Crazy at the end of the Ming Dynasty

"Master Li! The formation of the bandit army is very tight. If we attack from the front, the casualties must be heavy. And they put on a tortoise's appearance and will not attack us. Also, large The bandit army cavalry activities, so I think it is a trap! It is better to report to the adults first."

Huhou Town drove nearly ten miles away from the preset position of the Peasant Army, and stopped to set up a camp.Li Sanhe's cavalry kept looking around, trying to understand the deployment of the Peasant Army's troops.Later, it was discovered that the Peasant Army had come prepared, so the two sides had been confronting each other for five days.

"Of course I have to report this situation to my uncle! But what do you want my uncle to do?" Xue Yongli was still a little angry when Li Sanhe questioned his command.But it's well concealed, so it can't be seen from the expression and tone.

"Either send reinforcements; or transport the newly built big ones. As long as those heavy artillery have a long range and bite bit by bit, one day they will clean up the positions of the bandits. .” Li Sanhe suggested.

What Li Sanhe said was the correct response, so Xue Yongli couldn't say anything wrong, but he still couldn't help but sarcastically said, "Everyone knows your method, why do you want my uncle to do it? We can send any regiment leader here to do it.”

Hearing that Xue Yongli was a little angry, He Fei who was on the side hurriedly said: "Master Li! Then let's find a way to bypass the bandit army in front of us and attack Xiangyang."

"Is there no bandit army defending the city in Xiangyang? If we want to sneak attack, we must be fast. How can we carry the siege tools? Besides, we didn't bring any siege tools with us this time. Also, the bandits on both sides The cavalry will not eat dry food! Seeing us attacking Xiangyang, they will definitely rescue. Maybe our army will fall into the situation of being attacked from the front and rear, so your method is too risky." Xue Yongli immediately rejected He Fei's suggestion.

Hearing that their suggestions were rejected one by one, all the officers fell silent.All the officers could see that Xue Yongli was in a bad mood, so no one was willing to touch Xue Yongli's bad luck at this time.

But those officers didn't know that it wasn't Xue Yongli who wanted to embarrass everyone, but only Xue Yongli knew the real purpose of this battle.

In the eyes of ordinary people, this battle with the peasant army is either to defeat the peasant army or to recover Xiangyang City.There is no other purpose at all, so the combat plan of the Peasant Army is also formulated based on this military purpose.

But only Xue Yongli knew Wu Shigong's real purpose: Wu Shigong wanted to weaken the main force of the peasant army, so as to achieve a balance with the Ming army.But it can't be weakened too much.Otherwise, it would be unbalanced again.

Therefore, the Runing Army will definitely fight the Peasant Army.But what is to be fought is a war of defeat, not a war of annihilation.Only in this way will the purpose of combat be achieved.In addition, a frontal battle is not advisable.The Runing Army wanted to weaken the strength of the Peasant Army, not to consume their own capital.Therefore, it is definitely not possible to fight a tough battle with the peasant army.But to fight skillfully.

In addition, the Runing Army will divide a part of the peasant army and drive them to the Dabie Mountains area, and let them unite with the remnants of the peasant army, so that the peasant army will wreak havoc in the southern Zhili and Jiangnan areas.

Why is this?Because in this time and space, because of the obstruction of the Runing Army.The Peasant Army had no way to wreak havoc in Anhui and other southern Zhili areas, which also made the main force of the Ming Army in Nanjing Jingying quite well preserved.Wu Shigong just wants to let the two sides fight each other, resulting in a situation where both sides will suffer, so it is best to take advantage of the opportunity to make a fool out of the fire.

From this point of view.The current Runing Army does not have many choices.It is impossible to attack the main force of the peasant army that has been prepared head-on, and there is no need to attack the old, weak, women and children of the peasant army, and there is no need to sneak attack Xiangyang.Not even able to retreat.Therefore, the current situation of the Runing Army is somewhat difficult.

And Xue Yongli himself is not willing to return without success like this.As the No. [-] figure in the Runing Army, Xue Yongli didn't have many opportunities to lead the army alone. Finally, when he had such an opportunity, he wanted to complete the battle plan beautifully.So even asking Wu Shigong for help, he has a lot of resentment.

So Xue Yongli's initial battle plan was: get close to the peasant army's position; then build a strong camp; repeatedly provoke the peasant army to attack; Drive part of the peasant army eastward to the Dabie Mountains.

But obviously, after five days of confrontation, everyone in the Runing Army understood that the Peasant Army would not take the initiative to attack, and they were still guarding the camp, waiting for the Runing Army to attack actively.

"Tomorrow the whole army will move out of the camp! Set up camp after retreating ten miles." Xue Yongli ordered.Since it is impossible to fight head-on, the Runing Army must mobilize, so that the Peasant Army must also make corresponding movements.Xue Yongli was going to wait until there were flaws in the peasant army's movement, and the Runing army would go into battle again to make a final decision.

