"How could it be defeated so miserably? Isn't it said that the official army only has thousands of cavalry? You have more than 10,000 people, and you are fighting in formation, and there are also cavalry sieges to mount the two wings. How could they be destroyed so quickly!"

After Li Dingguo and Bai Wenxuan hurriedly gathered up the remaining soldiers who had collapsed from Jiao Guangqi's troops, they immediately began to doubt their lives.

In order to learn from the lessons as soon as possible and figure out the situation, Li Dingguo did not care about the chores of reorganizing the defeated soldiers himself, but just handed over these daily tasks to the pioneer Pan Shirong for handling.

He himself discussed urgently with Bai Wenxuan and carefully interrogated the retreating generals.

Because Jiao Guangqi had been shot dead by the official army, among the officers who came back alive, the highest rank was only a few brigades. Li Dingguo had to talk to these middle-level officers in person.

(Note: In Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong's army, the general of the division was the chief brigade, and then the chief brigade was the chief brigade. The dead Jiao Guangqi was the chief brigade, which was equivalent to the guerrilla of the Ming army, the chief brigade was equivalent to the garrison, and the chief brigade was equivalent to the Qianzong)

In order to shirk responsibility, a group of brigades naturally tried their best to describe the sharp equipment of the official army: "Second General! It's not that we are not waiting to fight to the death, but the official army is really well-armed and armed. When our muskets and bows were shot up, no one of them was killed!

However, the official cavalry had a kind of horse-fire gun that they had never seen before. The cavalry could charge and fire while firing, and even fired twice in a row with five or six steps ahead! They hit our army's gun array so badly that they took the opportunity to kill!

Except for some soldiers who were temporarily equipped with big wooden shields, no one could withstand such bombardment. Even the old battalion brothers in the front row who were wearing cotton armor were originally the backbone of the army, and they were all shot dead!"

Li Dingguo heard that one person had two big shots, but he quickly summarized several key points for the government troops to win a great victory.

He felt that the existence of this kind of "master musket" was incredible, so he asked more details and confirmed several characteristics such as "In order to cooperate with the use of the horse's back, the official army cut the barrel a lot and had two tubes."

As for the technical feature of "this musket is loaded from the back", Li Dingguo of course couldn't ask. His troops did not seize the physical objects. During the bloody battles on the battlefield, who could see these details clearly from a distance?

Li Dingguo thought to himself: "It seems that the Shen Shuren has improved the original three-eyed gun of the official army and reduced one pipe, but it is at least longer than the three-eyed gun barrel.

But the three-eyed gun should have been fired three times and cannot be reloaded on the horse's back. It seems that the government army has other secret methods, which can at least ensure that it reloads on the horse's back."

However, he was still a little unbelievable about the government army's victory by relying solely on the sharp firearms, so he asked more questions carefully, mainly focusing on the morale, military discipline, and subsequent melee combat performances. He asked very carefully.

Several brigades also said it all, and soon pieced together a review of the real situation on the battlefield.

Li Dingguo was also considered a bit talented and potential for famous generals. He closed his eyes and thought about it. He could imagine the scene. Then he sighed: "I heard that you said, these cavalrymen are not as trained by soldiers recruited locally in Huguang.

I am not afraid of being able to fight. I charge until the first five steps away from the spear array and have time to open the musket and change the saber to kill. After rushing, I still enforce the orders, and it is not too dispersed and confused. I am afraid that the Guanning Iron Cavalry can do this."

Hearing him say this, a Shaanxi brigade who worked in the Ming army more than ten years ago and later became a bandit, couldn't help but echo: "The second general said so well! The last general didn't expect that after you said this, these cavalry really have the shadow of Ning Tieqi!

In the second year of Chongzhen, the last general was still in the official army and followed him to the capital to fight Huang Taiji who was locked from Jimen, which was the time when Yuan Chonghuan was cut. At that time, he had seen the cavalry of the Guanning Army hedge against the Tartars, and this was this momentum!"

