weaving

Chapter 939

Before Zhang Cheng received the military order from Ji Liao Governor Xingyuan, the Xuanfu army had been in a state of preparation for battle. Although there was no plan to transfer the Xuanfu army to fight before, how could Zhang Cheng be willing to be lonely?
He firmly believes in one sentence in his mind: "Success is always reserved for those who are prepared!"

Regardless of whether Governor Xingyuan will transfer the Xuanfu army to fight, the Xuanfu army must always be ready for battle. After all, this is a war zone, and the battle may start at any time.

The reason why a wolf is a wolf is because he always maintains the most vigorous fighting spirit.

The marching regulations of the Xuanfu army clearly stipulated how to march and camp in their own rear, and how to march and camp in enemy-occupied areas.

However, within the scope of the battle zone, you should always be ready for combat, and both marching and camping should be implemented according to combat standards, because the consequences of a negligence are often incalculable.

Just after receiving the order from the governor Xingyuan's banner officer, within a quarter of an hour, the Xuanfu army's Chicheng battalion, the right part of the chariot, as well as the Tiger Guard battalion, Jiading squad, and veteran Guo Yingxian's supervising battalion cavalry were assembled. .

Zhang Cheng rode his horse and stood in front of the army, because he was already tall and his horse was strong, he was almost two heads taller than Zhang Ruoqi and Zhang Dou, who were beside him.

Even Guo Yingxian, He Biao, Zhang Guodong, Wei Zhice, Lin Fangping, Huang Baozhong and other generals behind him were a whole head shorter than him.

In addition, Zhang Cheng is wearing a bright golden armor, which is really like standing out from the crowd!
This time, because Zhang Cheng knew that the battle was of great importance, he did not dare to treat it lightly, so he made such a decision after some consideration.

Wei Zhice and He Biao stayed at Huangtuling, while Li Jiyu's Dengfeng battalion, He Zhenxiong's Zhenbiao Zuoying soldiers, and the two troops of the carriage also stayed at Huangtuling. Wei Zhice and He Biao commanded and dispatched .

At the same time, Zhang Cheng also left a copper military talisman for He Biao. With this copper talisman, he can call Kuang Yongzhong and Tang Xiancheng's two Xuanfu soldiers and horses stationed at Hekou at any time.

As a result, the Huangtuling and Hekou defense lines can be commanded in a unified manner. As for Li Fuming's Shanxi town troops, the Xuanfu army is naturally the only one to follow.

Although there were more than ten thousand troops stationed in the Zhenglan Banner of the Tartars on the opposite side of Huangtu Ridge, after removing the uniforms and soldiers, there were only six or seven thousand soldiers, not to mention that there were more than a thousand Han troops and hundreds of Korean troops among them.

As far as the Tartar soldiers, who were less than 2000 people, wanted to cross the river to attack, Zhang Cheng estimated that with the nearly [-] soldiers from Dengfeng Camp and Zhenbiao Zuo Camp, plus [-] artillery pieces from the two carts and more than [-] troops, Soldiers, the attack may be insufficient, but the defense of the river bank must be worry-free.

What's more, if the slaves attack desperately, He Biao can also call Kuang Yongzhong and Tang Xiancheng's troops back to aid with the bronze talisman left by Zhang Cheng, and even Li Fuming's troops to return.

With such an arrangement, there will be no loss in Huangtuling!

Although Hong Chengchou, governor of Jiliao, ordered Ning Qianbing Beidao Zhang Dou to lead his standard battalion to garrison Huangtuling, but although Zhang Dou's standard battalion was also very brave, it only had two thousand soldiers.

Moreover, Zhang Cheng believes that one should not rely on others for everything, and it is even more impossible to completely entrust others to important places such as Huangtuling, so several battalions of soldiers and horses are stationed here.

The Supervising Biao Battalion, Tiger Guard Battalion, Jia Ding Battalion, and the Chicheng Infantry Battalion, which are mainly cavalry, will be assembled on standby, ready to follow orders at any time to fight slaves.

