weaving

Although compared with the official armies of various towns in the Ming Dynasty, the Yongyi Army has the highest proportion of war horses, mules, horses, and carts, giving it a strong mobility capability that far exceeds that of the official armies of other towns.

Of course, the strong mobility of the Yongyi Army was due to the large number of horses, mules and carts, but the results of the soldiers' well-drilled and strict implementation of military regulations and disciplines cannot be ignored.

During the march of the Ming Dynasty, many officers and soldiers deserted constantly, and countless stragglers left behind. In the final analysis, this was because military regulations and disciplines could not be strictly and effectively implemented.

According to convention, the Ming Dynasty's army should march forty miles during the day, and could reach around sixty miles in an emergency. The cavalry could be faster, but it was not as durable as the infantry.

And every night, the Ming army almost always camped and rested. There was never any record of marching at night, let alone a forced march!

However, in order to ensure the suddenness of this operation, Zhang Cheng had arranged for his subordinates to quietly practice night marches as early as last year. They only maintained one-tenth of their armor coverage, and they only carried one combat base of gunpowder and ammunition. That is, each person is provided with twenty fixed rounds of musketry ammunition.

Reducing the armor coverage rate and reducing the number of equipment and ammunition carried are just to allow soldiers to go into battle lightly and increase their marching speed.

However, in order to ensure the neatness and stability of the night march, there were actually groups of soldiers dressed as caravans during the day, and supply points were set up every five miles along the way. There are two guides at every mile.

However, even with such sufficient preparations, looking at the entire Ming Dynasty, I am afraid that only one army, the Yongyi Army, dared to march quickly at night without fear of chaos in the array and the disintegration of the team.

…………

Just as Yongyi Junbiao Battalion and Weiyuan Battalion left Xuanfu Town and headed north to Zhangjiakou Fort under the cover of night, there were also several groups of people from Datong and Shanxi towns walking on the official road under the moonlight.

They were ordered to go to Henan Province to help suppress the bandits. Their itinerary had already been reported to all prefectures and counties along the way, so there was no need to hide their whereabouts. However, at this time, they did not stop in camp to rest, but hurried on their way at night.

Even the soldiers and horses from the standard camps in Datong and Shanxi towns quietly left the camps and galloped away in all directions. Especially the soldiers and horses under the command of Li Fuming, the commander-in-chief of Shanxi Town, except for leaving more than [-] soldiers and servants, it can be said that It's the whole camp.

In addition to the chief military officer Li Fuming, Shanxi Town also has three deputy generals, including Jiang Mingwu, deputy general of the Zhenwu Guard Division, Du Sicai, deputy chief of the Xiwei Guard in the town, and Xu Dingguo, deputy chief of the assisting defense.

Xu Dingguo, born in Taikang County, Kaifeng Prefecture, Henan Province, is a veteran oil man who has been in the Ming army since the end of Wanli. He has served in military positions in Liaodong, Shanxi, Henan and other places, and has served as a soldier in Qianhu, guerrilla, and The general was promoted to deputy commander-in-chief of Shanxi.

When he was in Liaodong, as a frontier soldier, he did not dare to fight against the slaves and often abandoned his station and fled; when he was suppressing bandits in Shandong, Henan and other places, he often cowered and dared not move forward. However, he caught up with the late Ming Dynasty and was in urgent need of good generals. While serving his country, he was convicted several times and pardoned several times.

In the original period of history, the Songjin War ended in a complete defeat for the Ming army. Li Fuming was also dismissed from the military post of Shanxi Town Chief Military Officer for leading his troops to retreat without permission. It was General Xu who took over the Shanxi Town. Chief military officer.

Unfortunately, due to Zhang Cheng's unexpected arrival, the wheel of history has changed. Instead of retreating without authorization, Li Fuming made some achievements in the Battle of Liaodong, and the Ming army was not defeated.

Therefore, Xu Dingguo is still the deputy commander-in-chief of Shanxi Town. Perhaps it is because Zhang Cheng took Li Fuming together to make achievements in Liaodong, or perhaps because Shanxi businessmen put in great efforts and money to manage him.

