It is a lie to say that he is not afraid, the gap in strength is right in front of his eyes. Even Zhou Shixian said that the elite cavalry of the Shun Army no longer had much combat power, but it was just to strengthen the morale of the army.

You must know that the horsemen of the Shun Army were able to gallop two hundred miles a day when they were marching to the limit. Nowadays, one hundred thirty or forty miles a day is just the normal performance of the horsemen of the Shun Army marching in a hurry.

This is not the Ming army, but the elite Shun army that defeated hundreds of thousands of Ming troops in the Central Plains. Before losing the Shaanxi and Xiangjing base areas, they were able to confront the Qing army head-on.

But it's useless to be afraid. Only by defeating the enemy can you survive.

Zhou Shixian also knew that if the two sides faced each other head-on, the two thousand soldiers and horses under his own command would definitely not be able to defeat the two thousand fine cavalry under Gu Kecheng and Hao Yaoqi's command.

He wanted to take the initiative to attack and attack the Shunjun camp at night because he knew this, not because he was arrogant and forgot about it after many successes along the way.

Moreover, Li Banghua was right. Tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, there would be more than two thousand fine cavalry. Emperor Chongzhen could not be found, so it was impossible for Li Zicheng to send only two thousand cavalry to pursue him.

This window of time is fleeting.

Of course, it was impossible for Li Zicheng to send tens of thousands of troops to pursue him. Firstly, the Shun army only had 60,000 old soldiers in the capital, and Li Zicheng had to be wary of Wu Sangui. Secondly, Zhou Shixian only had such a small number of troops, so there was no need to send too many pursuing troops.

Otherwise, it will become a burden for the elite cavalry to attack.

But this battle had to be fought. Since the Shun army had overtaken them, there was no way to escape or avoid it.

If we can't destroy the pursuing Jingqi in one battle and lose the ability to continue the pursuit, even if we run away overnight, it won't help. This is the core of the problem.

After Zhou Shixian's analysis, he found that not all of his generals had changed their minds. If it had been someone else, I'm afraid these warriors would have had some quarrels or even broken up on bad terms.

But standing in front of them was the famous man in front of Emperor Chongzhen, the majestic consort of the Ming Dynasty, the leader of the escort army, Zhou Shixian, who had won consecutive battles. Even if these generals had doubts in their hearts, they had to execute it, or in other words

Don't dare not implement it.

The so-called "authority" is basically the same thing. Zhou Shixian has led them to win so many times, so they naturally believe in Zhou Shixian.

After unifying the opinions of the generals and discussing for more than half an hour to determine the details of the night attack and the deployment of troops and horses, the time had come to the end of the hour, and Zhou Shixian immediately began to finalize the final night attack plan.

Of course, the final launch time of the night attack was at the end of Yinshi, which was more than an hour before dawn. That would be the time when the Shun army was at its most lax and in its worst condition.

For the Shun army, which is now at its peak, although it despises the Ming army, there are many regulations for setting up camps and the deployment of scouts and secret posts.

Zhou Shixian also learned about these situations through sentry cavalry, so he had to wait until the soldiers and horses of the Shun army thought there would be no more night attacks before launching a sudden attack.

At this point, the initiative was firmly in the hands of Zhou Shixian. The Shun army had originally despised the Ming army, and the few hours in between were enough for Wu Xingye and his sentry cavalry to figure out the Shun army's deployment.

These soldiers lack neither combat experience nor organizational discipline. In the past, defeats were due to insufficient soldiers and insufficient food, but now both of these are no longer problems.

"Xue Changfu, Zhang Hong, Wu Xingye."

"The general is here!" Xue Laoer, Zhang Hong, and Wu Xingye all immediately came out of the queue and responded in unison with their hands and fists clasped.

"Xue Changfu, you lead three hundred cavalry, as the main force of the first team to attack the Shunjun camp at night. Attack from both wings of the Shunjun camp. The main attack is from the west. You personally lead the two hundred cavalry and take charge of the feint attack from the east.

Be sure to increase the momentum and then open the gap.

Remember, the key point is the war horses in the western camp of Shun Army near the canal. We must find a way to rush and release them all. Drive these uncontrolled and frightened horses towards the camp of Shun Army to disrupt the defense of Shun Army's camp.

, and then take advantage of the situation to break out.

Without war horses and organization, these soldiers who had just woken up from their dreams were just dead men with no fighting power, and they were not worth fearing at all.

Zhang Hong, you lead the military/guard battalion to follow closely behind, follow the cavalry to the west, kill those soldiers who are alone or in chaos, and advance in military formation. There must be no negligence, otherwise the cavalry will attack.

If you go too fast, you will inevitably suffer losses later.

Wu Xingye, you lead the remaining 200 cavalry, wait until the Shunjun camp is in chaos and attention is drawn to the two wings, then break in directly from the front, penetrate the Shunjun camp, and force it to the north and east."

"General, I will obey your orders!" When the three of them heard this, they had no objections and even felt a little inexplicable excitement in their hearts.

This operation is extremely risky, but it has a great possibility of success. They have been in the army for many years, and they are not timid people. Now they are really going to fight. The two thousand are just a few days of integration of the Beijing camp, and the Jin Yiwei mixed army night

The two thousand elite cavalrymen who attacked the shun army could not help but feel nervous and excited.

