In this way, the Lingnan army lined up and waited for the enemy's action, from Chou hour to Yin hour, and from Yin hour to Mao hour, until Chen hour had passed and Si hour was approaching, and the sun was high in the sky, then they heard a lazy cannon shot coming from the opposite camp.
The Lingnan Army had been waiting for a long time, and they were full of killing intent. When they heard the cannon shot, they thought they could finally fight the enemy to the death. However, they did not expect that the camp was still, but a few wisps of smoke came out from inside, followed by the clashing of pots and pans and the sound of people calling for dinner - it turned out that the cannon shot was a signal from the government troops to notify them to eat.
The Lingnan Army had been waiting for most of the night and was hungry and sleepy. When they heard such noises, they actually envied the enemy on the opposite side.
When Zheng Yu and Sun Hao saw this situation, they had a brief discussion and then asked the cooks in the camp behind them to deliver the steamed buns, corn bread, vegetable soup and other food prepared in advance to the front line for the soldiers to eat.
The soldiers of the Lingnan Army had just eaten half of their meal when they heard three consecutive cannon shots from the opposite camp, followed by the sound of gongs and drums. Several camp gates facing Nanjing burst open, and teams of soldiers filed out of them.
Upon seeing this, the soldiers of the Lingnan Army hurriedly stuffed the remaining food into their mouths in preparation for battle, but they ate too hastily and too quickly, and many soldiers in the formation were choked and coughed and burped constantly, making the formation seem a little loose.
The enemy's army formation was not much better.
Most of these troops were military governors from all over Jiangnan. They were defeated by the Lingnan army and retreated. They gradually gathered under Qiu Yizhi's command. Although these troops had been replenished and trained briefly, their combat effectiveness had been greatly improved. However, compared with the elite soldiers and generals of Lingnan Road, they were still far behind. When arranging the formation, they seemed to be dragging their feet. There were also several teams that seemed to be in the wrong position. The temporary adjustment made the team that had not yet formed very loose.
Seeing this scene, Zheng Yu, who was standing in front of the battle line, said to Sun Hao beside him: "The government troops' formation is loose. Why not go over and attack the enemy while they are forming their battle line? Maybe we can succeed in one strike?"
Sun Hao frowned and said, "It seems a little abnormal. Qiu Yi's troops have always been disciplined and they move very quickly even on rugged mountain roads. Today, it seems that they are trying to lure the enemy. Let's wait and see."
Zheng Yu had also fallen into Sun Hao's trap several times. After hearing what Sun Hao said, he was still a little scared. So he gave up the idea of testing the enemy and continued to stand on a temporary platform to observe the enemy situation.
Sun Hao was half right and half wrong.
Qiu Yizhi deliberately delayed leaving the camp until the 9th hour to form the battle array in order to underestimate the enemy's fighting spirit. Facing the possibility that the enemy might come to attack in the chaos, he also made full preparations. He had already ordered his 70 crossbowmen and 2,000 archers selected from the Jiedu Army to prepare in the camp. If the enemy made any unusual movements, they would fire thousands of arrows to stop the enemy's offensive. In addition, he also sent more than 1,000 cavalrymen to raid the formation on each wing. If the enemy attacked, they would immediately attack the enemy's wings.
However, Qiu Yizi was greatly disappointed with the progress of the formation.
This was Qiu Yizi's first time commanding such a large-scale decisive battle, and it was also the first time that the Jiangnan Circuit Army participated in such a battle. They also had to guard against the enemy knowing their strengths and weaknesses, so they did not dare to rehearse in advance. They only summoned all the leading officers and conducted several rehearsals in the central army tent.
However, talking about military operations on paper is different from actually fighting in the battlefield. The clearly explained formation is not as convenient as imagined in advance when it is actually arranged. Some soldiers disrupted the order, some went to the wrong direction, and some soldiers could not find their superiors in the chaos.
Fortunately, Zheng Yu and Sun Hao had been a little nervous after being beaten by Qiu Yizi before, and they thought that he was deliberately exposing his flaws to lure them into attacking, so they stayed where they were, thus avoiding a dispute.
After nearly an hour, the battle formation was finally arranged. The soldiers were exhausted and panting, with sweat all over their foreheads.
Qiu Yizhi was relieved to see that the chaos during the battle formation had finally passed, but then he heard someone in front of the army report: "A general from the Lingnan army has stepped out and is raiding the front of the battle formation."
Qiu Yizhi was stunned when he heard this. He looked up and saw a tall and strong general, fully armed, riding a charcoal-like horse, holding a long spear, shouting and cursing in front of the battle. The soldiers from Lingnan Road behind him also shouted and killed, gongs and drums shook the sky, and the morale was extremely high.
So he smiled and said to Lin Shuhan, the counselor beside him, "Perhaps Zheng Yu has read too much of that crappy play these days, so why did he think of challenging the generals to a duel? I think it would be better to ask Meng Hong to shoot him to death with one arrow."
Lin Shuhan waved his hand and said, "Your Excellency has many experts under his command. Instead of shooting him to death with a hidden arrow, it is better to send a general to kill him in public, which will also boost morale."
Qiu Yizhi heard this and saw that his soldiers were facing an enemy force twice their size. Many of them were already trembling with fear and they really needed to boost their morale. So he said to Yuchi Jiming, who was guarding him, "Jiming, go up and kill this man who challenged us."
Yuchi Jiming had changed into men's clothes and was riding on a horse. Hearing the instructions from his "little uncle" Qiu Yizi, he was eager to try. He quickly bowed and said, "Okay, I haven't done it for a long time. I'm itching to do it! I'll be right there."
Lin Shuhan tried to stop him again, saying, "Why use a butcher knife to kill a chicken? In my opinion, there is no need to bother Yuchi Jiming. Instead, it would be more appropriate to send Zhao Chengxiao out."
