Wang Shichong's ominous premonition became a reality. In the morning of the next day, the Du Li coalition army did not dispatch an army of thousands of people to attack the official army's camp as early as a few days ago, delaying and destroying the construction speed of the official army's camp fortifications. When everyone breathed a sigh of relief, and when the exhausted Sui army in Jiangdu was fortunate to finally be able to rest for a while, the bad news came suddenly. The camp was killed.
Hearing this news, Wang Shichong, who was riding a horse to patrol the camp and urged the soldiers to rush to repair the fortifications, fell to the ground with a whip in his hand, his face was as pale as paper, he didn't say a word for half a cup of tea, and the members of the Wang family next to him also had expressions on their faces. The gloomy and bad-tempered Wang Shiyun even kicked over the unlucky soldier who accidentally spilled mud on his shoe, the veins on his forehead twitched violently, and his face was terribly livid.
Still the same sentence, although Wang Shichong is not afraid of fighting a decisive battle with the coalition forces of thieves, he is unwilling to fight such a decisive battle that must pay a heavy price, especially when there is another friendly army hiding by the side and ready to grab credit at any time Now, the old treacherous Wang Shichong doesn't want to fight this kind of head-on decisive battle.
After all, he was a hero in the troubled times who could count his fingers at the end of the Sui Dynasty and the beginning of the Tang Dynasty. After the shock of hearing the bad news for the first time, Wang Shichong calmed down quickly, and immediately arranged the countermeasures he had planned to prevent in case, and ordered loudly: : "The whole army was ordered to prepare for the battle immediately. All the troops strictly guarded their positions and relied on the fortifications of the camp to resist the attack of the bandit army. In this battle, we focused on defense. We defended the camp and withstood the onslaught of the bandit army's main force. Victory is ours." !"
All the generals of the Sui army sang promises in unison, and then several generals hurriedly said: "Juncheng, but our camp fortifications are not yet complete, and there are still some loopholes. what to do?"
"What should I do?" Wang Shichong replied flatly, "Then take your life, don't you want the thieves to come into the camp and take your heads?"
All the generals of the Sui army were stunned, and then rushed down to pass the order, and then Wang Shichong immediately ordered to Wang Shiyun: "Send a fast horse to contact Wang Shiwei, and let him lead the 10,000 rear troops I have drawn from the southern line to speed up. Be sure to rush to the Huaishui battlefield within a few days, just in case."
"Third brother may not be able to arrive within three days." Wang Shiyun replied: "My dear brother, did you forget? The third brother just sent someone to contact us this morning, saying that there was continuous autumn rain in Jiangdu and Gaoyou, and the roads were slippery. It was greatly affected, and I asked you for a grace period for the arrival date, and you also agreed to give him grace."
Reminded by Wang Shiyun, Wang Shichong remembered that there was indeed such a thing, but he suddenly forgot it when he was nervous. After a little calculation, Wang Shichong changed his words: "Then let the third brother go north as soon as possible, and tell him that the situation is urgent, the sooner the better. Also, send a fast horse to contact Xuanying and ask him to tell Chen Yingliang about the situation. The method is to let Chen Yingliang send troops to the south immediately to meet us."
Wang Shiyun also knew that the situation was urgent, so he didn't dare to waste any more time asking Wang Xuanying if he was sure about getting Chen Yingliang to go south, so he just rushed down immediately to arrange for a messenger to deliver the order. It was also at this time that Wang Shichong took the horsewhip handed over by his own soldiers, with a blank expression on his face, he suddenly swung the whip hard again, and cursed: "Du Fuwei, I have no grievances or enmity with you, you motherfucker!" Is it because I took the wrong medicine? Why do you have to fight with me to the death? "
The horns sounded continuously, and the well-trained Jiangdu Army soldiers assembled according to their formation, and then rushed to defend the area in charge of their own army. Since the bandits came in full force, they must come from the open camp. Initiating the main attack from the front, Wang Shichong not only concentrated the main force on the front, but also personally took command of the battle on the front battlefield. The left and right wings of the camp were arranged by Wang Shichong for Wang Shiyun and Song Hao to lead an army to guard each. Wang Ren, Wang Shichong's most trusted nephew, was in charge of leading the reserve team. Order the auxiliary soldiers to rush to make dry food torches to prevent night battles.
