the periphery, as if they were peeling fruit. Every time they hit, they could shoot down several Shun army cavalry. You may be wounded or trampled by the horse.

Li Zicheng, who put down his binoculars, asked the generals around him: "What do you think Ma Bao and the others lost?"

Li Laiheng, who had been by Li Zicheng's side for a long time, blurted out subconsciously: "The organization, I lost in the organization."

Then Qi Sancai, the commander of the regiment, said: "Our army has lost discipline. Although there are many people, they all fight on their own. Although the enemy army is small, they always maintain discipline, so they often use more to attack less."

Most of the others echoed their views, but one person put forward a different opinion: "I think our army was defeated by the lack of room for the cavalry to maneuver. What is the difference between the cavalry and the wooden stakes if the cavalry has no speed?

But the speed needs to have enough open space to accelerate. The slave riders have always restricted our cavalry from expanding outwards, while they control the outer circle and have enough room to accelerate repeatedly. In this way, our army has become slave riders Wooden stakes for attacking.Hide, can't dodge, counterattack and can't fight back, and the slave rider can use the power of the speed bonus, so it has become the current situation of being passively beaten. "

Li Zicheng glanced at this person in surprise, and then asked, "What's your name? What is your position?"