Chapter 575 A tough guy is coming
When the Mongolian cavalry came to support them, the Shenwei Army quickly went into the mountains and forests and left the battlefield. When Tachaer's men desperately waded through the minefield and joined the infantry, the Shenwei Army had disappeared.
Hubili carefully dispersed the troops, prepared for battle and went to sleep, and set out immediately at dawn.
The next day, his team was sniped again in Bi's Village.
This time, the cavalry of the Shenwei Army directly confronted Tacaer's elite cavalry. Zhang Zhi, the main cavalry commander of the Shenwei Army, personally went into battle, launched a crossbow to intercept the Mongolian cavalry from a long distance, and attacked them head-on, forcing the Mongolian cavalry to retreat madly in disarray.
Tachaer was furious and beheaded the two centurions who escaped the fastest in front of the battle line, forcing the Mongolian army to launch a desperate charge.
However, the Shenwei Army only fired long-range shots at the front line to block the enemy, and did not engage in a fight with the Mongolian Army, leading the enemy to the western mountainous area step by step. Seeing this, Tachaer was worried that he would be ambushed and surrounded by the infantry of the Shenwei Army, so he immediately ordered the troops to withdraw, break contact and continue to open up the road.
In this way, the Shenwei Army adopted the tactics of blocking in front and pursuing in the back, constantly harassing and attacking the Mongolian army from the head and tail, and accumulated small victories into a big one, eliminating many enemies.
At this time, Gu Shan led the Third Column alone and reached Zhending Prefecture. After Lai Chuanfang learned that Gu Shan had arrived at the designated location, he immediately ordered a general attack on Hubli.
As soon as Hubili arrived at Kongshan, he received military news that the Shenwei Army was attacking from all sides. The Mongolian army was compressed into a narrow strip of land less than 50 miles in front and back and less than 30 miles in the left and right. The situation was extremely critical.
He suddenly understood that the Divine Might Army had intercepted him again and again, causing him to stop and go and waste a lot of time, because they wanted to set a banquet for him here.
When he heard the loud noises of cannonballs exploding all around him, he looked up to the sky and sighed, thinking that he was going to die there.
While Shi Tianze quickly commanded his subordinates to seize favorable terrain to repel the enemy, he persuaded Hubili not to worry and immediately mobilized the cavalry to charge and cover his infantry deployment.
The two sides engaged in close combat.
When the battle was at a stalemate, Xu Yongzhong, who was serving as the defender, suddenly turned against the army and surrendered to the Shenwei Army on the battlefield, which directly opened the back door for Shi Tianze.
This guy hurriedly took his son and 10,000 elite soldiers to cover the rear, trying his best to block the gap opened by the Shenwei Army. After a fierce battle, the Mongolian army's position was reduced a lot.
Lai Chuanfang was very happy to get the surrendered general Xu Yongzhong, who was the descendant of the Eight Character Army Yaksha and surrendered to the Grassland Empire because he was dissatisfied with the persecution of the Lin'an court. This man was repeatedly marginalized in the Shi family army because he was not from the same family.
This time, Shi Tianze ordered him to cover the retreat with the intention of depleting his troops.
Seeing that the Mongolian army was defeated by the Shenwei Army, this guy thought that it was only a matter of time before the Mongolian army withdrew from the Central Plains. He had the blood of the famous general Yaksha of the Eight Character Army flowing in his veins, so it was impossible for him to follow them to the outer frontier and the northern desert to be a slave.
Therefore, after a brief discussion with his personal guards, this guy immediately defected to the Shenwei Army on the battlefield. Although he acted hastily and had less than three thousand men following him, he caught Shi Tianze off guard. He retreated five miles in a panic and lost contact before reorganizing his defense.
Lai Chuanfang did not rush to launch an attack after compressing the enemy's living space because the incident happened suddenly and needed to be identified. This gave Shi Tianze a chance to breathe and asked him to quickly adjust his deployment to plug the gap.