After this confirmation, Li Dingguo's expression became more and more serious:

"How come the Guanning Army appeared in Huguang? Or is Chen Shuren really a genius who trains troops? Forget it, since things have happened, the most urgent task at the moment is to be careful.

Wenxuan, immediately ask the soldiers to step up camp, strengthen the fortifications of the city, and send more soldiers to cut down wood, and build more giant shields.

According to them, this new type of musket of the official army should not be far away, and can only be within twenty or thirty steps or even closer, so that it has terrifying lethality.

The iron-scraped cotton armor may not have no defensive effect. After all, the proportion of soldiers with cotton armor comes back alive is much higher. Those who die with cotton armor are probably damaged.

Immediately ask the army to find a way to sew the cloth silk thread they snatched along the way, fix and sew the iron letters again, and tell the soldiers that if they sew it, they might save their lives on the battlefield!"

The iron armor plates are missing, and the defense effect of the sabre and axe cracking is not very important, because the attack surface is very wide and the knife marks are dragged very long. Even if some armor plates are missing, the armor plates next to it can still share the attack kinetic energy.

However, to prevent gun spear from stabbing, when the arrow is missing, the musket is fired, if you are not lucky, just hit the gap, and the missing steel armor piece is very fatal.

The thief had been rushing for a long distance and had not had time to rest and replenish supplies. Now all the consequences have emerged.

Li Dingguo had no choice but to deal with the moves and try to plug the leaks as quickly as possible within the scope of his ability.

After arranging these tactical deployments, all the brigade-level generals also retreated one after another, and they were all busy with their own tasks. Only Li Dingguo and Bai Wenxuan were left in the big tent.

Bai Wenxuan was also frowning and waited until there was no one else to speak: "Do you really have to attack Baling? The reinforcements of the government army have arrived, and this news has been conveyed to everyone in the city's defenders. The government army is in full swing, so it is difficult to succeed."

Li Dingguo's face turned pale, but his expression was firm: "I know I can't take it anymore, but I must act in a tough position and pretend to continue to attack. As long as we siege the city and camps are firmly tied, the government army will not be able to attack the camp by cavalry.

Their short-barrel muskets are probably short and fast, but their range is close, so they are useless when attacking and defending cities and camps. If they don’t fight against the official cavalry in the field, they will not be able to play out! They can be delayed for three or five days or even longer!

Now our army cannot retreat. I don’t know where my father has been, but calculating the days, he should have captured the entire Changde Prefecture, including the prefecture in Wuling County, which should not be difficult for him.

Now maybe it is leaving the Yuanshui River and crossing Dongting Lake to attack Changsha. If our army relaxes in Baling now, what will happen? The official army is coming against the Yangtze River. The main force of Chen Shuren's rear army must have elite warships! With Chen Shuren's wealth, maybe there are red cannons on the warships!

If my father was intercepted and killed by the official fleet on the lake when he was crossing Dongting Lake, our army was temporarily searched for rafts and boats from the upper reaches of Yuezhou and Changde, but the official army had warships, wouldn't it be a disaster!

Therefore, we must block the mouth of Dongting Lake for a few days. We must not let our father's main force be intercepted by the official army halfway through the Dongting Lake! Even if we suffer heavy losses, we cannot give up!

Of course, I will report the decline here to my father as soon as possible and strive to contact him. If the father has not crossed over half of Dongting Lake and is willing to retreat, it is best. If he has already crossed halfway, retreating will only be even more dangerous, and we must defend ourselves!"

Li Dingguo's assessment of Zhang Xianzhong's main force was accurate. Although he had just touched the edge of Baling City, Zhang Xianzhong's side was very likely to have taken over the entire Changde territory.

This is not because Zhang Xianzhong has stronger combat effectiveness, but because Yuezhou Prefecture is located east of Dongting Lake, and it has to cross the lake mouth to attack. Changde Prefecture is located in the west of Huhu, so Zhang Xianzhong does not have to cross the lake, but can directly follow the Yuanshui River to attack the city.