As soon as these arrangements were made, the main force of the rogue coalition army had already appeared in the field of vision of the Jiangdu army. What made every Jiangdu army officer feel a little nervous was that the momentum of the rogue coalition army this time was very astonishing, densely packed with flag soldiers All over the mountains and plains, with no end in sight, the front team has already arrived outside the Jiangdu Army camp, while the rear team is still coming in an endless stream, slowly spreading to the two wings, like a torrent of water, gradually encircling and submerging the Jiangdu Army camp.
Wang Shichong was also a little frightened, because he was condescending on the commander's platform, and Wang Shichong had already seen that under Du Fuwei's commander-in-chief, the rebel army assembled was by no means comparable to the rebel army he had seen before. It doesn't matter that the soldiers in the south of the Yangtze River are a little taller, and they are still wearing iron armor or leather armor. Many school regiments are equipped with mighty Mo Dao that is one foot long, and the team is neat and disciplined. It is obvious that Du Fu's pressure is at the bottom of the box elite team. ——This also made Wang Shichong break his head again and couldn't figure it out. How could Du Fuwei be willing to use such an elite to fight against himself
Wang Shichong did not guess that the bandit army assembled under Commander Du Fuwei's banner was indeed the most elite recruit under Du Fuwei's command. For the reason that they are more refined and more expensive, they selected strong soldiers from each battalion and army to form elite soldiers. They also formed a period of time in advance to form the top recruits that they have become famous in history. It was just that they were not willing to use them in order to preserve their strength, so Wang Shichong saw it for the first time.
After a while, the rogue coalition forces established their positions. As agreed in advance, Du Fuwei, who had a large army and rich capital, was responsible for attacking the front of the official camp, and Li Zitong was in charge of the two wings of the battlefield. At the same time, Du Fuwei was a little puzzled and dissatisfied that he did not see the most elite armored soldiers under Li Zitong's command. Du Fuwei was not polite about this, and asked Li Zitong directly: "Brother Li, are you What about the armored soldiers? It was agreed that everyone would stop hiding, so why didn’t you bring the armored soldiers?”
"Brother Du, don't worry, brother, I'm not a person who doesn't keep his word." Li Zitong replied with a smile: "If you don't see brother's armored soldiers going into battle today, you'll just slap me with your big ears at night. And no complaints."
"King Du, soldiers are impermanent, and water is impermanent." Mao Wenshen also said calmly: "The trump card that is used suddenly is the most lethal trump card. Wang Shichong is treacherous. We have to guard against him and prepare early."
Seeing the confident expressions of Li Zitong and Mao Wenshen, Du Fuwei also chose to believe it, and nodded and said: "Then please, the old thief Wang Shichong will definitely concentrate the main force on the front. If you can open a gap from the flank, this decisive battle We will win. Okay, it's getting late, brother Li, please return to the team and take care."
Li Zitong bowed his hands to return the salute, exchanged a word of care with Du Fuwei, and then led Mao Wenshen back to his flag formation, and then Du Fuwei was not polite, and directly ordered: "Beat the drum, attack!"
With the sound of war drums, the extremely cruel decisive battle began. Du Fuwei, who had a large force and rich capital, invested 3,000 infantry in the first attack to attack the front of the army camp, and ordered his confidant Ximen Junyi to lead 500 knives and axes as the supervisor team , viciously declared that whoever takes a step back will be killed immediately, and whoever breaks into the enemy camp first will be rewarded with three hundred taels of gold! Three beauties! Promoted to three ranks! Under heavy rewards and coercion, the three thousand bandits who were destined to become cannon fodder rushed to the front of the official camp with an indomitable momentum. Battle for fortifications.