Staff officer Liu Zheng suggested to Lai Chuanfang that Xu Yongzhong should lead his troops to Zhending Prefecture immediately and pretend to be defeated soldiers to trick the city gates open. Although this was risky, it was still a good idea.
Lai Chuanfang was overjoyed and assigned three brigades to Xu Yongzhong to act immediately, perhaps they could really open the gate of Zhending Prefecture. Hubili was in a panic at the moment and certainly had no time to send a message to the outside world.
He called Liu Zheng to his side and said: He was the one who led the Sixth Column, and now it has arrived at the battlefield as a reserve. Now the Sixth Column will be handed over to Liu Zheng to lead, and after taking Zhending Prefecture, he will also take back Bingzhou from him. This is the military order of the Third Young Master.
Liu Zheng was excited and stood up straight to promise Lai Chuanfang that he would complete the task. He had been working in the big tent since returning from the merger with Meng Gong, and today he was finally let out to work alone.
Lai Chuanfang reminded him again that General Meng praised Brother Liu for his bravery and courage that could not be matched by ten thousand men, but our Shenwei Army must exert its collective strength, and the brothers must work together to defeat all enemies with one mind.
Go ahead.
Liu Zheng quickly asked him to stand at attention and left after receiving the order.
Zhao Yulin saw the military report sent from the front line in the rear and was very satisfied with the troops' advance speed and combat effectiveness.
When Meng Gong saw that he had appointed the brave and resourceful Liu Zheng, he immediately realized that Zhao Yulin was going to use a big move, and asked with a smile what clever plan Zhao Yulin had.
He waved his hand and said that there was no plan. How to attack in the front was up to the brothers themselves. He thought it would be better to let Liu Zheng lead the Sixth Column. Shi Tianze was brave enough to fight against ten thousand men. There were also many capable and good brothers in our army. Let's see whose sword was sharper.
Lao Cao laughed happily when he heard this.
As soon as Liu Zheng arrived at Kongshan, his brothers came to him for advice.
The guy modestly said that he came to listen to the orders of Deputy Marshal Liu.
Liu Qiguang said: "We should work together. The Third Young Master said that fighting a war is not a matter for one person alone. Sai Chengxiao came from the central army tent and must have a good plan."
Liu Zheng immediately waved his hands and said he was not worthy of the honor.
Cao Youliang thought that the enemy was panicking and creating obstacles in order to hold out for a short time, but their ultimate goal was to escape. Shi Tianze's eldest son Shi Gezi rushed forward three times in the afternoon, so he might take action tonight.
Liu Qiangguang told Liu Zheng that the swampy terrain in the north was conducive to the Mongolian cavalry's attack. He was worried that there would be a breakthrough there, so he asked Brother Liu to lead the Sixth Column to reinforce there.
This is the situation, what to do?
Tell us what you think.
Liu Zheng fully agreed with his brothers' opinions, believing that it was getting dark and all troops must strengthen their preparations for night battles to prevent the enemy from launching a surprise attack and causing chaos. He planned to personally lead a battalion of troops to attack the enemy camp at night. Since it was difficult to distinguish between the enemy and us during a night attack, he needed the cooperation of the brothers' troops. They should not move and only follow his lead.
Everyone felt that this was too dangerous and did not agree with a column commander like him going into the enemy camp alone.
Liu Zheng said that he had been in Jinghu for many years and was very familiar with the enemy soldiers and the enemy camp's deployment, and was the best general to lead troops. Shi Tianze was very likely to break through our defense line and escape at night, which required the brothers to set up strict defenses.
After much debate, everyone agreed that he was right and quickly divided the work and made arrangements.
In the Bi's village in the puddle, Hubili was discussing how to break out.
Shi Tianze was truly devoted to his master. He suggested that Hubili and Tacaer lead the cavalry to break out along the northeast corner, while he himself led the infantry to cover the rear.