After taking over the entire Changde territory, from the Yuan River to the Dongting Lake, sailing along the south bank of the lake to the entrance of the Xiangjiang River, Zhang Xianzhong was able to attack Changsha.

Everyone knows that whether it is Yuezhou or Changde, these are small bargaining chips that don’t have to compete for gains and losses in a city or a place. In the south of Huguang, the real place in the heart of Changsha.

If Changsha is taken down, it will shake the entire southern half of Huguang. The defenders of the other prefectures and counties of the Ming army may be frightened and be shaken directly.

...

Li Dingguo is quite smart, and his strategic decisions are not included. Moreover, in order to deceive the official army, he also adapted to some tricks in the future.

For example, he asked the troops to display their flags and set up multiple stoves in the camp. Even if it was a fake stove, they would just dig some soil pits and piled up the digging soil next to the pit. In fact, they could not cook, so it didn't matter.

When it was time for dinner, Li Dingguo asked the soldiers who cut wood and snatched the shield to divide some wood and set fire to the pits. He also tried to choose wet wood and wet wood, and even directly burned branches with green leaves. The black smoke became more and more thicker when burned, and it became more obvious when observed from a distance.

This pile of bluffing flags and pretending to add stoves really made Liu Shunchen, Zhu Wenzhen and Zuo Zixiong who arrived that afternoon were deceived into it.

Looking at the camp, hundreds of large stove smoke pillars were cooking for a long time. At first glance, I really thought there were 100,000 soldiers.

Finally, Li Dingguo even took the banner of Zhang Xianzhong himself, and went to Baling City to show off his might and attacked again, and shouted again, "I just real, real, and just boosted the morale of the defenders, and then slightly hit the defenses."

Because the intelligence obtained by the official army was also very hasty, I didn’t know where Zhang Xianzhong’s main force was. Every time Li Dingguo and Zhang Xianzhong arrived, they pretended to be the main force, which could scare more defenders.

However, Li Dingguo did not do so much, so he directly pretended to be Zhang Xianzhong himself in front of the battlefield, and at most he only used the banner of Zhang Xianzhong.

Bai Wenxuan was also a little scared of this kind of overbearing operation, and even advised Li Dingguo privately: "The second general, other suspicious military strategy is easy to talk about. This is a direct act of pretending to be a king... I am afraid that if someone is interested in the future, it will be very unfavorable to you!"

Li Dingguo also knew this, but he had no choice:

"I am also trying to protect my father. I am urgently following the power, so that the whole army can safely cross Dongting Lake to buy time! If the official army knows that the father is not here and does not misjudge the main target of our army to Baling, then they will definitely step up the attack and will not waste time with us!"

Bai Wenxuan sighed: "Second General, we naturally know your loyalty and filial piety to the king. I am afraid that outsiders will not think so. Forget it, since you have done it, let's fight hard."

...

The first day of the battle between the official army and the bandits ended in a strange silence. The first batch of people arrived before noon were only two thousand cavalry of Zhu Wenzhen, and in the afternoon, they successively arrived at 12,000 people led by Zuo Zixiong, accounting for about half of the people in Wuchang Camp.

Zuo Zixiong is not known for his IQ, and he can't see through these tricks. Seeing that Baling City temporarily resolved the crisis of being broken, he also needed to let the troops who had been driven by 500 miles of water to rest and rest for a night, and it was impossible to launch an attack in the evening.

After Zhu Wenzhen reported the results of the battle to him, he asked Chen Futai when he arrived, but Zuo Zixiong told him that it would take about two days, and if it was slower, it might be three days.

"The order given to us by Lord Futai is to use the vanguard to ensure that Baling is not lost, Dongting Lake mouth is not lost, and to maintain the waterway for the rear army.

The Lord Futai was busy with all his life, and Wuchang's confidant place could not draw all the troops at once. Therefore, he asked Zhang Futai (Zhang Huangyan) from Huangzhou on the other side to immediately bring some Huangzhou soldiers to Wuchang to take over. The internal affairs during the war were also temporarily handled by Zhang Futai, and then Shen Futai could personally supervise the remaining Wuchang camp's central army to help."

