The unexpected fall of Guiyang put Liu Wenxiu in a dilemma. According to general principles, the Chu army had just conquered Guiyang and it was a time when their morale was high. It was not the best idea to engage in a head-on confrontation. Since the Western army had lost the opportunity to annihilate the enemy under the fortified city, it should retreat temporarily and stabilize its defense until it was ready. After Huguang and other places mobilized more reinforcements, they launched an attack on Guiyang. But Liu Wenxiu couldn¡¯t afford to wait. Once Sun Kewang arrived in Hunan, there were not many mobile troops left, and it was too far to mobilize troops from Li Dingguo in Hubei. If the troops traveled a long distance back to Guiyang, they would become a tired army and their combat effectiveness would be seriously reduced. For example, Liu Wenxiu and Feng Shuangli used tens of thousands to The army spent so much effort attacking Sizhou Prefecture, Zhenyuan Prefecture and Kaili County, which is not unrelated to this. Secondly, too much time was wasted in the process. If the Chu army was allowed to rest and recuperate in Guiyang, by the time they had enough strength, they might have fled somewhere. Liu Wenxiu's main force was to the east of Guiyang, but his troops were weak in the direction of Yunnan to the west of Guiyang. After the Chu army captured Guiyang, they became very proactive strategically. They could send troops to Pu'an Prefecture in western Guizhou and enter Yunnan at any time. Even if Liu Wenxiu was the king of Shu, he could not bear this responsibility. After repeated weighing, Liu Wenxiu decided to march to Guiyang immediately and launch an attack on the Chu army. "Although there are tens of thousands of Tan thieves and Zhou thieves, there are only a few soldiers. I am attacking Guiyang with an army of 150,000 people. It is the power of Mount Tai to crush the eggs. We must win this battle and not let a single thieves escape!" The Battle of Huguang lasted for more than half a year. The Western Army continued to invest troops on the front line. There were more than 70,000 soldiers in Hunan alone. Liu Wenxiu returned to Guizhou this time to bring half of the troops, including more than 20,000 armored soldiers and 15,000 soldiers. There are unarmored and lightly armored men, as well as a small number of cavalry, plus baggage troops and auxiliary troops carrying armored weapons. There are a hundred thousand troops under his command. Tens of thousands more reinforcements have been transferred from Yunnan, Sichuan and Guangxi. Even excluding Feng Shuangli's troops who stayed in Sizhou Prefecture and Zhenyuan Prefecture, the 150,000 troops Liu Wenxiu mentioned were only about the same, without any water. In any army, the ratio of combat soldiers to auxiliary soldiers is not fixed, but is configured according to actual needs. Generally speaking, the farther the march is, the more baggage equipment is carried, then the required auxiliary soldiers are In addition, whether there are enough supply points during the march, the conditions of the marching roads are different, and the number of cavalry in the army will all affect the number of auxiliary troops. To give an exaggerated example, if an army only marches ten miles, then there is no need for an auxiliary soldier. The soldiers carry armor and weapons and walk by themselves. The same army, if it travels thousands of miles from Hengyang to Guiyang , then a large number of auxiliary soldiers are needed to help them transport food, grass, armor and equipment. Among Liu Wenxiu's 150,000 troops, the proportion of combat soldiers is nearly one-third, and the total number is about 47,000. Considering the transportation conditions in the southwest, this proportion is already very high. In addition to Liu Wenxiu and Sun Kewang's good organization, What's more, the prefectures and counties along the way can provide supplies for the army and recruit young and strong civilians, saving a lot of manpower and material resources for the Western Army. The Chu Army's Western Expedition has been in Guizhou for a long time. Scouts and agents have already determined their strength. In addition to Yuan Zongdi's 10,000 troops, Tan Xiao, Zhou Guodong and Liu Tichun have about 50,000 troops, including those in Duyun. The eight thousand men recruited, considering that they crossed the 90,000-strong mountain from Guangxi and entered Guizhou, this long journey