prosperous age

Chapter 157 156 Discovery
After facing each other, the soldiers of the Qianhu Office of the rear army quickly climbed into the carriage one after another. With their feet strong, they naturally changed from yesterday's rear team to the front team, walking in the forefront of the team.

After Wu Zhankui bid farewell to the magistrate of Liyang County, he waved his hand, and the army started, and then drove out from the east gate of Liyang County.

Before leaving, Wu Zhankui asked for a guide who was familiar with the surrounding roads from the magistrate of Liyang County. He just led the way to Yixing and returned. If you act quickly, it will take two days.

After leaving the city, Wu Zhankui rode to the front team to find the guide and said a few words. After that, the Jiujiang Wei army turned on the way to Yixing and headed directly to Zhongxi Town, Wujin County to the north.

Seeing the change in the marching route, Wei Guangde knew in his heart that his opinion was listened to by his uncle yesterday.

The Japanese pirates fleeing south seems to have a short journey, but in fact the risk is greater, and only the northward escape is possible to survive. Even at this time, the officers and soldiers may gather in Changxing County, Huzhou Prefecture, and prepare to wipe out the gang of Japanese pirates.

Wei Guangde thinks so. In fact, last night Wu Zhankui and Wei Meng also discussed the direction for a long time, and finally decided to be safe and go north to block the escape route of the Japanese pirates.

The reason why it is said that the north is more secure is naturally because it is inevitable that you will be facing the mountains. Yixing will enter the mountains not far away.
The few hundred people under them seem to be ten times the number of Japanese pirates, but there are only more than 300 veterans who are really experienced, and they are mainly those who came back from Zhejiang the year before last.

The Youjun only added less than a hundred people, because some of them were taken to Jiujiang by Wei Meng to serve as the General Banner of Zhenfu, and more than ten people were selected to serve as personal guards for Wu Dong and Wei Wencai.

Then the army suffered heavy losses in Dinghai, with more than [-] casualties.

Adding up the two sides, there are about three hundred people with combat experience.

But once you enter the mountain to pursue, you must guard against Japanese pirates' ambush.

The Japanese pirates have been traveling all the way, but they are very cunning. They dare to challenge the Ming army head-on, but they also hide and escape, and there is a precedent for ambushes halfway.

Both Wu Zhankui and Wei Meng were unwilling to take their children into danger, so it was natural to go to the north to set up defenses safely, at least there was no fear of being ambushed there, and there was no need to climb mountains and ridges.

And just as they were marching towards Wujin County, under Yixing County, the Japanese pirates began to retreat quickly after launching a round of raids and failing to enter the county.

After two days of moving forward in concealment, after arriving at Yixing City today, they suddenly launched a surprise attack on the city gate, intending to rush into the city to rob, then eat something and continue running.

However, just like Liyang, the gates of the county were heavily guarded. After they appeared, they were discovered by the city officials, who immediately dispersed the crowd at the gates and quickly closed the gates.

Once the city gate was closed, there was nothing for the Japanese pirates who did not carry siege equipment.

Several Japanese pirate leaders got together, and after a chattering conversation, the Japanese pirates quickly withdrew and headed south.

On Yixing City, the officers and soldiers watched the Japanese pirates leave, and many people collapsed behind the walls, their faces pale by now.

The number of Japanese pirates is indeed small, only a few dozen, but all of them are not only tough, but also covered in blood, which can only be done through a lot of murder.

In fact, the clothes on these Japanese pirates were considered clean, and they were all snatched up halfway and kept changing. The earliest ones had been thrown hundreds of miles away.

In recent days, the surrounding villagers knew the news beforehand and hid, leaving the gang of pirates without food and clothes for a while, so they could only flee in embarrassment.

When the Jiujiangwei army entered Zhongxi Town, the guide in Liyang left immediately. This was beyond the boundary, and he had to hurry back to return to his command. The most important thing was the idea of ​​war and chaos. Safety.

Get in touch with Lizheng and Chief Jia of Zhongxi Town and ask them to prepare meals for the army. At the same time, they also send out their own soldiers to scout the area to Yixing to prevent the Japanese pirates from rushing out from this direction.

At this time, the policy implemented by the Ming Dynasty, the mobilization of the guards, was to go all the way to eat, and wherever they went, the rations of the soldiers should be prepared instead of being transported all the way.

So Wu Zhankui and the others didn't bring much food when they came out this trip.

The carriage was also brought back by the guide from the county government. When the coachmen found out, they left the soldiers in a panic and ran back in a hurry, for fear of being called back if they ran too late.

Wei Guangde saw all this in his eyes. He knew very well that his uncle and father were planning to wait here. When the siege was over, the Japanese pirates would either escape from the south, or they would hit them directly, and let the Jiujiang Guards attack them. Picked up this credit.

