Chapter 125 Defeated before fighting

The fire on the river burned all night.

In the early morning, Li Ping rode east and found a high place to climb over the trees to take a closer look.

Through the smoky sky, I could see that the huge fleet that once covered the river with clouds and sun, with no end in sight, had completely disappeared, leaving only the debris of broken wood all over the river.

The fleet Zuo Liangyu used to escape and resist the enemy was finished.

Li Ping was speechless for a long time. His heart was very heavy and his mind was confused.

Ma Yong, Duan Qiang, Hu Zhongshan and the silly big man Liu Qiang who followed him did not speak. Even now, they are still stunned and cannot believe the scene in front of them.

"When we go back, we will discuss the retreat plan first, and then the battle plan. We will think about how to withdraw first, and we will discuss it together. However, the retreat arrangement cannot be spread to outsiders. It should be controlled by us!" Li Ping suddenly turned around and said to everyone, and then

Turn the horse's head and walk away.

As long as the fleet is there, Li Zicheng may not dare to risk crossing the river near Xiangyang, where the possibility of an attack is the highest. But now that the fleet is gone, nothing can be said.

Seeing Li Ping riding away, Liu Qiang, a big fool, hurriedly chased after him.

Duan Qiang looked dazed and helplessly looked away from the river, and said to Ma Yong and Hu Zhongshan: "What? No more fighting? Do we still defend here?"

Ma Yong, who was about to fight the horse, paused when he heard this, looked at Duan Qiang sadly and said: "I'm afraid we will still have to fight. We can't leave without fighting. But Xiangyang probably can't be defended. It depends on what Zuo Zongbing plans to do.

If we withdraw, we are afraid that we will be trapped behind like the main force of Zhuxian Town."

"Yes! Besides, we have so many possessions now. It would be really troublesome if we don't think about it carefully!" Hu Zhongshan also looked regretful.

However, Hu Zhongshan seems to be relatively optimistic about the situation. Perhaps it is due to his mysterious self-confidence or his superstitious belief in the current strength.

Seeing that Duan Qiang still didn't understand, Ma Yong said kindly: "Old Duan, let's go first. I'll explain it to you when I have time." After saying that, he rode off to chase Li Ping.

At this time, at a high place in another forest along the river farther east, Lieutenant General Hui Dengxiang was sitting on a stone looking at the river in the distance.

He came earlier, and he didn't speak for a long time.

At this time, a soldier came over on horseback and reported to Prime Minister Hui Deng: The sound of horse hooves just now was caused by guerrilla Li Ping and his subordinates, and they had informed each other and confirmed it.

Whedon didn't even turn his head and just said lightly: "I understand."

Although he knew that the enemy was still far away, the horrific fire last night still forced this veteran of the killing field to be cautious.

Prime Minister Huiden could not confirm who set the fire, let alone whether the intruders and spies had boldly crossed the river.

Li Zicheng must not be underestimated.

Seeing the general like this, a confidant behind Prime Minister Hui Deng had nothing to say and said: "I heard the sound of the horse's hoofbeats just now was quite rapid. Is this Li Ping afraid? The young man just can't calm down. It's his fault for being promoted too quickly. It's nothing."

Experience. I guess he still doesn’t understand that Sheeptan has already borne the brunt! If there is a fight in the next few days, we will be needed to help. As long as he doesn’t do bad things, that’s fine.”

After hearing this, Huiden turned his head and frowned and said to the confidants behind him: "Don't lie! Although Li's guerrillas are few, in the nearby shoals, he is the one who needs the least support.

Already."

Seeing that his subordinates were still confused, Prime Minister Huiden was already unhappy, but now he was a little angry. He continued:

"I have told you so many times that you must listen and see with your own eyes, and you must judge the big from the small. You must not rely on hearing and prejudice to judge things. Yesterday, you watched Li Guerrilla's troops marching and setting up camp from a distance. Are you blind? Such rules,

A neat and well-organized army! When have you seen it?

Don't look down on Li Youyi just because he was a small soldier a year ago. Did you know that he is Qi Wuyi, a fellow villager of Grandpa Qi? His family background before the disaster was also very good. He not only read books but also studied military science. Could it be that

Do you really think that he is here today just because of good luck? He earned it through his own ability, so why are you dissatisfied? Are you really too old to be a handsome man?"

