weaving

After hearing the alarm, Tian Jianxiu did not immediately send troops to rescue Du Kewu. On the one hand, he asked Du Kewu to hold on with all his might, and on the other hand, he ordered someone to send a message to the bandit soldiers approaching Du Kewu in the south to go and rescue him. He himself continued to keep his troops in place to see how the situation developed.

This was beyond Chen Yongfu's expectations. He had never thought that Tian Jianxiu would be so patient, but the plan had already begun and could not be stopped. He glanced at Hu Zichen beside him and said, "General Hu, it seems that we can only ask the Tiger Camp to help and make the fire more prosperous so that Tian Jianxiu can be mobilized to send troops to help."

Hu Zichen stood up suddenly and said loudly: "We have been waiting for this day. We have been chased by these thieves for a long time. Today we should teach them the strengths and weaknesses of our Hu Family Army."

Seeing that he seemed to be getting a little carried away, Chen Yongfu hurriedly reminded him, "General Hu, your troops are only putting pressure on Dang Shousu's troops to mobilize Tian Jianxiu to come to the rescue, but you dare not really attack them fiercely. Try to keep as many troops as possible, because there will be a big battle later."

Hu Zichen nodded: "Don't worry, General Chen, I know what's going on!"

Watching Hu Zichen riding his horse towards the Tiger Camp, Chen Yongfu said to Cao Shixi beside him in a deep voice: "Commander Cao, I will lead my troops to fight against the cavalry of Tian Bandits later. Your troops must seize the camp of Tian Bandits in time."

Cao Shixi clasped his fists solemnly and said, "Don't worry, Commander Chen, Shixi will never fail in your mission!"

Chen Yongfu glanced at him and sighed in his heart. This man's team was not very good at fighting, but they were lucky enough to get the task of launching a surprise attack on Tian Jianxiu's camp. They were much stronger than Zhang Dechang.

Although he felt a little uneasy in his heart, he had no other choice but to turn around and tell his general, "Assemble the troops immediately and be ready to fight at any time."

…………

The Datong Army's garrison camp at Beiliangfen was now an empty camp. Datong's general Wang Pu had already led the entire army southward and marched to the Dragon King Temple five miles away to station and wait for orders.

Zhang Guodong's Qinglong Battalion, which had been stationed in Liuzhuang, also took advantage of the cover of night and quietly left the camp with its main force heading east. Only the vanguard led by deputy battalion commander Du Chungang and Han Rongqiu, as well as some baggage carts and baggage soldiers were left behind in Liuzhuang to confuse the thousands of bandits outside.

Since King Chuang decided not to launch a strong attack but to adopt a strategy of long-term siege, all the bandits outside the two government army camps in Liuzhuang and Daguantou were withdrawn. Only a few thousand bandits were left about ten miles away for surveillance.

The team Zhang Guodong led was "all armed and all barred". They traveled light, with each person only carrying three days' rations. They did not carry any extra baggage, all of which were left in the camp.

In order not to affect the speed and concealment of the march, even the army's powerful weapon "artillery" was not carried in large quantities, only some tiger squat cannons and mortars that were easy to carry.

Their destination was Jiajiagang, twelve miles east.

This place is located seven miles southwest of Xianggong Temple. The military order Zhang Guodong received was to launch a surprise attack and capture Jiajiagang, and continue attacking eastward to cut off the connection between Zhuxian Town and Xianggong Temple.

Not only the North Camp of Gengtangzhuang, the Left Camp of Beiliangfen, and the Qinglong Camp of Liuzhuang took action, but the Right Camp of Xincang also went out at the same time. Even the headquarters of Yongning Earl in Xinchengji was no exception. Even Jiang Mingwu's troops stationed in Tongxu, Li Jiyou's troops in Taikang, and Zhang Guangda's troops in Baofeng also sent out troops at the same time.

This great battle on the central Henan plain was bound to happen inevitably!
…………

On the first day of August, in the early morning, the sun had just emerged from the eastern horizon, and the faint light it emitted had not yet spread across the entire land. Most people were also immersed in sleep. A group of people had quietly appeared between Xinchengji and Xincang, quietly cutting off the main traffic route between Yongningbo's camp and Li Fuming's right camp.

Bai Minghe had suffered a loss at the hands of the Yongyi Army during the previous siege of the Tengshe Camp in Daguantou, and he had always longed for a chance to avenge himself and relieve his hatred.

At this moment, he rode his horse in the dim light of the morning sun, looking at the dark mass of his own troops around him. He was in a good mood, and his mind was full of thoughts on how to slaughter the government troops and avenge the previous humiliation...

Xiaoqiuzhuang, a small village located between Beiliangfen and Xinchengji, was also quietly occupied by thousands of bandit soldiers - they were subordinates of the bandit general Ren Jirong.

Since Li Zicheng, the King of Rebellion, decided to attack Xincheng, he dispatched various bandit troops to gather around the government army camp in Xincheng, in order to strengthen his own momentum and cut off the connection between Xincheng and the surrounding government troops.

The reason why the Yongyi Army's reconnaissance results showed that Li Chuang's army was frequently mobilized and its main force's clear movements could not be detected was because Li Chuang implemented a strategy of mobilizing troops in both directions.

The so-called "two-way troop deployment" means that while the main force was being mobilized, Li Chuang would also arrange a weak brigade to be mobilized in the opposite direction, so that the scouts of the Yongyi Army would not be able to detect the purpose of the mobilization and would not know which direction the main force was being mobilized to.

Of course, such a "two-way troop deployment strategy" is not something that can be done casually. For example, although the Yongyi Army was so powerful that even Li Zicheng, the King of Rebellion, was quite afraid of it, he did not dare to do so.

First, one needs to have more troops and soldiers than the enemy in order to be able to make such frequent two-way maneuvers; second, one needs to have large-scale control over the entire battlefield environment. Only in this way can one dare to make frequent maneuvers without fear of being intercepted by the enemy.

It just so happened that Li Zicheng had an absolute advantage in military strength and almost controlled the entire battlefield environment south of Kaifeng. His bandit army surrounded the government troops around Xincheng from the outside, so it was naturally extremely convenient to mobilize the army.

Since July 27, the Chuang army has begun large-scale mobilization. Teams of Chuang army marched in full battle readiness and headed to their new camps. Part of this was actually a false mobilization to confuse the Yongyi Army.

Starting at noon on July 28, the number of scout horses of the rebel army suddenly increased significantly. They often went out in numbers of hundreds or even thousands of cavalry, relying on their numerical advantage in cavalry to try to cover the battlefield.

For example, the teams of Bai Minghe and Ren Jirong set out from their new bases just last night and headed straight for key locations to cut off the new city's connection with the outside world.

In addition to them, there were other bandit troops, led by their own leaders, who took advantage of the cover of night and quietly rushed to the battlefields set up in advance!

A purgatory-like battle, a world like Shura Field, a killing field like hell is about to unfold...

…………

Just as the battle between Zhuxian Town and Xinchengji was about to break out, some people were making very dangerous bets on this battle whose outcome was still unpredictable.

Luo Rucai, who was called "Cao Cao", looked at his most trusted military advisor Ji Gui with an expression of disbelief, and asked, "I don't know who will win or lose, and you want me to place a bet now?" (End of this chapter)