Chapter 799: Battle!

Shunde, 30 miles east of the city, Sanlinyuan
Ma Zhongjun picked up the telescope and looked towards the west, where he saw tens of thousands of Zhennan troops standing in formation, with flags fluttering and a murderous atmosphere...
Looking at the flag with the character "Xu" held high in the enemy's army, Ma Zhongjun couldn't help but say in amazement:

"Xu Zhaojie is really capable. He has assembled a well-trained army in just a few months!"

Listening to Ma Zhongjun's words, Yin Anguo, the general behind him, said with a little disdain:

"My Lord, in my opinion, the people under Xu Zhaojie's command are nothing but useless soldiers. At the beginning of the year, the main elite of his Zhennan Army was almost completely wiped out in Hebei and Henan. Even if Xu Zhaojie is a master of military strategy, it is impossible for him to pull out an elite force in such a short time!"

Ma Zhongjun thought it made sense and nodded slightly. Five days ago, after learning that Hou Zhen had sent troops, he realized that things were not going well. After discussing with Zhang Meng, he decided to use Zhang Shiyu as a hidden player and take a gamble to see if he could capture Kangyin City in one fell swoop.

At that time, Ma Zhongjun and Zhang Meng made two preparations. If they successfully captured Kang Yincheng and achieved the pre-war goals, they would continue to implement the pre-war combat plan of the General Staff.

If we cannot capture Kangyin City, we will withdraw before Hou Zhen reaches Kangyin and the Fengwu Army's logistical supplies are completely cut off.

Then, based on the Huainan land currently obtained, we will slowly plan to cut off the connection between Kangyin City and the Huainan prefectures on the south bank of the Nanjiang River. Although this will eventually achieve the goal of occupying Kangyin, it may take a little longer and require more time and energy...
With these two ideas in mind, Ma Zhongjun and Zhang Meng activated Zhang Shiyu as a hidden chess piece. Perhaps God could not bear to see Huainan continue to be in chaos, so with his blessing, Zhang Shiyu opened the city gate safely.

The Fengwu Army, which had been prepared for a long time, immediately rushed into the city. It took only one night to wipe out all the Zhennan Army in the city and completely control the situation in the city!
However, the day after they captured Kangyin, Ma Zhongjun and Zhang Meng, who had not been happy for long, received a piece of news from the scouts that made them feel both fortunate and scared!

Not only Hou Zhen's 30,000 Chu troops were attacking Kangyin, but Xu Zhaojie also personally led 30,000 Zhennan troops and quietly detoured to Kangyin's flank from the lower reaches of Nanjiang River!
Therefore, if they failed to capture Kangyin City, they would have to face the siege of Hou Zhen and Xu Zhaojie with a total of 60,000 to 70,000 troops under Kangyin City!
Although they were very confident in their soldiers, Zhang Meng and Ma Zhongjun felt a chill in their hearts when they thought that Xu Zhaojie and Hou Zhen came to say something to them when they were attacking Kangyin City. If such a thing happened, it would be absolutely catastrophic. Even if the Fengwu Army was not completely wiped out, it would definitely suffer heavy losses!

No wonder it felt like everything was going smoothly before they reached Kangyin, and they didn't encounter any fierce resistance from the Zhennan Army. It turned out that Xu Zhaojie, that bastard, was waiting for them here!
Ma Zhongjun and Zhang Meng, who survived the disaster, were relieved and began to study what to do next. Soon they received news that Shunde City, which they had just captured not long ago, was recaptured by Xu Zhaojie who had failed in the editing...

In addition, Ma Zhongjun and Zhang Meng also learned through the intelligence channels of the Coordination Office that this joint assassination of Xu Zhaojie and Hou Zhen had been planned for a long time. The original intention was to wipe out their Fourth Army and First Division at one go, but because Kangyin was lost, the plan completely failed.

For this, Hou Zhen accused Xu Zhaojie of fighting poorly for the Zhennan Army. Although Xu Zhaojie was in the wrong, he also accused Hou Zhen of coming too late, arriving at the vicinity of Kangyin one day later than planned, which led to the fall of Kangyin. The two sides quarreled over this and finally Hou Zhen angrily withdrew his troops back to Zhucheng.

Although without Hou Zhen's 30,000 Chu troops to help, Xu Zhaojie still did not give up. After retaking Shunde, he took the initiative to issue a declaration of war to Ma Zhongjun, demanding a decisive battle with Ma Zhongjun at Sanlinyuan to decide the outcome. At first, because Xu Zhaojie was very cunning and must be playing tricks like this, Ma Zhongjun did not intend to pay attention to him.

However, Shunde was an important link in transporting logistical supplies from Hebei and Henan to the front line. After Zhucheng was captured by the Chu Army, the logistical supplies of the Fourth Army also needed to be provided by the First Division. Although the Fengwu Army had sufficient supplies such as food because of the capture of Kangyin, the Fengwu Army still needed supplies of medicines and firearms from the rear. Therefore, after the fall of Shunde, the logistics support of the Fengwu Army still encountered some problems...

What worries Ma Zhongjun the most is that it is almost November and the weather is getting colder. If he does not agree to Xu Zhaojie's challenge, it will take at least a month for the Sixth Division of Hebei and Henan to complete its assembly and rush to their aid.

At that time, it was already freezing cold outside and it was not suitable to continue fighting. The cold weather would cause many unnecessary casualties among the soldiers. Therefore, after much deliberation and confirming that Hou Zhen's 30,000 Chu troops had withdrawn to Zhucheng, Ma Zhongjun finally agreed to Xu Zhaojie's challenge and decided to decide the outcome at Sanlinyuan today!
Although he agreed to Xu Zhaojie's challenge, Ma Zhongjun was still a little worried. He always felt that Xu Zhaojie would play tricks. After all, judging from the strength on paper, although Xu Zhaojie had been transferring troops from Shouchun by water in the past few days, his military strength in Shunde exceeded 40,000.

But most of these 40,000 people have never experienced war. They are just recruits who have been trained for a few months. Use these people to resist the First Division, the ace main force of the Fengwu Army?
Is Xu Zhaojie really so conceited that he thinks he is the reincarnation of Zhuge Liang, and can destroy powerful enemies with just a few words?

Therefore, if Xu Zhaojie is not really so conceited, then there must be some conspiracy behind his challenge this time!

So Ma Zhongjun, who was worried, discussed with Zhang Meng and decided to let Zhang Meng lead the Fourth Army to stay in Kangyin, ready to support their First Division at any time!
In Ma Zhongjun's opinion, Xu Zhaojie has already put all his assets on the line, so even if he has some tricks, there is nothing to be afraid of as long as the First Division and the Fourth Army join forces...
After carefully observing the Zhennan Army's formation through a telescope, Ma Zhongjun discovered that several higher hills on the Sanlinyuan plain had been occupied by the Zhennan Army.

Ma Zhongjun didn't care about this. He waved his hand and ordered his men beside him:
"Where is Zhao Sanqiang?"

"Here is my humble position!"

Upon hearing the order, a seven-foot-tall young commander with a resolute expression stood up.

He glanced at the cavalry commander Ma Zhongjun, whom he had promoted, and ordered:

"I order your troops to attack the east side of the enemy to test their strength. If everything goes well, we can capture the two small hills on the east side!"

"Yes!"

(I'm a bit stuck today, so I'll write less! Does anyone have any ideas to teach me?)
(End of this chapter)