The Ming army's ranger races and horse racing estimated that the Bofu Mountain Mountain extends about twenty miles from north to south and about ten miles wide from east to west. To the south of Bofu Mountain is a larger continuous mountain range. This kind of large mountain forest has a steep and complex terrain, and a large number of troops are absolutely unwilling to enter the mountain unless they have to.

The main force of the Ming army, Sheng Yong's army, had about three infantry battalions, with 17,800 people. They set out from the coast camp in the north and marched roughly southward. In the afternoon, the troops approached the valley entrance on the southern foot of Bofu Mountain. The marched that day for about thirty miles.

Compared to the north, there are highlands, woods, and downhill gate passages with fortifications; Sheng Yong naturally chose the route of taking the main detour and attacking the Japanese army from the southern valley.

Ping'an's cavalry battalion had reached the east side of Bofu Mountain, waiting for an opportunity to harass and attack Japanese reinforcements, temporarily controlling the access to the southern valley. The road in this valley is about eight or nine miles long, but the road is narrow.

Not long ago, Sheng Yong received news from the Ministry of Peace, that a large number of Japanese troops were moving westward; it was not like the movement of retreating and avoiding the war.

This situation is different from the news obtained by Yao Fang. Sheng Yong's judgment was that the Japanese army temporarily changed its strategy. After all, with the positions of the troops on both sides at this time, the Japanese army wanted to run away, so they could only abandon the defenders in the north of Bofu Mountain.

So Sheng Yong was not anxious. He immediately ordered Liu Sheng to lead a battalion of infantry to continue to cross the valley. The remaining infantry camped at the west entrance of the valley and passed by again tomorrow morning. The eight or nine miles of valley road was not far away, but the central army had a large number of vehicles, artillery, and supplies, which were inconvenient to pass on narrow roads.

Judging from the movements of all parties, Sheng Yong believed that the war was for the battle.

Since it is a battle, both sides must gather most of the troops on the main battlefield, otherwise there will be a danger of being defeated by each. Sheng Yong is in charge of the central army, forcing the Japanese army to choose a battle in the situation, and completing the gathering of troops on the battlefield. So far, Sheng Yong's balance has been maintained perfectly.

After all, the Ming army was just a first-time arrival, and it was not easy to land within a few days and complete such a war deployment. Fortunately, Sheng Yong experienced the "Jingnan Battle" and the "Battle of Crime", the army led by the command was hundreds of thousands of thousands of troops, and the battlefield was mobilized within a radius of thousands of miles. This time, he could do more meticulously for more than 20,000 people, limited to the deployment of the northern part of Jiuzhou Island.

According to the information obtained by Yao Fang, Sheng Yong estimated that the Japanese army's strength was about four times that of the official army. However, he believed that the official army still had great advantages in this battle.

Equipped with a large number of firearms and elite infantry with high armor, the head-on decisive battle should be far better than the Japanese army. At the same time, the two thousand elite cavalry in Ping'an's hands must not be estimated with the two thousand troops. The imperial court's raising a cavalry would cost at least six or seven times the infantry, and the expensive cost is not unreasonable.

Sheng Yong's understanding of the Japanese army was that he had no decent cavalry at all. The Japanese horse soldiers equipped with ponies were relatively weak in terms of impact, speed and courage; while the Ming army infantry had always dealt with Mongolian cavalry with skillful bows and horses.

At this time, the main force of the central army had stopped advancing, and the baggage team was building military camps everywhere.

Sheng Yong led his personal soldiers to run eastward, and soon arrived at the entrance of the valley. Liu Sheng's troops had turned into a long dragon column and were entering the narrow terrain of the valley.

The long line seemed very quiet, and the sound of footsteps was filled with the sound of footsteps. However, occasionally someone was talking in the queue, because the soldiers who were talking were at the upper vent, it reached Sheng Yong's ears from afar.

The soldier's voice vaguely said, "When I was a child, a man in the village died. He stepped on the house and fell down, and his forehead was knocked on the stone. For many years, his family would cry when burn paper money, and the people in the village also mentioned him from time to time. Later, when I killed someone for the first time, I remembered the man from the same village, and I felt very panicked for several months."

Another voice said, "Are you still panic now?"

The soldier said, "I saw it a lot later, and now I can't remember anything. I just feel that people who have not died have a bad smell."

While speaking, the two sergeants suddenly saw Sheng Yong and others, and shut up and followed the crowd silently.

Sheng Yong turned his head and saw Yao Fang riding by his side, and said, "The sword that has seen blood is indeed different from the newly forged sword, and it has murderous aura."

Yao Fang clasped her fists and said, "The general will win."

However, Sheng Yong's face was not turbulent, nor was he happy. His expressionless look was very stable. After all, the Japanese army dared to fight, so that was the opponent; Sheng Yong felt that he should take it seriously, attach importance to this battle, and use all means to win.

Sun Tzu's Art of War is well said: War is a major event in the country and a way to survive and perish. No general has a reason to treat the battlefield as a joke.

The soldiers of various central army rested for a night. The next afternoon, Sheng Yong led the main force to the plain area east of Bofu Mountain. The army built camp fortifications about five miles away from the front camp of the Japanese army.

