Eighth year of Chongzhen

Chapter 59 The Pursuit Part 1
After Li Chongjin received the order to charge, he urged his mount to trot forward first, and the [-] or so cavalry under him followed suit, and Lu Xiangtong's [-] cavalry were also at the end of the formation; With the sound of the sound, the entire cavalry began to speed up gradually. As the bandits began to flee in large areas, the speed of the cavalry had already increased. Li Chongjin was the first to jump over the army's gun formation, and rushed towards the tens of thousands of fleeing bandits.

When Lu Xiangsheng saw this, he knew that today was another great victory. He ordered the Sichuan soldiers who had not participated in the battle just now to follow and pursue. The Tianxiong army and the heavy armored infantry rested on the spot. , count the loot.

What the cavalrymen like most is to chase and kill the fleeing infantry. The infantry with their backs completely open has no ability to resist. More than [-] cavalry galloping at high speed rushed into the enemy group like a tiger into a flock of sheep. Slashing with an axe, trampling on horses, the thieves who have lost their fighting spirit only hate that they have lost two legs. Some thieves in armor take off their armor while running wildly and throw it away. He got up, turned a blind eye to the slow-running thieves, and urged the horse to gallop forward. The galloping horse ran over the crowd like a tank, and there was a pile of dead and wounded pillows behind it.

The Sichuan soldiers only had a small contact with the bandit's cavalry. Seeing that the bandits were scattered, they received the order to pursue them and rushed forward one by one screaming. There is no need for formation to chase and kill the defeated soldiers. live.

The cavalry of the official army has already killed the place where they can't see, and there are scattered thieves all over the mountains and plains. There are more than [-] Sichuan soldiers in a group, and they easily kill the thieves with their backs, and then leave one person to search for them. Picking up the corpses, the others continued to chase and kill them. These Sichuan soldiers were all from the village. It's indeed a lot, and it's a piece of cake to deal with thieves who just want to escape.

Nearly half of the 200 heavy armored infantry suffered casualties. The armor of the soldiers in good health was also covered with marks of knives and guns. The fierce battle just now consumed a lot of physical strength. After receiving the order, many people just lay down on the spot regardless of the blood everywhere. Before the young men from the supply battalion and the Langzhong arrived, some archers ran over and began to search for and treat the dead and wounded soldiers. Some picked up the lying soldiers and helped them take off their heavy armor while they had a better rest.

Lu Xiangsheng did not go after the deserters this time. He took Wu Dading and other soldiers to participate in the process of treating the wounded soldiers.

Zhou Xiong was pulled out from under several corpses. The iron armour, chest and abdomen on his body were cut open several times by a knife and axe. A calf was also pierced by a spear. The most serious injury was that the thief hit his chest with a hammer, causing his sternum to be broken, and his internal organs were injured and fell to the ground. The surrounding soldiers killed the thief who severely injured him, and his body was crushed on him.

With the arrival of the supply battalion, more than a dozen doctors who accompanied the team took over the errand of treating the wounded soldiers. After diagnosing Zhou Xiong's injury, a middle-aged doctor reported to Lu Xiangsheng: "Commander, this general The external injury is easy to treat, but the internal injury is very serious. It needs to be recuperated nearby, and it will take half a year to recover. If someone is sent to another place, the bumps on the road may aggravate the injury. It is up to the commander to decide how to deal with it."

Lu Xiangsheng pondered for a while, and said: "The siege of Chuzhou has been lifted, and the thieves have fled. I sent someone to the city to report the matter. The Chuzhou government will come soon, and Zhou Xiong and other seriously injured people will be placed in Chuzhou to recuperate. That's it, sir, don't worry!"

The doctor hurriedly saluted, saying that he didn't dare, but he felt a burst of warmth in his heart. As a high-ranking and powerful prime minister of five provinces, how could he not be moved by being able to treat a small doctor like himself with courtesy.

Under Lu Xiangsheng's order, the supply battalion quickly set up several large tents. There were tent doors at the front and back of the large tents for ventilation. Straw mats were spread on the ground, and the wounded soldiers were carried inside. Boil water, and then put the wide strips of white cloth in the pot to steam and sterilize them for bandaging the wounds of the wounded soldiers. After the measures were roughly sorted out, the Ministry of War issued a document for the entire army to follow.

Under the supervision of soldiers of the Tianxiong Army, the supply battalion selected hundreds of volunteers who were willing to join the army, and held sharp knives to make up for the wounded rogues one by one. Everyone was terrified, weeping bitterly, begging for mercy one after another, and some of the heavy campers showed unbearable expressions on their faces, but the soldiers of Tianxiong Army were unmoved at all. They had fought with the thieves for many years, and they knew the nature of these thieves well, so they begged for mercy in front of them. Maybe he just raped and looted in Hezhou City.

Under the loud reprimand of the soldiers of the Tianxiong Army, Min Zhuang began to chop and kill the injured thieves. Some were naturally courageous and cut off the heads of the thieves with a single knife. The sound resounded all over the field, and some turned around and ran to the side after beheading the thieves, throwing up. After all, they were all from ordinary people, and they had never seen such a bloody scene.

