At the end of July of the third year of Jianwen, King Yan led an army of more than 200,000 to surround the county seat of Peixian County, and persuaded him to surrender to the city with arrows, but was rejected. As a result, more than 1,000 artillery pieces of all sizes shook the cannon on all sides, and the entire county town was filled with gunsmoke.

King Yan decided that the county seat of Peixian County could be broken in the near future, so he took Zhu Gaoxu as the vanguard, led the headquarters to ride 5,000 cavalry, and the feudal cavalry 3,000 to the south, and the front army forced Xuzhou.

Zhu Gaoxu received the order and led the crowd to leave Pei County. After walking for a long time, you can still faintly hear the sound of artillery coming from the north.

A large number of men and horses wriggled on the road like a black dragon, and there were no people on the plain, and they probably had taken refuge when they heard the sound of cannons. Zhu Gaoxu looked at the wilderness, saw a large area of crops around him, and rarely saw wasteland, and felt that there were not many people nearby.

It was the crisp autumn weather, and the scenery he saw was completely different from his previous life. The sky is blue, the air is moist and transparent, the wheat in the dry land has been harvested, the cabbage and beans are still in the field, and the rice in the paddy fields is orange and beautiful, and has not yet been harvested, and has been bent over by the ears of rice.

Seeing this, Zhu Gaoxu said in his heart: The time to go south this time is very appropriate!

King Yan fought and confronted the official army in Hebei for half a year, and the army of more than 200,000 suddenly drove south, and the food must be very tight. But once you come to this Xuhuai Plain, you don't have to worry about grain and grass; Even if the soldiers were sent to the fields to harvest, they would be able to get a lot of grain...... However, with the momentum of King Yan to deter Siye every time he went, Zhu Gaoxu felt that King Yan would directly force the local officials to pay grain.

The vanguard army marched from the west side of Huishan Lake, and the road was smooth all the way, and did not encounter any resistance. Three days later, Zhu Gaoxu had reached the south of Huishan Lake, which was only twenty or thirty miles away from Xuzhou City.

Xuzhou has been the land of four wars since ancient times, and it is a big city. Zhu Gaoxu guessed that there was no problem for the official army to gather tens of thousands of soldiers and horses at will, so he did not rush forward, and ordered to build a camp first.

Wang Bin first "requisitioned" a large village surnamed Zhou, and Zhu Gaoxu's Chinese army was stationed in the village. make use of the existing earthen walls outside the village and dig trenches outside the walls to build fortifications; Another military camp was built outside the village, and the army built improvised defenses before dark.

…… Zhu Gaoxu's troops rested in the village for two days, and early on the morning of the third day, he led the cavalry out of the barracks, leaving the infantry army to garrison and respond...... He thought that he only had 8,000 people in total, and he only led the cavalry to Xuzhou, in case he couldn't fight, he could still run.

The Ma army came out of the camp one after another, and went straight to Xuzhou City from the plain. Not long after leaving, the scout reported: "The officials and troops of Xuzhou City went out of the city to line up, and there were tens of thousands of people!" ”

In the first two years, the cavalry of the official army was consumed hugely, and even Ping'an lacked fine cavalry, so Zhu Gaoxu believed that the officers and troops defending the city could not have many horse teams.

Moreover, the defenders of Xuzhou were not the main force of the official army, and when Zhu Gaoxu was still in the army of Yanwang, he knew that peace had not yet reached Jining; Sheng Yong's army is also still in Shandong, and there is a secret report that Sheng Yong will lead the army to the Huai River.

Zhu Gaoxu had no fear, and led more than 4,000 cavalry to continue south.

The army soon arrived at the city of Xuzhou. He sat on his horse and looked out, and could already see the castle tower standing on the edge of the foggy sky, and the north side was indeed densely packed with phalanxes, and put on a posture.

