On November 25, 1651, the savannah under the scorching sun was unbearable. In the field camp tent on the bank of the Cotton River (Unilashi River), Xiao Baitu held a copy of the military order he had just received, looked at the officers in different costumes in front of him, and said expressionlessly: "Ladies and gentlemen, the first section of the Eight Banners of the island was defeated in the upper reaches last night, and they were raided when they were sending supplies to the right flank of the garrison led by Zhai Xiaoshan, and they lost more than 200 soldiers and a large number of baggage ......."

"Bang" I don't know whose chair was brought down!

Xiao Baitu sighed deeply: "Order, Hyotaro's left flank carrying supplies quickly approached him. I hope that the two departments will carry forward their spirit, work hard, and persist in persevering, and the supplies will be sent soon. ”

It is said that since the departure of the East Coast Expeditionary Army, the kingdom of Manab that had attacked the East Coast people has disappeared without a trace, and even the Sakarava herdsmen who have been snooping outside the East Coast Control Zone have been much fewer recently, and it seems that they have been caught in another war at the same time, so they have disappeared from the coastal area, but Xiao Baitu feels that things are not so simple.

Sure enough, on the fifth day of their expedition, that is, yesterday, the troops camped on the banks of the Cotton River (with easy access to water) were suddenly hit by a flood in the middle of the night, and the roaring muddy water suddenly poured down from the upper reaches of the river, turning the camp of the people on the east bank into a land of water. Fortunately, when Xiao Baitu and the others were camping, the marching staff had already selected a higher place to set up camp, so the loss of personnel was not large, but many materials were soaked in water, which was considered to be lost.

When the sun came out during the day, they noticed that the water below the camp was still up to their ankles. After soaking the loess under his feet overnight, it has become a yellow mud soup that can almost block people's ears and noses, and it is not easy for the main force carrying a large number of ox carts and pack animals to get out of this floodplain in a short time.

However, when Xiao Baitu and others were at a loss, Zhai Xiaoshan and Hyotaro's subordinates, who were in front of the vanguard (mainly Polish prisoners of war. About three hundred people, divided into two to expand the search area) but ran into danger. Judging by the news brought by the herald of the Hyotaro Division in front just now, the Second Division, which was about three days away from the main army, was probably in danger at present. Because a caravan carrying supplies from the camp of the main army had been attacked halfway through, it is likely that the main force of the Sakarava was nearby!

This is not a wasteland devoid of any vegetation. On the other hand, because of the abundant water of the Cotton River, and the occasional wet air mass of the Indian Ocean that crosses the central highlands, it is easy to hide people from the large woods growing along the hills on both sides of the river (there are many hills). If the people of Sakarava had the heart, they would have gathered five or six thousand soldiers to hide in the woods in the mountains, and then suddenly attacked the east bank to conquer the army, there was still a good hope of success. And it is precisely because of this fear. Xiao Baitu immediately ordered the two divisions of Hyotaro and Zhai Xiaoshan, who were not very far apart, to quickly get closer, so that they could not only share supplies, but also be able to hold together to resist the enemy and hold on until the reinforcements of the main force arrived.

"When did the strategy and tactics of the natives become so high?" After sending off the heralds of the Hyotaro Division, Xiao Baitu couldn't help but have this thought in his mind. To tell the truth, after being hit by a flood in the middle of the night last night and hearing that the Eight Banners of the island were defeated in the morning, he already had a very bad feeling in his heart, and his feelings suddenly became anxious.

Xiao Baitu was a violent temper back then, and he still hasn't changed after so many years. This time, he led thousands of people to conquer the natives, and the responsibility was extremely heavy. Although he himself was full of confidence in front of others, he knew his own family affairs and had never commanded a single aspect of warfare, although he was known as a militarist. But in the end, he was born as an otaku, and his talent for commanding wars is limited, even if he has learned a lot of military knowledge over the years, he is still a two-knife commander in the final analysis, and Sima Wanpeng is almost the same virtue as his top boss - that is, it is okay for them to lead the team to fight under the superior commander, but once they become the commander-in-chief of the front, the problem will immediately appear.

At this moment, when he found that the battle situation was very different from what he imagined - before the war, he was very optimistic about this expedition, and felt that it was a good time to capture it, Xiao Baitu suddenly felt a little unconfident. He feared that his main force would be dragged in the floodplain of man-made (the staff members unanimously agreed that last night's flood was caused by the Sakarava people damming and storing the flood upstream). can only sit back and watch the hundreds of forward troops being eaten by the natives; At the same time, he was also afraid that the cavalry sent out to meet the second group of baggage troops would be attacked by the enemy suddenly, and that he would suffer heavy losses.

