On August 10th, there was no fighting in Zhongren Pavilion.
It was almost sunset when the Taishan Army arrived at the Zhongrenting battlefield. They conservatively chose to camp, and the Han Army did not come out from their positions to launch an attack.
Thus, the day of August 10th ended amidst the tension, uneasiness, and excitement of the officials on both sides.
August 11th, Yinshi, Pingdan.
The Han army chose to cook and eat breakfast two hours earlier than usual. At this time, it was still dark and there was a damp and cold wind.
Before the heavy rain, it was summer, and after the heavy rain, it was winter.
The huge temperature difference made officials at all levels very uneasy. They reported the situation to Lu Zhi, and then General Zhenbei agreed to distribute the stored spirits.
Before the war, it was undoubtedly a crazy thing to let the soldiers drink, but perhaps for the officials of the Zhenbei Army, strong liquor may be what they need most, far more than empty words about loyalty to the Han Dynasty.
it works.
Today the Han soldiers had a meal of mutton and braised millet rice. For most people, this meal might be their last meal.
While the baggage soldiers were still busy, two outlying sentries hurried to the central army with a stranger, asking to see Lu Zhi.
This strange officer was a strict guard stationed at Changshan Pass. He came to see Lu Zhi now to ask about the location of his troops.
Previously, when Lu Zhi went south from Changshan Pass, he left 3,000 troops behind and made his general Yan Jing his general. Later, Lu Zhi decided to fight decisively at Zhongrenting. In order to ensure sufficient troops, he asked Yan Jing to lead another 3,000 troops.
Go south to the Zhongren Pavilion.
Before the battle on August 11, Yan Jingbu arrived.
Lu Zhi was overjoyed to learn that Yan Jing's troops had arrived in time, and then ordered his troops to station on the east side of the battlefield, under the control of Ma Teng's troops, so as to strengthen his left wing.
Yan Jing's troops received the order and quickly moved to the northeast of the battlefield, where they joined Ma Teng's troops.
It was also at this time that the soldiers of each battalion of the Han army, who had finished their meals one after another, began to take action.
Under the rumbling drums of the Chinese army, they carried their swords and halberds, walked on the muddy ground, and then drove to the designated position under the command of the officers at the head of each platoon.
However, not all Han troops were so obedient. This battlefield was too big and there were too many battalions participating in the battle, so quarrels and conflicts were inevitable.
When the officials of the Yueqi Camp went to the forage yard on the back slope to beg for fodder, they had a quarrel with the warehouse officials there. The warehouse officials said that this batch of fodder was for the Youzhou Tuqi, and then they were
The knights from the Yueqi Battalion beat him up and took away the supplies.
There are also some troops who were still sleeping when they heard the rallying horn of the Chinese army. It is said that one general is incompetent and the three armies are exhausted.
Li Min was drunk yesterday and still hasn't woken up, and none of the soldiers outside the tent dared to enter the tent to disturb them. They are all descendants of the Li family in Xiangping, and they can tell the personality of their head clearly.
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Have you seen the dozen or so hounds kept outside the tent? One of my family’s favorite crimes is dog execution.
Therefore, even if these soldiers heard the Chinese army's gathering drum, they pretended not to hear it. Their fear of the family leader was far greater than Lu Zhi's military law.
Someone has said that military discipline is the most important thing when fighting in a large army. It seems that Lu Zhi's military law is not good either.
Li Min didn't wake up, so naturally everyone else was snoring in the tent.
Taishi Ci was no exception. He was lying on the straw mat with his clothes open and snoring. It wasn't that he drank too much and didn't wake up, but the superiors asked them to be on guard in the trench yesterday to prevent the Taishan soldiers from attacking at night.
Taishi Ci and his seven brothers squatted in the trench all night. Apart from being bitten by mosquitoes, they squatted in loneliness.
So from the time they came back to now, Taishi Ci and the others have actually not slept for two hours.
But Taishi Ci did not wake up. Lao Zheng, who was sleeping with him, got up suddenly and heard the sound of the trumpet.
For an old soldier like Lao Zheng, the sound of golden drums and horns is engraved in his dreams and has formed a conditioned reflex.
When he got up, he realized that what he had dreamed was not a dream, but that it was indeed a gathering of troops.
Lao Zheng hurriedly pushed Tai Shici to wake up and said in surprise:
"General Shi, the rallying call is blowing."
Although Tai Shi Ci is powerful, he actually has very little battle experience. Compared with Lao Zheng, he is just a new soldier.
Hearing Lao Zheng calling the Chinese army to blow the trumpet, Taishi Ci didn't dare to sleep anymore. He quickly got up and listened carefully, but something was wrong.
He said to Lao Zheng:
"Isn't this from the head of our camp?"