Xu Dingguo was not cold towards Yongning Bo Zhang Cheng, but he still felt a little resentful. Because he looked down upon the new commander-in-chief Li Fuming and did not want to be in the same place with him, he had been stationed in Taiyuan Fucheng for this period of time, working with Shanxi businessmen. Play more passionately.

He also wanted to join forces with Shanxi businessmen to get rid of Yongningbo Zhang Cheng, because Fan Yongdou, Wang Dengku and others promised that as long as Zhang Cheng was eliminated, they would arrange for Wang Pu to take over as the commander-in-chief of the Xuanfu.

At that time, even if Li Fuming could not be transferred to the position of chief military officer of Datong, they would fully support Xu Dingguo and ensure that he would be promoted to a higher rank and serve as chief military officer of Datong Town.

Although Xu Dingguo is already an old man in his sixties, his ambitions remain the same as before. He has always been ashamed that he could not be promoted to the rank of commander-in-chief. Now he regards Zhang Cheng as the root cause of this result.

In the 12th year of his stay in Chongzhen, he was promoted to be the deputy commander-in-chief of Shanxi Town, and he acted as the deputy commander-in-chief of the Taiyuan Battalion with the rank of deputy commander-in-chief. Therefore, he spent most of his time in Taiyuan Prefecture, and therefore had closer ties with Shanyou merchants. .

In fact, in the original real history, Xu Dingguo acted out the shamelessness of the Ming Dynasty general throughout his life. He went out to control Shanxi, made great achievements, went to Kaifeng to aid, and his troops were defeated and the people were plundered.

When the capital of the Ming Dynasty fell, he even gathered the remnant troops to attack Ningling, Guide and other places, and took control of the territory for himself, grabbing salary and salary, but the highlight moment that truly made him "famous in history" - was It was the "Suizhou Incident" that occurred in the first month of the first year of Hongguang's reign in the Southern Ming Dynasty.

At that time, Emperor Chongzhen, the only orthodox emperor in the world, had hanged himself on Meishan in the capital. The Hongguang Dynasty of the Southern Ming Dynasty was also in its infancy, but earth-shaking changes had taken place in the north.

With the help of Wu Sangui, the commander-in-chief of Shanhaiguan in the Ming Dynasty, the Manchu and Qing Dynasties defeated the elite Dashun army in a stone outside Shanhaiguan and drove straight into the capital. They also pursued the troops of Li Zicheng, the king of the rebels, from northern Zhili, through Shanxi, and into Shaanxi.

Prince Duduo of Yu of the Qing Dynasty, who had not died on the battlefield at that time, led his army to Henan. Xu Dingguo immediately sent an envoy to accept the payment and sent his two sons, Ming Dynasty military generals Xu Er'an and Xu Erji, to cross the Yellow River. , went north to pay money to the Qing army and served as hostages.

At this moment, when Shi Kefa, the governor of the Southern Ming Dynasty and a great scholar, was about to launch the Northern Expedition in an attempt to regain the Central Plains, he never thought that Xu Dingguo would privately surrender to the Qing Dynasty and trapped and killed Gao Jie, the main force of the Northern Expedition.

In fact, Gao Jie had already heard about Xu Dingguo's rebellion and surrender to the Qing Dynasty. However, he was quite confident in himself and thought that with his own prestige, he could persuade Xu Dingguo to change his original intention.

Unexpectedly, Xu Dingguo was determined to serve the Qing Dynasty as if he had eaten a weight. He even sent his sons Xu Er'an and Xu Erji to the Qing military camp on the north bank of the Yellow River as hostages.

Therefore, he deceived the general Gao Jie into entering Suizhou, and planned to capture Gao Jie on the spot at the house of Yuan Keli, the governor of Denglai during the Tianqi Dynasty.

Yuan Keli, courtesy name Liqing, nicknamed Jiehuan, was a native of Suizhou, Guide Prefecture, Henan Province. He was an effective officer in the Ming Dynasty's fight against slave thieves and was also known as one of the top ten honest officials in China.

During his governorship of Denglai, he was most compatible with Mao Wenlong, the commander-in-chief of Pi Island. Many of Mao Wenlong's major victories against slave thieves were achieved when Yuan Keli was in office.