If it were normal, he might be more nervous, but with the prince-in-law in front of him who is not lacking in courage, wisdom and strategy, he seemed to be a little bit excited.

In order to achieve this combat goal, Zhou Shixian used the general's horses to the limit. More than 200 of the more than 500 cavalry were from the old troops of the Beijing camp, and the other 300 were all transferred from Zhang Hong, Sun Hu, Weng Dajie, and Kong Tao.

of.

Not only that, in order to reduce chaos and alarm the subordinate troops, in addition to marching with titles, those who could not see the road at night were also left in the city by Zhou Shixian and replaced by Jin Yiwei under the command of Dynasty Dong.

People in this era had severe night blindness, but the severity varied. Not everyone could see clearly at night, otherwise there would be no such thing as night blindness.

And marching with the belt in hand and holding on to the belt in front and back can, to a certain extent, solve the problem of marching during night attacks. Not to mention that Texas is surrounded by plains.

All these will certainly cause certain coordination difficulties and even confusion in command. For this reason, in this night attack, there were only two ways to convey battlefield orders: war drums and bugles.

When the war drum sounds, attack or rush forward; when the bugle sounds, retreat or advance slowly. Whether to advance or retreat, whether to rush or advance slowly, is the final word.

This is a war that requires one strike to win, otherwise there will be no possibility of victory. This simplified set of battlefield command orders can also meet the requirements of a night attack.

After all, in this era of night battles, it is basically impossible to command and coordinate the actions of the army. It is precisely because of this that once a night attack is successful, the effect will be astonishing.

"Sun Hu, Weng Dajie, Kong Tao."

"The general is here!" Sun Hu, Weng Dajie, and Kong Tao also immediately came out of the queue and shouted in unison with their hands and fists cupped.

"Sun Hu, you lead more than 200 musketeers to ambush the north of the Shun army's camp. Once the Shun army breaks out, you will immediately stop them and never let them escape.

Weng Dajie and Kong Tao, you will lead the remaining soldiers and horses of our army to assist Sun Hu in blocking the retreat of the Shun army. You will not be able to withdraw your troops until my prince-in-law gives the order to withdraw."

Zhou Shixian paused, frowned slightly, then turned to look at the three generals just now, and continued to add:

"If Xue Changfu's first round of offensive fails to achieve the expected goal and is counterattacked by Shun's army, Wu Xingye, you will not be able to continue the attack and must immediately withdraw to cover the army to the west.

But Zhang Hong could not retreat, so he sent skirmishers to set fire to the tents of the Shun army. On top of the spear army formation, together with Wu Xingye, he covered the retreat and integration of Xue Changfu's cavalry and re-formed their combat strength.

As for Sun Hu, Weng Dajie, and Kong Tao, the three of your troops must immediately withdraw to the south, use firearms and spear formations, and together with Zhang Hong and Wu Xingye, take turns to cover the retreat into the city."

"I will obey your orders!" Upon hearing this, the six people replied in unison without any objection.

This was a plan they had just discussed, and now it was just final confirmation. However, when it came to the preparation plan for the failure of the plan, everyone's nervousness overshadowed their excitement.

In the final analysis, this plan is too risky after all, but the situation has reached the current point. If you want to win, there is no other way.

However, Zhou Shixian is very confident in himself. Where are there so many sure things in this world? Risks and returns are directly proportional. Without the courage to take risks, there is no possibility of success.

Moreover, with his deployment like this, he naturally did not intend to let go of Gu Kecheng and Hao Yaoqi. In this battle, he wanted to severely damage the vitality of this so-called smooth army's elite cavalry.

"After the night attack begins, the command and command will inevitably not be smooth, but the most important thing in this battle is speed. It must be fast so that the troops can be caught off guard.

Therefore, matters on the battlefield are all decided by the generals based on the situation, and success or failure will not be held accountable afterwards. The country of the Ming Dynasty is now in our hands, and I only ask that you all work together to fight against the national traitors."

Zhou Shixian looked around at the generals in front of him and said sincerely: "You will be brave, I will personally supervise the battle and advance with the army. If there is anyone who retreats in the face of the battle, refuses to listen to orders, or abandons his friends and brothers, I will kill him."

No mercy."

Now that he has attacked with all his strength, Zhou Shixian will naturally not be timid. The soldiers are charging ahead, and he must fight side by side with them.

"The general will obey your orders!"

In the lobby of the Dezhou County Government Office, the sound of armor leaves rubbing and vibrating could be heard. After hearing this, the generals who had received military orders all kneeled down to perform a military salute to Zhou Shixian.

"Husband-in-law, where am I?" Wang Chaodong became anxious when he heard that he was not there again this time: "The Holy Emperor is safe in the city. It's time for me to go into battle and kill the thief."

"You continue to protect the Holy One in the city." Zhou Shixian completely ignored Wang Chaodong's request and said decisively:

"Now that the entire army has been mobilized, the Holy Emperor only has about forty improvised guards around him. If Chaodong is no longer in charge of you, how can I, my consort, be able to go out to fight in the city with peace of mind?"

This was Zhou Shixian's great trust. Although he lost the opportunity to kill the enemy and make meritorious deeds, several other people couldn't help but feel jealous after hearing this.

You know, Wang Chaodong is now the most familiar military commander to Emperor Chongzhen, besides his consort Zhou Shixian and several civil servants. How can he be underestimated as a close minister of the emperor?
Chapter completed!