knife

Chapter 816 The Battle of Anfu Temple (6)

The true intentions are revealed!

Now that both sides' strategic intentions are clearly laid out on the table, neither can deceive the other. Therefore, whoever is stronger will ultimately win the decisive battle ahead.

Both sides are roughly equal in terms of troop strength, with each having assembled approximately 100,000 troops.

In such large-scale battles, a slight difference in troop strength is simply insignificant.

In a battle between one hundred and one thousand, the one hundred has absolutely no chance of winning.
But when a thousand men fight against ten thousand, there is a sliver of hope.

With a scale of over 10,000 people, the outcome of a war is actually no longer related to the number of people involved.

At this scale, the real deciding factor is the competition in logistics.

Let's see who can endure it.

In this respect, Chang Lei is undoubtedly at a disadvantage.

Although he accidentally avoided the trap Jiang Qian had set for him, he was still ultimately going in alone.

The expected support and assistance have now vanished. The logistical support for the tens of thousands of troops has immediately become a sharp blade hanging over their heads. The longer this continues, the greater the chance of them falling.

“We still have a chance!” Chang Lei looked at his officers and said, “According to the information brought back by the scouts, it is clear that our move to abandon Danyang and head straight for Liyang County was unexpected by the enemy. They originally wanted to lure us to the vicinity of Danyang City and then surround and annihilate us. This has resulted in their main force being scattered.”

Pointing to the map, Chang Lei continued, "The young marshal encountered Zhu Zhe's troops at Anfu Temple, but the reinforcements they encountered came from Shilin. And the other force we discovered today, led by He Yiming, is in the direction of Majiadian. Do you all understand?"

Everyone nodded.

"Chang Wei, tell me, where is our opportunity?" Chang Lei asked, looking at Chang Wei.

“We also have the advantage of mobility!” Chang Wei said, “We still have more than 8,000 cavalry here, while the enemy on the other side has insufficient cavalry and can only defend, unable to attack. So we can now spare our main cavalry to take the initiative to attack and look for opportunities. If we can eliminate these enemy troops that are gathering here and achieve the goal of defeating them one by one, then this battle will still be very promising!”

With a snap, Chang Lei clapped his hands together and said sternly, "That's right! This is our last chance. I've decided to personally lead the troops to find an opportunity! The young marshal will be in charge of Anfu Temple, with Chang Wei assisting him!"

"I obey! If the enemy dares to attack, I will certainly annihilate them!" Linghu Yong stood up abruptly.

Inside Anfu Temple, Zhu Zhe was sitting under a Buddha statue, roasting a piece of mutton. The mutton fat dripped into the fire, sizzling loudly.

His greatest respect for Buddha was that he did not take down the offering table and Buddha himself to burn, because there was enough fuel and it was not worth it.

Neither he nor Zhan Zhao cared in the slightest about the Buddhist monks having meat and roasting meat.

They all firmly believed that people only have this life and no afterlife.

So what's there to be afraid of?

As Zhu Zhe sliced ​​half of the roasted meat and handed it to Zhan Zhao, Su Qi trotted in and said to the two of them, "There's been some unusual activity in the enemy camp. At least several thousand cavalrymen have left the camp. Our scouts didn't dare to get close, so we don't know where they're going!"

Zhan Zhao took a bite of mutton and said, "No matter where he goes, we can't afford to offend him. Whatever, just guarding our little corner of the earth and preventing that Chang fellow from devouring us is perfect! Sit down and eat!"

He handed the half-eaten piece of mutton to Su Qi, who, without minding the saliva, took a big bite and handed it back, nodding and saying, "That's true!"

It wasn't that these two were afraid of battle, but that the combined forces of Zhan Zhao and Zhu Zhe at Anfu Temple numbered only eight thousand. Before Zhan Zhao arrived to reinforce them, Zhu Zhe's three thousand men had already lost a third of their strength. Later, Chang Wei and Su Qi arrived to reinforce them almost simultaneously, resulting in a fierce battle in which neither side gained the upper hand, with each side losing several hundred cavalry.

Finally, Chang Lei and Zhan Zhao arrived one after the other. Zhan Zhao, with his infantry-dominated army, was no match for Chang Lei's all-cavalry force. He immediately began a defensive operation, relying on the positions Zhu Zhe had previously established.

Fortunately, Zhu Zhe's defenses were well-constructed, and with sufficient troops, defense was no longer a problem. Moreover, Su Qi's cavalry could launch counter-attacks from time to time.

With both defense and counter-attacks, this battle will be a long and drawn-out affair.

For Zhan Zhao, this place was like his own map, and he wasn't in a hurry to drag it out.

The Holy Maiden must be mobilizing troops now. The fact that I'm stuck here like a nail and haven't been swallowed up by the enemy is a merit in itself.

As for what Chang Lei was going out to do, Zhan Zhao could certainly guess.

Naturally, they went out to seek opportunities to defeat the enemy one by one.

Zhan Zhao said he was powerless to do anything about it and could only hope that his comrades would be careful and not accidentally get their heads tied to Chang Lei's horse's rump.

He Yiming led his 5,000 troops forward cautiously.

As the former leader of the Cao Gang, He Yiming's martial arts skills were naturally top-notch. A ninth-rank Xuan Yuan expert would be a first-class master anywhere. However, when it came to leading troops in battle, he was not an expert, unlike Zhan Zhao and others who had rebelled many times and had more or less figured out the tricks of the trade.

However, when reorganizing the army in Jiangnan, Fang Xiaomao followed the military management methods of the Beiting Protectorate outside the pass.

Soldiers that can be controlled, generals that cannot be controlled.

The role of generals has been greatly diminished.
The true backbone of the army consists of captains, regimental commanders, and colonels.

Once the military order is issued, the commanding general doesn't need to do anything else; these people will naturally arrange everything perfectly.

Someone else might feel that their power has been diminished.
But He Yiming was happy to have an easy time.

They could only travel twenty li each day, and scouts had to be sent out thirty li. At the slightest sign of trouble, they would immediately be on high alert.

He Yiming's army was moving as slowly as a tortoise.

Of course, this was not because He Yiming didn't care about the safety of his comrades at Anfu Temple, but because this march came from Jiang Qian's orders.

The objective is also clear: Chang Lei will not sit idly by and wait for his doom; he will definitely launch attacks everywhere to find opportunities to strike.

All troops currently converging on Anfu Temple are fine as long as they arrive safely, regardless of how slow they are.

It was this very order that forced Chang Lei, after lurking around He Yiming for a long time, to retreat in resentment.

He Yiming was originally Chang Lei's most wanted prey. In Chang Lei's view, this man was the biggest weakness among the generals of Jiangnan. He had little experience in large-scale battlefield operations and came from a gang. His hot-blooded and vengeful temperament could not be changed.

Unexpectedly, He Yiming has now turned into a turtle-style hunter, leaving even his excellent hunting dogs with nowhere to bite.

Enemies from all directions slowly but surely pressed in from Anfu Temple.

Chang Lei's space for maneuver is being compressed little by little.

(End of this chapter)