Wang Bing and Lu Xiong were both worried that the fall of Shibaliwu would further worsen the situation in Tongbai Mountain, but they had never thought of letting Xu Huai lead his troops to break through the enemy's blockade of Huaiyuan when there were two thousand enemy troops stationed on the east bank of Baijian River.
However, in order to contain and deter the enemy, it is meaningless to break through once in a while. It is necessary to lead elite troops to repeatedly attack their blockade lines.
With the limited number of troops they have now, it is difficult for them to defend Huaiyuan. Are they qualified to take the initiative to go out and fight a field battle with the enemy army that is several times larger than theirs?
Wang Bing and Lu Xiong had not asked about the specific circumstances after Xu Wujiang became a bandit, but Xu Wukun said that there were only 100 soldiers available for mobile combat in Xiema Mountain and Jinshagou , which obviously did not include the Xu family soldiers.
Under the current circumstances, it seems that we cannot expect Xu Wufu to agree to let the main force of the Xu clan soldiers go out of the village to fight, as there are too few soldiers and horses capable of fighting in the field.
"If we have thirty to fifty elite warriors who dare to fight, we can enter an empty space as if nothing had happened..." Xu Huai said.
"Master Xu, don't just brag about this!"
Except for the initial dizziness and excitement, Zheng Tu was unwilling to stay in the rural camp as a cook and wanted to follow Xu Huai to kill the bandits. But later, when he saw many casualties one after another, he calmed down and realized the bloody and ruthless nature of war. He and Yin Peng spent the whole day around Xu Huai, Wang Bin, Lu Xiong and others, and gradually understood the principle of military confrontation.
No matter how crudely equipped the rebel army was and how small a mob it was, there were nearly two thousand real men on the east bank of the Baijian River.
Even if Xu Huai is invincible, if he leads thirty or fifty people in, will it be enough to fill the enemy's teeth?
"Logically speaking, it can be done, but it is too dangerous!" Wang Bing said with a frown.
"How is it possible?" Xu Wukun asked anxiously.
Every time Xu Huai took risks, there would be chaos within the Xu family.
Xu Wukun was not afraid of being blamed, but how could he just sit there and watch Xu Huai seek death when it was impossible to do so?
In that era, civil officials controlled the military, and both military and political affairs were handled by scholars and officials. The probability of scholars and officials guarding the borders, leading the imperial guards, and even presiding over the Privy Council was even higher than that of military officials.
Therefore, the dream of governing the country and pacifying the world became more urgent among the officials of the dynasty, and a group of officials who were proficient in both military and political affairs emerged.
Wang Bing had served in the army for many years as a military judge and a military inspector. Even if his military ability did not reach the level of a famous general, it was not far off.
When Xu Huai proposed the tactic of breaking through, he could certainly see its feasibility, but he was still unsure whether to do it or not, and how to convince Deng Gui for his unwavering support and win the cooperation of Xu Wufu and the Xu clan soldiers.
"You guys ask Deng Gui to come over and talk to him and see what he thinks?" Xu Huai said.
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"Will the enemy army make any unusual moves against Shibaliwu?"
After Xu Wukun and the others left, he talked to Wang Bing alone about the Tang family's problem. Deng Gui didn't think it was anything to be surprised about.
In his opinion, Yaksha Fox was the mastermind behind all this.
What surprised him was the crisis that the Tang family was currently facing, and Wang Bing's proposal to send Xu Huai out to repeatedly break through the enemy's blockade on the east bank of the Baijian River in order to tie down the enemy's main force.
"The bandits are becoming more numerous and powerful. How can it be said that there is no risk if Xu Huai only has 30 to 50 soldiers capable of fighting against a bandit army that is dozens of times larger than his own?"
Before, Xu Huai also went out to Huaiyuan to fight, but he was carrying out a shallow attack and was not too far away from the street market. When he saw the enemy army surrounding them, he quickly retreated back to the street market.