The battle has been intense since the very beginning. Even though the Jiangdu army used long-range weapons to kill and wound many bandit soldiers, there was a supervising team in the rear to monitor the bandit army who had nowhere to retreat. They still rushed to the official barracks tenaciously. Straw bags filled with soil were thrown into the trenches dug hard by the officers and soldiers, the antlers were cut off to destroy the horses, and they desperately opened the way forward, and then rushed to the side of the wall to fight bloody with the officers and soldiers.
The Jiangdu army paid a heavy price for the lack of perfect camp defenses. The walls in many positions are not high enough or thick enough. Those that are not high enough can give the Jiangdu army a condescending advantage. The earth walls that are not thick enough It would be easy to be overthrown and destroyed. Within a short while of the battle, Jiangdu Army's camp fortifications were punched out a few small holes, forcing Jiangdu Army to resist the bandit army's attack at the gap with human life and blood, and the number of casualties began to gradually decrease. expand.
It was also at this time that Du Fuwei really believed in Mao Wenshen's speculation and analysis. If he didn't initiate a decisive battle quickly, he might not even have a chance to fight to the death, because the Jiangdu Army camp centered on the camp gate. No matter how fierce the offensive was, the bandit army had no way to rush up the wall, and was always pressed and beaten by the officers and soldiers. Only in positions where the camp was not well-fortified did the bandit army make limited breakthroughs. Secretly rejoicing that he was doing good, Du Fuwei was not polite, and immediately ordered the front army to concentrate its forces to storm the weak points of the officer's barracks, to expand the gap that had been opened, and to open the way forward for the elite rear army.
Du Fuwei's correct tactics made Wang Shichong's brain troubled. If he doesn't stick to the weak point, he will die together. If he sticks to it with all his strength, he will suffer heavy casualties. With no choice, Wang Shichong came up with a genius idea, ordering the soldiers to pile up soil while facing the battle. Bag to patch gaps. After Du Fuwei discovered Wang Shichong's attempt, he immediately invested another 2,000 new troops to join the battle, desperately confronting Wang Shichong to fight the war of attrition that Wang Shichong feared most.
Blood splashed inside and outside the Jiangdu army camp. The sounds of killing, screams, wailing and the clash of knives and guns echoed on the battlefield. One after another, soldiers from the two armies fell into the pool of blood. Flowing along the low-lying areas, although the casualties of the Jiangdu army were significantly smaller than those of the bandit army, Wang Shichong still shed blood and tears in his heart. He still doesn't understand why Du Fuwei launched a decisive battle at this terrible moment? I don't even understand why Du Fuwei didn't go to Suyu to find trouble for his allies, but came to Huaishui to find trouble for himself
The battlefields on the two wings of the Jiangdu Army camp were also in full swing, but Li Zitong's team's offensive on the left wing of the Jiangdu Army camp was obviously greater than that on the right wing, just like the frontal battlefield in charge of Du Fuwei. Not only are there not many troops on the right wing, but the offensive is also thunderous and rainy, a symbolic attack that seems to be going through the motions, and there is almost no threat to the right wing of the officers and soldiers.
Strangely, although the right-wing battlefield was relatively calm, Du Fuwei never asked Li Zitong to step up his attack on the right-wing of the officers and soldiers. He also ordered Wang Renze, who led the reserve team, to beware of changes in the right wing—because Du Fuwei and Wang Shichong discovered at the same time that among the 4,000 troops deployed by Li Zitong on the right-wing battlefield, only 2,000 troops were always attacking the official camps in turn, and the other 2,000 troops But he hid in a far away position and rested on the ground, always standing still and ready to go!
The fierce battle lasted from the morning until half past noon, and more than half of the 5,000 cannon fodder sent by Du Fuwei in two successive waves had already suffered more than half of the casualties—at least 500 of them were hacked to death by the Bandit Warlord, and their bodies were piled up in front of the Jiangdu military camp. Cheng Xiaoshan, the soldiers of the bandit army can already step on the corpse mountain and rush directly through the earth barrier to enter the official army camp. At the same time, the weak point of the official army camp has also been opened with two large openings more than ten feet long, forcing Wang Shichong to give up fighting while fighting. The genius tactic of repairing fortifications - this tactic has only been played by the genius general Zhu Wenzheng so far, and he was forced to fight with all his strength to prevent the bandits from entering the camp.