Of course, in order to increase the firepower of the army, Zhang Cheng even ordered the right side of the chariot to gather on standby and go out with the army at that time.

Gou Changsheng is now Commander Qian on the right side of the chariot. Thinking back to the time of the Battle of Julu, he was just a small army commander, and the guard king Sanhu back then has also grown into the middle of the chariot. Chief Qian.

At the beginning, most of the old soldiers who followed Zhang Cheng and Zhang Yan's uncle and nephew to Jingqin King, as long as they are still in the Xuanfu army, have been promoted and used to become middle and lower-level officers of each battalion, and even the commander of a battalion.

Let’s just say that Zhang Cheng’s current commanders of the various battalions, except Wei Zhice, Jin Yong, Li Jiyu and a few others, are mostly old brothers from the Battle of Julu.

And the positions of chief executives in each battalion are almost entirely filled by old brothers who participated in the Battle of Julu back then.

It can be said that Zhang Cheng's starting point was not being promoted to guerrilla after the Battle of Mafang and the Battle of Shiqiao, but the first Waterloo in his life.

The Battle of Julu was Zhang Cheng's real starting point. It was the Battle of Julu that allowed him to gain a group of loyal subordinates, and also made him lose the shackles of his uncle and governor Lu Xiangsheng, so that he could show his talents and succeed. Ambitious.

Today, the core backbone of Zhang Chengxuan's army is still mainly the old brothers who survived the Battle of Julu, supplemented by the first two batches of soldiers recruited in Xuanbei.

And people like Li Jiyu, Guo Yingxian, He Zhenxiong, Kuang Yongzhong, Tang Xiancheng, Huang Baozhong, etc., joining Zhang Cheng's command at this moment can be said to be the right time.

They will be Zhang Cheng's help in successfully controlling the entire town of Xuanfu, which is icing on the cake, not a timely help.

However, depending on their respective performances and their loyalty to Zhang Cheng, they will gradually enter Zhang Cheng's inner circle in the future, but there will inevitably be a difference in order.

And the generals and officials who have entered Zhang Cheng's inner circle now will be eliminated one after another if they forget their righteousness for profit and have different intentions in the future, or if they cannot keep up with the progress of Zhang Cheng's Xuanfu Group due to their limited talents.

History is like this, it will not stop because of the absence of someone, it will just slow down.

With the passage of time, as each person's status changes, there will be such and such changes in the heart, some will become better and better, and some will indeed become more and more inflated, dominated by their own greed, will eventually be eliminated.

There are also some people who will stop advancing when they reach a certain position and cannot continue to move forward. Of course, these people are still loyal to Zhang Cheng, but they cannot accompany Zhang Cheng to continue to strive for a higher ideal.

For this group of people, Zhang Cheng will naturally find a suitable place for each of them, so that they can live in their old age and continue to be the guardians of their great cause.

Just like now, the servants of Yang Guozhu, the former chief soldier of Xuanfu, have been fully integrated into the Tiger Guards. However, Zhang Cheng has not yet spared the energy to fully integrate the servants into the Tiger Guards, so they still form an independent army. horse.

And Guo Yingxian's standard supervision battalion has also been integrated into the atmosphere of the Xuanfu Army. After all, the treatment is here. Even if the military rules and regulations in the Xuanfu Army are extremely strict, it is everyone's job.

Since ancient times, it has been a matter of course for soldiers to eat food, but it is also a matter of course for soldiers to abide by the rules of being a soldier. In fact, as long as they can manage food and pay regularly, the soldiers in the border towns of Ming Dynasty are not useless.

Don't you see, those Ming officers and soldiers can't fight the bandits, and they can't fight the Tartars, but once they are recruited by the bandits or the Tartars, they can fight the Ming army in turn, but they can beat both of them.

