Daming kill

Chapter 232 The Shock Strikes
Since the entire north shore of Yuanhu Lake is completely flat within a few miles, and then there are mountainous areas, the four infantry battalions who sneaked out of Daye County chose to sit in a lake full of reeds after taking a boat to the east for a while. Disembarked and lurked down.

Li Ping's plan is both complicated and uncomplicated.

Afterwards, when the night was darker and the people were quieter, he would lead the army through the Ping area to the north into the mountainous area, and then secretly detoured along the mountain to two mountains that were about a few miles north of the root of the peninsula where Daye County was located. near the clipped road.

The defenders of the peasant army attacking Daye County were stationed there, and it was also the only way to retreat to Wuchang County within dozens of miles around.

Then, all Li Ping had to do was wait.

If all goes well, around Chou hour, a small detachment that was dispatched during the day and should have successfully mixed into the area where the main force of the Peasant Army is located at the root of the peninsula should start to ignite.

The members of this small team are mainly local villagers in Daye County. Their task is to get as close as possible to Zhang Xianzhong's residence and light a fire as a sign.

According to many definite intelligence reports, in order to demonstrate the kindness of the new regime and to prevent the people of Daye County from being forced into a desperate situation where they had to fight desperately, the peasant army that attacked Daye County did not force the local people to attack the city, and did not force the local people to attack the city. A large number of people living along the lake outside Daye County, which would not hinder their siege, did not expel them, and they didn't even mind mixing with the people.

In addition, the Peasant Army engulfed many people from Wuchang County and Jiangxia County (Wuchang City) to attack the city and serve in the army.

This made it possible for a small team of locals to sneak into the main garrison area of ​​the peasant army through disguise, and very hopeful that it would be relatively close to the residence of Zhang Xianzhong, who was supervising the battle here.

Seeing the fire, Li Ping will first launch a night attack on the rear guard of the Peasant Army.

Then, the three cavalry companies with more than 500 cavalry who were previously hidden in the mountains in the northwest and secretly approached the right rear of the peasant army's main force tonight will also launch a surprise attack on the rear of the peasant army's main force and go straight to the ignition.

At the same time, all four companies of the [-]st Regiment and [-]st Battalion, which had just arrived at Tonglu Mountain on the west side of the peninsula from the homes of the suppressed local officials Ke and Chen, would immediately cross the river and launch an attack on the right wing of the Peasant Army.

That is to say, use the ignition as the sign, use the ignition as the direction guidance and correction at night, take the lead in attacking from the rear of the peasant army, link each other, build momentum, and strive to defeat or defeat the peasant army attacking Daye County through night attacks. Kill Zhang Xianzhong himself.

Although the plan seems simple, the variables are also great.

First of all, the four battalions led by Li Ping must complete a series of actions such as landing, entering the mountainous area, and secretly detouring to the enemy's rear guard within the set time and without attracting the enemy's attention. Destroy and join the attack on the main force of the peasant army in time.

This is the part with the heaviest task and the most variable, so Li Ping personally leads it, and Ma Lan assists him.

Then, it is not that simple to infiltrate and ignite the squad, even if there are many favorable conditions, it is very easy to fail. After all, Zhang Xianzhong has been in the battlefield for so many years and he is not a vegetarian.

Other links are also not easy, as there are many troops involved, there are naturally many accidents.

But this world is like this, what to be afraid of.

Although the four battalions led by Li Ping and the second regiment, which were dissatisfied with the formation due to long-term fighting, successfully disembarked under the cover of a tall reed, they found that the area of ​​the reed was not as large as imagined, and they could not hide all the more than 1000 soldiers. people.

Some officers and soldiers without firearms had to stand in the chest-deep water behind the reeds for a long time.

Fortunately, the enemy has never paid attention to this area, and it is summer at the same time, so it is not a problem for people to stay in the water for a long time.

But then another situation appeared. Everyone ignored the problem that there were too many mosquitoes in the reeds, which made the troops almost crazy, especially the gunpowder who carried gunpowder and couldn't hide more parts of their bodies in the water. bad luck.

Immediately afterwards, the team that went ashore to establish observation and vigilance stepped on the poisonous snake's nest in the black light and blind fire. Before the battle started, two people were directly reduced by non-combat.

Then, the lurking troops discovered that something was wrong with the peasant army tonight.