At this point in the battle, the time is actually ripe to invest in elite combat, but Du Fuwei hesitated at this moment, because so far, what he has fought with Wang Shichong and Li Zitong has been a war of cannon fodder attrition, and the three parties are still fighting. Without engaging in real core elite combat, if Du Fuwei first put the recruited elite into the battlefield, not only the casualties are bound to be relatively large, but he may also be forced to face the elite forces of the official army alone.
While hesitating, Mao Wenshen came to Du Fuwei on horseback, and suggested: "King Du, it's time to invest in elite troops. Once the elite troops gain the upper hand on the battlefield, we can launch a full-scale general attack and take advantage of our strength. The official army camp!"
Du Fuwei hesitated for a moment, then pointed to the right-wing battlefield, pointed at Li Zitong's 2,000 infantry who had not moved, and said: "If you let the 2,000 troops attack, I will immediately recruit elite soldiers!"
"Then please give the order, King Du." Mao Wenshen said relaxedly: "To tell you the truth, the students not only came to advise you to dispatch the elite, but also commanded the attack of the 2,000 troops for King Li."
After all, Mao Wenshen really rushed towards the two thousand infantry without hesitation, and shouted orders on the horse, and the bandit soldiers who were sitting on the ground also got up one after another, checking their weapons and lining up to attack. Seeing this scene, Du Fuwei was overjoyed, of course, and said happily: "Brother Li is very interesting, he really deserves to be a brother who came out of Changbai Mountain (Shandong Changbai Mountain) together, and he keeps his word!"
Overjoyed, of course, Du Fuwei immediately ordered the recruited elite soldiers to prepare to attack, and the recruited army had just finished preparing, and the right-wing battlefield was already full of battle drums. In a neat formation, they advanced in a dense horizontal formation unique to heavy infantry, and their steps were not fast but extremely steady, like a wall of iron and steel, slowly but firmly pushing towards the right wing of the officer camp.
Seeing this scene, Du Fuwei laughed three times, and immediately shouted: "Recruit, attack!"
The core recruits in Du Fuwei's team attacked under the leadership of Du Fuwei's chief general Wang Xiongxi. The same dense horizontal team strode forward, and the leader was the very powerful Modao team. Seeing these Modao teams, and seeing Li Zitong's two thousand infantry, Wang Shichong almost had the urge to cry. He couldn't understand how Du Fuwei and Li Zitong, the seemingly incompatible alliance, could be so Working together, they are willing to invest in heavy infantry to attack themselves at the same time? Why hasn't anyone thought about saving their strength
Crying without tears, Wang Shichong had no choice but to quickly order to meet the enemy, and shouted: "Heavy infantry attack. Replace the light infantry at the gap, and stop the thieves and heavy infantry at any cost! Order Wang Renze to divide half of the reserve team into reinforcements." Right wing!"
Wang Shichong's order was carried out immediately, and the core heavy infantry of the Jiangdu Army immediately attacked, replaced the light infantry at the gap, and blocked the most elite recruits under Du Fuwei's command, but Wang Shichong did not explain the order carefully in desperation. His nephew Wang Renze took advantage of a loophole. After learning that Li Zitong had invested in the heavy infantry to attack the right wing, Wang Renze, who was worried about his father's safety, simply led half of the reserve team to the right wing for reinforcements, and took away all the heavy troops in the reserve team. As for the infantry, only a reserve team full of light infantry was left for the deputy Wang Xingben to lead and wait for orders...
Wang Shichong started from Huainan, and Du Fuwei and Li Zitong started from Shandong. Neither of these two areas produced horses. The heavy infantry naturally became the core force of everyone. Basically, the victory or defeat of the heavy infantry determined the outcome of the entire battle. , the importance is self-evident, so when everyone joined the heavy infantry decisive battle at the same time, the hearts of Wang Shichong and Du Fuwei were inevitably raised in their throats...