As a minister of the four emperors Wanli, Taichang, Tianqi, and Chongzhen, Yuan Keli was a "veteran of the four dynasties" and was rewarded with the "Fifth Generation of Grace and Glory". He also single-handedly organized and instigated the rebellion of Liu Aita, the in-law of the slave chief Nurhachi.

However, due to Xu Dingguo's plan to ambush Gao Jie, the Yuan Mansion was destroyed. Many ancient books and paintings that Yuan Keli and his son Yuan Shu had carefully collected over the years were also burned and lost.

The incident in Suizhou was a major change in the late Ming Dynasty. After hearing the news, Shi Kefa, the governor of the Ministry of War of the Southern Ming Dynasty, couldn't help but sigh: "The affairs of the Central Plains cannot be done, and the state affairs will be ruined by thieves!"

After the Suizhou Incident, not only did Nan Ming's Northern Expedition fail, but Gao Yuanjue, Gao Jie's son, was too young to completely suppress Gao Jie's powerful generals, causing his troops to be divided into seven.Except for Gao Yuanjue, who led one of his own, the remaining six, Wang Zhigang, Li Chengdong, Guo Hu, Yang Chengzu, Hu Maozhen, Li Benshen and others, all had to flee or surrender when facing the Qing slave army. For example, Li Chengdong, Yang Chengzu and others became the leaders of the Qing Dynasty. The pioneer in conquering Jiangnan.

Regardless of whether Xu Dingguo's operation in Suizhou was the Qing army's instigator or his self-expression, one thing that is certain is that the Suizhou change was a meritorious achievement for him.

After the Suizhou Incident, the Ming army's march to the north faltered, and the strong forces in Henan changed direction. Because of his rebellion, the originally weak Qing army in Henan more than quadrupled, strengthening the Qing army's control over the Henan region.

But for the Ming Dynasty, Xu Dingguo was a traitor and a traitor. For such a person, Yongning Bo Zhang Cheng would naturally not leave him in the world again.

…………

There are two official roads to the southwest and southeast of Taiyuan Fucheng.

The southwest direction leads to Qingyuan, Jiaocheng, Wenshui, and directly to Fenzhou, then turns to the west, passing through Wubao, leading to Suidezhou, Shaanxi Province; and the southeast direction after passing Yuci, it divides into two branches, and the southwest direction is From Qixian, Pingyao and Jiexiu, you can go directly to Tongguan through Pingyang Prefecture, go to Yushe in the southeast, and then go directly to Huaiqing Prefecture in Henan through Lu'an Prefecture and Zezhou.

It stands to reason that when the Yongyi Army passes through Shanxi Province to assist Henan, the two armies should go southeast of Taiyuan, towards Yuci and Yushe, pass through Lu'an Prefecture and Zezhou, and directly enter the territory of Huaiqing Prefecture in Henan.

However, the soldiers of the two battalions of the Yongyi Army did not take the usual route. They used Chen Zheng's White Tiger Battalion to take the direction of Qingyuan and Jiaocheng, and went straight to Fenzhou City; and Zhang Guodong's Qinglong Battalion took the direction of Taigu, Qixian, and The direction of Pingyao and Jiexiu also entered the boundary of Fenzhou.

At the same time, in order to deceive others, the Yongyi Army also used their own tricks to release false news in Shanxi, saying that "the intruders are gathering an army to attack Tongguan and want to return to their hometown in Shaanxi."

Shanxi talents don't bother to care about where the intruders go. As long as they don't enter Shanxi Province, they can go wherever they like. Whether it's Henan or Shaanxi, it makes no difference to them.

However, this is only the thought of ordinary businessmen, officials and common people, but it is not what the merchants of Shanyou, who have regarded Yongning Bo and Zhang Cheng as their mortal enemies, do not think so.

At the critical moment of their duel with Zhang Cheng, the Yongyi Army happened to pass through their territory. Even if they really wanted to assist in the defense of Tongguan, they had to guard against it.

