(A big chapter with 6,000 words, please vote for me)

Lin Fu was in Yuzhang and gave Huang Binghao a deadline of mid-August to accept the surrender conditions.

Zhang Xiongshan led a vanguard of 3,000 troops and was intercepted by more than 600 Huaidong elite cavalry in the west of Xinyu City. When the news reached Xia Yuan, Huang Binghao and others only thought that they were troops sent by Yuzhang to Yuanzhou to promote the surrender, and

I didn't feel anything else unusual.

When sending troops to Xinyu, Huang Binghao still wanted to keep the last bottom line and not quarrel with Huaidong, but he learned that more than 600 cavalrymen from Huaidong were also marching to Xinyu, hoping to block Yuanzhou's troops and horses outside Xinyu City. In fact, his name was Huang Binghao.

There is no other option.

If the world hadn't laughed and said that Yuanzhou's 30,000 troops were frightened by Huaidong's 600 cavalry, Huang Binghao would have had to bite the bullet and ask Zhang Xiongshan to drive away or annihilate Huaidong's 600 cavalry and seize Xinyu City.

Although Xia Yuan was very optimistic about expelling or annihilating the more than 600 cavalrymen from Huaidong who entered Xinyu, and Chen Zishou led the Chinese army without hesitation and accelerated the march towards Xinyu, Zhang Xiongshan, who was actually facing the enemy, felt completely different.

The scouts detected the traces of six hundred cavalrymen in Huaidong. They were in the south of Yangle County, at the west foot of Shizi Ridge in Moshan Mountain, more than 70 miles away from Xinyu City. At that time, Zhang Xiongshan led his troops to the south of Tanglong Ridge in Mengshan Mountain, about 70 miles away from Xinyu City.

The city of Chongqing is about thirty miles away, but it is only more than fifty miles away from the western foot of Shiziling Mountain in Moshan. Such a wide scope of scouting is enough to show how cautious Huang Binghao, Chen Zishou and others were about sending troops to Xinyu.

Zhang Xiongshan has three thousand soldiers. They were originally Huang Binghao's guards. They were the old soldiers brought out by Huang Binghao when he was the governor of Jiangzhou. At the beginning, Chen Zishou was the general. By the time Zhang Xiongshan became the third general, various school officials

They are all Huang Binghao's trusted confidants.

Over the years, this army has eliminated the weak and retained the strong. It is Huang Binghao's most trusted elite army. Although the number is not large, whether it is suppressing bandits in Poyang or sticking to Jiangzhou, they have made outstanding military exploits, paid and provided military food.

They were all superior to other soldiers. After Huang Binghao surrendered to take over the defense of Yuanzhou and the war against Tanzhou, in order to supplement his troops, he forcibly recruited a large number of men from Yuanzhou to join the army. The only guards in the camp were all descendants of Huang Binghao's clan or fellow villagers.

If it weren't for the fact that he wanted to ensure that the capture of Xin Chongqing was foolproof, Huang Binghao would not be willing to ask Zhang Xiongshan to lead his guard camp as the vanguard.

All the cavalry in Yuanzhou's army totaled no more than a thousand, and almost all of them were concentrated in the guard camp.

Zhang Xiongshan was worried that the Huaidong Army would advance quickly to Xinyu and wait for reinforcements, so he gathered a thousand cavalrymen and personally led the team to Xinyu to seize the opportunity, and asked the remaining two thousand infantry to follow.

Come.

When Zhang Xiongshan led the cavalry to advance, the sun was setting in the west, and the sunset shone on the mountains on both sides, as if covered with a layer of purple mist. The horses' hooves galloped in the valley, as if a storm was hitting the rocks.

When it was getting dark, we stopped in the west of Xinyu City.

Walking in a hurry, half of Zhang Xiongshan's face covered by his beard was a little gray. He looked at the dilapidated city head of Xinyu. The city gate had long gone, and only the empty city gate hole remained, which looked like an open beast in the dusk.

mouth.

Zhang Xiongshan came with his cavalry, and three or five men in green clothes and short coats and hemp shoes came out from the city gate to greet them.

"Tian Xiu, is there anything unusual in Xinyu City?" Zhang Xiongshan reined in his horse and asked the leading man.

After the Shangrao War, Huang Binghao was afraid that the Huaidong Army would advance westward along the Yuanshui River and abandon Xinyu, which was surrounded by relatively open terrain. The troops and horses retreated to the area west of Xia Yuan City, which was easy to defend and difficult to attack.

Although Huang Binghao did not station troops in Xinyu, he always had a large number of informants deployed inside and outside Xinyu City to grasp the latest trends in Huaidong towards Xinyu. To be honest, he was afraid that the Huaidong Army would send troops to Xinyu first.

Tian Xiu was the chief scout of Yuan Zhoujun in Xinyu. He had suffered from smallpox in his early years. His face was full of pits. He was wearing a short coat and had a sword on his waist. He walked up to Zhang Xiongshan and saluted him.