Zhang Cheng believes that what the rogues and Tartars can do, he can also do!
Although money and food are rare, it is not impossible. As long as you are willing to use your brain and be bold and careful, there are always various ways to make money and food.

What's more, I don't want to support the entire Ming government army in Xuanfu Town, I just need to raise the tens of thousands of soldiers who are loyal to me, and it will be enough to fly across the world and stand out from the crowd!

Just like Guo Yingxian, He Zhenxiong, Kuang Yongzhong, and Tang Xiancheng, the soldiers and horses under the command of Guo Yingxian, He Zhenxiong, Kuang Yongzhong, and Tang Xiancheng who had taken refuge in him before, cheered when they learned that they were going to settle their arrears.

It was like the voice of all Ming officials and soldiers!
Of course, although Zhang Cheng brought a lot of money to aid Liao this time, it was not enough to make up for the thousands of them who were owed wages, but even if it was only a part of the money, it was enough to make them excited.

You know, how many months have these big soldiers never seen silver?
After they received their salaries as they wished, thousands of generals and officials of hundreds of households in each battalion came to Zhang Cheng in groups one by one, bowed down and bowed down, expressing their willingness to follow and repay him with death.

Everyone knows that being a soldier is not a good place to go, it's like licking blood with a knife, and you may die on the battlefield at any time, and even the bones cannot be returned to the hometown for burial.

Therefore, these big soldiers are actually not afraid of death, but if they are allowed to sacrifice their lives in vain, their hearts will naturally be full of resentment, not to mention the morale of the army, and their combat effectiveness will definitely disappear.

But now Zhang Cheng promised them that he would make up for the previous salary arrears, and half of the salary would be cut off before the battle. The morale of the army was soaring, and everyone shouted: "I am willing to follow Grand Marshal Zhang to fight, and I am willing to die for Grand Marshal Zhang!"

"Man dies for money, bird dies for food!" This is an eternal truth.

After Yang Guozhu, the former general of the Xuan Mansion, took refuge in Zhang Cheng, in addition to the regular salary, he still had a full meal, and there was a meal of meat in three days, which was a treatment that only Yang Guozhu's family could enjoy before.

Therefore, under the stimulation of various changes, all the officers and soldiers of the Xuanfu army who had defected to the army wanted to repay their kindness and kill slaves bravely in front of the battle, so as to be worthy of the food and salary rewarded by Marshal Zhang.

"Kill the slave...kill the slave...kill the slave...kill..."

There were bursts of shouts in the army formation, and it was heard that several miles away, even the generals and soldiers of the Xuanfu army stationed up and down Huangtuling responded in unison.

After a long time, Zhang Cheng waved his hand to signal the soldiers to stop. He galloped out and galloped back and forth twice in front of the army formation. Then he reined in his horse and stood still in the middle, shouting loudly: "Masters of the army, the governor has an order. Our officers and men from the Xuanfu will go north to cross the Xiaoling River, and fight fiercely with the slaves under the city of Jinzhou."

"Slave killing... slave killing... slave killing..."

There was another high-pitched roar.

After all the soldiers shouted, Zhang Cheng shouted loudly again: "The ancestor commander in Jinzhou City has been guarding for more than a year, and now the firewood is cut off, and he is eating grains for food every day. His condition is very miserable.

We have been ordered by the emperor to assist Liao for several months. Now is the time for us to serve the country and drive out the Tartars. You will follow my commander to kill the slaves and be brave in front of the battle. You must not be cowardly or cowardly.

But those who are timid before the battle will not be forgiven immediately! "

"Kill the slave...kill the slave...kill..."

The soldiers roared loudly in response to Zhang Cheng's orders.

After a while, after the shouting stopped, Zhang Chengce pulled out the sword that was bestowed on his waist on the horse, and shouted: "The whole army moves out, the target is Xiaolinghe, and join the general king of Datong Town."

Holding up the sword in his hand, he shouted loudly: "Kill the slaves!"