After saying that, Prime Minister Hui Den turned his head to look at Jiang Mian again, his expression becoming more solemn.

"That's it!"

"That's what the general taught you."

"I never thought that Li Youyi would have such a story. It's really amazing."

…

"General, the thieves are going south this time, with a large number of troops and a winning streak. We already have a small number of troops, and this time the boat was burned. Can this battle be fought? These shoals can't be defended..." A

A very inappropriate question suddenly popped up amidst the praise.

However, this inappropriate question could not be finished, because Hui Dengxiang suddenly turned his head again and glared fiercely at the "smart" confidant.

The subordinate was startled, and immediately realized that he had said too much, and swallowed back the rest of his words. After spending a long time with his general, he could still understand his general's expressions and language.

For a moment, the scene fell completely silent.

But Prime Minister Huiden just stared at the subordinate with a gloomy expression for a while, but in the end he said nothing, and then turned back to look at Jiang Mian again.

Li Ping certainly had no way of knowing Hui Deng's comments to Li Ping. Just as Li Ping had no idea that in his time and space in history, it was Hui Deng's 5,000 troops who guarded Sheepskin Beach.

The history of this time and space has produced more and more turning points due to the arrival of Li Ping and others, and the butterfly effect is getting stronger and stronger.

In the morning, Li Ping, Duan Qiang, Ma Yong, and Hu Zhongshan jointly studied several retreat plans. Then, Li Ping led the staff office to formulate a tactical plan for the defense of Sheepskin Beach.

Originally, these tasks should not be done by Li Ping. The staff office should draw up combat plans for various situations based on requirements, and then review them by Li Ping, and then report them to officers above the company for familiarization.

But in the first battle, the staff office did not have such capabilities, so Li Ping had to lead them.

Making such a plan has always been a chore and a waste of brain cells. Because there cannot be only one combat plan, it must include all possible plans.

For example: What should I do if the enemy directly attacks by wading into the water? What should I do if the enemy attacks mainly with boats? What should I do if the enemy attacks continuously regardless of casualties? What should I do if the enemy's submersible team crosses the river from the left wing to encircle it? What should I do if I encircle it from the right wing?

, what should I do if the enemy group breaks through from elsewhere and directly attacks our flank, etc.

All these must be considered, and specific response plans must be developed, and they must be formulated in advance and communicated to commanders at all levels. Otherwise, thinking about everything on the spot can easily lead to confusion and loss of progress.

Fortunately, this is just a simple beachhead defense plan. It is not complicated, or even very simple. Many things do not need to be specified in detail. After all, most illiterate people in ancient times fought the battle as well as generals who have not received professional training.

good.

So by noon, the battle plan had basically taken shape.

That afternoon, He Zhuzhu came back from Xiangyang City with the military support promised by the Zuo family and his son.

This time, he brought dozens of loads of grain (about a hundred pounds each), a small amount of meat poultry, about 100 blunderbuss, a lot of gunpowder and lead, and even brought back two squatting tiger cannons and two

Menflan cannon.

The artillery was specially given by Li Ping before He Zhuzhu left. He originally wanted to try it and had no hope, but he didn't expect it to come. It seemed that Zuo Liangyu was serious about the war.

But it's also possible that the fire last night made Zuo Liangyu more generous, otherwise why didn't he give him the gun earlier?

Although these four cannons are a bit small, they are still cannons.

However, although there are cannons, there is no one who knows how to use them. After asking the whole camp, let alone these two types of cannons, there is no one in Li Ping's camp who has even used cannons.

In desperation, Li Ping had no choice but to ask He Zhuzhu to go back to the person in charge of military supplies, use some money, and ask them to help borrow a few gunners for training.

Another day later, when Li Ping was inspecting the combat preparations of various units, Zhao Jin came in a hurry and brought some important information to Li Ping.

Li Zicheng and Luo Rucai's army is coming west from Tang County (now Tanghe County, Henan Province, not Tang County, Hebei Province, only about 100 kilometers away from Xiangyang), with a number of 400,000. According to the horse exploration report, it may be about 400,000, and it is not just a rumor.

.