All the areas where the peasant army is stationed are abnormally brightly lit until very late at night, and there are even obviously many people walking back and forth and making noise, and there is even frequent flow of people between the stationed areas, which is very inconsistent with the peasants these days. The army has relatively strict camping habits at night.

But fortunately, there is no sign of large-scale troop mobilization, nor signs of strengthening security, but only chaos and noise.

But this also greatly delayed Li Ping's plan to sneak into the mountains through the Ping area, and directly affected the subsequent march in the mountains, which was not a short distance away.

During the long wait, Li Ping, who was so anxious and couldn't stay in the reed marsh for a long time, finally took the risk to start action before the peasant army fell asleep.

But it was still much later than the scheduled time.

Fortunately, the fire that was supposed to be lit was not lit, and the troops in other directions did not move.

In fact, at this time, a small team basically composed of locals had already successfully infiltrated into place, and due to the abnormal chaos of the peasant army, they also successfully mixed into a private house in a small village where the target point was located.

The two members of the team were originally villagers from this small village.

In other words, the squad really got close to Zhang Xianzhong's residence, but they didn't know that Zhang Xianzhong had already left at this time.

It turned out that the abnormal chaos of the peasant army was entirely caused by Zhang Xianzhong's departure and the news that he planned to withdraw the army tomorrow.

Since Zhang Xianzhong's troops were defeated in Qianshan at the end of last year, the source of the newly absorbed soldiers and horses that accounted for the main force is very complicated, and the discipline awareness and training level of the troops have always been at a low level.

With the addition of the Macheng New Battalion, which has a more complex composition and a larger force, Zhang Xianzhong relies more on prestige and favor than organization and training to maintain his troops. Very many.

The order to withdraw the troops and Zhang Xianzhong's order to go first made some generals who were beaten and lost their confidence immediately couldn't help passing on the news to clean up and prepare in advance.

Anyway, from tomorrow onwards, Sun Kewang will no longer control him, and he doesn't have to be so honest.

Although Sun Kewang knew that this was inappropriate, his prestige and reputation were not enough at this time, and the failure of presiding over the siege made his dissuasion even more powerless.

In fact, the real fame of Zhang Xianzhong's four adopted sons, including Li Rujing, came only after they entered Sichuan. Although they had some personal martial arts qualifications at this time, they were still not well-known in general, and their personal abilities were not yet mature enough. , The ability to control the troops is also weak.

Moreover, the adopted son is not his own son, and some heroes are always taking them in, so naturally they will not be taken seriously.

Sun Kewang was powerless to dissuade him, and more generals naturally followed up, which soon spread to the entire army, and eventually led to chaos in the entire army.

And this gave Li Ping a chance to fish in troubled waters for the local team sent by Li Ping.

But it was estimated that when the fire was about to be lit, an accident that no one expected happened. In order to ensure that the fire could be seen clearly by the lurking troops, the team planned to directly set the house on fire.

But the owner of the house firmly disagreed, and the family pleaded and cried.

Since the members of the team were basically fellow villagers in the same hometown as the owner, their hearts softened immediately. Not only did they hesitate and hesitate, but they even persuaded the only team leader who was not a local.

The squad leader was dumbfounded on the spot. He had been taught to be kind to the people, and he didn't know what to do.

In order to prevent accidents in the squad itself and the leak in advance, the members of the squad did not know the actions of the troops tonight. They only knew that they should get close to the enemy's head and light a big fire.

Moreover, except for the team leader, all the members of the squad were newly joined by Li Ping when Zhang Xianzhong attacked Daye County, and his sense of discipline had not been effectively established at all.

All of these caused the members of the squad to be ruthless.

But change the place and start the fire again. The peasant army that has already calmed down has begun to continue to enforce the strict night curfew. It is so easy to change places.

The result is that seeing that it is not far from dawn, the fire is still not lit.

At this time, Zhang Qing, who was hiding behind the right rear of the main force of the Peasant Army, was pacing nervously. He had already realized that there was something wrong with the squad.

The possibility of accidents in the small team has long been in Li Ping's consideration, and it must be in his consideration.

According to the backup plan, the cavalry should be launched first at this time, and the task is changed from going straight to the enemy's head to attacking the entire enemy rear, and other troops will enter the battle in turn according to the cavalry's mobilization.

But Zhang Qing was hesitating whether to launch it now.

He couldn't turn a blind eye to the chaos of the Peasant Army for a long time at night. He realized that the main force of the infantry led by Li Ping might not be able to arrive at the scheduled position on time. This was a problem that he should have anticipated as a general.