will definitely require a large number of auxiliary soldiers to carry food, grass and baggage, so the proportion of auxiliary soldiers in the Western Expedition Army must be very high. In short, Tan Xiao, Zhou Guodong and Liu Tichun should have about 10,000 soldiers, including many lightly armored soldiers and unarmored soldiers. Expect the enemy to be more lenient and then be more lenient. Considering that after the Chu army captured Guiyang, they could arm a group of auxiliary soldiers with armor and equipment in the arsenal. Liu Wenxiu speculated that the Western Expeditionary Army would have no more than 20,000 soldiers at most. With 47,000 Thousands of soldiers versus 20,000 soldiers. The Western Army has recently been fully rested and reorganized, and is very sure of winning this battle. Liu Wenxiu prepared his camp step by step and commanded several groups of armies to advance toward Guiyang. They took the east route via Huangping, Longli, and Xin'an, and took the south route via Longshuguan and crossed the Nanming River. The reinforcements from Sichuan took the north route and approached Yaguan. Yunnan and Guangxi The incoming reinforcements took the west route and inserted themselves into Tuyun Pass, where they joined Liu Wenxiu's main force. Facing Liu Wenxiu's powerful offensive, the Chu army was forced to abandon Longshou Pass and other peripheral passes, and retreated to the provincial capital Guiyang. A posture of defending the city to the death. "Although Thief Tan and Thief Zhou are young, Liu Erhu (Liu Tichun's nickname is Erhu) is a veteran of the camp. He will not defend the city and wait for death. Instead, he will occupy Yaguan in the north and then set up an ambush at Tuyun Pass. Our army will First, be careful of ambushes, and second, beware of fire attacks by thieves." After Liu Wenxiu crossed the Nanming River, he specifically reminded the generals that the terrain around Guiyang was difficult, and the Chu army was likely to take advantage of this to go out of the city and engage in field battles with the Western Army. Passes are easy to defend and difficult to attack. Tuyun Pass south of Guiyang has a dangerous terrain with high mountains and dense forests. They are two obvious battlefields. The Chu army is likely to defend Yaguan with a small number of troops and block the entrance from all sides.The reinforcements came in, and then fought a decisive battle with the main force of the Western Army at Tuyunguan. ¡ ¡ In Guiyang City, all the generals were gathered together. Tan Xiao, Zhou Guodong and Liu Tichun were sitting in the middle. A staff officer was holding a notebook in his hand, reading and talking, and reporting the military situation to them. "According to reconnaissance and calculations, Liu Wenxiu's main force is between 70,000 and 80,000 people, the Sichuan reinforcements are about 15,000, the Yunnan reinforcements are 30,000, and the Guangxi reinforcements are 20,000. The total number of Western troops attacking Guiyang is approximately About 150,000, which is what Liu Wenxiu claimed to the outside world. " Tan Xiao said with a smile: "Haha, how did Liu Wenxiu become so honest? He has an army of 150,000, and he can definitely call it 300,000, 500,000." "Maybe he was afraid of scaring us away." Liu Tichun also smiled and said: "I think back when I was crossing Sichuan and Shaanxi, Yang Sichang's hundreds of thousands of troops couldn't stop it Forget it, a hero is not to mention brave." Mobile combat is to break into the camp. With his special skills, Liu Tichun brought up the past with a bright look on his face. Then he realized that this topic was not appropriate and quickly stopped talking. Zhou Guodong frowned and thought: "I just don't know how many soldiers he has and how much armor he has." An army of 150,000 sounds scary, but the only ones with real combat effectiveness are the armored soldiers among them, the young and strong men carrying food, grass and baggage in the field. Can be ignored. "Insufficient information makes it impossible to make accurate calculations. We can only give a rough range. The number of soldiers in the Western Army should be between 30,000 and 60,000, of which Liu Wenxiu's soldiers account for about two-thirds. "The officer reported the conclusion of the staff office. Because the scope was too large, Tan Xiao and Zhou Guodong both looked dissatisfied. The difference between 30,000 soldiers and 60,000 soldiers was exactly