Said: "When I heard that General Xiongshan was coming, there was chaos in the city. There was nothing unusual. However, the scouts from Xiaozhushan saw that two or three hundred Huaidong cavalry had approached the north of Xiatanggou and were wading across the river!

"

Huang Binghao abandoned Xinyu and refused to defend it. He even demolished the gates of the four cities of Xinyu before abandoning the defense. However, Xinyu has not been severely damaged by wars in recent years. There are many people in the city and they have not fled much.

After May, Lin Fu in Yuzhang did not rush to send troops and horses to march westward along the Yuan River. Instead, he sent people into Yuanzhou to recruit surrender. On the one hand, Huang Binghao also responded positively, and on the other hand, quite a few people believed that Huang Binghao would

They succumbed to the force of Huaidong and chose to surrender, so the people of Xinyu and Chongqing did not flee to other places on a large scale to avoid the war.

At this time, the major shareholder of Yuanzhou's troops and horses entered, which naturally caused chaos among the people of Xinyu.

Zhang Xiongshan knew that Huaidong would not have no spies in Xinyu City, but as long as they did not cause serious harm, he did not bother to pay attention to them. What Zhang Xiongshan was concerned about at this time was the more than 600 cavalrymen from Huaidong coming from the north.

Xiaozhushan is located in the north of Xinyu City. Xiatanggou is a stream that originates from Xiaozhushan, which is only ten miles away from Xinyu City.

"Go to Xiatanggou!" Zhang Xiongshan was not in a hurry to enter the city. Instead, he reined in the reins, drove his horse through an arc, causing smoke and dust to rise, and directed more than a thousand cavalry to go north along the northwest corner of the remaining city of Xinyu.

He rushed to Xiaozhushan in front of him to meet the Huaidong soldiers and horses coming from the south.

For Zhang Xiongshan, it is not enough to enter Xinyu City first.

The terrain around Xinyu City is open. If they lead their troops into Xinyu City and call more than 600 Huaidong elite cavalry to go around to the west of Xinyu City and around to the hilly area between Mengshan Mountain and Qiqiang Ridge, they will delay the main force of Chen Zishou's Chinese army.

The speed of westward march.

Zhang Xiongshan still did not mean that the Yuzhang side knew about their plan to invade Xinyu as early as the day before yesterday, and he believed that the six to seven hundred cavalry who appeared in the north of Xinyu were a small group of troops sent by General Huaidong to Yuanzhou to promote the surrender.

, thinking that even if this group of soldiers and horses rushes back to Yuzhang to report the news, the main force of Huaidong's cavalry in Yuzhang will not be able to reach Xinyu until two days at the earliest.

This means that the main force of the Chinese army led by Chen Zishou must enter Xinyu City within two days, deploy Xinyu's defense line, and also establish Yuan Shui in the north of Xinyu, Xiaozhushan and the east of Xinyu.

Build defensive barriers downstream so that you can seize the initiative in the war.

Zhang Xiongshan led the main force of the cavalry north to Xiaozhushan to attack the Huaidong cavalry, but left 200 troops for Tian Ji and his deputy Liu Yaoqi to take over Xinyu City. The 2,000 infantry left behind would attack after dark.

Entering Xinyu City, the main force of Chen Zishou's Chinese army will be delayed on the road for a day and will arrive at Xinyu City before noon tomorrow.

*******************

Chen Daozi reined in the horse and hung the reins tightly. The horse raised its hooves and neighed, then kicked hard against the creek rocks in the shallow water, causing a large splash of water.

After traveling three hundred miles in two days and one night, even a brave man like him was somewhat tired. He dismounted from his horse, still holding the reins in his hand, and dipped his face into the cool stream, took a big drink, and then untied himself.

He took out his trouser belt, took out a fluffy bird, stood by the stream to relieve himself, and screamed happily.

Three hundred horsemen dispersed to the left and right along the north bank of the stream. Without Chen Daozi's instructions, those exploring the waterway and those looking for high places to reconnoiter the enemy's situation also started their own actions, while the others dismounted to rest and eat.

I saw several heads of people on the cliffs of the North Ridge of Xiaozhu Mountain. Those who were still interested in watching at the top of the mountain must be the scouts sent by the Yuanzhou Army. Chen Daozi came over with a riding whip in hand and sent out ten soldiers to catch up.

Go over and kill them.

He led his troops first, and his duty was to clear out and isolate the scouts deployed by Yuanzhou Army around Xinyu along the way, and completely blind Huang Binghao and Chen Zishou's eyes on the periphery to cover the whereabouts of Huaidong's main force.

The scouts in front came back from wading through the water, reined their horses in front of Chen Daozi, and reported: "More than a thousand enemies have ridden to the foot of Xinyu City, but two to three hundred people are left behind, and about eight hundred others are coming here."

…”

Although there were only over 300 horses here, when they heard that 800 to 900 enemies were riding over to fight, the people around them were excited. Several primary schools came over with their horses and urged Chen Daozi to allow them to wade to the south bank of Xiatanggou to meet the enemy.

.