Zhu Gaoxu's cavalry left the main road one after another, swung towards the two wings, and slowly moved forward. At this time, he turned his head to his own soldiers and said, "Order all the troops to stop advancing, and the generals of more than 100 households will come to the army to obey the orders." ”

"Order!"

Thousands of men and horses gradually stopped, and they were nearly two miles away from the official army. Dozens of generals also gathered around Zhu Gaoxu one after another.

Zhu Gaoxu watched in front of the army, pacing on horseback, and when he turned around, he saw many eyes looking at him. He spoke: "We are the forwards, and we are only responsible for clearing the road to Xuzhou. There are tens of thousands of officers and soldiers, and they can attack and harass, and they cannot go deep into the enemy's formation, but wait for my father's army to come. ”

The generals clasped their fists and responded: "The last general will wait for the order!" ”

Zhu Gaoxu used his hand to guide the face again, "There are some village markets in the attached city over there, and now the battlefield is in the north of the city, and the people may have run away." In case of ambushes...... Wang! ”

Wang Bin hugged his fists and said: "The end will be!" ”

Zhu Gaoxu said: "You led a rush of men and horses over, burned the village, if the official army reinforcements come, see the opportunity to avoid the battle!" ”

Wang Bin took the order and left. Zhu Gaoxu waved his hand and said, "Look at the big flag and the red pennant, close to me." Each back to each department. ”

It didn't take long for Wang Bin's cavalry to rush into the villages, starting from the east, and fire broke out in the distance, and smoke rose into the sky. The artillery on the city walls also began to fire in demonstration.

At this time, a drum suddenly sounded from the opposite large array, and a phalanx on the right flank of the officers and troops began to move forward.

Zhu Gaoxu watched for a while, and saw that a large area of low houses in the west had not yet been burned. He suddenly imagined it boldly...... There is an ambush to the west! So he immediately shouted: "Order all the tribes, follow me to the west!" ”

All the cavalry who stayed in the wilderness successively followed Zhu Gaoxu's banner of the Chinese army, and all the troops formed three horse teams and gradually ran up, and the sound of "rumbling ......" horses' hooves became louder and louder.

When Zhu Gaoxu led the horse team around to the west, he saw that Wang Bin had just approached the house, and there was a noise of cannons and guns. The officers and soldiers really hid the ambush outside the city!

At this time, the right flank infantry of the official army was advancing, apparently coming to meet the ambush. Zhu Gaoxu didn't care about the fight on Wang Bin's side, and shouted while running his horse: "Order the chicken's vassal horseman, shoot the official army on the side first!" Then take a detour to the north and lead my department! ”

"Order!"

Zhu Gaoxu then raised his cherry gun and shouted, "Rush with me!" ”

At this time, the large force of the right flank of the official army had stopped and was turning. However, the Xuzhou defender is not Sheng Yong, since the infantry army has been shaken, it is impossible not to show flaws temporarily!

The two armies are getting closer and closer, and at this moment, the embarrassment of the infantry army is exposed, and they can't run, they can't attack, so they can only line up on the spot to meet the attack of the Yan army.

The "Papapa......" feudal cavalry column rushed south along the edge of the official camp, and the sound of strings came from the wind, dense as hail. The sound of the fire gun also sounded messily.

In the official barracks, people kept screaming and falling to the ground, but the phalanx queue still did not move. Occasionally, some of the feudal horsemen were hit by firearms and arrows and fell off their horses, and the shouts of both sides shook the sky.

"Kill!" Zhu Gaoxu roared, and the iron cavalry gradually increased its speed, rushing from the west side to the side of the official army.

The infantry of the officers and soldiers had no time to turn, and the soldiers in a column on the side turned around, and some spears faced Zhu Gaoxu's iron cavalry. After an instant, the sound of metal crashing and screaming suddenly sounded, and a column of soldiers on the side of the officers and soldiers had different weapons and different generals, and when Zhu Gaoxu rode a high-headed iron horse and rushed close with a spear, the crowd retreated, and it was chaotic in an instant.

