I want to be emperor

Chapter 117
Chongzhen eight years on April 23rd.

More than 30 miles to the north of Nanyang City, a large-scale Ming army is slowly heading north.

Their northward speed was not fast, and it could even be said to be very slow.

Not only did they walk slowly, but also the distance between the various troops was very close during the process of advancing, scouts and cavalry were everywhere, and the Ming army, which was in charge of security and defense tasks outside, was always on high alert.

Because just a few kilometers to the north of them is Zhaozhuang, where the Township Protection Army is stationed.

What's more, right in the direction of their front right, there is always a cavalry of the rural protection army in gray uniforms staring at them.

Chen Yongfu was riding on the horse, looking at the looming gray cavalry in the distance, and at the same time said: "Let the cavalry on the right be careful, and we must not let them take advantage of the loopholes."

Just over an hour ago, the cavalry of the rural protection army on the opposite side took advantage of the loopholes in their cavalry and directly launched an attack.

At that time, these gray bandit troops rushed in from the gap in the outer defense, and shot at their own infantry who lacked the cover of their infantry. When their own cavalry arrived, the gray cavalry had already turned their horses. Head, pat your ass and leave.

The whole process took less than 10 minutes, and the time for the opponent's cavalry to rush forward and shoot bows and arrows was only a few tens of seconds.

However, in such a short period of time, these damn bandit cavalry caused at least dozens of casualties to our own side, and caused the collapse of our own infantry of hundreds of people...

If it weren't for the fact that our own army has a huge force of 7000 people, and there are more than 300 half-baked cavalry around.

It is estimated that the bold gray bandit cavalry on the opposite side would dare to commit a massacre.

After this attack, Chen Yongfu repeatedly ordered his own cavalry and the peripheral guard infantry to be more vigilant, and absolutely not let the bandit cavalry on the opposite side find an opening to come and shoot arrows.

As for the counterattack...

Chen Yongfu also wanted to, but couldn't do it!

The gray cavalry are all maneuvering on horseback. It is impossible for one's own infantry to catch up, and the cavalry who can catch up can't beat the opponent.
It's not that the cavalry under Chen Yongfu has never fought against this cavalry. The cavalry of both sides fought once a long time ago, and the cavalry under Chen Yongfu was defeated miserably.

And throughout the whole process, they were shot and flew kites by the opponent, and they didn't even have the chance to rush up and fight...

It was also the disastrous defeat of the cavalry battle that made Chen Yongfu completely change his attitude towards the rural protection army, and he has been stationed in Yangjiazhuang since then.

And when they were stationed in Yangjiazhuang, through continuous collection of news about the Township Protection Army and Luo Zhixue, they finally determined that the group of bandits from the Township Protection Army was unusual.

It's a pity that neither Hong Chengchou nor Xuan Mo counts as one, but none of the bosses at the top believed his words.

On the contrary, he firmly believes that Chen Yongfu is stealing and playing tricks, and wants to use a group of small thieves to delay time, so as to avoid a deadly confrontation with the main force of the thieves.

This made Chen Yongfu quite helpless...

Chen Yongfu was also very cautious when he sent troops out of desperation.

From Yangjiazhuang to Zhaozhuang, the total distance is only [-] miles, but according to Chen Yongfu's plan, it will take two days to slowly go north.

It is not impossible to run there in one day, but it is very likely to be attacked by bandit cavalry many times on the way.

Even if they ran over, it would take a lot of time and consume a lot of physical energy of the soldiers, and they would not even have time to set up camp when they passed.

At that time, the bandit army will come to attack the camp at night, and the whole army will collapse in minutes.

Therefore, Chen Yongfu intends to take his time.

In this way, the tight formation was maintained, and even a part of the troops kept advancing slowly in the battle formation.

Anyway, the thieves will not leave in Zhaozhuang, and it doesn't matter if they arrive sooner or later.

If the thieves ran away, then Chen Yongfu was even happier, so that he could give Hong Chengchou an explanation without beating him, and then he went to Lu's family in a hurry.

As for these bandits who fled north and then entered Funiu Mountain, or even crossed Funiu Mountain and then went to Lushan County, then don't care about his business.

If Luo Zhixue knew what Chen Yongfu was thinking and the content of the correspondence between Chen Yongfu and Hong Chengchou, maybe Luo Zhixue would seriously consider giving Chen Yongfu face and retreating first, and then go south after Chen Yongfu led his troops to Lu's.

Come to a hello, me, hello, everyone!

Unfortunately, Luo Zhixue didn't know!

According to Luo Zhixue's judgment, once he led the rural protection army to retreat, these Ming troops would chase northward all the way.

Funiu Mountain and the others probably won't come in, but the officers and soldiers are very likely to station troops in Li Qingdian, and together with Lushan County in the north, they will attack from north to south, completely blocking the way out of the mountain for the rural protection army.

In addition, there is a very important point that the rural protection army has been going south for more than a month. In the past month or so, it has gradually controlled some rural areas in Nanyang Prefecture, and even urgently established the Liqingdian Arsenal in Liqingdian .

