The bookish Li En could not understand the mentality of Wei Duan's troops, but fortunately, Wei Duan's troops were about to break camp and set off.
But before that, Wei Duan still had to wait for the last batch of baggage to arrive.
On the afternoon of August 6, this troop of approximately 3,000 people began to leave Tang County and began to go south along Guangyang Road.
However, Li En discovered that the team stopped leaving when they reached a hillside in Zhongren Pavilion. Not only that, Wei Duan also ordered the construction of trenches and fortifications on this slope, as if he wanted to garrison here.
Li En quickly went to find Wei Duan, but was told that this was what was written in the military newspaper.
Lu Zhi asked Wei Duan to lead his troops to the Zhongren Pavilion area to find a favorable position to garrison and wait for follow-up orders.
Li En was puzzled. Shouldn't Wei Duanbu continue to go south to support Dingting? What's the use of stationing troops here?
It wasn't until later that he overheard two local villagers chatting and learned that this slope was called "Lusheng Slope".
The slopes here have nine turns and eighteen bends. When local mountain people hunt deer, they often chase them here.
Therefore, people nearby also call this place "Lusheng Slope".
After Li En heard this, he was thoughtful. It seems that Master Lu is planning to fight here.
…
Li En is just one member of the Junzi Camp Command Cavalry, and different instructions like this are sent to all armies along with the officers and soldiers of the Junzi Camp.
Some of them received military orders to gather in Lunu, some were ordered to go south to Dingting to support Liu Zhi. Others, like Wei Duan, went to garrison in the area of Zhongrenting.
After receiving the military orders, these armies all set off with food and supplies. Carts of baggage vehicles loaded with fruits, vegetables, bean paste, and corn were pulled by the conscripted slaves and followed the flow of people southward.
The officers of the elite battalion of the Zhenbei Army all held swords and bows, wore brand-new crimson uniforms, and had decorative feathers on their helmets. They marched in high spirits in formation.
The officials who showed off their military force aroused the cheers of a group of homeless people nearby. They rushed to the hillside to look for the officials of the Zhenbei Army and wanted to join the army.
And these officials refused to refuse anyone who came, arranged these people into a battalion, and directly led the new soldiers southward without any training.
In addition to the elite battalions of the Zhenbei Army who went south, some local battalions of powerful tribes from the Zhongshan Kingdom also received orders to lead their troops south to defend their hometown.
These local tribesmen didn't know much. When the masters above gave orders, they naturally obeyed them.
But these local tribesmen are all natives, and many of them have families. Now that they have to go on an expedition, they have to say goodbye to their wives and children at home. Their lapels are wet with tears, and their hearts are broken.
Along the way, recruitment continued. Military officials from the Zhenbei Army shogunate rushed along the military road to urge them to speed up their march.
They got the news that the front group of Taishan bandits had left Xinshi. It was obvious that the battle of Dingting would start soon.
At this time, none of the Zhenbei Army troops had been able to reach Dingting.
The unit closest to Dingting is Han Heng's tribe.
Han Heng was a Han tycoon from generation to generation. He brought 600 people from his tribe and thousands from his clan into the Pass along with Lu Zhi. He was one of the leading figures among the heroes from generation to generation.
Han Heng's troops had a thousand soldiers and 200 cavalry. His troops had been stationed in Lishe in the south far away from Lu Nu, so they actually received Lu Zhi's military orders relatively late.
But because the tribe is a clan armed force and can gather quickly, it is not slow in setting off.
Originally, his troops were supposed to be the first reinforcements to arrive at Dingting, but because they were far away from Guangyang Road, they took a shortcut. This road passed through a dense mountain forest, so time was delayed.
Walking through the mountains and forests, Han Heng did not reach the Eight Mile Road in one day.
The situation was similar in other departments. It was already night after many troops received military orders from Junzi Camp. They were definitely not allowed to march at night, and if they wanted to leave, they could only leave the next day.
And when the troops started to pack up and set out during the day the next day, it was noon again. In this way, the troops could not walk for two hours, and it was dark again.
Therefore, Lu Zhi originally thought that all the troops could arrive at Dingting at the scheduled time, but in fact on August 6, not a single soldier could arrive.
On this day, the contact battle before the decisive battle in Hebei, the Battle of Dingting, broke out.
…
August 6th, morning.
The Han soldiers in Dingting had already gone to the nearby mountains and forests early to collect firewood. The cooks in the transport camp also began to set up large pots one after another, preparing to bury the stove for cooking.
It was quiet and peaceful.
Dingting is a typical military-style pavilion. In the past, it has been used as a defense post to detect theft and set up cards, so it has a certain defense function.
Later, Liu Zhi led 3,000 troops to Dingting and added trenches and antlers to the original pavilion barriers.
In fact, looking at Dingting alone, it is really not suitable for defense, because there is nothing dangerous here.