Before that, the army must have been lying down.

It was night, on the shore of Taihu Lake not far to the east of Yixing County, a group of people were moving rapidly from south to north.

This is the group of Japanese pirates who failed to raid Yixing County before. They chose to go south, but it was a trick to lure the officers and soldiers who were chasing them to go south, to Changxing County.

They haven't been hunted down by the officers and soldiers in the past two days, but they know very well that after their turmoil, the Ming army must hate them to death and must get rid of them quickly, so every step is cautious, for fear of being killed by others. caught.

When the sky was slightly bright, several war horses galloped out from Zhongxi Town, each with a knight.

Soon, the cavalry was divided into several small teams, and two cavalry in each team spread out to explore the surrounding area.

The knights are all dressed in full body clothes, and they are not fast on horseback. The knights look around with their eyes, observing the footprints left in the distance and on the ground.

Not long after, one of the cavalry was slowly advancing, and suddenly one of them took the reins and stared at a small forest not far ahead.

The forest is not big, but it is very quiet.

"what happened?"

The other knight had already rode a few steps forward, but when he realized that his companion hadn't followed, he also pulled the rein of the horse and turned around to ask.

"Why are there no birds in this forest?"

The knight couldn't keep his eyes off the small forest, and he didn't make any further moves for a long time.

"Sleep late."

The man in front replied jokingly.

"Stay away from the woods over there."

The knight behind said, "Let's go around first and see what's going on behind the woods."

"Row."

They are all on horseback, bypassing the woods, but it's just a waste of horsepower, so it's not a big deal.

"Be careful."

The knight in the back still reminded him that while he was speaking, he had already taken a small buckler off the horse and held it in his hand.

Not long after, the two of them had already detoured to the side of the woods. The woods were still quiet, and no birds were seen.

Perhaps infected by the atmosphere, the knight who hadn't paid attention to it before now also picked up the small buckler and drove his horse away from the woods and surrounding lush vegetation.

"There are footprints on the ground."

Not long after, the inaudible voice of the knight reached the ears of the knight behind, and the two continued to walk forward pretending not to pretend, walked out of the woods, looked at the messy footprints on the ground, and They looked at each other, then sped up their horses and trotted to one side.

When Wei Guangde got up to wash up, he heard hurried footsteps outside, and a soldier ran to Wu Zhankui's bedroom.

I don't know what happened, and Wei Guangde didn't pay attention. He was still thinking about what to have for breakfast today. After all, he is not at home now, and the town is not too big, so he doesn't know what he can get.

But then, Wei Guangde heard Wu Zhankui go out and ordered: "Notify everyone to gather at the dam in front of the town."

Wei Guangde has just come to his senses now, maybe the Japanese pirates have come here?

Half an hour ago.

In front of a grove about ten miles away from here, ten knights were divided into two teams, front and back, with six men in one team, gathered together, and the distance between them was very close.

And the other team of four, spread out widely, but reined in their horses and stood far away, they were constantly observing their surroundings, and they had already picked up the blunderbuss in their hands.

"Is this the woods?"

The captain of the front team asked.

"Until now, no birds have appeared in the forest, which is very strange."

"Yeah, I didn't see that either."

The captain hesitated, if he sent people into the forest to investigate at this moment, who would he send?

"Walk around the forest, ready to shoot the bow and arrow in your hand, listen to my order, and then shoot in."

The captain thought about it and said.

As soon as the blunderbuss rang, see if there were birds coming out to know whether the forest was safe or not.

When they rode quickly around the woods, the people in the woods who had been observing the movement outside had also spotted this group of cavalry.

It can only be said that the two people pretended to be very similar before, and it was hidden from Anshao's eyes.

This, perhaps, is the difference between those who have been on the battlefield and those who have not. Those who have been on the battlefield will be extremely careful in their behavior and things.

In fact, if the cavalry had been a little later, perhaps the woods would have been deserted.

At this moment, suddenly there were several gunshots from the horse team, and then two arrows shot into the woods and hit the tree stump.

In an instant, the Japanese pirates, who thought they had exposed their target, quickly rushed out of the woods and rushed towards the group of cavalry.

"withdraw."

The captain of the personal army saw the Japanese pirates rushing out in a swarm, and he didn't intend to fight at all. The Japanese pirates are very powerful in individual combat. This is what they discovered when they were in Zhejiang, and most of the guys who rushed out of the woods were five-short stature , You can tell it's a real Japanese at a glance.

The speed of the cavalry didn't drop at this moment, and when they heard the captain's order, they immediately turned their heads away from the group of Japanese pirates.

When the captain was retreating with his horse, he did not forget to raise his hand to make a gesture. A rider who had been watching from a distance saw the gesture and reined in his horse and ran back.

"Hang them up and see where they go."