Hubili let out a long sigh. He didn't expect that the Shenwei Army would send out hundreds of thousands of troops to fight him to the death. His indecision put the generals in a desperate situation.
This is Hubili playing the sympathy card to win people's hearts.
In fact, he didn't need to do so at all. Although Han army generals like Shi Tianze had the blood of Central Plains Han people flowing in their bodies, after they defected to the Mongolian army, they ate and drank together, and their natures had long become exactly the same as those of the Mongolian army. They no longer considered themselves Han people and would definitely follow Hubili wholeheartedly and work hard for him.
Moreover, this guy has been influenced by the Confucian culture of the Central Plains. He treats his subordinates like brothers, often gives alms to those who are useful to him, and has portrayed himself as a philanthropist who is willing to give alms. He has many fans in Hebei.
It is said that three heroes make three helpers. Shi Tianze has so many brothers following him, so he is naturally very strong.
In addition, this fellow is eight feet tall, tall and mighty. He always charges at the front in battle. He is guarded by a group of righteous brothers. His fighting power is extremely strong and he has a reputation of being invincible.
Tachaer did not have Hubili's sentimental words and simply agreed to Shi Tianze's breakout plan. They agreed to break out in two directions from the northeast and north at the same time in the middle of the night.
After Liu Zheng arrived at the Sixth Column's position and took over the command, he immediately went to the front line to meet with the Seventh Column's commander Li Shichang and reported his plan to personally lead a night attack team to raid the Mongolian army.
Li Shichang led his 7th Column and two garrison columns to defend the north. In the afternoon, the enemy cavalry charged fiercely and almost broke through his defense line, causing heavy losses to the 7th Column.
Lai Chuanfang believed that the enemy would most likely choose to break out from the north, so he ordered Li Shichang not to engage in a desperate fight and waste his time. After inflicting heavy casualties on the enemy, he allowed the enemy to escape and hand them over to the cavalry to intercept and kill.
He had already received the military order from the central army tent, and looked at Liu Zheng with some concern, saying that it was extremely dangerous to attack deep into the enemy camp, and General Liu should be careful.
Liu Zheng smiled and said that the Central Army Headquarters had given all the 1,000 new protective suits made by Hongmeng Valley to our Sixth Column. He wanted to try out the effects of the new clothes.
Li Shichang looked at him with envy and said: General, don't laugh, this is not a joke.
Liu Zheng nodded with a firm look, called the deputy commander of the column Ma Yi to his side and said: The Sixth Column will follow General Li's lead and obey General Li's orders.
As soon as we finished giving the instructions, the enemy started to sneak into our camp.
Li Shichang laughed and cursed: Damn, both sides have the same idea. He told Liu Zheng to go back and prepare, let the enemies out and then kill them.
Liu Zheng laughed and said: That’s right.
Tachaer's cavalry came out in full force and rushed straight towards the defensive positions of the 7th Column. After encountering fierce attacks from the preset positions of the Shenwei Army, they actually broke out of the encirclement. Just as they were feeling grateful, the catapults and mortars of the 6th Column of the Shenwei Army began a fierce bombardment according to the preset firing routes.
Seeing his troops falling one after another, Tachaer immediately ordered to continue charging forward without paying attention to the rear troops. The Seventh Column quickly sealed the gap that had just been opened.
Hubili was about to run out with the cavalry when he suddenly saw flashes of fire and explosions in the army formation in front of him. He was so frightened that he pulled the reins of his horse.
A group of New Song soldiers came rushing over, it was Liu Zheng who made the move. This night attack group of the Shenwei Army avoided his cavalry and attacked his infantry, and rushed his troops into pieces, and was about to kill him.
Hubili had many personal guards who quickly formed a human wall to surround him in the center.
Liu Zheng saw a tough opponent coming his way, and the enemy troops were huddled together and resisting desperately. He immediately ordered the mortars to be set up to bombard them fiercely, and then run away, taking advantage of the chaos to continue to infiltrate diagonally.