Ping An's cavalry battalion also moved closer to Sheng Yong's troops. Since then, the Ming army has gathered its main forces to the battlefield.

There were rafts everywhere around the battlefield, as if no one knew when the conflict began. A small group of people had already fought everywhere. Sheng Yong rode his horse around and observed the terrain everywhere with his own eyes.

This is a plain. On the left side of the Ming army is Bofu Mountain and on the right side is an unknown river. This flat place in the middle is about six or seven miles wide.

According to Yao Fang's news, the total Japanese army's total strength was within 80,000, and the number was much higher than that of the Ming army. However, after repeated inquiries, the scouts determined that all Japanese troops were on the west side of the river and did not spread too wide on the cross-section. The enemy gave up the advantage of encirclement in the cross-section width and increased the depth of the camp, which obviously had a relatively sufficient estimate of the combat power of the Ming army.

The army size of tens of thousands of each side is five miles apart, and such a situation makes the war unavoidable. Whoever dares to retreat suddenly will definitely be in pursuit, causing chaos in the army and loss of supplies.

At this time, the central army of the Ming army also had some understanding of the Japanese army. Judging from the flags and family emblems seen by the scouts, Sheng Yong knew the deployment of the Japanese army. To the west were the Ouchi family; to the middle were the coalition forces of the Spokes, Yamai family and other daimyos; to the east were the Hosokawa family and other divisions.

On the east side of the battlefield is a river, and the other side of the river is still an endless flat area with a wide view. Only Bofu Mountain on the west side may have some tactical and strategic surprises.

Because the eastern foot of Bofu Mountain was not high and relatively gentle, the higher it went, the steeper it became. If a surprise attacked the opponent's flank from the forest, it would be possible.

However, with the situation of the Japanese army's horse soldiers, even if they raid the Ming army's flanks, their destructive power may not be too great. The infantry is too slow, and the suddenness of the attack after rushing out of the forest will be greatly reduced.

Sheng Yong observed for a long time and led a team of cavalry from the left wing to the front of the central army. At this time, Ping'an, Liu Sheng and others also rode on horseback.

Ping'an and others held their fists on the horse's back and saluted, and they all said brief and polite words. Sheng Yong replied with the gift and said directly: "When the weather is clear, the war will start early tomorrow morning."

"Master Shan is happy." Ping An said with a smile.

Sheng Yong ignored Ping An and pointed at a military general beside Liu Sheng and said, "Commander Zhang, don't go forward tomorrow. Lead your troops to deploy on the left wing and prepare to counterattack the Japanese surprise soldiers coming out of the woods."

Liu Sheng turned his gaze to Yao Fang's face, "What news did the Grand Marshal get?"

Sheng Yong shook his head and said, "I guess."

Ping An said to Liu Sheng, "Marquis Anyuan doesn't know that Marshal Shan looks like a gentleman, but in fact he is very cunning."

Liu Sheng didn't want to offend Sheng Yong. He looked very embarrassed when he heard this and did not dare to speak.

Ping'an said again: "The left wing, Da Nei Shengjian, actually has some skills and insights. His misfortune was only when he met someone Ping, and he had to bite the bullet and fight. Since Da Nei Shengjian knew some military tactics, he certainly would not let go of the use of surprise weapons; now it seems that only the woods on the mountain may be able to use surprise weapons."

Liu Sheng echoed: "General Ping's words are reasonable."

Ping An glanced at Sheng Yong and said, "I'll just tell him what our Shan Dashang's idea is. Look, he didn't say a word, but his stomach was covered with bad water. I'm always thinking, you said this person..."

Sheng Yong said: "The first contribution of this battle is General Ping."

Ping An was stunned when he heard this, but he couldn't handle it.

Sheng Yong said with a serious look: "I hope you will continue to work hard tomorrow, do your best to live up to the great trust of the emperor."

Everyone clasped their fists and said, "I will obey the order."

"Go!" Sheng Yong shouted and quickly rode away. At this time, Ping An's voice said again: "What am I going to do tomorrow? Shandashen is the head coach."

Sheng Yong said without looking back: "Aren't almost all the cavalry under your command?"

At this time, you can still see sporadic cycling activities on the front of the military camp. Sheng Yong ran north for a while, then strangled the war horses and looked around. On the flat ground, there was a slightly larger village in the middle, and there were some scattered houses everywhere. Looking around, you can see some rice fields, vegetable fields, drought-unreclaimed wasteland, sparse trees and shrubs, and occasionally small ponds. Several small and short hills were planted with trees.

If people do not look back at the dusty military camp behind and only look at the open land in front, it will be a quiet pastoral scene.

The chances of winning have been weighed many times in Sheng Yong's mind. Of course, it was a battle with a great chance that he would find a way to fight. However, as long as it was not time to really decide the outcome, Sheng Yong kept thinking and waiting.

At night, Sheng Yong personally instructed the rotating generals to deploy open and secret whistles on all sides to guard against the Japanese army's attack. Fortunately, there was nothing wrong all night. After all, sneak attacks at night could not be dispatched, which could easily lead to chaos; what could really be distinguished was the battle of the main force the next day.
Chapter completed!