If we want to break through the enemy's blockade now, we cannot retreat easily when we see the enemy troops moving out in large numbers. Instead, we must boldly penetrate them to achieve the effect of breaking through. This is worse than playing with fire.
Deng Gui once suspected that Xu Huai was not really stupid, but at this time Wang Bing advocated the tactic of breaking through, but Xu Huai was still sitting beside him with a knife in his arms, nonchalantly. Deng Gui thought that maybe he was still really stupid.
How arrogant must one be to think that he could lead thirty or fifty people to play house with two thousand bandits in a barren hillside area of ​​dozens of miles?
"There are risks, some are even very high, but there are opportunities..." said Wang Bing.
" What do you mean?" Although Deng Gui was a military scholar, he did not dare to think highly of himself in front of Wang Bing.
"Soldiers are suspicious of each other, or the basis for the feasibility of this strategy is that Huaiyuan and the Xu family are not without the ability to fight," Wang Bing said, "Huaiyuan is less than 20 miles away from Lutai Village, and there are mostly low hills and mountains here. Xu Huai led 35 people to attack. The bandits will not think that this is just a simple matter, right? Will they not worry that we are using the strategy of luring the enemy, and actually want to lure out their 2,000 newly gathered bandits on the east bank of Baijian River from their various strongholds and annihilate them in one fell swoop?"
“…”
Deng Gui understood. To put it bluntly, they still had to continue to take advantage of the enemy's weakness that prevented them from attacking Huaiyuan by force.
Although there were two thousand bandit troops on the east bank of the Baijian River, most of them were new recruits.
Bandit chieftains like Pan Chenghu and Guo Junpan have been able to survive in the deep mountains and forests over the years. Besides having their own abilities, they all have one thing in common: they can judge the situation and be patient.
Of course, this is a nice way of saying it. A nasty way of saying it is just being suspicious.
This strategy may be completely useless against the newly rising bandit leader.
People didn't think that far. When they saw Xu Huaigan leading thirty or fifty people to go deep into the territory to provoke them, they came out in full force to kill them - this kind of thing cannot be used to deal with bandits.
However, this strategy was very effective in dealing with cunning and ruthless bandits like Pan Chenghu, Guo Junpan, and Zhou Tian.
Pan Chenghu, Guo Junpan, Zhou Tian and others were afraid of falling into a trap and did not dare to send out all their troops. At that time, they would only have one or two hundred cavalrymen on the slopes and hills on the east bank of the Baijian River to encircle and kill Xu Huai's troops who had broken into the blockade line. It was completely different from the two thousand people who were divided into several layers and continuously and orderly seized the key points to encircle and block the line.
With Xu Huai as the general, it might be possible for him to break through the enemy's blockade and enter and exit between Yuhuangling and Huaiyuan.
Even if there are casualties at this time, it is a price that must be paid in order to contain the enemy army.
"Okay!" The situation forced Deng Gui to not hesitate, and he acted and immediately made the decision, "Although casualties are inevitable with this tactic, this move is also to save the Tang family from danger. The dead soldiers should be mainly selected from the Tang family's soldiers..."
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Deng Gui made the decision and implemented it quickly.
The bandit army marched towards Shibaliwu where the Tang clan lived in large numbers, and forcibly attacked the bandit blockade on the east bank of the Baijian River. They tried to draw back the main force of the bandit army to save the Tang clan from danger. The Tang clan had an unshirkable responsibility.
Deng Gui first selected the few remaining Tang clan warriors headed by Tang Pan, Tang Qing, Tang Xia, and other three people, as well as the Tang clan soldiers and farmhands who had been stranded in Huaiyuan for various reasons, a total of 32 people. In addition, there were 20 people including Zhonghe and Yin Peng, who were incorporated into the Zaochuan Cavalry Team for some reason, either to follow Xu Huai, or to avenge their family feuds, or for the high reward.
Xu Wukun's original plan was to have him stay with Xu Huai and have Han Qi sneak back to Yuhuangling to report the news, but Xu Huai felt that this was unnecessary.
