Southern Ming Rebel Army

Chapter 303 Battle of Tianping Mountain (2)

Meng Jun had sufficient military strength and the advantage of the navy, but he felt that Zheng's infantry was useless and it would be a pity to abandon them, so Meng Jun decided to open up a second battlefield.

Meng Jun planned to send Zheng's navy to transport Zheng's army to land in Ezhou City or Wuchang City in order to threaten Duoduo's retreat and provide his own side with a good opportunity.

For this purpose, Meng Jun went to Zheng’s camp in person to meet with Zheng Chenggong.

Zheng Chenggong was surprised to see Meng Jun going deep into Zheng's army with only a team of personal guards.

As soon as Meng Jun saw Zheng Chenggong, he said bluntly: "Guo Xing, I intend to use my troops to fight Duoduo head-on, but the two armies are in a stalemate and the outcome is unclear. I would like to ask Guo Xing to send the navy to transport the infantry to land behind Duoduo, capture Ezhou City, and threaten Duoduo's retreat!"

When Zheng Chenggong heard that Meng Jun intended to transfer him away from the main battlefield, he felt a little dissatisfied and felt that Meng Jun was looking down on him.

Seeing Zheng Chenggong's unhappy expression, Meng Jun couldn't help but sigh in his heart. Fighting in an alliance could never be like fighting with one's own army. He didn't have the feeling of being able to use it as one's own arm.

After a while, Zheng Chenggong finally spoke: "I understand the King of Zhou's intention. In this case, I will first capture Ezhou, and then drive troops to the rear wing of the Tartars to attack them together!"

Meng Jun nodded, but still advised again and again: "The Qing army has a large number of cavalry. When the infantry lands, if the Qing cavalry attacks, remember to form a strict formation and use the navy's artillery for cover. Ezhou is too close to the Qing army camp. If there is no opportunity, you can also seize Wuchang."

Zheng Chenggong nodded expressionlessly, but it was unknown whether he thought the same as Meng Jun thought.

The main forces of Duoduo and Meng Jun were already very close, like bayonets on cannons. After the vanguard was dispatched, Meng Jun personally led Changlin Town, Wuning Town of Qian Biao's army, Guwu Town of Bai Yongfu's army, Pingdu Town of Wang Deren's army, Wuping Town of Wu Tiao's army, and the heavy armored army, a total of more than 70,000 soldiers, and left Daye City.

Daye City is not large, and although the chance of a Qing army raid is low, Meng Jun still left 4,000 soldiers garrisoned in the city.

…………

As the Zhou army moved, Duoduo also moved. As for the vanguard, Duoduo appointed Wu Sangui, the King of Pingxi, as the vanguard.

Wu Sangui felt bitter, but he still patted his chest and said loudly: "I am the vanguard and will definitely defeat the enemy's spirit."

As the successor of the Guanning Army, Wu Sangui had long been notorious, both before and after the opening of the gates of war. Wu Sangui, who was somewhat uncertain about his future, saw his ambition swell like a balloon under the instigation of Fang Guangchen.

Wu Sangui, who originally wanted to just slack off on the battlefield, was suddenly assigned by Duoduo to be a vanguard.

As soon as he left Duoduo's tent, Wu Sangui's face visibly fell. After Wu Sangui left, Bolo asked in confusion: "Your Majesty, why did you use Wu Sangui as the vanguard? When Wu Sangui left Hanzhong, he was dragging his feet. It was obvious that he was only trying to preserve his strength. Can he be attentive?"

Duoduo said nonchalantly: "Our King Pingxi is still capable of fighting, but he is a little too ambitious. Let him try first to see if his strength is enough to match his ambition!"

After hearing what Duoduo said, Bolo looked puzzled, but Duoduo did not explain.

After returning to his own camp, Wu Sangui immediately asked someone to find Fang Guangchen.

When Wu Sangui told Fang Guangchen about his decision to be the vanguard, Fang Guangchen pondered for a moment before slowly saying, "Your Highness, is this Prince Yu testing you? No, Your Highness has not done anything out of the ordinary. It is reasonable for you to be the vanguard. When the imperial court deploys troops, it mostly uses the Green Camp, then the Han Eight Banners, and finally the Manchu Eight Banners. From what I have seen, this decisive battle is different from the past. Prince Yu is also extremely cautious, fearing that the Green Camp is unusable, so he uses Your Highness's Liaodong Army."

