Seven miles north of Susong City, on the sidewalk leading from Chema River to Susong, more than a hundred soldiers were sitting or lying down. The roads at both ends had been dug up, and there was water in the trenches. There were paddy fields on the left side of the road, and paddy fields on the other side.
It is a fish pond.
Ng Tak Choi tilted his head and pointed his ears towards the north, looking like he was listening carefully.
Next to him, the Second Banner Commander looked anxious. After a while, he asked cautiously, "President Bai, are you listening to the sound of the cannon?"
Ng Tak Choi waved his hand, telling Qi Zong to be silent. After a while, he said, "It seems there is, but it seems there is not."
Mr. Qi immediately lost his energy and sat back on the ground.
After separating from the main force of the garrison battalion, Wu Dacai went directly to the pedestrian road of Chema River to fortify.
Susong is surrounded by mountains to the east and west, and the north is undulating. There are many places that can be fortified, but Wu Dacai was determined to find terrain with water barriers. After walking for seven miles, he finally found a place with paddy fields on both sides for fortification.
Wu Tac Choi collected a few hoes from nearby villages, but they were far from enough for more than a hundred people, so he could only dig fortifications in turns and ordered those with armor to be on guard on the road.
Yesterday afternoon, many rogue sentries came forward. Facing the infantry with armor and bows, they naturally did not dare to charge forward. However, Wu Tachai could not stop them from reconnaissance. These horsemen circled from the far side and surrounded the rear.
Scout all over.
Wu Dacai knew that the bandits must have found out his strength. There were only more than a hundred people. If one or two thousand troops were sent over, the whole army would be destroyed. He could only order those soldiers to keep digging, and the sentry cavalry who conducted reconnaissance in the afternoon
Continuously, sometimes there were even seven or eight red-coated horsemen wandering around. They were so frightened that before dark, they finally dug the road in front of the position and filled the trench with water. Only then did they feel relieved.
More than a hundred people hung out on the road all night, but at least there were no night raids by rogue bandits.
But Panda and Mr. Wang seemed to have forgotten about their situation. They neither sent people to deliver supplies nor sent people to convey new instructions. Wu Dacai didn't even know whether Erlang Town had been captured. At night, the sky above the north
The red light flashed in different directions. Wu Tacai could not figure it out, but he estimated that he had captured Erlang Town and was probably attacking the Moyan Shop.
From dawn to now, scattered bandits have appeared on the sidewalk, some on horseback and some on foot. When these people saw the officers and soldiers, they immediately panicked. Some turned around and ran away, while others watched from a distance and then left again.
Go up the field ridge to bypass this position and continue walking south.
Wu Tac Choi and several of his officers could not figure out the situation. Yesterday when they were digging the road, they went back to their own passage. They could not even send out soldiers to capture prisoners. They just watched the continuous bandits going south.
Rogue bandits appeared on the road in the north again, this time there were twenty or thirty of them. They were also watching on the road, and they seemed to be preparing to go around.
Ng Tak Choi waved his hand and said, "The guerrilla team is going to arrest people."
The flag general of the second flag quickly stood up and said, "There is water in the ditch. How can the soldiers get out?"
"How can a soldier be stopped by a ditch? He crawls through the ditch himself."
As soon as the order was given, the patrol team over there had no choice but to take off their shoes, go down into the trench, wade through the water, and then climb up. When the bandits saw the officers and soldiers crossing the trench, they immediately dispersed, with the patrolmen chasing after them.
Wu Tak Choi urged loudly, having great confidence in these guerrillas, because he usually trained the guerrilla team very strictly, and his physical fitness was definitely far better than these rogue bandits who did not have enough to eat.
The garrison battalion is a commonly used tactical unit. It has two squads directly under its jurisdiction. One is the Pyro squad that does miscellaneous tasks. Hard work such as carrying food and digging trenches is mostly done by Pyro squads. The Ranger squad is responsible for sentinels, security, etc.
