Late Yuan Dynasty: I am the true emperor

Chapter 222: Fighting in the Fog
After spending a night in tension and anxiety, the Yuan army was very tired, but the heavy fog after dawn also made the two men's hearts sink to the bottom.

Aduqin sighed and could only complain in his heart that God did not bless him. He had nothing else to say.

As we all know, late autumn, early winter, and early spring from February to April are the seasons most prone to fog, and it is actually normal to have fog at this time.

But it was impossible for the Yuan army to stay in the village forever. Chelibuhua hesitated and said, "Why don't we wait until noon when the fog clears?"

Upon hearing this, Aduqin immediately retorted.

"If we wait until noon, we don't know how many enemy troops will be outside. Although the fog makes it difficult to march and is an obstacle to our army, it is also difficult for the enemy to see. I don't think it would be better to take the opportunity to move so that the enemy can't figure out our movements."

Chelibuhua frowned, still feeling that the risk was a bit high, "Will this work?"

"We can give it a try, even if it's just to change the village. As long as we can reach the next village, we can let the soldiers have a good rest. Then whether we march or fight, the soldiers will be able to fight. It's better than the tired and discouraged army we have now." Aduqin suggested immediately.

"Well, pass the order down, have everyone prepare to march, and be careful not to make too much noise, we will retreat quietly."

"Yes."

After some trouble, the Yuan army quickly organized and marched. However, when the army walked out of the village and came to the wilderness outside the village, looking at the thick fog around them that was so thick that they could not see more than twenty meters. This made the Yuan army, which had been tense all night, even more depressing and frightening.

Even the flow of fog around them would make them tremble with fear, for fear that a group of enemy troops would suddenly rush out from the thick fog beside them and they would die here.

On the other side, Zheng Yong was a little dumbfounded looking at the thick fog in front of him. How could he fight in such a thick fog?

Zhang Huzi and Zhou Dexing, who had rested for a night and had gathered together, were about to find Zheng Yong to report the situation. At this moment, a scout suddenly came to report with a whistle.

"Commander, the Yuan army has moved. They are gathering their troops and marching eastward."

"Why didn't I hear any noise?" Zheng Yong frowned and asked in confusion.

Zhang Huzi guessed, "The enemy has been harassed all night, and they must know that we are trying to tire them out. If we continue to harass them today and delay for a few more days, they will surely die. The enemy must be trying to escape in the fog."

Zhou Dexing also analyzed after hearing this, "It may be a trick. They sent a part of the army to pretend to march, so that we would think they were going to escape. Then they used these people as bait and hid the main force quietly. After our army took the bait, they launched a sneak attack. Or they may just escape directly and send a small force to confuse us, so that the main force could escape."

Zheng Yong nodded immediately and said, "Yes, what you said makes sense, but no matter what the enemy is like, we have to follow them, otherwise our strategy of tiring out the enemy last night will be in vain.

“Pass on my military order. The first company will go on patrol to find out the number and strength of the Yuan army on the march. The second, third and fourth companies will go around and check the village to see if there are any Yuan troops hiding. Then come back and report to me quickly.

"Zhang Huzi, Zhou Dexing, your two battalions must assemble and stand by immediately. Once we have discovered the enemy's strength, it will be your turn to attack."

"Yes!" The two men immediately clasped their fists and accepted the order.

"Wait a moment." Zheng Yong stopped the messenger who was about to leave and added, "Send someone to inform Qi Xiang that the Yuan army is moving eastward. Tell him to send out scouts to guard and make sure the Yuan army doesn't get away from him."

"Yes."

As soon as Zheng Yong gave the order, all the units took action immediately. The battalion led by Zheng Yong sent out 200 cavalrymen to test the strength of the Yuan army. They fought with the cavalrymen outside the Yuan army's marching column and roughly determined the number of people in front of them. They thought that the main force of Chelibuhua should be in front of them, so they retreated.

The three companies on the other side also searched the surroundings but did not find any trace of the Yuan army. This way, it was certain that the Yuan army was retreating in full force rather than ambushing.

Zheng Yong immediately gave orders to Zhou Dexing and Zhang Huzi, asking them to launch a surprise attack from the right and rear sides of the Yuan army, to test the waters first and mainly to harass them, to drive the Yuan army continuously eastward, to bleed them all the time on the way, and after they joined up with Qi Xiang's third battalion, the four battalions would attack together to encircle and annihilate Chelibuhua's main force.

On Chelibuhua's side, the group was very timid and did not even dare to march in the front. Instead, they hid in the middle of the marching column. It was Aduqin who was busy directing the marching of the various units.