Tens of thousands of troops are not a game. It is impossible for all 30,000 troops to be transferred in one place at once, otherwise there will be chaos in your base nest.

Chen Shuren was able to gradually transfer the 30,000 troops in two or three days to get the front line, and he had already responded very quickly. Sima Yi took eight days to go from Wancheng to Shangyong (Nanyang to Yunyang).

Therefore, in the following two days, Zuo Zixiong and Li Dingguo also experienced some small-scale frictions and attacks. The bandits took a defensive stance, and the fight between the two sides was fierce.

But because the bandits could rely on camp fortifications, the short-barrel cavalry of the government army did not find any good opportunities to play with their muskets.

In addition to Li Dingguo's combat effectiveness and command ability, it is far from comparable to Jiao Guangqi, who is a mere commander. Jiao Guangqi's miserable defeat that day was also related to his troops marching for a long time, camping, and not being able to rest and eat after hard work, and lack of energy.

Li Dingguo can now wait for his leisure, but he will be on the defensive side and temporarily adjust and upgrade the equipment.

Zuo Zixiong did not want too many casualties in his soldiers. At the same time, his number of troops was not as good as Li Dingguo after all, and he was deceived by the opponent's deception tactics. He thought that the opponent was actually the main force, so he chose to bring in the Red Barbarian Cannons, directly bombard the bandits' camp, and then use a musket team to suppress the formation.

Li Dingguo gritted his teeth and was unilaterally bombarded for a day and a half. During this period, he only tried to fight back in a single digit number of Folang aircraft. The morale of the soldiers in the camp was scattered. Although only a few hundred people were killed by directly blowing to death every day, the bomb was seriously injured and more were killed, but this kind of combat pattern that was beaten and had no choice but to fight back was too bad.

In fact, this was also the experience of Li Zicheng on the battlefield in Henan during the same period under Kaifeng City. As the capital of Henan, Kaifeng was strong and there were many red barbarians in the defenders. Li Zicheng's army was bombarded to death by the long-term attack on the defenders, and his morale was low.

One and a half later, early on June 13th, Chen Shuren himself finally arrived at Chenglingji with another 15,000 troops.

At this point, the total number of Chen's army on the front line of Chenglingji has approached 30,000. In addition, Liu Shunchen sent by Fang Kongzhao has reached nearly 35,000.

The opposite Li Dingguo lost thousands of troops after Jiao Guangqi's defeat, and the casualties were extremely severe. The total size of troops was reduced to 25,000. Before the arrival of the Shen Shu people, Li Dingguo's soldiers could barely be more than Zuo Zixiong, but now it has completely reversed.

Moreover, during the two days after Zuo Zixiong fought against him and tentatively attacked the camp, Li Dingguo killed at least one or two thousand people, and more disabled people. Most of the ordinary soldiers were nervous and glared by the repeated roar of heavy artillery.

After Chen Shuren arrived at the front line, he immediately summoned the generals to learn about the battle situation.

When he learned that Zuo Zixiong had reported that the opposite side might be Zhang Xianzhong's main force. When Zhang Ni's entire army was preparing to attack Yuezhou Prefecture, Chen Shuren immediately showed a look of disbelief.

This is not only because his IQ is higher than Zuo Zixiong, but also because as a later generation, his cognition of the geographical understanding of the southern part of Huguang and the importance of various places is obviously different from those of the Ming Dynasty.

Later generations Hunan was built in a separate province. Even kindergarten children knew that the most important thing in Hunan was Changsha. What is Yueyang in comparison?

Zhang Xianzhong spent so much effort to kill Shizhouwei, Yongshun Xuanwei Office, and entered the Hunan Plain to seize Yueyang? Isn’t this absurd!

"There must be a fraud, let's find out the recent situation of the enemy camp! All the generals went to the central army's tent and participated in the military agreement! Also, have you tried to break through the blockade line of the thief army and go south to contact the prefectures further south? Do you only focus on the main force of the enemy when you are in war?"
Chapter completed!