At noon on the second day, Zuo Mengeng and his party returned to Daliang Town.
When approaching the town, Mao Yuanyi was still very strange.
It's so quiet here, it seems like there's nothing there.
Could it be that while Zuo Mengeng was away, all the soldiers in the rear camp fled?
This kind of thing is too common in this era.
But when he entered the town and saw the soldiers, Mao Yuanyi felt bad again.
"Are you a battalion of soldiers?"
He wasn't blind, so he could still tell how many people there were.
Is this a battalion or an association?
Zuo Mengeng stared at him with a firm expression.
"You read that right, this is a camp."
Mao Yuanyi couldn't help but grin.
I have always seen people who eat empty pay and drink the blood of soldiers. This is the first time I have seen people stuffing people into the army.
However, seeing the size of the rear camp, Mao Yuanyi finally understood why Zuo Menggeng was so confident about attacking Zunhua.
I'm afraid this young general doesn't just want to harass Zunhua.
Especially when he saw that every soldier in the rear camp had a musket, he became even more curious about the combat effectiveness of this novel army.
Running around at midnight in the cold winter is really a hard job. But the military situation was urgent, and Zuo Menggeng didn't bother to rest, so he immediately called a meeting with all the officers in the battalion.
"Qianzuo, I heard that the Tatars have gone to the capital. Should we go to reinforce them?"
Zuo Yong asked on behalf of the entire army.
Zuo Mengeng asked someone to hang up the map, and then said: "Let's not join in the fun, let's attack Zunhua."
Mao Yuanyi originally thought that everyone would have objections when they heard Zuo Mengeng's idea. At the very least, they should look for where Zunhua is.
As a result, what he saw was that everyone looked normal.
Look at the way all the officers sit in groups. It is completely different from the hierarchical appearance of the Ming army in the past when they discussed matters.
This is a completely different army.
After thinking about this, Mao Yuanyi became more curious and planned to observe more.
Zuo Mengeng is still presiding over the meeting.
"I predict that the Tatars will not be able to gain much advantage under the capital city, and they may eventually invade Gu'an and Liangxiang areas to the south and west. In this way, there will be more than 400 miles between the main Tatar force and Zunhua
The distance is an opportunity for our army."
Everyone nodded. As for the situation in Zunhua, they had already obtained information from the Intelligence Department.
Zuo Mengeng looked at everyone.
"Now, let's discuss the action plan."
Liu Yiyuan was the first to speak.
"We cannot march during the day. During this period, our reconnaissance brigade encountered unknown people several times, and there have been casualties. If we marched during the day, there would be plains along the way until Zunhua, and we would not be able to escape at all.
Not open to prying eyes."
On the battlefield, apart from the battle between large armies, the battle between scouts is the most dangerous.
There is basically no room for relaxation. Once encountered, it will inevitably be a life-or-death situation.
The sentinels sent by the Tatars everywhere are obviously the best among the best. The fact that the reconnaissance brigade can injure each other without using muskets is enough to prove how rapidly these soldiers have grown.
Zuo Shi is concerned about a problem.
"If we can only march at night, wouldn't it be too slow? By the time we reach Zunhua, it will be the year of the monkey and the month of the horse."
Regarding this point, Zuo Mengeng is quite sure.
"We still have plenty of time. It will take at least early December for the Tatars to attack the Liangxiang area, so our actions do not pursue time, but only need to pay attention to confidentiality."
Huang Zongxi immediately lay down on the map and studied it.
"In that case, there is no problem. We can walk twenty to thirty miles every night. As long as we pay attention to the battlefield shielding, we are completely sure that we will not be discovered."
Everyone agreed with his point of view, and the plan was finalized.
But Mao Yuanyi felt that these young people were just fooling around.
"Everyone, I am an outsider and I shouldn't interrupt, but I think you have all overlooked an important issue. How to solve the problem of blindness when marching at night? Aren't you afraid that soldiers will get lost?"
Everyone looked at me and I looked at you, and suddenly they all burst out laughing. Mao Yuanyi was so confused that she laughed.
Zuo Mengeng finally stopped him and introduced to everyone: "This is Mr. Sun Ge's praise painting, Mr. Mao Yuanyi and Mao Zhisheng."
He then said to Mao Yuanyi: "Mr. Mao doesn't know something. This night blindness has been solved in our back camp."
"What? You actually cured the blindfolded bird?"
Mao Yuanyi's surprise was no small matter.
Night blindness was definitely one of the biggest enemies of ancient armies.
Not to mention marching and fighting, even if they are camping at night, once they encounter a surprise attack, the soldiers will run around randomly because they cannot see what is going on, and will eventually be slaughtered at will.
Now Zuo Menggeng said that it can solve the problem of night blindness.
Mao Yuanyi couldn't help but beat her drum in her heart.
What kind of army is this?
Zuo Mengeng smiled bitterly, but did not hide it.
"To solve night blindness, you only need to pay more attention to giving soldiers fresh vegetables, river seafood, liver and other foods on weekdays."
