The sky was twilight, and there were many people on the west bank of the Chema River. The important post road town that had been abandoned for more than two years was rarely bustling again.
Three hundred steps to the north of the post road, countless bandits were forming a line. One mile to the west of the town, queues from the garrison camp were arriving one after another.
Pang Yule stopped his horse in front of a paddy field and raised his telescope to look north. From his position to the east, apart from the post road, there were paddy fields. This place was close to the Chema River. This area along the river was crisscrossed.
Due to the existence of two forts, many of the paddy fields and fish ponds were left by the nearby people. People have been cultivating them for the past two years. Most of the paddy fields are full of water. There are also many rice seedlings planted in the fields.
The corpses, which seemed to have been recently deceased, were mostly distributed in the edge areas. They should be the bandits who were killed in the battle last night.
One mile away is the town of Chemahe. The town to the east is much larger than Moyanpu. There are many houses scattered along the post road. Next to the river is a typical Jiangbei water and land wharf. It was also invaded the year before last. About
Thirty percent of the houses survived.
This is the east end of the rogue front. There are densely populated rogues inside and outside the town. Due to the obstruction of the house walls, the number cannot be estimated. There are only a few rogues in the south of the town. The main front extends to the north. There are fewer people and horses in places separated by large paddy fields.
The area close to Chenghe Village became denser again. From in front of Chenghe Village, the bandit front turned in one direction, crossed in front of Tufeng Village, and extended westward for more than a mile, to the north of the post road.
Pang Yu's telescope turned to the north along with the rogue bandits' front. The terrain in the lens was fragmented. It was mainly composed of small undulating soil slopes, only about a few meters high. There were a few paddy fields on the flat areas. The rogue bandits were located slightly higher, and there was nothing between them and the post road.
Any trees, they were distributed up and down those small soil slopes, a dense mass of darkness. The following people and horses continued to come, and there were still as few flags as before.
This is obviously not a place where any army wants to attack on a large scale. The broken terrain can easily make the formation lose coherence and make it difficult to support each other.
Chema River was originally Pang Yu's ideal place for the decisive battle, but the location was changed. In his original plan, he should form an array outside Chenghe Village and beat the rogue cavalry who had nowhere to maneuver on the post road. After defeating them,
Release the cavalry to chase down the remaining soldiers.
Now he came along the post road to attack the army of rogue bandits who were relying on two forts and waiting for work. The surrounding paddy fields and ponds and lakes became his obstacles.
After scolding Shi Kefa in his heart, Pang Yu selectively forgot that he also supported the construction of Chenghe Walled City.
The Second Division in front occupied a section of the post road, and there was no need to worry about the attack by rogue bandits for the time being. The large formation of rogue bandits had not yet taken shape. Pang Yu still had time to arrange, so he turned to look at Yang Xueshi and Xie Zhaofa.
Both of them looked unhappy. I don't know whether it was because they stayed up late to make battle plans, or because they saw the rogue banditry becoming more powerful.
Xie Zhaofa was not polite and directly said to Pang Yu, "My lord, it is clear that although this place is not conducive to fighting with our battalion, it is also not conducive to rogue thieves and horse soldiers. The advantage of riding horses is gone. I have seen many thieves in red on foot. They should be trying to
Supervise the formation and foot battle."
Pang Yu agreed, "This is the battlefield chosen by the rogue bandits, but it was actually chosen by us. From Erlang Town to Jiuxian County, there is no area suitable for rogue bandits to fight. To be honest, the entire Anqing is not suitable for them. Can
Forcing them to fight with me is already our victory."
Xie Zhaofa received Pang Yu's affirmation and seemed to be more energetic. He raised his head and said, "There are four giant thieves here. In the past, it was said that the rogue bandits marched quickly, but in fact when they were carrying their families and luggage, their formation was extremely bloated.
Our battalion raided Erlang Town, with the Eight Bandits and Chuang Taotian elites in front. The camp fell on the Chema River, and the Fengjiapu road was blocked. The second battalion raided the Chema River overnight. They were unable to cross the river to escape because of their heavy supplies, so they were captured.