The chaotic thoughts continued to impact Xiao Baitu's brain. The lining of his military uniform was quickly soaked with sweat. I saw him drink two sips of tea, barely suppressing his restless feelings slightly. After thinking about it, he said to the generals around him: "Everyone, now is the time to test us!" This battle is extremely crucial, and there is no room for sloppiness, and if you win, you will have a hundred years of peace, and if you lose, you will die without a place to be buried. Moreover, conquering the tent of the Tu chieftain and quelling the long-delayed war has always been something that the New China Security Command and Executive Committee are eagerly looking forward to......"

There is no need to say more at this point, everyone naturally understands the second half of the sentence he did not declare, that is, the upper peaks are watching, if everyone can't quickly defeat the natives and calm the war, I am afraid that your future will be overshadowed in the future, there is no doubt about it.

On the 25th, two or three thousand soldiers of the main force began to pack up their luggage, destroying all the materials that had been soaked in water and could no longer be used, and the remaining available materials were concentrated on camels and ox carts as much as possible. Even, they organized the remaining dozens of horsemen and set off in advance to join the forward, anyway, the natives had no cavalry, and they couldn't stop them, the riders from South Africa.

On the 30th, the main force on the east bank of the floodplain (the baggage troops were still fighting with the yellow mud soup, and a large number of cattle pulling the carts died) met the herald returning from the front line on the side of the road. However, for some reason, the main force of the natives had not yet returned, and the natives besieging them had only about 1,000 people at most, and only about a tenth of them were armed with arquebuses. However, about a third of the soldiers in both divisions were still killed or wounded or sick, and the situation was very unsatisfactory because they lacked the necessary supplies. ”

Xiao Baitu had already imagined the predicament faced by Hyotaro and the others from the few words of the herald, but he was still relieved in his heart - although more than 100 people were killed and wounded, the troops were not completely wiped out, and besides, the dead were all Polish big noses, and it was not worth feeling distressed to buy these cannon fodder after they were consumed. So, with a slight increase in interest, he immediately wrote a warrant to Hyotaro, Zhai Xiaoshan and others who were holding on to the front, to the effect that they were encouraged to persist in the battle, wait for the reinforcements of the main force, and then plough the court and sweep the holes to completely annihilate this annoying Sakarava armed force.

After the herald carefully put the warrant into the cowhide bag, he stood with his legs together and saluted Xiao Baitu, Xiao Baitu also stood with his legs together and returned the salute, and the muddy water splashed by the whale skin boots wet the yellowish trousers of the trousers, but neither of them delayed, the herald changed horses and continued to convey the order; And Xiao Baitu asked people to take out a hand-drawn map and carefully find it on it.

Is it the way in which the natives have breached the embankment to irrigate the water that has slowed down the main forces on the east bank, and it is already evident that they are trying to buy time for the return of their main forces? This is somewhat convincing, but it still doesn't make sense, is there anything they can't put down in the Cotton River valley because the so-called Manabar kingdom of Gain has always been dominated by nomadic and nomadic farming (migratory farming). Can't you just walk away? Do you have to stick there and fight the East Coast people? It's not necessary, right? I can't figure it out!

But I can't think about the things I can't figure out for the time being, anyway, no one knew about those native countries before, and they are very mysterious, God knows what they have there! Regardless of their conspiracy or yang conspiracy, in short, my great East Coast army will do its best to press over, if you have any tricks, we will continue with all our might!

At this time, Xiao Baitu's heart was already somewhat settled, after all, he had a lot of cards in his hand, and the previous panic was more due to the lack of experience in suddenly serving as a high-level commander-in-chief. Therefore, at this moment, I saw him holding the middle finger of his right hand and looking for it on the hand-drawn map, and after a long time, I saw him suddenly poke his finger the map and said: "It should be here, the main force of the natives will definitely fight our army in this place." Well, go and join the forward troops first, then wait for the second batch of supplies to arrive, and then the whole army will set out to find the bad luck of the Sakarava. I don't believe it, we have so many well-trained soldiers, so many flintlock guns, so many cannons, and we can't do them! ”

Xiao Baitu's strength was so great that when the marching staff officer, intelligence staff officer, and combat staff officer came around to look at it, only a huge finger hole was left on the map, as if it indicated something. (To be continued)