Hundreds of villagers are divided into several groups and are digging pits. It is the end of April and the weather is gradually starting to heat up. If the corpses are not buried in time, it will lead to the occurrence of epidemic diseases. After the villagers have collected the corpses, they put them away The corpses were dragged and ready to be thrown into the pit for burial. Although the Tianxiong Army also sent soldiers to supervise them, they turned a blind eye to the private possession of thieves' belongings by a few civilians. Everyone came from ordinary people, and it was not easy for anyone. , Only a very small number of active minds dared to hide it privately, and most of them honestly handed over all their property to the soldiers.

Because the imperial court was often in arrears of payment, the officers and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty had an unwritten rule that whoever found the property on the thieves would be counted, and the imperial court took a tacit attitude towards this.

The rule of the Tianxiong Army is that thieves get [-]% of their property, [-]% goes to the commander-in-chief, and [-]% is distributed equally among the soldiers. Forgetting to die for the country, every battle is likely to lose life, so he did not ask for everything to be captured and returned to the public. After all, it is not in line with human nature to ask the horse to run and not to eat grass.

Tens of thousands of thieves suffered heavy casualties this time, with corpses strewn all over the ground, most of which were killed by the cavalry of the officers and soldiers; the Chushui under the Sanli Bridge was still flowing due to the drought, but the amount of water was not large, so it could Before reaching the calves of ordinary people, under the pursuit of the cavalry, the corpse of the thief had already blocked the Chushui, forming several pools of different sizes.

Because there were too many corpses of the bandits, and they were too scattered, the people in the supply battalion had to dig holes, take care of the wounded soldiers, and search and drag the corpses around. The efficiency was quite low. Lu Xiangsheng was about to send people to Chuzhou to urge them again. The soldiers who had gone to Chuzhou before came back from their horses. After dismounting and saluting, they said loudly: "I report to the commander-in-chief, I have already met the prefect of Chuzhou at the bottom of the city. Now that the city gate is opened, the prefect of Chuzhou is coming to see the commander-in-chief !"

As the name suggests, Sanli Bridge is very close to Chuzhou. About a quarter of an hour later, Xu Zhiyuan, Wang Renyuan, and Zhao Yuzhi all came in sedan chairs, and Dong Qigao followed on horseback.

Xu Zhiyuan and others saluted Lu Xiangsheng and announced the name of the official position. Dong Qigao knelt down on one knee and saluted. Lu Xiangsheng returned the half salute with a smile, and then ordered Dong Qigao to stand up.

Xu Zhiyuan clasped his hands again and said: "The tens of thousands of gentry and common people in Chuzhou City deeply feel the great kindness of Governor Lu. If the Governor hadn't led the army to help, Chuzhou City would have been destroyed by now, and the people in the whole city would have been slaughtered by bandits! Stable, the next official is scheduled to discuss with the gentry in Chuzhou, and build a shrine for the governor to show his gratitude!"

When Lu Xiangsheng heard the words, he said decisively: "Your mansion can't say this! I am an official of the imperial court. My majesty will not abandon me. I have been promoted to such a high position. I should be in my position and plan my affairs! If you want to build a shrine , that should also be built for my emperor, what can Lu do? Where does your mansion want to go to?"

Xu Zhiyuan and the others were all embarrassed, Wang Renyuan cupped his hands quickly and said: "The governor doesn't need to get angry, the prefect Xu also has good intentions, and everyone in Chuzhou is grateful for the governor who led the army to help, not flattery; what the governor said is also Reason, if you want to build a living temple, it is also built for the Holy One, and the subordinate officials will handle it accordingly when they go back, and the governors don't care about it."

Lu Xiangsheng showed a smile: "This matter is as Mr. Wang said! The most urgent thing is to deal with the post-war affairs. The number of rogues killed this time is huge. Several adults have also seen that the bodies of rogues must be buried as soon as possible to avoid accidents. Due to the epidemic, our army is short of manpower, and I hope that your government will organize the people to come to help, and it is better to dig a hole and bury the corpse as soon as possible!"

Having saved Chuzhou and the lives of his own family, Xu Zhiyuan and the others were in extremely relaxed moods, and they readily agreed to Lu Xiangsheng's request. After Xu Zhiyuan gave Dong Qigao a few instructions, Dong Qigao saluted Lu Xiangsheng, mounted his horse and galloped along the road.

Xu Zhiyuan tried his best to invite Lu Xiangsheng to the city to rest, but before the soldiers and horses chasing the culprits returned, Lu Xiangsheng decided to go to the city to rest and wait. , rode into Chuzhou.

When they came to the city gate, a group of people were cleaning up the corpses of the thieves under the city wall. The blood on the city wall and the beach below the city had turned black, attracting countless flies. It is also remarkable to be able to temporarily hold the city with only a small number of guards.

The news that the court officials and soldiers wiped out the bandits has been known to everyone, and some shops in the city have begun to operate normally. The crowds on the street seem to be much more than usual. It wasn't for Lu Xiangsheng leading the army to rescue, Chuzhou city could not be saved, as if he had escaped from death, everyone's face was filled with joy from the heart, seeing the official sedan chair of the magistrate and others, as well as Lu Xiangsheng and others in armor The people on the street all took the initiative to get out of the way, and then stood on both sides and watched them pass by respectfully.

(End of this chapter)