Being forced to form a formation with our backs to the river here is really a hasty response to the battle."
Yang Xueshi came up and continued, "Sir, I thought that although there were many thieves, the actual situation was unprepared and the army was in chaos. Your Excellency raided Erlang Town yesterday. Liu Wenxiu and the Sweeper King's troops suffered heavy losses. The Second Division pursued them to the Chema River at night, threatening the eight thieves.
At the Laoying Camp, the Eight Thieves Cao Cao and other men rushed back from Fengjiapu all night. No matter whether they were on foot or on horseback, they must be exhausted. From last year to this year, when we fought, we were always led by bandits. We tried to find him to fight but couldn't find him.
When it comes to annihilating thieves, there is no better time than this time."
After seeing the attitudes of the two men, Pang Yu became more confident. At this time, Wang Zenglu came from the east. It was Pang Yu's Tangma who had pursued him to the Chema River last night and had been fighting here as a frontline commander.
As an officer, he had the best understanding of the terrain and the strength of the rogue troops. Pang Yu needed to seek his advice before setting up the formation.
Wang Zenglu briefly introduced the deployment of the rogue bandits. The ones fighting last night were the troops of the King of Sweepers. Because they had no camp, they could only stay on the post road. In the early morning, the troops of the King of Sweepers retreated to the town. The flag was then moved to the vicinity of Chenghe Village.
, which is the middle section of the battle line. Currently in the town is Chuang Taotian's headquarters, in front of Tufeng Village are the Eight Kings' Xiying troops, and to the west of Tufeng Village is Cao Cao's headquarters.
Due to terrain restrictions, the entire rogue bandit front is an arc from northwest to southeast. The middle section of the front line is a broken terrain formed by paddy fields and ponds and lakes. The two sides cannot fight. The only parts where the troops can move are the post road and the west side. The terrain on the west side is broken.
But Wang Zenglu believed that it was easier to attack than paddy fields.
After he finished speaking, Pang Yu nodded approvingly and said, "Yesterday's attack by the Second Battalion was very important. You advanced here and secured the position. Tens of thousands of rogue bandits were trapped in a small area along the river, and there were Tanghu paddy fields."
, this place is more suitable for our garrison battalion operations, Xie Sili will check the formation."
Xie Zhaofa stared at his red eyes and unfolded a piece of submission paper, "Because the king's commander advanced last night, the situation is slightly different from that planned by Zanhuafang. The direction of my formation corresponds to it. The second division is on the right wing, along the post.
To attack and defend the road, the First Division deployed the left wing, and the Land War Division and the Guards Division formed the center. This area is not suitable for cavalry engagements. The Cavalry Division stayed behind to prevent a small number of enemy troops from sneaking up on my back from the pass, and also served as a reserve force as your Excellency said.
Since the middle road is blocked by paddy fields, the left and right wings should fight first. Once the road is loosened, the central army can be deployed to the advantageous road."
Pang Yu took a look at the map. He had six divisions in total. The third division was left to defend Erlang Town and the five divisions that brought Chemahe to participate in the battle were short of one round from the second division. There were four divisions and three rounds in total. Because of the lack of staff and
The number of troops was reduced to slightly less than 3,000.
The number of rogues on the opposite side cannot be accurately calculated. The so-called one hundred thousand rogues include servants and family members. Most of them are old, weak, women and children. However, the four major camps are here. According to the vague information they obtained, they can infer that the horse soldiers are at least
There are four to five thousand, and more than 10,000 infantry are available for combat. The total force may be around 20,000.
But today it is the garrison camp that is attacking. There is a lot of manpower available in the rogue camp. It is estimated that ordinary servants will also be put on the front line, so it is estimated that there will be 30,000 to 40,000 people. The scale seen so far may be very close, which means that the garrison camp is
Ten times the size of the battalion, Pang Yu wanted to use 3,000 troops and horses to attack 30,000 people.
"That's it."
Pang Yu waited for a moment and then said, "But both wings always need a focus. Do you think we should focus on attacking Cao Cao on the west side, or Chuang Tuotian on the east side?"