Wu Sangui thought about it and felt that he had no problem, so he had to give up. Fang Guangchen advised again: "Your Highness, this time you are the vanguard, and you must use all your strength in the first battle. From now on, you must not fight recklessly!"

………………

forward.

There was a rustling sound in the air, a sound full of the texture of iron and blood. If I were to use a metaphor, it seemed like the sound of thousands of silkworms gnawing on mulberry leaves.

The two armies’ vanguards were about to make contact. At this moment, a scout came galloping over on his warhorse, “Urgent report, the Tartar vanguard is nearly ten miles away!”

The sound was like tearing cloth, rapid and sharp. The scouts were wearing light armor and riding fast horses. Their faces were covered in sweat and their eyes were flashing with anxiety.

Lin Shiqi's face suddenly became serious, and he quickly ordered: "Stop advancing, and the whole army will line up!"

Ningwu Town and Liang Sanhu's Wusheng Town were still arranged in the traditional cold weapon towns, but the Po Lu Army was different and formed several long and narrow lines.

Each queue is divided into five horizontal rows with a certain distance between them. Each horizontal row is divided into five columns from front to back. The musketeers in each row stand shoulder to shoulder.

To the left rear of Wusheng Town were Huang Cheng's 2,400-plus cavalrymen, and behind the formation of the Po Lu Army, countless auxiliary soldiers were digging up earth and rocks like ants, piling them up into small slopes and forming artillery positions. Although the artillery was heavy and the road was difficult to travel, no matter how great the difficulties were, with so many people, there was nothing that could not be moved.

About half an hour later, the vanguard formation of the Zhou army was formed, and Wu Sangui's troops began to appear on the horizon, first as a black dot, then growing larger and larger, covering the sky and the earth. Wu Sangui, with the cavalry as the pioneer, arrived at the battlefield first to observe the situation of the Zhou army.

There were more than 10,000 cavalrymen, and the sound of horses neighing was endless. Lin Shiqi looked at the horses and said to the deputy commander Song Wuque with some greed: "So many horses, what a pity!"

Song Wuque smiled upon hearing this and said, "Tongzhen was also in the Guanning Army in the past. Maybe there are old friends of Tongzhen on the other side."

After hearing this, Lin Shiqi cursed: "You framed me, you old friend!"

Wu Sangui on the opposite side was also observing the vanguard of Zhou army. The formation of the Zhou army on the opposite side had thick wings, and the formation in the middle was like a long snake, and the depth was too thin.

The terrain where the two armies came into contact was surrounded by mountains on the right. The Qing army had a large number of cavalry. If they were on the vast plains in the north, they could use cavalry to attack infantry. There were many ways to fight, whether it was siege, harassment, or cutting off their food supply, and then taking advantage of the infantry's slackness to advance in one fell swoop.

But now we are fighting in the south. Although the Huguang area is not as densely covered with water networks as the south of the Yangtze River, it has numerous mountains and lakes.

Wu Sangui was a little conflicted. On the one hand, he wanted to use cavalry to go around the rear, and on the other hand, he wanted to attack the thin line in front of Zhou's army.

At this time, the deputy general He Jinzhong stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, the cavalry will go around the rear. There is a cavalry group behind the enemy's left. It seems that there are not many cavalry, but it is enough to tie us down. Why not charge the enemy's center and try."

Wu Sangui frowned and stared at the opposite side carefully. After a while, he said, "The enemy has cannons behind them, and the soldiers in the middle should be musketeers. We can fire at them with cannons and muskets. We may not be able to break through with just the infantry."

"How about letting the cavalry charge for a while?"

Hearing this, Wu Sangui was furious and cursed: "What nonsense! How can you throw away such precious cavalry in the battle?"

There is a great chance that the cavalry will charge forward, but Wu Sangui knows with his butt that there will be huge losses, which will make his heart bleed.