But the reason why Liu Zhi wanted to guard here was because it was a crossroads. Whether Taishan's army went north to Lunu or Gaitong followed Hejian, or Anping's troops came for reinforcements, they had to pass here.
Therefore, Dingting has such a prominent strategic advantage at this time.
From the lookout post where Liu Zhi was, we could see a straight Sanhe dirt road running through the north and south, extending to both sides. Then in the southeast, there was another dirt road, which was uneven but still suitable for horses.
Looking down from here, there is a dense forest to the west of him. It was also relying on the forest resources of this forest that Liu Zhibu established the defense of Dingting.
Liu Zhi ordered the five hundred Hejian cavalry who arrived to lurk there as his back-up force.
At this moment, Liu Zhi was still surveying the defense of the position on the watchtower, when a guard shouted from below:
"Mr. Lang, the brothers have prepared the rice. Is it ready to eat?"
Liu Zhi nodded and went down the ladder.
As he walked, he said to his companion:
"Dig the trench a little deeper on the east side. Although it is unlikely to be the enemy's main attack direction, there is nothing wrong with being careful."
The companion next to me must have remembered this and responded verbally, preparing to go after dinner.
But after walking a few steps, Liu Zhi looked at his companion with a puzzled look:
"Why are you here? Didn't I ask you to go to the east to supervise?"
Bandang did not dare to refute, lowered his head and ran towards the east.
Later, Liu Zhi pointed out several omissions in defense and asked someone to deal with them before he walked to the brothers' stove and sat down.
The majority of Liu Zhijun's army were all descendants and disciples of the Liu family in Zhongshan, almost all of them his own.
And unlike the powerful men in other places, the Liu family did not live in the city but lived together in the countryside. Because they worked together with their disciples, the relationship between them and their tribes was very close.
Not a family member, but still better than a father and son. It's just that this father only has power and does not need to fulfill his obligations.
But even so, the cohesion of Liu's tribe is not comparable to that of ordinary tyrants, not even the regular military.
After Liu Zhi ate a large pot of millet with the ordinary soldiers, he continued his inspection with his companions.
He always had a feeling that the Taishan Army had moved nearby.
But now, the reinforcements originally promised by Lu Zhi have not arrived yet, which makes Liu Zhi have a shadow in his heart.
After thinking about it, Liu Zhi asked his companions to make more flags and bluff.
At noon, reinforcements arrived, but they were not the Zhenbei Army, but local tycoons from the Hanchang area. Somehow they knew that the four soldiers of Zhongshan and Liu Dynasty were in Dingting, so they brought their tribe of country soldiers to join them for military glory.
By this time, the number of troops in Dingting had reached close to five thousand.
In order to avoid crowding, Liu Zhi deployed about a thousand troops in a manor in the south. It was an abandoned dock wall that could be used as an outpost.
Little did he know at this time that the most tragic afternoon in his life was about to come.
Everyone was leisurely enjoying the excessively quiet moment.
…
In fact, the Taishan Army should have arrived at this intersection in Dingting on August 6.
But Zhang Chong in the rear changed the original plan.
Zhang Chong's original plan was to intercept the return route of Youzhou's sudden cavalry, and then the whole army would go straight north to Lunu for a decisive battle with the Zhenbei Army.
The plan was originally executed smoothly, but with the combined efforts of Dong Fang and Zhang Dan, the Youzhou cavalry were defeated.
But this battle had two consequences.
One was the core generals of Youzhou's sudden cavalry who broke through the encirclement and did not return northward, but ran eastward to the Shenzhen area.
According to the speculations of Xun You and others, there is a high probability that this Youzhou cavalry united with the Hejian and Anping soldiers there. After the Taishan army moved out to Lunu, the hinterland of Zhongshan, its troops came to threaten the flanks and rear.
.
The second consequence is that due to the rain attack, Dong's inspection department suffered a huge attrition. Many officials fell ill and now can only recuperate in the Xinshi area.
In view of this, Zhang Chong decided to change the original battle plan.
He ordered Yang Mao, who had temporarily formed an army, to serve as the front army and march to the Dingting area to annihilate the Han army there.
The Sentinel Cavalry has detected intelligence that up to three thousand troops are stationed there. Even if the main force of the temporary army is local garrison troops, it is still easy to destroy this bandit.
As for Zhang Dan's 10,000-strong right army, Zhang Chong decided to let them attack Wuji, and then attack Hanchang, Anxi and other cities to build a defensive barrier on the right side of the army.
Under this situation, Zhang Dan was under considerable pressure because intelligence showed that there were not many Anping soldiers gathered in Hejian in the Anguo area.
In particular, Hejian, as a large county in Jizhou, had no war and could mobilize up to 20,000 troops. It was only because of the beggar-thy-neighbor mentality that these counties did not station troops in Anguo.