For the convenience of commanding, Du Fuwei's flag array was closer to the battlefield, and the recruits assembled under the flag array were naturally closer to the battlefield. The collision between the two, the life and death fight between iron and blood. Although Li Zitong's heavy infantry was far away, they quickly rushed to the right-wing battlefield to compete with Wang Shiyun, Wang Renze and his son's team. Unconsciously, I found that although the clothes of the bandit heavy infantry on the opposite side seemed to be bloated and heavy with iron armor under them, after cutting or cutting them open, they were filled with straw and reed flowers!
At the same time when Wang Shiyun and his son discovered this mystery, Mao Wenshen had quietly returned to Li Zitong's flag formation, and smiled at Li Zitong and said, "Your Majesty, it's done. We were tricked into going to the right-wing battlefield.”
"Sir, it's really a clever plan." Li Zitong smiled happily, and said in a low voice: "Should we do it now, or wait until Du Fuwei and the officers and soldiers consume more?"
"Your Majesty, we can't wait." Mao Wenshen quickly replied: "This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to defeat the enemy. We must immediately invest our elite forces to defeat the enemy in one fell swoop. Otherwise, once the officers and soldiers find out that they have fallen for it, they will turn around in time and we Maybe all previous efforts will be wasted and the surprise attack will be turned into a war of attrition."
The time to decide the outcome has arrived, but Li Zitong, who holds the key to the outcome, hesitated at this critical moment. After hesitating for a while, Li Zitong actually said: "Wait a little longer, wait for Du Fuwei and Wang Shichong to consume more. Then we’ll get started before it’s too late.”
"My lord, I can't wait!" Mao Wenshen's face changed, and he said quickly, "My lord, you must act immediately, you must act immediately! Once the officers and soldiers react, all the previous arrangements of the students will be for naught!"
"It's okay, just wait." Li Zitong still shook his head resolutely, and said slowly: "Wen Shen, you joined my team later, you don't know how difficult it was when I started, and you don't know how much effort and effort I have spent. Money and grain are the only way to form these two thousand Iron Armored Army, they are my lifeblood and I must make good use of them.”
Mao Wen was dumbfounded, and after a while he lowered his head weakly, and said to himself: "Short-sighted! Our only chance for quick victory has been ruined by you idiot. If we miss this opportunity, we can only continue to fight with Wang Shichong."
At the same time, Wang Shichong finally learned that the bandit heavy infantry on the right-wing battlefield were all fakes. Hearing this report, Wang Shichong, who had run out of heavy infantry reserves, almost fainted, and immediately went into a hysterical frenzy. Roar, "Immediately send an order to Wang Renze, let this idiot bring heavy infantry back to the left wing! Back to the left wing! Quick! Quick! Immediately! Quick!"
Hurriedly leading the heavy infantry back from the right to the left, Wang Renze's troops met Li Zitong's heavy infantry who suddenly entered the left battlefield. , the battlefield situation fell into balance again, while Li Zitong screamed in regret, Wang Shichong wiped off a cold sweat—if Li Zitong let the heavy infantry join the battlefield a stick of incense ahead of time, then Wang Shichong's left-wing battlefield may have completely collapsed , At that time, it will definitely cause a chain reaction, leading to the complete collapse of the frontal battlefield, and the Huaishui camp that the Jiangdu Army relied on will no longer exist. Whether Wang Shichong himself can escape the Huaihe River alive will be a big question by then!
He secretly rejoiced that his luck was not bad. When the enemy commander suddenly had his head flooded, Wang Shichong shook his underwear, which had already been soaked in cold sweat, and said in his heart: "It seems that the war of attrition is inevitable. Third brother I won't be able to make it to the battlefield in a while. How much of the old man's 20,000 direct lineages can be retained depends on when that little thief Chen Yingliang will send troops. I hope the heavens will continue to bless the old man, so that the little thief Chen Yingliang will find out his conscience, and come down south to meet me !"
After praying, Wang Shichong regretted what he had done for the first time, and cursed secretly: "Fuck it, if I knew that Chen Yingliang was such a cunning thief, I shouldn't have crossed the Huaihe River to take credit for it!"