In the early morning of the next day, just after dawn, several scouts of the Mo family came to the place where the Qi army had built a fortress to observe the terrain.

The Qi army on the other side shouted and cursed, and did not send people out to pursue, but shot at the scouts across the small river.

The distance was so far away that it didn't hit at all, and the scouts fired two symbolic shots in return.

The Qi army was small in number, and the chosen defensive camp was about three hundred paces on the other side of the river.

This is a smart choice, because this small river is only more than eighty steps wide, and if you shoot across the river, the Mo family's artillery advantage and the suppression of the number of muskets will make the Qi army suffer great losses.

The military system of the Qi army was born out of the reform after the Qi-Mo War, and was mainly based on a mixture of hot and cold pikemen and musketeers.

It is not difficult to make the leaf spring of the flint gun, but if it does not go through thousands of tests, it is difficult to find a way to maintain the elasticity of the leaf spring with lead or tin to annealing and quenching.

The flint gun of the Qin State was very heavy, and the firing device was very heavy, and the flint gun was used as a heavy crossbow, which only improved the disadvantage that the arquebus could not be too close, but there was no way to load the bayonet because it was too heavy.

Several elite main divisions on the Mo family's side have been reequipped with flint guns, giving up some advantages of long-range shooting and heavy bullets, and can be equipped with simple spearheads for short spears.

The spearmen were abolished, and the flower team was changed to a pure team, so that the firepower of the Qi State in the same number would be far insufficient.

Coupled with the gap in artillery, the general of the Qi State gave up the idea of fighting near the river, and instead built a fortress about three hundred steps on the other side of the river as the main defensive position.

In this way, Qi's bronze cannon can bombard the Mo family's vanguard who crosses the river, and at the same time, its own side can also use a limited cavalry to counterattack.

The river is not too deep, and it is autumn and winter, and when the water is dry, it is on average to the waist or chest.

This will make the gunpowder wet when the Mo family crosses the river, so the Mo family is likely to choose to build a bridge to cross the river instead of wading directly into the water.

If you want to build a bridge to cross the river, you need to send a small force to seize the other side of the river first, build a fortification on the opposite bank, and cover the people behind to build a bridge, so that the Qi army can use the terrain to carry out an effective counterattack when the number and cavalry are inferior.

This place runs through the north and south, and it is also a battleground for this part of the Qi country, and this part of the Qi country is ready to resist here for two days.

The commander of the Qi army here has decided to sacrifice his life and promise the king, and he did not think about retreating, but decided to repay him with death.

The scouts of the Mo family circled along the river for a while, and the Qi nobles on the opposite side shouted, "Don't look for it, this is the easiest place to cross the river." Further north is a field of reeds, which is difficult to navigate. ”

The scout of the Mo family smiled, pointed to the place where the wooden bridge was demolished before, and now it was demolished, and asked, "Is this it?" Wait, and in the afternoon we will cross the river and defeat you. ”

"Come on, then."

The other side replied, and the two sides tacitly raised their muskets, knowing that it was impossible to hit each other, but they still fired at each other as if saying goodbye.

The Mo family wanted to rush for time, and Qi Guo knew that the Mo family wanted to rush for time, so he chose such an extremely dangerous way of arranging the formation.

If there is enough time, of course the Qi State will not be so arranged, but will choose to flee; The reverse is the same, if there is enough time, the Mo family's forwards can cross the river from elsewhere and slowly surround them, but not now.

In the camp seven miles away, the atmosphere before the battle was not so oppressive, a few recruits nervously woke up early, and the veterans continued to sleep until the wake-up call sounded.

After Sima Qiong and the others got up, they went to the river with the rest of the company to wash up, ate breakfast before the war, and the secretary distributed cane sugar and rice balls before the war.

After eating, they began to assemble, and the autumn dew on the blades of grass was still shining.

The company commander gave an order to all the people in the company to put down their knapsacks and carry only weapons, distributed sugar and rice balls, water hyacinth, gunpowder and buckshot.

Sima Qiong listened to the order, put down the backpack, and after piling it up, he left the camp and assembled the whole brigade outside the camp.

It could not be spread out seven miles away, as that would seriously slow down the march.

Divisions were to march in columns, and only after reaching the front line did not unfold, with the cavalry taking cover in front of them.

The artillerymen sat on the gun carriage, jokingly laughing at these infantry comrades who needed to walk two ways, and Sima Qiong's comrades-in-arms scolded back: "When it rains, you won't laugh." ”

The comrade of the artilleryman laughed and said: "The most difficult summer of the artillery has passed. At least half a year away, we don't need to push a cannon in a mud pit......"

The artillerymen rumbled past him, and Sima Qiong looked back at the team behind him, which was not very long, and the cavalry on both wings could be seen in the distance.

He touched a piece of hard armor on his chest, which was given to him by his father before he returned to service, and the rhino armor he got from the South China Sea, although he knew that this thing could not block lead bullets, but he could comfort his heart.

After nearly an hour's march, Sima Qiong's company was stationed on the riverbank.

