Ta Tianbao led another group of troops to return to Dongting Lake, and after going west to capture Changde and other places, he returned to Yueyang to garrison, and sent a battalion of reinforcements to Wuchang. At the same time, he used ships to start transporting population materials to eastern Sichuan.

As early as when Ta Tianbao's troops conquered Yueyang and hunted down the remaining Qing naval forces in Dongting Lake, Yuan Zongdi's troops had already rushed to Wuchang and joined Huang Li's troops.

After the military strength was strengthened, Huang Li sent out a small number of troops to raid around, while concentrating the main force and marched westward from Wuchang in preparation for facing the Eight Banners.

At this time, the news has been ascertained that the Eight Banners and the Huguang Green Camp were banned from traveling and took the roads of Yiling, Jingzhou, Anlufu (Qianjiang), Mianyangzhou (Xiantao), and headed straight for Wuchang.

After a journey of nearly a thousand miles, the Eight Banners arrived in seven or eight days, which was already a very fast march.

You know, even though they are cavalry, they are not much faster than infantry when marching long distances. This once made Huang Li feel strange.

The reason is very simple. After all, you can't ride a horse all the time, otherwise you will lose horsepower. Usually, you need to ride for a while and then walk for a while to restore the horse power.

A healthy person will have more endurance than a war horse. The farther the distance, the more obvious the performance will be. Of course, this is without too much weight.

If it is a short-distance attack, it can reach about two hundred miles a day without hesitation of horse power and without preparing to use horses in battle.

Therefore, in the case of military emergencies, the cavalry's long-distance traveling speed will remain within the range of seventy, eighty or one hundred and fifty miles a day.

"It seems that Donglu also knows the truth that 'the final strength of a strong crossbow cannot pierce Lu Can'." Prince Guangxing of Jing Kingdom read the latest intelligence and couldn't help but sigh, "The enemy is not a tired army, so this battle is not easy to fight!"
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Huang Li smiled and said: "Although Mulima and Tuhai are still cautious, they are still more than a day away from Huguang Green Camp. This is an opportunity."

"Your Highness is going to defeat the Eight Banners Soldiers in one day?" Wang Guangxing looked at Huang Li in surprise, his face full of disbelief.

Huang Li smiled and said, "I wasn't sure at first, but now that I'm here in Mianyang, I'm quite confident. Just look at my plans, Duke Jing, maybe I can annihilate the forbidden Eight Banners!"

Wang Guangxing didn't know why, but he could only nod his head casually and prepare to have a good experience.

"More than a day is enough to dig a big hole, and ask the Eight Banners soldiers to jump in by themselves." Huang Li quickly summoned officers from various ministries and made arrangements.

Duke Guangxing of Jing Kingdom was surprised and confused by these arrangements, but he couldn't ask more questions and could only keep it in his heart.

This time to face the forbidden Eight Banners, Huang Li brought six battalions of men and horses, as well as more than a thousand cavalry, with nearly 20,000 troops, which can be said to be strong, and it also gave the Eight Banners soldiers a lot of face.

But the Eight Banners cannot afford this kind of face. It will be followed by a disastrous defeat or even the annihilation of the entire army.

……………

The long cavalry was galloping on the official road, dust was flying, like an earth dragon rolling forward.

Mulima's face was gloomy. Although she did not rush the horse, she hit her riding boots with a riding whip from time to time, showing her anxiety and resentment.

Ten thousand banned soldiers from the Eight Banners came all the way to Huguang. Instead of achieving any results, they actually lost 30%.

The long-term siege of Maolu Mountain ended in failure. At the same time, it gave the Ming army in eastern Sichuan time to develop and grow, and entered the hinterland of Huguang in one fell swoop.

From beginning to end, Mulima felt like she was being played. Like a clown, she didn't even know it.

The sentry rushed from the front, and Tuhai took the initiative to greet him. After listening to the report, he returned to Mulima.

"More than twenty miles away is Mianyang, and we will arrive there in no time." Tu Hai said: "There are already Ming army sentries ahead, and it is estimated that Mianyang City has fallen into the hands of the enemy."

Mulima said "hmm", thought for a while, and then said: "If Mianyang has been lost, we can set up camp under Mianyang City first and wait for the Huguang Green Camp to arrive before attacking."

Attacking a city requires equipment, but the Eight Banners did not have any. Moreover, Mulima did not want to waste the lives of the Eight Banners soldiers during the siege.

Tu Hai smiled and deliberately said casually: "I'm afraid the enemy won't dare to fight. Since we dare to send troops out of Mianyang, our army's long journey will not be in vain."

Mulima forced out an ugly smile, which was purely a polite response. But in her heart, she felt a little relieved.

She is not afraid of fighting, but is afraid that the Ming army will take advantage of the boats and avoid fighting. In an upright formation battle, the Forbidden Eight Banners can defeat several times the enemy, and Mulima still has strong confidence in this.

Wuchang has been lost, and the hinterland of Huguang has also been plundered by the Ming army. Mulima knows that she is somewhat responsible for this.

If it were not for the continued siege of Maolu Mountain, Huguang's garrison would not be so weak and vulnerable to the Ming army's attacks and plunders.

Now, Mulima just wants to win the battle and achieve something, and then put the blame on the incompetence of the Huguang Navy.

The sentry scout rushed back to report that the Ming army's sentry cavalry had fled and did not dare to fight.

"In terms of riding and shooting, our Eight Banners warriors are unmatched." Mulima felt a little excited and was more confident in defeating the Ming army in front of her.