But Old Zheng still pulled Taishi Ci and ordered the two Husbands to wear Taishi Ci's armor. Old Zheng knew very well that whether they could survive this battle all depended on his own generals.
When Taishi Ci put on his armor and led his men out of the tent, the Zhongren Pavilion outside was already abuzz, and only their camp was silent.
This left the two of them confused, so they could only wait for orders in the big tent.
However, because Li Min's department is on a back slope, it is not yet on the front line, so the delay is actually not that serious.
What was really important was the twenty battalions of Han troops on the front slope. They were frozen in formation in the cold wind in the early morning, and from time to time they would take a sip of strong liquor from their water bags.
These people are either from the northwest or from Youji, and they are all people who can drink.
So this drink not only drove away the cold, but also made them more excited. They sat on the ground, leaning on each other as much as possible to keep warm. There was only a trace of light in the sky, and they whispered in the darkness.
The wealthy Zheng and the deceased Paoze entrusted their wills to the deceased. Some who could write were responsible for writing one or two parting words to the Paoze. If by any chance the Han army won the war, they would be considered dead. These things
He will also be sent back to his hometown together with the reward and delivered to his wife.
As for losing? Then what are you thinking about?
While the twenty battalion heads on the front slope were still moving slowly to organize their troops, a group of vendors suddenly came from the back slope. They pushed carts filled with food and liquor and shuttled between the battalions and began to sell supplies.
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In fact, these people have a dual identity. They are not only the transport team of the Zhenbei Army, but also the business group accompanying the army organized by the powerful.
Before this, Lu Zhi felt the laziness and numbness of recruiting civilians, so he handed over the supply and demand tasks of the Zhenbei Army to the powerful people in Zhongshan area.
Lu Zhi also learned from the dynasty's experience in conquering the Qiang. At that time, in order to stimulate wealthy merchants in the Guandong region to actively support the war, the imperial court gave these wealthy merchants corresponding quotas of salt and iron introduction, so that they could benefit.
This time, Lu Zhi also used a similar method. He promised that the seizures from this battle could be purchased directly from the soldiers.
This is big business.
In every battle, the officers of the Zhenbei Army would make seizures. But these seizures were of various kinds, including slaves, valuable furniture, and property deeds. It was not convenient to take these things away, so the best way was to dispose of them immediately.
At this time, the officials of the Zhenbei Army can cash in with the business groups, and the business groups can also obtain these excess wealth at a low price.
The same is true for this decisive battle with the Taishan Army. Although everyone sees the huge risks involved, everyone also knows the huge wealth contained in it.
If the main force of the Taishan Army is annihilated here, won't the central and southern parts of Jizhou be left to their mercy? I can't even imagine how much wealth this will bring.
Therefore, in the end, the powerful people from Zhongshan Kingdom joined some powerful people from Youzhou to take over this heavy baggage work and provide supplies to the Zhenbei Army.
But the reason why a business group is a business group is to make money. The original things can be supported, but do they have to spend money to buy the extra ones?
Just like this liquor bar, Lu Shuai reserves one water bag for each person. But for the men in Youzhou, what is this bag enough for?
So here comes the business opportunity.
At this time, the merchant groups drove the servants to sell liquor between the camps. Due to military discipline, the soldiers could not leave, but their eager eyes put considerable pressure on the military officials.
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They also know that if this requirement cannot be met, how can they ask the people below to work hard?
So even the stingy officers, under this pressure, crowded around these vendors and asked about the price of the drinks.
But no military officer did not gasp after hearing the price of the drinks. But the situation is such that it is really unjustifiable not to buy it.
So these military officials could only sell some of the previous seizures to these business groups, and then gave each soldier another bag of strong liquor.
Le Shang was such a generous general. He bought all the drinks beside him and refilled the water bags of his officers.
The halberd bearers from Anping Camp gathered around happily and drank heavily.
Only Xu Miao was swallowing in small sips, with no intention of drinking it all in one go.
The veteran soldier next to him asked him:
"Xiao Xu, why are you keeping this wine? Do you know what kind of wine this is? This is called life-selling wine. That is, we are going to the battlefield, so we have this drink. If you don't finish it now, I'm afraid it will be cheaper later.
Someone else."
What Lao Jun said is very straightforward, that is to say, you may not be able to keep this battle life, but you still want to keep this drink? Is it stupid?
But when Xu Miao heard this, he was not angry at all. Instead, he said to the old soldier very seriously:
"Don't worry, the arrow that killed me, Xu Miao, hasn't been made yet. I will definitely become a general."
Lao Jun couldn't help laughing and said haha:
"Okay, okay, you will be the general. Then you will take care of the brothers."