Zhu Gaoxu rushed forward and stabbed a soldier in the back with a shot, and when he drew his gun, he saw blood splattering. The soldiers around him shouted loudly and rushed into the enemy formation. Some of the officers and soldiers with spears did not form a queue and even resisted in groups, but Zhu Gaoxu was invincible wherever he went, and he rushed over condescendingly, and the Sakura spear felt very light in his hand, as flexible as threading a needle.

Chen Dazhui approached Zhu Gaoxu's side, and he also struggled to perform, very fierce and reckless. Zhu Gaoxu rode in front with his own soldiers, and with one blow, he broke through the enemy camp protruding from the right flank of the official army and crossed his formation.

After the officers and soldiers were stopped and divided, Zhu Gaoxu rode his horse forward, so that the follow-up horse team also followed, and the front was directly in front of the official army.

"Boom, boom, boom......" The artillery on the city wall rang out one after another, and stone projectiles swirled and flew in the air. Occasionally, a horse neighs and is unfortunately hit by a stone bullet.

Zhu Gaoxu pointed to the north with a cherry gun, and several large flags around him also tilted to the north. Zhu Gaochu led the iron to ride in the middle, and the chickens followed Zhu Gaochu on the left and right wings according to his previous experience.

A large group of cavalry circled, and the reinforcements on the right flank of the officers and troops were broken by the flank, and they had already stopped and could not move forward.

Zhu Gaoxu led the crowd to Wang Bin's side again, a low house had already caught fire, and many officers and soldiers were running out in a hurry. The cavalry of the Northern Army approached and arrested the rebels!

The official army ambush failed to attack first, and was expelled by Wang Bin at this time, which was very chaotic, and was besieged by Zhu Gaoxu's thousands of superior forces. Suddenly, the battlefield was miserable.

Countless officers and soldiers rushed in all directions, being killed by the cavalry, killing and wounding countless people, and the ground was littered with corpses and screaming wounded soldiers.

After a while, Zhu Gaoxu heard a loud footstep in the south, and when he looked back, he saw that the officers and infantry were running in columns to reinforce them! It was the group of men and horses that was crossed by its formation just now, and it was swept by the cavalry and cut off, and it didn't collapse yet?!

The officers and generals are very persistent, desperately trying to save the ambush soldiers here!

Seeing this, Zhu Gaoxu didn't want to entangle with him anymore, so he immediately patted his horse and fled north with a red flag and his own soldiers. After a while, the cavalry and Wang Bin's men and horses also gave up the slaughter and followed.

Countless war horses gradually slowed down their running speed, and the horses under Zhu Gaoxu's seat also exhaled heavily. There was a shouting and shouting, and the generals were rectifying their men.

The sound of artillery also subsided, and the right flank of the officers and troops surged. Zhu Gaoxu watched from a distance, and many wounded soldiers were being helped to flee to the south.

Wang Bin clapped his horse and hugged his fists and said, "Lord Wang!" ”

Zhu Gaoxu glanced at him and said: "The officers and troops are not a rabble, and after the battle just now, I feel that I want to use thousands of horsemen to defeat tens of thousands of people, but there is no chance." We continued to burn the houses on the periphery, and then retreated and waited for the main force of the army. ”

Wang Bin said: "The prince is wise! ”

Everyone stopped for a while, and Wang Bin collected the fierce fire oil and gunpowder from the people and horses, and continued to take the people to work. Zhu Gaoxu saw that there was a small slope of woods in the east, and asked Chen Dazhui to send several horses over to investigate.

At this moment, a group of officers and cavalry from the south of the city rushed to the west to watch, but did not dare to come up. Zhu Gaoxu also looked at the official army array, and if he didn't attack, this battle would not be fought.

In the afternoon, Zhu Gaoxu ordered all his troops to go north and return to the military camp on the south side of Huishan Lake. On the other hand, he sent people to the north to report the military situation of Xuzhou, King of Yan.