It was only twenty miles from Huaiyuan to Yuhuangling. It would not be difficult for them to suddenly launch a force for the first time to break through the enemy's blockade and catch the enemy by surprise.
There was no need to inform Yuhuangling in advance, nor was there any need for Xu to make any preparations in Yuhuangling. As long as Xu Wukun accompanied the cavalry, Pan Chenghu, Zhou Tian, ​​and Guo Junpan would definitely conclude that Huaiyuan and Xu had already discussed everything.
Doing so would also help avoid any internal quarrels within the Xu family and make the matter a fait accompli, forcing Xu Wufu, Xu Wuqi, Xu Bosong, and Xu Zhongyu to accept their arrangements.
What's the point of arguing for a long time when you don't do anything?
In comparison, Deng Gui is still capable.
Huaiyuan intercepted quite a few horses, but there were only about forty or fifty that could be considered good horses. He took them all out this time and incorporated them into the cavalry - few of them had received normal cavalry combat training, but good horses could not only move faster and more freely on rugged slopes and valleys, but could also dismount and fight after encountering an enemy. Good horses would be much less disturbed on a chaotic battlefield and were easier to control.
Fifty cavalrymen can each be equipped with a piece of leather armor, a shield, a long sword, a spear, a horse bow, etc.
Two days ago, Xu Huai led the cavalry out to the streets to test the waters, and helped everyone quickly adapt to the rhythm of mounting and marching, and dismounting to form battle formations.
On the afternoon of the third day, Xu Huai led the cavalry to play with the bandits in front of the market for a long time. After returning to the market to rest for a while and waiting for everyone to have a full meal, they went from another exit of the market, along the dirt road on the east bank of Baijian River leading to Yuhuangling, and attacked directly to the south.
On the east bank of Tiaohutan, there were nearly 500 bandits under the command of Guo Junpan from the Laoyatan bandits. They occupied a nearby small village and established a stronghold, blocking the dirt road connecting Yuhuangling and Huaiyuan.
After Xu Huai led the cavalry out to the streets to provoke some enemies and returned, the bandit chiefs including Guo Junpan, Pan Chenghu, and Zhou Tian all thought that today's battle was over and returned to their respective strongholds.
Guo Junpan was ordering the detained villagers to cut wood to reinforce the fence of the stronghold when he heard that Xu Huai, the Zhuohu of Chushan, was leading forty or fifty people on horseback to attack this side. He hastily climbed up the watchtower to take a look, and then ordered his soldiers to leave the stronghold and form a battle array again.
Although he could not guess the intentions of Xu Huai and the others, forming a battle formation to block the dirt road and wait for reinforcements from other strongholds was the most appropriate tactical choice.
It is six miles from Huaiyuan to the east bank of Tiaohutan, and it only takes the time of an incense stick to gallop on a horse.
When the bandits noticed that troops were dispatched from Huaiyuan, they rushed to report to Guo Junpan. After Guo Junpan personally climbed up the watchtower to confirm the alarm, he decided to send troops to the dirt road to form a formation to block it. From giving orders to gathering troops, they rushed to the gate of the stronghold and were currently driving the villagers to use mules and horses to pull back a few large trees from outside. There was chaos. When the more than 200 bandits were only more than 300 steps away from the stronghold on the dirt road, Xu Huai had already led the cavalry to attack them. A hail of arrows shot at them, and the bandits avoided in panic, so there was no formation to speak of.
"If we don't fight now, when will we fight?"
Although the original plan was to bypass the enemy stronghold and rush to Yuhuangling, there was no way Xu Huai would let go of the opportunity before him. He ordered Yin Peng, Zhonghe, and Han Qi to dismount with those who were not good at cavalry combat, and form a formation next to the woods on the left. He, Xu Wukun, and Tang Pan directly led eleven elite cavalry warriors and formed a goose formation to take advantage of the chaos to kill the bandits.