But Xu Miao nodded very seriously and said:
"Yeah, but the premise is that you have to survive this battle."
Now Lao Jun was so angry that his whole face turned red with anger and he stopped paying attention to this young man.
…
Li Min woke up and was furiously arranging the troops to start forming.
Just now, he was whipped ten times with a whip by Junziying, a soldier from the Chinese army who came over. After finishing the whipping, he left a sentence:
"The commander-in-chief has an order. If you continue to neglect our military orders, the one who comes next time will not be a whip."
These ten whips woke Li Min up, and he no longer dared to give orders, so he lowered his head and admitted his mistake.
After that, Li Min hurriedly began to order the military drummers to play the horns and arrange the troops to move out of the camp and form arrays.
Their camp was on the south slope of the ridge, and not far behind was Lu Zhi's Chinese army. So at such a close distance, Lu Zhi would not have been able to see Li Min's flaw unless he was blind.
But after all, Li Min was a veteran general of the border army. Although he was cruel and rough, his ability as a general was not bad at all.
In a short time, thanks to the presence of Li's troops in the army, his troops quickly spread out into a vertical formation on the north side of the south slope, and the speed was breathtaking.
Medieval generals basically relied on three methods to dispatch and command their armies.
The first is the golden drum, the second is the outstanding messengers, and the third is the experienced and outstanding officer corps.
Especially the third type is particularly important. How come families like the Li family in Xiangping are often able to serve as generals from generation to generation? In addition to family history and family education, the most important thing is that there is a group of warriors in the clan.
Experienced troops serve as their officer corps.
It is precisely because of these troops that are decentralized to each camp to control the army that Li Min can control the army like an arm. Of course, there is another consequence of this, that is, after the army develops for a long time, it will be easy for him to become a general.
Private army.
This is also the reason why Li Min got into such a big trouble and Lu Zhi only flogged him ten times instead of beheading him.
Li Min's actions here naturally fell into the eyes of Lu Zhi, who was watching the formation from behind. He nodded unconsciously and said to Chang Shi Zhong beside him:
"This Li Min is just a hyena. You have to use a big stick and a cage to drive him away. But once you subdue him, he is still a good dog."
Zhong Fu didn't accept this. He still felt that Lu Zhi was too rude. Then Li Min was a general in the army, so how could he be so humiliated? Moreover, he also saw the current conflict between the Northern Army and the Border Army.
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After Wei Duan of the West was appointed as deputy commander, the frontier generals became a little dissatisfied. It was probably inappropriate to use cruel methods to tame the generals at this time.
So Zhongfu skipped this topic and said another thing:
"We have set out here, and the Taishan thieves on the opposite side are about to leave camp. How about we go and take a look?"
Lu Zhi did not hesitate, got on his horse, and led the Junzi camp officials to the high slope of the ridge, looking at the Taishan bandits below.
Then Lu Zhi and other generals saw this scene that they will never forget.
I saw that people could no longer see clearly at the foot of the hillside in the distance. But the endless black crowd stretched across the horizon.
As the sun in the east jumps out of the horizon, the warm morning sun shines on the hillside in front of the Zhongren Pavilion, and also on the Taishan soldiers in yellow clothes and armor.
The warm light shines on this yellow ocean. This enthusiasm and passion are like a volcano waiting to erupt, containing infinite energy that can destroy everything in the world.
These armies kept waving their battle flags, confirming their positions with each other, and then arranged their formations in silence. Compared to the noisy Han army, the Taishan army on the opposite side seemed terrifyingly quiet.
Lu Zhi and Zhong Fu glanced at each other, and both saw the fear in their eyes.
However, the two of them tacitly agreed not to mention this matter, but continued to observe the formation, looking for possible weaknesses in the Taishan Army.
Perhaps there was a connection between them, but from the huge military formation down the slope, more than a dozen riders suddenly ran out.
They stopped in front of the military formation, and the first person pointed his hand in the direction where Lu Zhi and the others were.
At this moment, Lu Zhi was extremely certain that that person was the thief Zhang Chong.
Maybe it was an illusion. Many officials who survived the battle said that at this moment, they seemed to see a dragon rising from behind Zhang Chong, its head raised and chanting, and a tiger standing behind Lu Zhi rising from the slope, roaring.
A real fight between the dragon and the tiger.
The decisive battle has finally come.
Some readers always feel that my writing is poor, oh, it feels so painful. Have any attentive readers noticed that this battle has a movie-like scene feel? Yes, this is what I want to present to everyone. This scene card This is the last one in this volume. I need to write it better. Stop talking about water. If I really want water, I won’t write it like this.
Finally, support Xiao Chen with a wave of monthly tickets and let’s go. Let us witness the last battle in the North!