But Zhang Chong definitely wanted to guard against this strong Han army.
After such adjustments, Yang Mao set off first with 12,000 soldiers.
But two hours after Yang Mao set off, Zhang Chong received another sentry from the east.
When they saw the Hejian Army Corps originally stationed in Anguo setting off, they headed towards Hanchang in the west.
At this time, Zhang Chong decided to change his plan. He planned to let Yang Mao defeat the enemies in Dingting first, and then lead his army south to join Zhang Dan to encircle and annihilate the Han Army's Hejian Corps.
Therefore, Zhang Chong's soldiers took this military report and rushed towards Yang Mao's troops who had already set off.
This military newspaper read:
"The situation has changed. The Hejian Army suddenly advanced westward. I order your troops to quickly annihilate the Dingting bandits, and then go south to join Zhang Dan's Army to encircle and annihilate the Hejian Army."
This military order is precise and without objection.
So after Zhang Chong confirmed it, he let the soldiers set off.
An hour later, Yang Mao received the military report. After repeatedly confirming that it was correct, he asked his soldiers to send back a message.
That is, he discovered that judging from the number of flags, the Han army stationed in Dingting was not the three thousand as the intelligence said, but about twenty thousand, which was obviously the main force of the Han army.
So Yang Mao asked his soldiers to pass the news back, and then said he would wait for further news from the king.
Obviously, Yang Mao was deceived by Liu Zhi's plan and really regarded the enemy on the opposite side as his main force.
In this way, after receiving the news, the soldiers did not dare to delay. After changing horses, they galloped towards the base camp.
An hour later, Yang Mao received the military order again:
"The Qi troops are ordered to continue the attack. The Central Guard Army Cai Que has been ordered to support your troops."
Knowing that reinforcements were already on the way, Yang Mao was relieved and ordered an attack on Dingting.
Yang Mao's 12,000 men rushed into the battlefield in a long snake column.
Among them, the first to arrive outside Dingting South Outpost were the three battalions of Han Hao, Yang Chou, and Zhang Sheng from Hanoi Town; these three battalions were all costumed troops of about a thousand people, including infantry, cavalry, and archery, but their armor coverage rate was not high.
, less than 30%.
After the three battalions were deployed in front of the outpost wall, Li Fu's Tianxiong Army and Yan Gang's Tianwei Army came behind them. The two armies, a total of one thousand cavalry, moved out in a mighty manner, and then stopped in the dense forest.
outside.
Obviously, Generals Li Fu and Yan Gang felt that there might be an ambush hidden in this dense forest, so they took the lead in blocking it here.
After the cavalry moved out, three more garrison troops from Zhaojun Town, Weiguo Town, and Dongjun Town arrived on the battlefield. In the end, Yang Mao led three thousand elite soldiers to hold down the formation and stay behind.
At this time, Yang Mao's forehead was dripping with sweat. He took a sip of water and looked at the Han army's position at Dingting on the opposite side. He couldn't help but said to Chang Shi beside him:
"Can this damn place really lurk 20,000 Han troops?"
Yang Mao's long history was Old Man Taishan, and he was a little unsure at the moment. He was not sure either:
"This is indeed strange. This is not a strategic location. There is no need for the Han army to station its troops here. But when we think about the fact that there is a famous commander like Lu Zhi on the opposite side, there is definitely something we don't know."
After hearing this, Yang Mao suddenly remembered the military order sent from the base camp an hour ago.
The king said that the Han army in Hejian to the east has sent out troops, and he wants me to annihilate the enemies of Dingting as soon as possible. Does that mean that Lu Zhi wants to block the eastward passage of our troops, so he has left many troops here?
The more Yang Mao thought about it, the more he felt that this was quite possible.
Therefore, he decided to launch a tentative attack first to test the quality of the opponent.
Soon, the flags were waved and the military drums were flying.
After receiving the order from the Chinese army, the three generals Han Hao, Yang Chou and Zhang Sheng in Hanoi Town responded to the flag one after another to show that they had received the order.
On the afternoon of August 6th, it was extremely hot.
As if to make up for the heat lost due to heavy rain in the past few days, this day was much hotter than before.
Just standing under the sun for a while, the linings of the guards in Hanoi Town were soaked through.
And those armored soldiers who had put on armor were even more uncomfortable, as if they were stuffed in a jar and suffocated.
And damn, there is no wind at all today. I really envy those cavalry, they can gallop and at least feel comfortable.
While these soldiers were thinking wildly, the war drum finally sounded in anticipation of everyone.
With the roaring of war drums and military songs, three thousand soldiers from Hanoi launched an attack.
"Raise swords and soldiers, exchange for peace, and restore the Qingming Dynasty to the world!"
The low and oppressive clouds in the sky were broken by this war cry, and it seemed as if light appeared.
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