The Yuan army's marching troops moved quickly, but they were unfamiliar with the area and there was thick fog all around. Even if they wanted to go faster, they couldn't. Such thick fog obstructed their vision. If they rode too fast, they would easily crash into a tree or fall into a ditch before they could slow down. Although the Yuan army was anxious, there was nothing they could do.

At this time, Zheng Yong sent out exploratory cavalry. Two hundred armored cavalry easily broke through the scattered cavalry outside the Yuan army and almost broke into the army formation, cutting off the marching column of the Yuan army, which scared Chelibuhua in the team.

Fortunately, they only came to test the Yuan army's strength and had no intention of fighting desperately with it, otherwise, this attack alone would have been enough to defeat the Yuan army.

In addition, there was heavy fog and no friendly troops could be seen around. It was very likely that this group of Yuan cavalrymen ran around and scattered everywhere, becoming horse bandits.

This was not the result Zheng Yong wanted. What he wanted was to achieve his goal in one battle and completely wipe out Chelibuhua.

The first round of probing ended, and the formal attack soon came again.

The Yuan army came out of the village, and before they had gone ten miles, they were attacked from both sides by the three battalions led by Zheng Yong.

Zhou Dexing led his personal soldiers and cavalry to personally raid the rear team. After gaining some success, he immediately withdrew, giving the Yuan army no chance to counterattack. This way, the Yuan army was kept in a state of tension at all times.

Aduqin was urging the troops in front to speed up when he suddenly heard screams and sounds of fighting coming from the end of the team. He was startled and hurriedly spurred his horse to the rear, only to see a group of defeated soldiers running forward in panic, right opposite him.

Aduqin drew his sword and killed a fleeing soldier on the spot, cursing loudly, "Don't run away, everyone, get back and keep the formation. What happened behind you?"

"Reporting to the captain, hundreds of bandits just raided the rear of our team. Our baggage train suffered heavy losses, with dozens of people killed."

Aduqin immediately frowned and shouted, "Everyone go back and look after the food and grass. Stop marching! Stop marching! Defend where you are!"

While shouting, Aduqin ordered the team to stop.

Chelibuhua was dissatisfied and asked, "Why stop now?" "General, the bandit cavalry just raided our food supplies. It is difficult to increase the marching speed with those carts. If we continue like this, we will be torn apart by the bandit cavalry like a pack of wolves. Sooner or later, we will all die here. We must find a way to increase the marching speed."

Chelibuhua was silent for a while, then asked, "What do you think?"

"Divide the food and fodder and assign them to the soldiers to carry on their backs. Each person should carry five days' rations. Abandon the carriages and travel light." Aduqin suggested decisively.

Chelibuhua was still hesitating. They didn't have much food to begin with. Each person only brought five days' rations, and at least half of it would be thrown away, which would make things even more difficult for them.

He thought for a moment before saying, "If we just abandon the carriage, we still won't be able to run fast. The fog is so thick that we can't see the road ahead clearly, and the horses still can't run fast."

So Aduqin suggested again.

"We can send scouts to lead the way, one every fifteen steps, with flags on their backs to ensure that the people behind can see the friendly troops ahead. We can also equip every ten people with a horn. If it's safe to go fast ahead, they can blow long blasts. If the road is difficult to go, they can blow short blasts to slow down. If they encounter an enemy attack, they can blow long and short blasts at intervals to lead the army."

"But wouldn't this attract the enemy cavalry?" Chelibuhua was still hesitating.

Aduqin reminded them, "But the bandit cavalry is right beside us, constantly attacking our army. Even if the horn is not blown, they are still here."

"Well, then, we'll follow your plan. We'll divide the food and fodder first, and then speed up the march."

"Yes."

The Yuan army soon stopped and reorganized, distributing food to each soldier to carry, but there was still a lot left in the end. Aduqin originally wanted to burn all the remaining food to prevent it from aiding the enemy, but there was no firewood, and the air was foggy and too humid, so he tried several times to light the fire but failed.

At this time, Zhang Huzi led his team to launch another surprise attack from the right wing of the Yuan army, killing twenty or thirty people. The Yuan army was in turmoil again. Aduqin finally stopped waiting and did not burn the remaining food and grass. He directly ordered them to be abandoned and then marched as a whole.

In front of the Yuan army, hundreds of cavalrymen formed a long queue, with one person every twenty meters, which was almost the limit of vision in the fog. Each person carried a bright signal flag to guide the people behind, and there was a trumpeter for every ten people to deliver messages.

With this reconnaissance method, the Yuan army's marching speed was finally increased, from marching on horseback to trotting.

Zheng Yong soon arrived in front of the pile of grain carts abandoned by the Yuan army. He did not order his troops to collect them, but ordered them to continue pursuing. Now with the Yuan army's trumpets leading the way, it would be easier for them to launch a surprise attack.