For this reason, after the counties along the way received the transit notice from the Yongyi Army, they became uneasy. Their respective prefectures and counties only made one request, that is, not to open the door to allow the Yongyi Army soldiers to enter.

If this requirement is met, they are even willing to pay more for the money and food!
At the same time, their group of profiteers also asked Xu Dingguo, the deputy commander-in-chief of Shanxi Province who was stationed in Taiyuan Prefecture, to send troops to protect their safety, and once again emphasized that once Zhang Cheng was taken care of, his position as commander-in-chief would be guaranteed.

Such a temptation, Xu Dingguo has pursued it all his life, how could he let it go easily? Not only did he immediately mobilize garrison troops and troops from surrounding forts to strengthen the defense of Qingyuan, Taigu, Qixian, Pingyao, Jiexiu and other counties, he also personally Came to Pingyao to take charge.

Moreover, he sent his two biological sons, Xu Er'an and Xu Erji, to Taigu and Jiexiu respectively to provide comprehensive and all-round services. Only in this way can we show our kindness to the Eight Great Families of Shanyou and enable them to fully repay themselves. .

In Xu Dingguo's eyes, perhaps only when Yongning Bo and Zhang Cheng came personally would he really pay attention to it, but the generals and guerrillas under his command were beyond his reach.

After all, it was during the troubled times of Tianqi and Chongzhen years that a veteran with decades of experience could sit in the position of deputy commander-in-chief. It was both accidental and inevitable.

In short, Xu Dingguo is definitely not a fool!
But maybe he has been on a smoother path in recent years, or maybe he has become more arrogant and looks down on the younger generation as he grows older.

Not only him, but countless people in history have suffered from the saying "You are still as old as you are old"!

…………

In the 15th year of Chongzhen reign of the Ming Dynasty, it was March [-]th, a night of full moon.

The bright moonlight shines on the important trade center of Xuanbei, and Zhangjiakou Fort is as bright as if the light of day has not yet cleared up. Many hard-working people have already gotten up and are wandering around the corners of the streets and struggling for a day's rations.

The light emitted by the sparse red lanterns on the fort wall has also been significantly weakened, and there is no longer as bright a light as at midnight.

Under the red lanterns and the bright white moonlight, there was not a single figure of the fort guarding sergeant. However, there were bursts of snoring coming from the huts on the fort wall. Everyone was obviously sleeping soundly. time.

But if you look carefully, on the gatehouse of Cheng'en Gate in the south of Zhangjiakou Fort, there are several figures, shadowy and shadowy, swaying between the red lanterns and the bright white moonlight.

A few miles away from Chengen Gate in the south of Zhangjiakou Fort, there is a hilly area on the east bank of the river.

If it is said that "Xuanfu Town, Nanping Capital, controls the desert at the back, controls the danger of Juyong on the left, and supports the solidity in the clouds on the right", then "Zhangjiakou Fort is an important place to defend Xuanfu and defend Hu Qi from going south."

Therefore, the defensive capabilities of Zhangjiakou Fort are also very strong.

The fort is located on the west bank of Qingshui River. It was first built in the fourth year of Xuande. Zhang Wenchu, who was the commander at that time, began to build the fort here. It has a circumference of more than four miles and a height of two feet and five feet.

The specific location of the castle was the "Baozili" area in the urban area of ​​Zhangjiakou in later generations. At that time, Baozili was also called "Xiabao".

But in the 41st year of Wanli, in order to make border trade more convenient, a small fort specifically used for horse trade was built in the side wall of the Great Wall north of Zhangjiakou Fort, which was called "Laiyuan Fort". Also known as "Shangbao".

The circumference of this fort is more than five miles, and the city wall is about two feet high!
In this way, the upper and lower forts are almost integrated into one, forming a new defense system.

"Zhangjiakou Fort has two gates, the Yongzhen Gate in the east and the Chengen Gate in the south, both of which are built with urn walls..."

The speaker was a young man dressed as a merchant. He looked less than thirty years old, but he exuded an air of elegance.

His name is Liu Hai, and he is speaking a strong Hebei dialect at the moment, introducing the situation in Zhangjiakou Fort to the army, as well as the reactions of the eight profiteers in the city. (End of chapter)