After advancing for more than ten miles, Mulima ordered to slow down the march and began to accumulate horsepower to prepare for unexpected battles.

At this time, the sentinels came to report again. The gates of Mianyang City were wide open, and the enemy seemed to have abandoned the city and retreated.

Mulima's heart became nervous again, and she quickly ordered to speed up, lest the enemy would escape and be unable to fight.

Seeing Mianyang City in sight, the sentry came for the last time to report that the enemy did not defend the city, but instead set up camp a few miles east of the city.

Mulima and Tuhai looked at each other and felt very confused. What kind of military strategy is this? If you don't defend the city, but live in tents outside the city, is that sick?

"There may be traps in the city, so you need to be careful." Tu Hai quickly reminded.

Mulima sneered and said: "Even if I haven't read the military book, I still know that Zhuge Liang is setting fire to Xinye."

Tu Hai was stunned for a moment, feeling that "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" could not be called a military book, but he did not argue. Even if you say so, the situation in front of you is quite similar.

No matter what, the empty city is right in front of you, so there is no reason not to go in and take a look.

Tuhai sent several teams to enter through the west gate and ordered them to check carefully, especially to see if there were any flammable objects such as sulfur, flames, saltpeter, oil, etc. on the roof and corners.

Mulima led his troops to circle around the city, and saw that a circular trench had been dug outside the city gate, which was about ten feet deep and two feet wide, as if they were blocking the city gate and keeping out the enemy.

Some places outside the city are also dug into pits, as if they were building some fortifications, but for some unknown reason, they were abandoned halfway.

Almost half an hour later, teams entering the city came to report. There was no one in the city, the people had been forcibly moved away, the buildings were still the same, and there were no preparations or signs of man-made fires.

"The enemy originally wanted to defend the city and dug fortifications, but for some reason, they withdrew from the city." Mulima and Tuhai almost came to the same conclusion, but they were still worried.

Leaving a thousand men and horses in the city, Mulima and Tuhai led their troops to continue moving forward. They finally saw the Ming army's camp four or five miles east of the city.

The camp was built along the road. There were several trenches and deer villages in front of the camp. You could see the artillery fort behind the trenches and the exposed black muzzles.

"The camps are well-organized and well-defended. The enemy seems to have a lot of troops, and they are even higher than our army." Tu Hai looked at the number of camps and the flags fluttering, and couldn't help but squint his eyes.

Mulima tilted her head slightly and thought for a while, then a look of surprise gradually appeared on her face, and then she revealed a knowing smile.

"Sir, you..." Tuhai was a little confused and looked at Mulima.

Mulima laughed and said: "This Ming army general has also read military books. He knows that the idiot Ma Su did not listen to Zhuge Liang's words and did not go to the stronghold on the road, which led to the defeat of Jieting."

Is it "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" again? Don't you rely on familiarity with the Three Kingdoms to direct the war? Tuhai's thinking is a bit behind, still looking at Mulima, waiting for him to continue explaining.

Mulima felt proud and said slowly: "The guide has already said that Mianyang is bordered by Dongjing River to the south and Paihu Lake to the north. There is only one official road to Wuchang."

"The enemy originally wanted to defend the city, but they thought that our army might bypass the city. Since they were too timid to go out of the city to fight, the enemy had no choice but to camp on the official road to hinder our army."

Tu Hai blinked his eyes, a little surprised.

Don't mention it, this is really related to the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. When the enemy attacks the stronghold, it is indeed blocked tightly, which seems better than defending the city.

"Your Excellency is familiar with the art of war, and I will admire you." Tu Hai cupped his hand and said with a smile: "In this case, our army only needs to wait for the Huguang Green Camp to arrive, and then we can launch a massive attack and defeat the enemy."

Mulima nodded, her face full of confidence.

How can the enemy's tricks be hidden from the sharp eyes of this general? Play with me about the Three Kingdoms, bah! I listened to it eight times, and even with a small piece of wood, I can make money by telling stories!

At this moment, the Ming army's artillery fired, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, bullets hit, but even with the bounce, they did not hit the Eight Banners soldiers.

Mulima was even more sure of her judgment, with a look of disdain on her face, and said with a smile: "Look at how frightened the enemy is. Seeing the majesty of my Eight Banners, I want to fire cannons to be bold!"

Tuhai saw that the Ming army had a lot of artillery and gave up the idea of ​​attacking.

The Eight Banners soldiers have already lost a lot of their lives and gold and cannot be used lightly anymore. It is more appropriate to leave this kind of job of risking artillery attacks to the Huguang Green Battalion.

In the camp, Huang Li stood on a high place and watched the Eight Banners retreat slowly and leisurely to Mianyang, and couldn't help but sneer.

"It doesn't matter whether you have read the Three Kingdoms or not. My plan is beyond what you can think of. I don't know how powerful tunnel blasting is. If you don't go in to rest when there is a city, you are a fool."

"Besides, there is no arrangement to set fire to the city at all. It is just a normal empty city."

Only then did King Guangxing of the Kingdom of Jing learn all of Huang Li's plan. Watching the Eight Banners soldiers retreat, he couldn't help but smile and said: "Your Highness's plan is extremely clever, and his accurate grasp of people's hearts is admirable."

Huang Li smiled and said: "Thinking about what the enemy is thinking is what I call putting aside one's own situation and thinking from others' perspective. I have won many victories thanks to this technique."

Wang Guangxing nodded repeatedly, keeping this secret technique of "putting aside one's own situation and thinking from others' perspective" firmly in mind.
Chapter completed!