For work, those who are good at archery from each bureau are generally assigned to this small team. During regular battles, they can either serve as the vanguard or as a reserve team. This is a force that can be used flexibly by the General Manager.
More than a hundred soldiers raised their heads and watched the small group of soldiers marching northward. As a result, there was no fighting in front. The soldiers were just chasing. The bandits were not running too slowly. The distance was getting farther and farther. It seemed that they had caught a few of them.
After a while, the captain of the ranger team hurried back, stood on the opposite side of the ditch and shouted to Wu Dacai, "I've caught two of them and put them on trial. This group of robbers who broke into the sky came from the Chema River. They said the officers and soldiers
The battle reached the Chema River last night, and the old thieves from each battalion crossed the river to fight, and they took the opportunity to escape."
"The carriage and horse are in the river?"
Wu DaCai touched his ears and said, "Then Erlang Town must have been captured."
The Vice President and the three flag generals gathered around. Wu Dacai thought for a moment and asked, "Did they say there was a war in Chema River?"
"They said they fought all night last night. There were officers and soldiers on the other side. They ran out before dawn. I only know that the families of the battalion commanders have gone to Hexi. I don't know if they are fighting again."
Several officers discussed it, but Wu Dacai did not participate. Now they got more accurate news. There was a battle in Chema River about twenty miles away to the north. He could either continue to defend his position, or go to Chema River to participate in the battle.
The order given to him at that time was to guard the sidewalk to prevent large groups of bandits from escaping. If he stayed there, he would have a better location for defense and the risk would be much lower. If he left this position and headed north, it was hard to say whether he could survive if he encountered a large group of bandits on the road.
The general manager of the second flag came to Wu Dacai’s ear and said, “President Bai, what should we do?”
When he was the captain, this flag general was in his team. He was recommended by Wu Tac Choi and was regarded as his confidant. Wu Tac Choi usually discussed things with him first. He looked at the flag general and said, "The king commander always lets him
Stay here."
"President Bai, think about it. After this battle, everyone in the battalion except our bureau will have contributed. You have offended Mr. Hou again..." Wu Dacai snorted, "Why did you offend him? He was clearly the one who told me to do it.
You know what the official is thinking."
"Maybe he didn't understand what Panda wanted."
Ng Tak Choi twisted his mouth and said, "I don't think he doesn't understand, he just regards Shi Daotai as a sitting official."
"That person is also offended. He is in front of the Pangda people every day. When the time comes, you will avoid fighting to save your life..." Before he could finish speaking, Wu Dacai had turned around and shouted to several other officers, "Gather the troops, we will arrive in half a quarter of an hour."
Head towards Chema River."
The Vice President said in astonishment, "The military order is to guard this sidewalk."
"The military order is not to guard this pedestrian road to prevent the bandits from escaping. It is also blocked when walking along the road."
Wu Dacai scanned the area and said, "When you are a soldier, you have to go to the place where the battle is taking place. If Chemahe is defeated and the garrison camp is gone, why don't we hold on to this road and wait for the rogues to come and kill us?"
In the current war, even one game is extremely important. We can't just sit here...sit..." the second flag general manager quickly added, "just sit and watch."
"Sit back and avoid the battle! What the Pangda people are doing with their troops is to kill the thieves, raise the left-shaped flag, and march towards the Chema River!"
...The post road outside Chemahe Town was littered with corpses, and about a hundred bandits fled. This time, under the supervision of the old thieves, they rushed to the front of the Second Division and fought with the infantry of the garrison battalion equipped with armor.
After fighting for a while, there were casualties on both sides, and corpses were piled on the road. In the end, they still collapsed. Just like the first round of charge, the front row collapsed first. They were blocked by the follow-up infantry and jumped into the paddy field to escape.
Then the rear row of infantry fled.
The infantry soldiers in the sixth round used bows and arrows to shoot at the defeated soldiers stuck in the mud, just like target practice.