Some veterans muttered: "It seems that our brigade will either be a reserve or the main attack." ”

The brigades that spread along the river were clearly covering on this side of the river, not in an offensive formation, but clearly relying on the city walls or the river: the formation was wide and thin, and the company had no depth. The veteran could see at a glance that those companies would not participate in the attack, and even if they crossed the river and flanked them, they would do it to those companies that did not deploy behind.

The artillerymen and sappers were building simple fortifications along the river, and the small guns of the brigades and the bronze cannons of the divisions were concentrated, but half of the artillery was not deployed.

After a short time, the company commander returned from a meeting above and conveyed the company's mission.

It's pretty much the same as those veterans guessed.

After a while, two elite light cavalry companies would cross the river first, clear the river beach before the bridge was built, and drive away the cavalry of the Qi State.

The sappers had to quickly build the bridge, and once the bridge was built, their company would be the first to cross the river to block the counterattack of the Qi army, resist the front, and let the sappers build a fortification.

The artillery would then cross the river and deploy at the place where the sappers had fortified to cover the crossing of the river by the following troops.

The two wings naturally have a strategy, but the affairs of the two wings have nothing to do with them.

If the battle is fought like this, there will not be much strategy to use on the front, and the victory or defeat will be clear at a glance.

If the infantry crossed the river to stabilize their foothold, the sappers dug the fortifications, and the artillery crossed the river, the infantry's line did not collapse, then the battle was won.

The infantry crossed the river and did not gain a firm foothold, and after the artillery passed, the infantry could not hold on and retreated, and the Qi State counterattacked to the river, then this battle could not be won today, at least it would be possible to eat this part of the Qi army tomorrow or even the day after tomorrow.

The company commander just assigned the tasks of the company, and the task of the company was a frontal matter, not two wings.

The company commander cursed and said, "The Qi general on the opposite side is very cunning, he did not set up a formation near the river, but retreated a certain distance, so that even if their troops are inferior, they can launch a small counterattack and delay time. ”

"After the company crosses the river, it is good to hold on until the comrades of the sappers dig a fort and the artillery cross the river."

"Now, rest where you are. Maintain your strength. All-in-one! Sit down. ”

The people of the company sat down obediently, and several people were bored drinking some of the tea that had been poured into the gourd last night, and Sima Qiong's books were left in the camp, so they had to watch the sappers on the beachhead in front of them busy.

The sappers emptied the wooden barrels containing gunpowder and liquor as floats for the bridge, and were preparing the materials for the bridge.

The artillery that had already been deployed along the river had already begun to attempt artillery bombardment, mainly to bombard the scattered Qi troops on the opposite side.

The hussars of the two companies, after shelling for some time, waded directly across the river under the cover of a volley of infantry from the river.

As soon as they reached the opposite bank, the only cavalry of the Qi army began to counterattack.

This is all too obvious, the cavalry of the Qi State could not get close to the river beach before, because the bronze cannons and muskets of the Mo family on the opposite side would use them as targets.

If the arquebus infantry fired in formation, it was too concentrated and could easily be attacked by artillery.

The Mo family could not cross the river at one time and launch too many troops, and the cavalry counterattack was the best way to delay time.

The war horses that had just arrived on the other side of the river and shook the cold river water on their bodies were soon driven by their masters to assemble into formation.

Only when the cavalry moves, can there be a rush to kill, standing in place and being charged by others is not the combat style of cavalry.

The two cavalry companies quickly assembled into a formation and rushed towards the more than 200 cavalry of the Qi State on the opposite side.

While more than 500 cavalrymen were slashing and attacking each other, a company of combat sappers also waded across the river with muskets and gunpowder.

Half of them quickly threw their guns to the ground, took out shovels on their backs and began to dig holes, while several tall men with heavy wooden hammers smashed thick wooden stakes into the dirt of the river beach and pulled ropes.

Woowoo......

The horn sounded, and Sima Qiong stood up under the order of the company commander, and soon formed a column of four columns, which was a common marching formation.

After the light cavalry drove away the cavalry of the Qi State, they crossed the river and lined up on the opposite bank.

The situation is already very clear, and the Qi army's current idea is to launch a counterattack while the infantry is crossing the river and the artillery is preparing to cross the river.

In that case, it would be difficult for the artillery on the other side of the river to play a role, and the Qi army would be able to minimize the threat of the Mo family's artillery.

If the counterattack can be successful when the infantry crosses the river, then it can be delayed for at least nearly half a day.

What the princes' coalition army needs now is time, and the delay time is enough to keep the main force of the coalition army from being bitten by the Mo family, and then it can withdraw.

What this army needs is not victory, nor can it be won, all they need is time.

The river is dead, the road is dead, the village is dead, but the people are alive. The attacker can't get around this in any way, but the starting point of the attack can be changed, and the defender can also change itself according to the attacker's tactics.

The first infantry of the six companies to cross the river had already assembled at the bridgehead, and the Qi army's fortified army in the distance also reacted accordingly.

Sima Qiong looked at the turbulent river and exhaled hard.

He knows that his favorite stars and the infinite universe will not shelter him from being hit by lead bullets, and whether he can survive can only rely on the ethereal "life".

The Mo family is not fatal, saying that strength can win life, but in such a subtle and specific person, it seems to be ineffective.