After running away, the captain of the personal army reined in his horse and gave an order.

Seeing that the cavalry could not be chased, the Japanese pirates stopped and began to evacuate.

They knew that this group of cavalry were scouts, and if they were around, they would naturally know that there were Ming troops around them, and if they didn't leave now, it would be better to wait.

But this small group of cavalry sticks around them like cotton candy, following them from afar.

In Zhongxi Town, the sound of war drums sounded, and the soldiers of Jiujiang Guard ran out of the houses vacated in the town, and quickly lined up according to the team flags.

The sudden sound of drums also woke up the townspeople.

At this time, rumors had already spread in the town that Japanese pirates had arrived nearby.

Those who had a way ran into the county to hide, and the rest had nowhere to go, so they could only stay in fear.

The sudden sound of the drum frightened them half to death again.

Those who are more daring, quietly climb up the wall or open the small half door and look out. The soldiers over there have already formed a team and are waiting for orders.

"Zheng Qianhu, you lead the team as the front team, don't love to fight, just find them and set up a battle."

Wu Zhankui gave orders to Zheng Yixiang expressionlessly.

Zheng Yixiang opened his mouth to say something, but in the end he didn't say anything, and walked away with fists folded.

"Wu Dong, you form a team, keep up with the rear army, pay attention to disperse the formation at any time."

Wu Zhankui gave instructions to his son Wu Dong.

Wu Dong didn't say anything else, but he still accepted the order with his hands clasped in accordance with the military regulations.

Soon, the two teams of soldiers left Zhongxi Town one after the other, and the last ones in the queue were of course the Guard Commander Wu Zhankui, Wei Zhenfu Wei Meng and Zhenfu General Banner.

Naturally, hundreds of infantry marched forward, not as much as the galloping cavalry.

When the soldiers of the Qianhu Office of the rear army caught up with the guards who were observing in front, they also saw the Japanese pirates not far ahead.

Indeed, there were only about fifty people, not too many.

Zheng Yixiang rode on the horse, and immediately ordered the team to disperse and began to form formations.

Wu Zhankui did not give an order to fight. Although he really wanted to rush up and cut off the heads of these Japanese pirates, he had also been to Zhejiang, so he could see that these Japanese pirates were not easy to mess with.

Unlike the Japanese pirates I encountered before, the real Japanese accounted for the vast majority of this group, and there were very few fake Japanese. Perhaps they had been beheaded by the Ming army in the previous few battles.

The Ming army behind caught up, and the approach of the rear army was also discovered by the fleeing Japanese pirates.

There may not seem to be many people on the other side, but there must be a steady stream of officers and soldiers coming from behind.

Seeing more than 200 Ming troops following behind, the leaders of the Japanese pirates immediately got together to discuss.

"Turn around and kill this team of officers and soldiers, and those behind them will not dare to chase after them."

"Secondary, knock down the front team, and I will be afraid of the latter."

"kill"

(Simultaneous translation)
There was no heated debate, and the leaders decided on a strategy in a few words, and turned around to fight for a while, defeating this group of officers and soldiers.

Seeing the fleeing Japanese pirates suddenly stop, Zheng Yixiang knew something was wrong. Looking behind him, the right army's team hadn't come up yet.

In order to prevent being ambushed, Wu Zhankui made the distance between the teams longer, so that even if the Japanese pirates ambushed, they could only kill one team.

This departure should not be like this, but no one mentioned it, and they still used the previous queue to advance.

"Arrangement."

Zheng Yixiang didn't dare to retreat right now, and hastily issued an order.

The two hundred teams of the Qianhu Office of the Rear Army soon began to move horizontally, preparing to deal with the Japanese pirates' impact.

Sure enough, at the next moment, dozens of Japanese pirates took advantage of the opportunity of the formation of the Ming army, howled words they could not understand, and charged towards them crazily.

At the same time, more than ten arrows flew out from the Japanese bandits and shot straight at Zheng Yixiang who was on the horse.

Capture the thief first and capture the king. The Japanese pirates seem to be very familiar with the tactics of the Central Plains, so they directly attacked the leaders of this group of officers and soldiers.

The sudden change frightened Zheng Yixiang half to death in an instant. He didn't dare to stay, so he got off his horse and hid behind the horse.

"Hoo hoo hoo hoo hoo hoo hoo hoo hoo"

Several arrows flew over his head, and two arrows hit his horse and the horse of a soldier. The horse screamed in pain, and ran back with its four hooves spread out like flying.

Just as he was about to get on the horse of a soldier next to him, he heard the soldier yelling, "Be careful."

Another arrow flew out from the Japanese pirates, this is the official of the Ming army who was determined to shoot him.

Zheng Yixiang had no choice but to run into the queue, yelling and cursing to order the soldiers to regroup.
(End of this chapter)