After listening, Mao Yuanyi lost all her strength.
It's easy to say, okay?
How many soldiers in the army don't have enough to eat now, and they still eat fresh vegetables, river seafood and animal livers?
He recognized the reality and no longer struggled with it.
At sunset that afternoon, the rear battalion set out from Daliang Town, took advantage of the cover of night, and headed eastward, taking control of Chenzhuangzi Village at dawn.
The reconnaissance brigade had already completed the surrounding shielding work, and the rear camp immediately ceased operations after moving in, and was still hidden in the fog of war.
In the afternoon, before setting off, the battle report from Tongzhou was delivered.
On the 15th, Mang Gurtai, Mergen and Dai Qing commanded three thousand troops and arrived at Tongzhou Ferry. The next day, Huang Taiji rushed to cross the river and stationed himself in the north of Tongzhou City.
Because of Hou Xun's participation, some things that were supposed to happen disappeared.
First of all, all the grain and grass in Zhangjiawan were transported into the city, and Hou Jin did not receive any supplies.
Secondly, Hou Xun did a very thorough job of clearing the country. All facilities, including the horse factory, were completely removed.
Huang Taiji would not have captured the eunuchs Yang Chun and Wang Chengde in the horse factory, and there would be no basis for implementing the counterintuitive plan.
Of course, this does not affect Yuan Chonghuan's ending.
Again, when Hou Jin crossed Jizhou, Yuan Chonghuan's outcome was already doomed.
On the 16th, because he found nothing outside Tongzhou, Huang Taiji became angry and ordered his army to attack the city.
However, under the command of Sun Chengzong and Hou Xun, they fought vigorously for a day, but Hou Jin suffered heavy losses and had no results.
It was not until the 17th that Huang Taiji had no choice but to abandon Tongzhou and march to Shouma Fort, which was twenty miles away from the capital.
Ironically, Hou Jin gained nothing in Tongzhou, but he captured 235 mules and horses and six camels in Shoumapu.
Knowing that Hou Jin's attack was coming, the imperial court did evacuate the horses and other supplies from the horse fort, but it seems that they did not evacuate them all.
At the same time, Mangui and Hou Shilu were defeated by Abatai and Yuetuo and retreated to the capital city.
On the 19th, Yuan Chonghuan finally arrived at the capital after a long journey and stationed himself outside Guangqumen.
The next day, the fiercest battle in the entire Jisi Incident began.
Huang Taiji personally led the right wing to attack Mangui and Hou Shilu's troops outside Desheng Gate, and ordered Mang Gurtai, Abatai and others to attack Yuan Chonghuan's troops outside Guangqu Gate.
After a fierce battle, Hou Shilu ran away before the fight started, resulting in Mangui being betrayed. After the defeat, he had to retreat to the city to rest.
On the Guangqumen side, the battle was in darkness, and the Houjin Left Wing suffered heavy losses and did not gain any advantage at all.
It was also on this day that Sun Chengzong finally issued an order to all Ming armies, asking them to harass Sanhe, Fengrun, Yutian and other places to cover the rear camp operations.
On the 27th, Huang Taiji attacked Yuan Chonghuan's troops outside Guangqumen again, but still failed to take advantage. He finally gave up and returned to Liangxiang.
The world's attention was attracted by the battle under the capital city. Where were Zuo Menggeng and his rear camp?
On this day, after more than ten days and nights, the rear camp went through untold hardships and finally arrived at Xingyu Mountain in the southeast of Zunhua.
Here, Zuo Mengeng began to make combat deployments.
"I only have one request. On the first day of the new year, the first brigade must move to the Caijiayu area north of Zunhua, the second brigade must move to Shibali west of Zunhua, and the third brigade must control the valley entrance between Zhushan and Longshan.
Don't let any of Zunhua's enemies escape."
Before the generals could do anything, Mao Yuanyi was shocked again.
"Zuo Qianzuo, do you want to divide your troops?"
Zuo Mengeng was very strange.
"How can we block the Tatars in Zunhua without dividing our troops?"
Mao Yuanyi is simply not good.
"I have to remind you that there are 800 Tatar soldiers in Zunhua City. You may not have any chance of winning if you concentrate all your strength. If you divide your troops like this, you will be ruining yourself."
Zuo Mengeng couldn't say too much.
"Whether it will succeed or not, Mr. Mao will wait and see."
After saying that, he ignored Mao Yuanyi and said to all the officers: "No matter what, on the first day of December, I will personally lead the main force to attack Zunhua City. If any of your interception troops are not in place by then, let them run away.
If the enemy is defeated, military law will be engaged."
Zuo Rong, Zuo Hua, and Zuo Dai did not dare to neglect, so they quickly accepted the order and went to divide their troops.
The main force on this side started from Xingyu Mountain and passed through Daguantun, Niangniangzhuang, Wolong Mountain, Wangbading, Jianshaotai, and Baishan to the east of Zunhua.
On the one hand, they cut off the connection between Zunhua and Santun Camp, and on the other hand, they attacked Zunhua from the east of the city.