It can be said that the current area of ​​Nanzhao County has become the most important control area of ​​the Rural Protection Army. The Rural Protection Army not only obtains money, food and human resources from it, but more importantly, Li Qingdian has begun to provide most of the resources for the Rural Protection Army. ordnance.

Once the rural protection army retreats, the loss will be great.

Under such circumstances, the Township Protection Army could not back down.

Since Chen Yongfu chose to go north, the two sides have done a game!
When both sides have reasons why they cannot back down, then a war is inevitable.

On April 23, Chen Yongfu led his army to slowly march northward. During this period, King Blind, the king of the rural protection army, led cavalry to attack Chen Yongfu's troops many times, and fought against Chen Yongfu's half-baked cavalry again.

Wang Xiazi's repeated attacks killed at least hundreds of people under Chen Yongfu's troops.

However, the loss of more than a hundred people is nothing to Chen Yongfu's 7000-strong army, so even if he was harassed by cavalry along the way, Chen Yongfu still led the army to continue northward.

The next day, that is, at noon on April 24, a forward force of more than 2000 under Chen Yongfu had approached Zhaozhuang for about two kilometers, and began to build a camp here relying on a stream and low mountains.

At the same time, a large number of Ming troops are arriving one after another.

Three hours later, all the Ming troops arrived and camped in the temporary camp.

At this time, Wang Xiazi also led the cavalry back to Zhaozhuang, and reported to Luo Zhixue the situation of the two-day battle.

Luo Zhixue couldn't help but become more cautious after learning that Chen Yongfu's troops were still determined to go north despite the many attacks by his own cavalry that killed and injured more than a hundred people in two days.

This Chen Yongfu wants to play for real!

After listening to the report, Luo Zhixue turned his head to look at An Yongduo: "When will Wang Dazhuang and the others arrive?"

Ernst & Young said: "It is expected to arrive at noon tomorrow."

Luo Zhixue: "Let Wang Dazhuang not only arrive on time, but also ensure the physical fitness of the soldiers, so that they can go up and fight when they arrive at the place!"

"Looking at the posture of the other side, I'm afraid they're going to call tomorrow, and he can just catch up when he comes over at noon."

Ernst and Young said: "This subordinate understands, so I will send someone to deliver a letter."

In the afternoon and evening of that day, both sides did not move much, and the calm was outrageous, but everyone knew that this was the last calm before the war.

Sure enough, in the early morning of the next day, the sky had just dawned, and smoke was already rising from the Ming army camp opposite, and it was around seven o'clock in the morning.

Already, a large number of Ming troops came out of the camp one after another.

Watching the other side begin to form a battalion, Zhang Malin, the director of artillery and the first artillery sentinel, said: "It's a pity, if they narrow the camp to within two miles, then when they come out to form, we will be right there. Long-distance bombardment is possible."

Dai Hongxuan, the deputy chief of the first artillery post under him, also nodded and said: "Yes, the other side is too careful, and the camp is built four miles away when the battle is approaching..."

Huang Dingquan, commander of the First Infantry Battalion, who was listening to the conversation between the two artillery officers, looked at them!
That look is like looking at a fool.

Two idiots who can only shoot cannons, it's okay to be stupid, but they think the enemy is also stupid...

Both the enemy and us have been confronting each other in this area for more than half a month, and Chen Yongfu is not unaware that we have long artillery.

Knowing that their own side has long artillery, but still getting so close to the camp, isn't this going to come directly to die.

Chen Yongfu is not so stupid.

Perhaps seeing Huang Dingquan's contemptuous eyes, Zhang Malin felt a little upset.

They are all illiterate, the same group of honest people who joined the army, who do they look down on?

On the other side, Blind Wang was expressionless, standing beside Luo Zhixue who was concentrating on observing the situation of the enemy army.

Luo Zhixue beside him was wearing a navy blue officer's uniform, a black wool overcoat, and riding boots.

There was a one-handed waist knife hanging from his waist, and a pair of black leather gloves on both hands.

There is no hat on the head, but a big bald head directly exposed!

His attire was very conspicuous among a group of subordinates who either wore armor or old-fashioned gray military uniforms.

Because at present, Luo Zhixue's military uniform is navy blue, or made of woolen material.

As for the other generals, they still wore the same gray military uniforms as before.

It's not that Luo Zhixue doesn't allow them to wear it like this, it's just that the new navy blue uniforms for officers have just come out and haven't had time to mass-produce them.

So for the time being, only Luo Zhixue tried on this new navy blue military uniform by himself.

And even if there is a change of clothing in the future, we will not continue to use woolen materials. The main reason is that there are very few woolen materials, and there is no way to promote woolen military uniforms for the time being. We still have to continue to use traditional materials such as cotton and linen for production.

Luo Zhixue, who was wearing a new military uniform, and with big bald heads, actually looked almost the same as a modern general.

The only difference is that the military uniforms of later generations are double-breasted, while Luo Zhixue's regular uniform is still the traditional right lapel.

But if you look at it from the back or the side, then the image of Luo Zhixue is definitely a warlord leader at the end of the [-]th century and the beginning of the [-]th century!

(End of this chapter)