Wang Zenglu looked at Yang Xueshi and saw that he had no intention of speaking before he said, "My subordinates thought that with the mountainous terrain on the west side and the Liangting Bridge on the east side, if either side were defeated, the rogues would not be able to escape, but if
After defeating the west wing of Cao Cao's bandits, tens of thousands of bandits were trapped in the river, with only the pavilion bridge to escape. Even if they escaped through the gate, Fengjia Pu would be blocked by Deputy Cheng, and finally the entire army would be destroyed."
Pang Yu thought for a moment, but before he could make a decision, a Tang Ma quickly came from the west and delivered two Tang reports to Xie Zhaofa's hands. Xie Zhaofa's expression changed after reading them in a hurry.
He raised his head and said to several people, "Both of the two Fengtang newspapers came from Erlang Town. First, the third division commander Zhou Ba reported the general report. In the direction of the pass, Lao Hui returned to his headquarters to have dinner before dawn. The infantry lined up outside the camp one after another. There were more than a hundred horse soldiers.
Leading more than a thousand infantry to Erlang Town, clearing the road along the way; there are rogue bandits arrayed on the west side of the Erlang River with unknown flags."
Yang Xueshi said, "It seems that the eight thieves have finally contacted Lao Huihui. There is a river blocking the west side of the Erlang River. They cannot attack Erlang Bridge. Lao Huihui coming from the pass is a bit of a threat. The eight thieves rely on having two forts to rely on.
I am not afraid of wasting time with us, I want to wait for Lao Huihui to capture Erlang Town, and then besiege our camp from front to back."
Pang Yu said calmly, "Lao Hui Hui still needs to clear the road. Although there are many others, it will not be completed quickly. We will test Erlang Town again. We have time, so don't mess up.
The formation of the Eight Thieves is similar to that of Qingliu River, but this place is not suitable for mounted combat. Most of the old thieves from each battalion have dismounted. This battle is the most favorable situation since we have fought with the thieves. I believe that Commander Zhou can hold it.
In Erlang Town, our troops should continue fighting and announce the second sealing of the pond."
Xie Zhaofa said in a low voice, "Sir, three of the cavalry team that went to the old county came back before dawn. They said that the Fengjiapu army was defeated last night, and the traitors and cavalry were chasing them to the old county bridge. Xu Zongbing's troops had been defeated.
Escape, the old county is lost."
Yang Xueshi and Wang Zenglu's expressions changed drastically. Their actions relied on attacking the bandits from both front and rear. Even if they could not win, they had Fengjiapu as their support. Now that Cheng Long was defeated, they became a lone army.
Yang Xueshi hesitated for a moment, "Mr. Xu can't even defend a bridge. Sir, should we continue to attack the traitors?"
Pang Yu's expression changed several times, and he looked up at several of his subordinates. Even Xie Zhaofa's eyes dodge, and he was not as firm as before.
Looking back at the bandits' front line, there were more and more people. The front line was about to take shape. The garrison camp needed to be deployed as soon as possible. Pang Yu took a breath and said, "There is no turning back when the bow is fired. So what if Fengjiapu is lost? I have already put it in place."
The rogue bandits forced a decisive battle here, and the victory or defeat was no longer in Fengjia Pu, but only in the Chema River.
Since they are arrayed with their backs to the river, we will help them. We will fight from west to east. As long as they are defeated, there is only one bridge across the river for horses and horses. Let's see how many they can run across."
Hearing that Pang Yu was determined, the three of them nodded, and the garrison camp would continue to attack.
Pang Yu said slowly, "The main attack is on the west wing of the rogue bandits. Since the middle road cannot be attacked, two artillery pieces from the Guards Division, two artillery pieces from the Chinese Army, and two artillery pieces from the Marine Warfare Division will be dispatched to Yao Dongshan. Once in place, they will immediately bombard the bandit's west wing.
Attack the place where their infantry is most concentrated, and then send out infantry to attack after the enemy's position is loosened. The rogues will defend in front of us, and I will see how they can defend themselves against the artillery."