Chen Daozi spat, scolded everyone away, and said: "What the hell, Yuan Zhoujun put all his money on the bet. You would be stupid if you follow the bet. Send someone to tell Zhao Bao that we will kill the enemy."

Riding to the west, if he can go around, go around; if he can't go around, just come with the enemy's tail and pack them up with us!"

The more than 600 cavalry in the front, with Chen Daozi and Zhao Bao as generals, were divided into two teams at the southwest foot of Moshan. One team was led by Chen Daozi, put on new horses, and galloped to Xiatanggou to meet the enemy. Zhao Bao led

The remaining team, in addition to one person and one rider, also had to restrain twice as many horses, falling behind and moving at a slightly slower speed.

It is difficult to force the main force of Yuanzhou's army to enter the city, and to alert the main force of Yuanzhou's army to abandon Xinyu without seizing it and to escape from Yuan's trouble before the main force of Huaidong army arrives - this is indeed a bit difficult.

Zhang Xiongshan, the enemy's vanguard, was the first to arrive outside Xinyu City. He had 3,000 infantry and cavalry, and was quite capable of fighting. If a defensive formation was established along Xiatanggou at the western foot of Xiaozhu Mountain in the north of Xinyu City, it could cover the troops led by Chen Zishou.

The main force of the Chinese army entered Xinyu, and Chen Daozi and Zhao Bao could only bite the bullet and forcefully cross Xiatanggou.

However, it is obvious that Zhang Xiongshan has 3,000 elite troops, including a large number of cavalry. Seeing that the Huaidong Army entered Xinyu with only more than 600 troops, how could it be possible to defend the northern flank of Xinyu City honestly?

Zhang Xiongshan led the cavalry to take the initiative to fight, which was exactly what Chen Daozi wanted. Chen Daozi looked up and saw that the twilight was closing, and the pale moonlight had risen in the eastern sky. He waved his whip and pointed to the surrounding generals.

: "This is a good night for a night battle."

****************

Chen Daozi led his team to walk westward along Xiatanggou, and Zhang Xiongshan pursued him westward, crossing Xiatanggou, sparse forests, and hills, and followed them relentlessly.

At this time, even if he knew that there was another team of more than 300 riders in Huaidong who took the opportunity to go around the east foot of Xiaozhu Mountain to the foot of Xinyu City, Zhang Xiongshan did not take it seriously.

Another two thousand infantry led by him are also approaching the foot of Xinyu City. In addition, there are nearly two hundred cavalry left in Xinyu City. Zhang Xiongshan does not have to worry that the two thousand or so cavalry will not be able to stop the three hundred Huaidong.

cavalry.

It was after dark that Chen Daozi led his troops to counterattack the Yuanzhou cavalry who were chasing after them.

It was the night before the Mid-Autumn Festival, when light clouds covered the sky, and the bright moon shone like water. The mountains, rivers and valleys all around seemed to be bright but not bright. I could see the scene in the distance, but I couldn't see it clearly.

Zhang Xiongshan saw that he could not catch up with the enemy soldiers and saw that the night was already dark, so he led his troops back to Xinyu. Riding horses at night among the streams, mountains and forest valleys, he could only walk in small steps. If he rode at a gallop, he would easily encounter uneven terrain.

The horses were kicked. In order to protect the hard-won war horses, many soldiers even dismounted and led the horses away.

At this moment, more than 300 cavalry led by Chen Daozi rolled back from the hills at the eastern foot of Mengshan Qiqiang Ridge at the other end of Xiatang Valley.

Hearing the sound of horse hooves approaching, it turned out that they were galloping from the sparse forest at night. Before Zhang Xiongshan could react, dozens of arrows shot at him. The seat under Zhang Xiongshan was shot by an arrow from his right eye.

It shot through the skull, and another arrow hit Zhang Xiongshan's shoulder armor, and it fell with a clang. The mount collapsed to the ground. Zhang Xiongshan took off his spear, jumped to the side, changed his horse and mounted it, and ordered the soldiers and horses on the left and right to gather around and resist.

Night attack by the Huaidong Army.

However, dozens of horsemen from Huaidong fired arrows, and after a slight contact and seeing the elaborate formations here, they immediately dispersed into the forest. Zhang Xiongshan led his troops to chase, but dozens of horsemen from each side of the forest came out to intercept them.

Zhang Xiongshan had to retreat to the stream and use the moonlight to organize his array on the slightly flat beach beside the stream.

Yuanzhou's cavalry would have no difficulty traveling at night along the road, but they were definitely not good at traveling at night among mountains, rivers, forests, valleys and fields where there were no existing roads.

Speaking of which, there is still a lack of training.

Jiangxi does not produce horses. The horses introduced from Guangnan and eastern Sichuan are all short camels. Huang Binghao has been choosing some tall and walking horses from the camels for riding.

Horses are so precious, and the cavalry's night training in the field is particularly harmful to horses. If a hoof is accidentally kicked, a good war horse will be completely useless and can no longer be ridden. It can't even be used as a walking horse. How can Huang Binghao be willing to train troops at all costs?

, he doesn’t have this resource either.
To be continued...