Wuwuwu——

The horn sounds ahead of the Yuan army continued, with long or short horns sounding from time to time, guiding the Yuan army to turn and speed up. Zheng Yong also commanded the three battalions to harass and attack them constantly, like a pack of wolves hunting a herd of cattle, and from time to time they would bite and bleed the Yuan army continuously.

The Yuan army's troops were attacked from time to time, sometimes by the front team, sometimes by the rear team, and sometimes by the two wings. After just one hour's running, the cavalry on the periphery of the Yuan army were completely wiped out. Those were the two hundred cavalrymen arranged by Aduchin, and they were all wiped out in just a short while.

At this time, the fog in the air not only showed no signs of dissipating, but became thicker and thicker. However, this was not surprising. It was not yet six o'clock in the morning. Normally, the early morning fog would have to wait until nine o'clock in the morning, when the sun was high, to dissipate.

In other words, it would take at least another hour and a half for the fog to dissipate, but could the Yuan army hold out that long?

Because of the constant attacks and heavy fog, the Yuan army was already in a state of extreme tension. Even without Aduqin's urging, they did not dare to slow down and stop, as they all wanted to escape from this dangerous place as quickly as possible.

If they stopped at this time, they might be surrounded by the enemy when the fog cleared.

Of course, it is true that the Yuan army was afraid of fighting. When Aduqin selected people to serve as scouts at the periphery, some people had already secretly hidden behind, or disappeared directly in the fog when they reached the periphery, becoming deserters.

Zhou Dexing led his personal soldiers to launch another surprise attack from the rear of the Yuan army. He found a cavalry of the Yuan army emerging from the fog ahead. The personal soldier beside him immediately blew a bamboo whistle, but the other side did not respond.

No response? Then it can be judged that it is the Yuan army! Each cavalryman of the Shengwu Army is equipped with a bamboo whistle. This thing is not a valuable thing. It can be made by simply carving a bamboo stick. It was invented when Lu Jin just jumped into Chaohu Lake, and Zheng Yong also learned it.

Knowing that it was the Yuan army that appeared on the opposite side, Zhou Dexing immediately raised his bow and arrow, pulled the string and was about to shoot. The Yuan army on the opposite side heard the bamboo whistle and immediately shouted loudly.

"I surrender, don't kill me. I surrender, don't kill me! Don't shoot!"

"Wait, don't shoot!"

Zhou Dexing shouted loudly, and then shouted to the surrendering Yuan army soldier, "I will not kill you. Throw away your weapons, dismount quickly, go to the official road by yourself, and wait for us to come back and capture you."

"Yes, okay, okay, I'll get off right away, right away."

The Yuan army was quite honest and handed over their weapons and horses obediently. Zhou Dexing did not make things difficult for him. He just asked someone to tie up his horse. The army continued to pursue the Yuan army and directly abandoned the surrendering Yuan army halfway without tying him up.

Anyway, the area around here has been fortified and deserted, and it has become an uninhabited area. The surrendering guy has no horse, so he can't run far even if he wants to. He may be able to escape by hiding, but he may also starve to death.

In this way, Zhou Dexing collected many prisoners in the rear of the Yuan army along the way. Although he did not capture any people, he gained hundreds of extra war horses.

On Zhang Huzi's side, he was responsible for raiding the right wing and front row of the Yuan army. After following for a while, he also discovered the characteristics of the Yuan army's signals. The long trumpet was for high-speed passing, the short trumpet was for slowing down passing, or turning. Whenever they raided from the flank, the buglers would blow a combination of long and short signals.

Zhang Huzi's eyes suddenly lit up. The fog was getting thicker and thicker, and he could not see more than a dozen steps ahead. Even the Shengwu Army could only rely on flags and bamboo whistles to identify each other. They themselves were wearing armor captured from the Yuan army. If they did not speak or receive signals, it would be impossible to tell whether they were enemy or friendly forces based on their appearance. So why not try to deceive the public and hide the truth?
Since the Yuan army can use the sound of trumpets to lead the way, we can also use the sound of trumpets to lead the Yuan army!
Zhang Huzi immediately went to find Zheng Yong and reported his ideas to him.

"Commander, we can use the trumpet sound to guide the Yuan army to split up, lure out one or two hundred at a time, and then gather a battalion to annihilate them. I think we can completely annihilate Chelibuhua without waiting for the fog to clear."

"It's a good idea. Let's try it. Someone, tell Captain Zhou the news and ask him to continue the pursuit at the rear of the team. Huzi, you lead the Yuan army to split up and hand them over to my first battalion to encircle and annihilate them."

"Yes."

(End of this chapter)