weaving

Chapter 1373: These are the three walls?

"The bloody smell in August is much stronger than in July!"

Zhang Cheng, the Central Plains Bandit Suppression Commander, the General of Xuanzhen, and the Earl of Yongning, stood on a high hill on horseback, gazing at the overwhelming army of bandits in the north. However, his eyes revealed a very peaceful expression, without any sign of tension or uneasiness.

"Commander-in-chief, everything is going according to plan." Zhang Mingyuan, the commander of the central army, reported beside him.

Without even turning his head, Earl Yongning asked, "Is everything going well?"

"According to the news from various places, everything is going according to plan and everything is going smoothly. It is all within the commander's plan at the moment."

Yongning Bo nodded and said nothing more, just looking at the large formation of the Chuang army in the distance. In his ears, he heard the words of his old aide Sun Shixiang: "In today's battle, although our army has a 70% chance of winning, it is destined to be a very difficult battle!"

"Although the enemy army is powerful, as long as we defeat the main force in front of us, the remaining forces will no longer be able to fight us, and their power will certainly be greatly reduced. Only then can the threat from the enemy in Henan be alleviated. However, we must also plan how to consolidate the results of the current battle to trap the enemy."

Yongning Bo looked back at Hu Yiwen and said with a smile, "Okay, Gongqiao knows how to look at the big picture. He has seen the situation after the war today!"

Hu Yiwen was praised by the Earl of Yongning, and his face lit up a little. He smiled and said, "The commander-in-chief has a broad mind. Yiwen has benefited a lot from following him and listening to his teachings."

Yongning Bo smiled and said no more. He turned his head and continued to look at the rebel army opposite him. Suddenly he said, "The matter of Henan should be settled. Otherwise, if there is any change in the capital, I am afraid that I will not be able to withdraw troops to deal with it!"

Everyone around him was shocked when they heard this. Sun Shixiang stroked his beard and said nothing. Hu Yiwen also closed his eyes and looked like he was deep in thought...

Instead, Liu Chengzu asked from the side: "General...are you worried that the Eastern Tartars will invade again?"

Before the Earl of Yongning could say anything, Sun Shixiang stroked his beard and said, "Last year, the commander-in-chief defeated them in the battle of Jinzhou. The strength of the Eastern Tartars was greatly damaged. I'm afraid they won't dare to invade the capital again this year!"

"Hehe...it's hard to say."

Yongning Bo smiled for a while before saying, "It is precisely because I didn't get any advantage in Jinzhou last year that I am worried that they will invade the capital again after the autumn harvest."

"Oh." Sun Shixiang said after realizing it a little bit, "The commander-in-chief is worried that the losses in Jinzhou suffered by the Eastern Tartars cannot be compensated, so he took the risk of attacking our capital again, intending to go deep into the interior to plunder and make up for the losses in the battle of Jinzhou."

Earl Yongning nodded, but said nothing more.

…………

In fact, based on the fragmentary memories that were gradually fading away in his mind, he knew that in history, when Li Zicheng was causing chaos in Henan, the Jiannu would once again invade the interior, penetrate deep into Jinan and Shandong to plunder, and this would last for more than half a year.

They even once went deep into the territory of Nanzhili to test the combat power intelligence of the Ming Dynasty's southern troops, which shows how courageous they were!

However, as Sun Shixiang said, the Jiannu were defeated in the battle of Jinzhou last year, which neither allowed them to gain any advantage nor did they lose the combat effectiveness of their army. Therefore, the Earl of Yongning did not dare to argue whether they would invade again this year.

However, if you put yourself in their shoes, the failure of the Jinzhou Battle has greatly reduced the prestige of Huang Taiji, the chieftain of the Nu tribe. Not only did the Outer Mongolian tribes suffer heavy losses, but even the Eight Banners Mongols, who were completely dependent on Jiannu, also suffered heavy losses. Even the Eight Banners of Jianzhou suffered heavy losses, including several princes, royal family members, and Eight Banners Gushan. At this moment, Jiannu and the Mongolian tribes were in the most difficult time. If Huang Taiji raised his arms and shouted that he wanted to enter the interior to plunder, the Mongolian tribes would definitely send troops to follow him.

If they could successfully loot large amounts of gold, silver, money, grain, and people like they had done before, not only would they be able to alleviate the shortage of materials among the various tribes, but they would also be able to re-establish their own great image, further consolidate their position in Jianzhou, and strengthen the belief of the Mongolian tribes in following them.

Therefore, there is still a great possibility that Huang Taiji will lead his troops to invade and plunder after the autumn harvest!

…………

"Commander-in-chief, the enemy troops are moving!"

Zhang Cheng looked in the direction pointed by the central army commander Zhang Mingyuan, and saw that in the middle of the enemy army's formation, a little to the east, the infantry were retreating to the east one after another, and then he saw teams of cavalry coming up to reinforce them.

After these bandit cavalry came up, they quickly formed a horizontal row. Looking closely, there were actually as many as five rows. They kept riding their horses slowly up and drove the infantry westward.

Looking around, there was a sea of ​​black, which was full of the bandit army's cavalry. Many of the cavalrymen were wearing armor. Even though they were just in formation, one could see their superb riding skills. They must be the elite bandits.

"Three walls...are these the thieves' three walls?"

Hu Yiwen glanced at his mentor Sun Shixiang and asked, "Master, are you saying that the cavalry on the other side are the 'three walls' that the bandits are so proud of?"

Sun Shixiang raised his mouth and smiled. He looked at the Earl of Yongning before he spoke: "I heard that the enemy has 30,000 elite cavalry in the vanguard. Whenever they are in battle, they are arranged in three rows. The front ones look back and the back ones kill. If the battle is unsuccessful for a long time, the cavalry will pretend to be defeated to lure the government troops. Then, 30,000 infantrymen with long spears will suddenly rush out and strike and stab like flying. The cavalry will also fight back at this time, and they will always win."

"This... is indeed difficult to deal with!" Hu Yiwen couldn't help but worry as he saw the increasing number of cavalry on the opposite side.

Liu Chengzu had been in the Yongyi Army for a long time, and at this time he also said: "Although the enemy's cavalry is large, it is difficult to withstand the bombardment of artillery. The commander-in-chief has already prepared a table of good food for them, but I am afraid that you will not be able to digest it after eating it!"

Under everyone's expectant eyes, Earl Yongning smiled and said, "Less than 60% of the bandits' cavalry are wearing armor. Although they look numerous, well-trained, and highly motivated, my artillery carts are not to be trifled with. This time, I will teach bandit Li how powerful my Yongyi Army is!"

Although Sun Shixiang and others also participated in the military discussion, they did not have a very intuitive understanding of the true strength of the Yongyi Army. Therefore, when they saw the strength of the "three walls" of the Chuang Army, they became worried.

Now, when they heard the Earl of Yongning say this and saw that he was confident, they felt relieved and said with a smile, "The commander-in-chief has arranged his infantry in front in order to lure the bandit cavalry to attack."

Before the Earl of Yongning could speak, Liu Chengzu answered for him: "The rebels are different from others. They are good at using cavalry to charge into battle, unlike the government troops who mostly use infantry in the front and cavalry for surprise attacks."

Liu Chengzu glanced at the Earl of Yongning when he said this, and then continued, "It is precisely because of this characteristic of the rebels that we took the opportunity to lure them to attack with their cavalry, so that our artillery can exert its due power."

"It's a risky move... It's really a risky move!"

"Hehe... Although we have the advantage of artillery, if it weren't for the well-trained Yongyi Army, I wouldn't dare to arrange it this way."