There were many people in the paddy field to the north. The green seedlings were stepped into the mud, stirring up the muddy mud. After the first batch of hundreds of people went to the fields in Xiying, hundreds more people were driven to the fields. The total number was nearly a thousand, most of them
The infantry from the north staggered forward in the paddy fields. From time to time, some people stumbled, causing large splashes of water to splash in the paddy fields. Dozens of red-clad guards followed at the back of the group.
The mud in the paddy field made it difficult for them to walk, and their physical strength was quickly exhausted. The formation of nearly a thousand people was scattered. When they entered Baibu, the Chuangtaotian Division on the post road had been defeated. The two artillery pieces of the second division changed direction and began to attack the middle of the paddy field.
Shooting, with a dull banging sound, white water columns rose up, and dense muddy water droplets flew all over the sky.
The second round of artillery hit the leading infantry, and two and a half kilograms of iron bullets broke his left leg. The infantry screamed in the muddy water. On the shore dozens of steps ahead, the archers of the second division began to
Throwing light arrows, infantrymen were constantly hit by arrows, falling down in the paddy field struggling and wailing, and soon there was blood everywhere.
This paddy field quickly exhausted the initial blood and courage of the infantry. These people stagnated in the paddy field and did not dare to retreat. They were continuously killed by bows, arrows and cannonballs. Some red-coated troops rushed from the field ridge behind the infantry.
, shoot the stopped people with bows and arrows, and drive them forward. The old thieves at the end of the team drive them away with swords and guns, allowing these infantry to slowly approach the second division.
A hundred steps ahead of them was Pang Yu's recognition flag, but Pang Yu was not worried. There was a second division and a bureau in front of him, as well as escorts from the Chinese army. Even if the remnants of the paddy fields could get ashore, they would not be that big.
threaten.
The people sent by the Eight Thieves and Chuang Taotian can only play a very limited role in containing the enemy, and the most important battlefield is still the west side.
The sound of killings on the first division's front line in the west was loud, and almost all the civilians were killed or injured. The following rogue bandits rushed to the front of the formation. Pang Yu could see the close combat between the two sides, but the rogue bandits were in chaos and suffered heavy casualties, and they might soon retreat.
"How about Cao Cao's copycat troops?"
"Xie Zhaofa reported that the soldiers stopped the whole team and the artillery was attacking. After that, he prepared to send the Marine Warfare Division to attack."
Pang Yu nodded. The horse soldiers of the rogue bandits have strong battlefield maneuverability, but most of the infantry are untrained. Even if Cao Cao recruits officers and soldiers, they only have very limited maneuverability. They must stop the whole team after walking for a while.
The guards and the chiefs must re-constrain them, otherwise they will break up before they are in place. Once the rogues stop, they will become targets of artillery fire.
The performance of the artillery this time was even better than the previous two times. Twelve artillery moved from Chang'an Port to Erlang Town. Only two frames were damaged. They were repaired after work last night and all were ready for battle. On the tenth day of the Chema River,
The gate's current performance is stable and it continues to fight against the array of rogue bandits.
The several thieves obviously did not expect the power of the artillery. They put up a defensive posture. Cao Cao also dug trenches in front of part of his line. It was just because the garrison camp arrived in a hurry and did not have time to dig deep.
But in front of the artillery of the garrison battalion, the huge array exposed by the rogues was a perfect target. After the initial shooting adjustment, it was almost impossible to miss. The artillery took on the main damage output. Hundreds of two-and-a-half kilogram shells swept across the front. Cao Cao
The Chinese army's front line was filled with corpses of all kinds, infantry and convoys were mixed together, some were hiding everywhere, some were sitting on the ground crying, and some even lost their minds and were in a daze. There was no longer an array to speak of.
If the rogues continue to defend, the artillery will destroy their arrays one by one, as long as Pang Yu has enough artillery shells.
Two pond horses on the west post road ran over quickly. After dismounting, they knelt down to Pang Yu and said, "Sir, I know that the Moyan Shop has been captured by bandits, and the sentry horses are unable to check the direction of Erlang Town."