"Kill the slave... kill... kill..."

Xuanfu Town's army of nearly [-] horses marched out one after another amidst roars. They headed north along the Xiaoling River, heading north to the Datong Town soldiers and horses stationed in the north, and the Xiaoling River went from west to south at the bend of the river.

…………

Looking at the army formation that was slowly advancing, there were teams of fine cavalry, rows of majestic infantry, and rows of mighty and domineering chariots. Together they formed the battle formation of the Xuanfu army.

Although thousands of steps of cycling are coordinated, they can be organized in an orderly manner.

The veteran Guo Yingxian led the cavalry of the Zhenbiao Battalion to advance forward, followed by Zhang Guodong led the infantry formed by the Chicheng Battalion soldiers, and finally the right part of the chariot led by Qian Zonggou Changsheng.

The most majestic formation is also the formation on the right of the chariots. Their two chariots form a horizontal row and march side by side. Each vertical row has [-] chariots, and each chariot is accompanied by [-] soldiers.

The formation of the entire car formation was actually much longer than the combined town of the Biao Battalion and the Chicheng Battalion.

These side-carriage chariots are slightly smaller than the luggage chariots, and the full load of the chariots weighs more than [-] catties. It takes two strong mules and horses to pull them forward, and each chariot is equipped with two portable Buddhas. Wolf machine gun, and loaded with corresponding guns, ammunition packs, lead bullets and other things.

In this way, a tank battalion with 120 tanks has [-] Francois cannons, which can provide continuous and powerful artillery support for the army.

And each chariot is equipped with 20 sergeants, they are divided into two teams of Zhengqi, and the regular team has ten people, namely the commander, deputy commander, batter, deputy battener, gunner, loader and so on.

The ten members of the Raiders Team are all gunners and killers with guns, sticks, knives and shields. Their duty is to protect the safety of the chariot. Of course, if necessary in wartime, they can also be deployed to the front to act as soldiers. for.

The Chariot Battalion has a total of 300 officers and troops, of which there are 600 soldiers in the Raiders, and there is also a cavalry team of nearly [-] people, which is the mobile force of the Chariot Battalion. use.

Therefore, the chariot battalion of the Xuanfu Army is not only able to form a formation to fire artillery, they can also attack as soldiers and fight passionately with the enemy.

Even for the soldiers of the Cheying Zhengbing, if all the guns of Frangji are fired, they can also go into battle to fight the enemy with guns, and even fight hand-to-hand with swords and spears. It is not difficult, although it cannot be compared with the infantry of the Chicheng Camp .

But it is not necessarily inferior to the infantry under the command of the general soldiers of other towns!

Zhang Dou followed Zhang Cheng on horseback, and said with a serious expression: "The governor is a little anxious for today's battle."

Hearing the words, Zhang Ruoqi looked thoughtful. Since Wang Chengen came, he had a tendency to be marginalized.

As for Hong Chengchou's military strategy, if Wang Cheng'en did not object, he would not be able to say much, so he stayed at Niangniang Temple to specialize in the transfer and supply of grain and grass.

But Zhang Cheng didn't care about Zhang Douzhi's words, he said with a smile: "Jinzhou's crisis is imminent, if we don't get rid of the siege as soon as possible, once Jinzhou falls, it will be difficult to do anything in the Liao affairs, and it will be a temporary thing to help the Liao kings. laughing stock."

He finally said: "This time crossing Hebei to attack the slaves is really a last resort. The governor also has no choice, so he will take risks and take advantage of the departure of the slave chief Hong Tai, and the Tartars will suffer repeated setbacks." , and when the morale of the army is not there, strive to break the brocade siege with one battle."

Zhang Cheng stopped his horse, looked at the marching army, and said: "The matter has come to this point, we can only fight hard, but only kill slaves bravely, even if we fail to break the siege, we will not be defeated!"

(End of this chapter)