In addition, the peasant army also sent a large number of scouting horses to spread the slogan "No killing, no grain of rice, no conscription for three years." Now, everyone in Xiangfan City knows that the people's hearts are floating, and they defy the government and the army.

The number of missions increased dramatically.

However, Zhang Xianzhong's movements were not heard. Zhang Xianzhong did not seem to join forces with Li Zicheng, which confirmed Li Ping's early judgment.

According to Zhao Jin's preliminary understanding of Zuo Liangyu's fleet being burned down the night before yesterday: it was probably not a fire, nor was it sabotage by traitors and spies. It was probably just a fire set by dissatisfied people to vent their anger.

The person who set the fire was not caught, and there was no way to investigate.

Because there were too many ships, too many people were requisitioned, and the management was chaotic. No one could tell clearly who was in charge of the ship where the fire first started and who was nearby.

Anyway, I only know that the fire started from the shore, and it was night, and the boats were crowded together, so the fire was out of control in an instant. Then the fire burned very fast due to the wind, so there was no way to escape.

Several boats came, but they were basically all burned up.

Early this morning, some troops close to the Zuo family began to mobilize in large numbers to rob merchant ships at the merchant ship gathering place in the east (which was not burned). No matter whose ship it was, they would rob it first. Zhao Jin also got the task.

He, Shi Ming and others participated in this ship robbery.

At noon, all the robbed ships were gathered at the dock in Fancheng. The city began to continuously carry various materials and even a large number of women. This time, the entire fleet was spread out more widely, and the security was very strict. Also

Therefore, Zhao Jincai had time to ship the goods and hurriedly came here to tell Li Ping about the urgent situation.

Regarding the preparations for this battle, Zhao Jin learned that the defensive posture of the Zuo Army was quite unprogressive and inactive. The entire Zuo Army was completely defended by the river. There was only Fancheng in the north of the river and no others.

army.

However, the defensive circle in Jiangnan is too small. The entire 200,000 people are basically huddled around the two cities of Fancheng and Xiangyang. Li Ping's Sheeptan is the farthest defense line in the west. There are only some scouting horses further away. Once the enemy attacks from a distance, they must

There is big trouble.

In addition, many generals of the Zuo Army did believe that letting Li Ping guard Sheepskin Beach was to kill his spirit. However, there are many versions of the temporary change of generals, and it is difficult to distinguish the authenticity.

Li Ping also gave some feedback to Zhao Jin, but he didn't have any big information, it was just about one third of an acre of land.

He briefly talked about the topographic characteristics of the entire Sheepskin Beach, and focused on the water depth. The deepest point is only about 1.3 meters, and most of the water is less than half a meter deep. For those who don’t have a boat and want to cross the river, Sheepskin Beach’s

The conditions are far better than those of several surrounding shoals.

If Zuo Liangyu didn't run away in advance, it would be difficult for him and Li Ping to escape and he would have to fight the peasant army. Therefore, guarding Sheepskin Beach is not really a good job for him, but it is quite dangerous.

Fortunately, the water is cold in winter, so it is not easy for the peasant army to wade across the river. If it is summer, it will be really a big trouble.

At the end, both of them came to a depressing conclusion: the generals had no will to fight, the army had no will to fight, and with too little to fight more, the people's morale was completely lost. The defeat of Xiangfan in the first battle was certain, and there was no chance of any more luck.

Then Li Ping was being monitored by Prime Minister Hui Deng's troops, which made it difficult for Li Ping to make any big moves.

However, Li Ping now also wanted to test the strength of the peasant army and himself based on the favorable geographical conditions. After surveying the terrain, he still felt that there was a possibility of a battle. It should not be a problem to hold on for at least a few days.

If Li Zicheng's large force went to attack upstream, it would be impossible for such a large number of troops to go quietly, and it couldn't be completed in a short time. It should be enough for Li Ping to escape.

Therefore, Li Ping plans to wait and see.

Regarding Li Ping's situation, Zhao Jin didn't have any better ideas now. He could only repeatedly tell Li Ping not to hold on. If the situation is no longer feasible, he should retreat immediately, even if he escapes alone.

When they parted, the two hugged each other tightly and said "treasure" to each other.
Chapter completed!