The surrounding guards all heard it, and there was a slight commotion. Jiang Guoyong turned around and took a look, and then the team became quiet again.
According to the pre-war arrangement, the Third Division stationed two flag corps in Moyanpu to prevent rogue bandits from cutting off the post road. It was impossible for the rogue bandits to defeat the garrison camps of the two flag corps in a short period of time. It is more likely that the two flag corps will be deployed on Tuesday.
A flag team was transferred back to Erlang Town, indicating that the rogue bandits were attacking fiercely.
The two sides were intertwined on the post road. From Huangmei to Chema River, each was divided into two or three sections. Pang Yu's position could be said to be surrounded or surrounded by his opponent, but Pang Yu understood that the post road was both a retreat and a retreat.
In the logistics line, he was actually surrounded, and the only way out was to defeat the main force of rogue bandits in front of him.
Pang Yu stretched out his hand to call Jiang Guoyong, "Go and tell the people around here not to leak the news about Mo Yan Pu's abandonment of the defense. Anyone who violates this will be beheaded."
"My subordinate understands."
Pang Yu looked back at Yang Xueshi, "How many shells are left?"
"Sir, there are only about forty guns left in each cannon."
Pang Yu frowned. The cannonballs he used were not heavy. Each shell weighed two and a half kilograms. The cotton bag was designed to hold fifteen taels of propellant, which totaled about three and a half kilograms.
Last night, the fleet transported supplies through the Erlang River. He originally had enough artillery shells to use, but there were a large number of broken carriage frames and corpses blocking the post road, making it impossible for the carriage to pass smoothly. The civilians were mainly used to assist the artillery carriages in moving, and to carry heavy armor.
, the artillery shells can only be carried on the shoulders of some firemen and civilians. The total number is about a thousand, and more than 500 have been fired.
If the post road is open, the civilians can continue to send cannonballs, but now we can't count on it.
Yang Xueshi whispered, "Sir, do you want Chen Rulie to send cavalry to take back Moyanpu?"
Pang Yu hesitated for a moment. The pass bandits besieged Erlang Town. Moyanpu was only two or three miles away from Erlang Town. No matter whether they were recaptured or not, the post road would never be smooth again. Unless the army of bandits outside the town was defeated, cavalry could at most be used to deal with it.
The third division, however, once engaged in battle with the rogue cavalry, the cavalry could not return to the Chariot and Horse River battlefield, and the troops here themselves were insufficient.
"Send additional sentry horses to guard the post road to the west. The Chema River is the decisive point. No troops must be divided. The cavalry is on standby."
After making the decision, Pang Yu felt anxious. Yesterday's attack went too smoothly. He did not expect that there would be so many bandits in the pass. When he attacked the Chema River this morning, Pang Yu was too optimistic. The garrison camp did not bring any materials for camping and no food.
As long as the soldiers carry rations with them, given the current situation, he must defeat the main force of the bandits in front of him before Lao Huihui captures Erlang Town, otherwise the garrison will be besieged on this post road and may not even survive tonight. "Go and ask Yao Dongshan
What are you doing? Why hasn't the first division advanced? These hundreds of people have been fighting for a long time."
Pang Yu paused and said, "The four cannons on the right turned towards the eight thieves..." Yang Xueshi suddenly interrupted, "Look, sir."
Pang Yu quickly raised his telescope, and a group of figures in red appeared on Cao Cao's left wing, filling up the position left after the previous left wing charge. There were more than a thousand people in number, and the rogues in red were basically in charge of the team or above. Such a large group
The thief in red will only be the old camp of the giant thief, and there may be more than one.
These old thieves are the core combat force of each battalion of rogue bandits. If they are sent to the front line at this time, it may be that Cao Cao is going to launch a general offensive, but the formation will last for a long time and they will always be exposed to artillery fire.
"Cao Cao's old camp!"
Pang Yu narrowed his eyes, "Let the artillery focus on attacking the red-clothed thieves."