Qiu Yizi's eyes turned and he said with a smile: "Mr. Lin is right. Letting all the soldiers see the methods of the commander Zhao Chengxiao is a good way to boost morale." As he said that, he passed down the order and asked Zhao Chengxiao to go out and fight.
In order to win the battle, Qiu Yizi divided the entire army into three wings: left, center, and right. In addition to himself commanding the center, Wu Changxi, Zhao Chengxiao, and Zhang Qi led the three armies respectively. Zhao Chengxiao was the commander of the center army and was responsible for the foundation of the entire army. He felt a little strange when he heard such an order. After repeated confirmation, he finally took the lead and went into battle.
Zhao Chengxiao was riding a brown Bohai horse, wearing a suit of silver armor that was given to him by the current emperor, and he leaped out of the battle array majestically, like a god descending from heaven. However, he did not carry a sword, spear, axe, or long knife, but only a three-foot-long Western Region sword, and then he rode his horse to kill the black-armored and black-horse general of the Lingnan Army.
When the general saw Zhao Chengxiao's weapon, he thought he had the upper hand with the spear in his hand. He held the weapon upside down in his right hand, stroked his beard with his left hand, and asked, "I will not kill an unknown general. Please tell me your name!"
This was also Zhao Chengxiao's first time to fight an enemy general one-on-one. He didn't know there was such a rule. His face turned red and he raised his voice and said, "Zhao Chengxiao, the General of the Central Army. Who is on the other side?"
The general was stunned when he heard this, and thought to himself, "Usually when two armies fight, the ones who go out to fight and yell are small officers like Qianzong and Baihu. I am a captain, and now I am looking down on my opponent by going out to fight myself. I didn't expect Qiu Yizi, a mere seventh-rank county magistrate, to send a Zhonglang Jiang to fight. Is he trying to trick me?"
However, he saw that Zhao Chengxiao's mount, armor, bearing and appearance were not ordinary people and should not be underestimated. However, his official rank was two levels lower than his, so it was inconvenient to agree directly. He changed the topic and said, "I am Tian Baozhu. I have followed the Prince of Lingnan through life and death. I have fought alone in the barbarian strongholds several times and made great contributions. The prince praised me as a 'lone hero'!"
Although Tian Baozhu's words were powerful, Zhao Chengxiao had never heard of his name. He only replied in confusion, "Oh, that's how it is."
Tian Baozhu was illiterate and could not lead troops. He relied on his martial arts and brute force to reach the position of captain. Therefore, he was very proud of his resume. When he heard Zhao Chengxiao's tepid words, he was already a little angry and said, "This is your first time in battle. You might as well go back. This general's spear is merciless!"
Zhao Chengxiao was also full of anger. After all, he was the commander of the central army. For such a decisive battle in front of the battlefield, which seemed like child's play, he could naturally send rough men like "Black Neck Toad" and "Yangtze Alligator" to do it. Why did he need to do it himself? Therefore, he replied unhappily: "Stop talking nonsense, just fight, I have things to do."
When Tian Baozhu heard his rude words, he became even more furious. He shouted loudly and stabbed Zhao Chengxiao's torso with his spear.
Seeing this, Zhao Chengxiao sat on his horse motionless, but his eyes were fixed on the direction where Tian Baozhu's spear was stabbing. When the tip of the spear was only one foot away from him, he suddenly turned his upper body, barely dodged the tip of the spear, and tucked the spear shaft under his armpit.
It turned out that Zhao Chengxiao was born with supernatural powers, and with the personal guidance of the martial arts leader Yuchi Lianghong, his kung fu had become extraordinary. A brave man like Tian Baozhu was certainly no match for him.
Therefore, Tian Baozhu missed the attack and his weapon was controlled by his opponent. His face turned red like a pig's liver, and he quickly grabbed the spear with both hands and pulled it back. However, Zhao Chengxiao used his strength under his armpits, and no matter how hard Tian Baozhu pulled, the spear did not move at all.
Such a scene was extremely embarrassing, and the soldiers watching the battle—not only the imperial army, but even the Lingnan army—all burst into laughter.
Tian Baozhu felt even more ashamed and angry, and suddenly remembered that he was still carrying a precious sword. He threw away his spear, drew out the sword suddenly, and slashed it towards Zhao Chengxiao's shoulder.
Zhao Chengxiao reacted very quickly. He immediately drew out the Western Regions sword from its sheath and thrust it towards Tian Baozhu's blade. In an instant, he cut the sword off. Then he turned the blade sideways and chopped the helmet on his head in two. He said, "You are no match for me. Go back!"
Tian Baozhu had always been very proud of his martial arts. Today, he was defeated without any suspense in front of nearly 100,000 troops. Then he would no longer have a place to stand in the Lingnan Army. So he gritted his teeth, suddenly jumped off his horse, and rushed towards Zhao Chengxiao with his hands, almost ready to die together.
Zhao Chengxiao was also stunned when he saw him fighting so desperately, but in an instant, his instinct to survive and defeat the enemy was aroused. He stretched out the Western Regions sword in his hand and stabbed Tian Baozhu who was leaping up. Hot blood immediately gushed out from the wound. The vitality of Tian Baozhu's body also disappeared from his tall body along with the hot blood. He lay on the ground in a pool of blood, twitched twice, and finally died.
These two rounds of life-and-death battles were over in the blink of an eye. The soldiers watching the battle on both sides were all stunned. After a long while, thunderous cheers broke out from the government army.
Qiu Yizi heard the cheers from behind the formation and knew that Zhao Chengxiao must have won, so he quickly ordered his men to beat the war drums for the entire army and ordered all the soldiers to shout loudly to greatly boost our morale.