double. How could we fight this battle? "To be on the safe side, it should be as high as possible, let's count him as 60,000 soldiers." Tan Xiao thought about it. "I think it should be low rather than high. The road in Guizhou is so difficult. It would be great if Liu Wenxiu could send 30,000 soldiers at a time." Zhou Guodong habitually argued with him. "It's better not to choose high or low, just pick the middle number and assume that he has 45,000 soldiers." Liu Tichun himself did not expect that with a casual sentence, he almost got the accurate number of Liu Wenxiu's troops. "Forty-five thousand is forty-five thousand. We are evenly matched with our army. This battle can be won." Zhou Guodong and Tan Xiao's Western Expedition Army were almost all soldiers who could fight in battle, except for the eight soldiers recruited in Duyun. Thousands of young and strong, there were no more auxiliary soldiers. When the Chu army crossed the 90,000-strong mountain, they deliberately traveled lightly and took only a few thousand auxiliary soldiers with them. There were more than 40,000 soldiers. "The same goes for 60,000 people. Liu Wenxiu's troops are divided into several groups. I only need to attack him along one side." Tan Xiao pointed at the map and said: "Tuyunguan is a good place. It has mountains on one side and water on the other. It's just right to attack him." "An ambush." ??In order to prevent the Chu army from escaping, Liu Wenxiu marched from the east, west, south, and north at the same time. He led the main force to Tuyunguan in the south of the city. As long as Liu Wenxiu was defeated at Tuyunguan, the other Western armies would not fight. defeat. The staff officer turned over a page in the book and said while reading: "According to the statistics of the staff department, our army set up ambushes against Liu Wenxiu's troops a total of nineteen times during the Huguang Battle, only two of which were successful, and neither of these two battles was Liu Wenxiu is personally commanded. He is a very cautious general. Every time he encounters a dangerous place, he will stop the main force and then send a large number of scouts to conduct reconnaissance. Tuyunguan Pass is a well-known natural danger, and Liu Wenxiu will definitely be more cautious. "There is almost no chance of success in setting up an ambush here." "This old fox is really difficult to deal with." Tan Xiao thought about it and proposed a plan: "In this case, let's fight him openly at Tuyunguan. I will first set up an ambush at the pass, then set fire to Bowang Slope, and then send a group of soldiers and horses to go ashore from the Nanming River by boat to attack his central army. Using these moves in succession, I will definitely be able to defeat Liu Wenxiu. Get down." Liu Tichun shook his head and said with a smile: "Liu Wenxiu is a veteran of the Western Camp. He must be prepared whether he sets up an ambush or a fire attack. As for sending troops to attack by boat, his Chinese army is not that easy to attack. Send two to three thousand people ashore, maybe just give him a plate of food. " Nanming River and Qingshui River belong to different river systems. After the Western Expeditionary Army occupied Guiyang, they found some civilian ships, but they were not many. They just transported 3,000 people ashore at a time. limit. "According to what you say, this battle cannot be fought? No, no, the battle must be resolved at Tuyunguan, otherwise it will be detrimental to our army." The terrain of Tuyunguan is very beneficial to the Chu army. Here and Liu Wenxiu In the decisive battle, the other Western armies can be avoided and defeated one by one. If Tuyun Pass is easily abandoned and the Western army attacks Guiyang City, several armies will join forces and set up company camps to surround the city. The Chu army will be trapped in the city. Being beaten passively. "We must fight, but the key is how to fight." Liu Tichun said thoughtfully: "LiuXiu Xiu is cautious in using his troops, but precisely because of his caution, he inevitably moves slowly and hesitantly. He can use the ambushes, fire attacks, and boat raids that Commander Tan mentioned just now, but these alone are not enough. I think it can be like this , and then again like this, like this" "Oh, Brother Erhu! Your move is really insidious and vicious, enough to make Liu Wenxiu drink a pot. "Tan Xiao patted the back of Liu Tichun's hand, his face full of admiration.