He felt that he should take a little longer, he was under a lot of pressure.

After another glance at the sky in the distance, Zhang Qing finally gritted his teeth and ordered: "Take off all the cotton covers on the horse's feet, and the whole army begins to charge."

……

Because he was in a bad mood and slept very late, Sun Kewang didn't sleep well.

Suddenly, he heard a lot of chaotic sounds from outside, and the ground seemed to be shaking slightly.

Sun Kewang instinctively jumped off the bed and ran out of the room to look around.

At this time, the horses neighing and shouts of killing behind the army began to be clearly discernible, and the rear guard on the northern mountain side was full of flames, and the right wing of the army seemed to be under attack.

"Zuo Liangyu's army is coming!"

This was the thought that came to Sun Kewang in an instant, and then the memory of being defeated by Zuo Liangyu several times and running away in embarrassment began to flood into his mind.

Sun Kewang had no idea that it was Li Ping who was attacking him.

Although the defenders in Daye County had carried out sneak attacks a few times, their strength was very small, and the purpose was to improve their defense. There could not be such a big movement, let alone a fatal threat.

In fact, not only Sun Kewang, but almost all the generals of the Peasant Army did not think that it was Li Ping who was attacking them, and most of them thought of Zuo Liangyu.

And that created even greater panic.

Whether it is Macheng Xinying or Zhang Xianzhong's direct descendants, they coincidentally all have unbearable memories of Zuo Liangyu without exception.

As for the great victory of Guangji a few days ago, they did not participate and could not fully distinguish the authenticity from the false.Besides, a victory means nothing!
Don't hesitate, if you don't run, you won't be in a hurry.

Sun Kewang made up his mind quickly, and then he grabbed hold of the soldiers who hurried in to report the military situation and shouted: "Hurry up! Find a horse! Let's go!"

……

Yuan Jixian, who had written the title all night and had just fallen asleep, almost rolled and climbed the city wall, and then stared dumbfounded at the complete chaos of the peasant army's camp in the distance.

Only then did Yuan Jixian know that Li Ping had left the city and was leading troops to attack at night.

Anxious, he immediately asked the calm-faced Zhou Wen to open the city gate and let the troops in the city go out to help in the battle, including himself.

But Zhou Wen rejected him mercilessly.

Yuan Jixian, who had to calm down, quickly understood the seriousness, and obediently stopped talking, just fidgeting and walking around the city wall.

The sky soon dawned, and the sound of fighting in the distance and the constant roar of the bird guns gradually became smaller and smaller, and the battle ended sooner than everyone imagined.

Numerous soldiers of the Peasant Army and the civilians they coerced were blocked on the peninsula in a panic because they wanted to avoid the killing from the north. Many even ran directly to the city of Daye County, and then they rushed one after another under the threat of artillery on the wall of Daye County. Put down your weapon and kneel all over the ground.

After repeated confirmations, Zhou Wen finally slowly opened the closed city gate until Zhang Qing's cavalry came back and forth to demonstrate to the peasant army several times.

When waiting in the city for a long time, the troops immediately rushed out of the city to clean up the peasant army who gave up resistance.

Yuan Jixian began to tremble with excitement.

Without waiting for the statistics, he already knew that this was an unprecedented victory, and he hurriedly ordered someone to stop the test book that he planned to send away this morning.

He has to rewrite it.

In the battle, more than 4000 of the 6000 peasant troops outside Daye County died, more than [-] were captured, and almost all the tens of thousands of people who were kidnapped and still alive were rescued.

Although Sun Kewang escaped immediately, Liu Wenxiu also dived and escaped because of his exceptionally good water skills, but Ai Nengqi, one of the four generals who was also Zhang Xianzhong's adopted son, was beheaded.

In addition to the nearly 5000 casualties of the Peasant Army's previous attack on Daye County, Zhang Xianzhong's total loss of troops in Daye County exceeded 5000, and all of them were elites, accounting for more than one-third of the total number of elites.

When the news came out, the entire banks of the Yangtze River from Wuchang to Nanjing were shaken.

Notes:

Regarding the fact that the villagers begged not to burn the house and failed to ignite the fire, we learned from a real example of our army during the War of Resistance Against Japan. At that time, many lurking troops had to start their own actions at dawn, but they were still successful.

(End of this chapter)