Therefore, the combat process of many military campaigns may be very short, but it takes a lot of time to test back and forth and mobilize each other.Often victory is decided during the preparation process.

The Runing Army is a little bit hard to ride a tiger, and the Peasant Army is also a little uncomfortable.With so many people stuck in one place, they can only consume without replenishing them every day. Although there is no shortage of supplies for the time being, it still makes the leaders of the peasant army a little upset.

In addition, the peasant army can't afford to waste time.If you continue to fight with the Runing army like this, and wait until the other Ming army outflanks, then the battle situation will gradually be at a disadvantage.At that time, the losses of the Peasant Army will definitely be quite large, so the current Peasant Army will also take the initiative to take action.

The leaders of the Peasant Army also knew that their combat intentions had been seen through by the Runing Army, so they got together again to discuss what to do.

"Since Butcher Wu doesn't dare to attack us, then we will act on our own. Anyway, neither side is at a disadvantage now. When we act, we should set up more ambushes as Brother Ma said. If Butcher Wu comes, we will give him another Some bitterness to eat." Said Liu Guoneng.

"What a joke!" Luo Rucai immediately objected, "How do we act? If we go separately, Butcher Wu can eat us piece by piece. But if we go together, how can we set up an ambush? We all know Butcher Wu uses soldiers these days. We are very cautious, so many spies have been sent around us, and even the cavalry we placed so far away have been detected by them. If we go together in a large group, without the barriers of those ditch walls, Butcher Wu's army is likely to overwhelm us Yes. At that time, which battalion of soldiers and horses do we have that can stop us?"

Luo Rucai's words immediately caused those leaders to think deeply. Although they have always called the Runing Army "official dogs", they have to admit that no battalion of peasant troops can stop the Runing Army's attack.So Zhang Xianzhong asked: "Do we have to go? Gather all our new recruits and let them attack Wu Butcher's army repeatedly. When we find an opportunity, our cavalry will attack Wu Butcher again."

Luo Rucai shook his head again: "It's okay to let those newcomers charge once or twice, but let them charge repeatedly under Butcher Wu's firearms? Even our old battalion can't do it. At that time, maybe we will all supervise the battle Can't help it, those newcomers will rush back and bite us! What if Butcher Wu takes the opportunity to rush over? It's hard to escape!"

"No matter what, we can't stay like this any longer." Ma Shouying, the old man, decided, "Since Butcher Wu won't fight, then let's fight. We can't let those newcomers eat for nothing if we bring them over overnight. Wait until tomorrow." Early in the morning, first set up our artillery, bombard Butcher Wu's camp, and then let those newcomers rush. I don't expect to defeat Butcher Wu, at least I want to beat him so badly that he will no longer dare to approach us. Otherwise If you don't, staying with us will always be a disaster!"

All the leaders of the peasant army nodded and agreed with Ma Shouying's decision.

However, in the early morning of the next day, they were surprised to find that the entire Runing army pulled out of the camp and retreated ten miles to the rear.This made the leaders of the peasant army breathe a sigh of relief.Although the retreat of the Runing Army broke the battle plan of the Peasant Army, but if the Runing Army really retreated, at least the immediate difficulty will be overcome, and the Peasant Army can also regain their freedom and roam around. up.

So on the one hand, the Peasant Army dispatched a large number of reconnaissance cavalry to scout the actions of the Runing Army; on the other hand, it also gathered troops to prepare for its own retreat.

But on the second day, the Runing Army approached another five miles, which suddenly made the leaders of the Peasant Army nervous again.

But on the third day, the Runing army retreated another ten miles; on the fourth day, they still approached five miles...After going back and forth like this, because the Runing Army was getting farther and farther away from the position of the Peasant Army, the leaders of the Peasant Army thought that they had seen through the mind of the Runing Army: they wanted to force the peasants when the Runing Army was retreating. The army dared not pursue it.

So the leaders of the Peasant Army gradually let go of their hearts. They withdrew some of the old battalion soldiers and horses from the position, and arranged for [-] cavalry to cover the retreat of the Peasant Army.Just prepare to cross the Han River when the Runing Army is far away, and the whole army will withdraw to Yunyang.

"It seems that our actions these days have worked." Xue Yongli said with a smile, "Sanhe! You lead a regiment of infantry and cavalry, and set off at midnight to attack the bandit camp. The rest of the troops eat before the cock crows, and then attack in the early morning Bandit army. Qin Zongbing! You just wait for the opportunity and quickly attack Xiangyang!"

"No!" The officers of the Runing Army commanded in unison.

This time, the Runing Army will show their well-trained night raids. (To be continued..)