The wind rises at the end of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 268
In the 12th year of Chongzhen, it was the sixth day of the third month at noon.

March is actually the beginning of spring, which is the time when all things are born.

But at this time, it was still very cold between Taipingzhai and Qingshan Pass, and the snow had not disappeared.

But the good news is that there has been no wind or snow in the past few days, and the weather has been quite clear.

Under the cold sun, all around the inside and outside of Taiping Village, countless fiery red flags were fluttering in the strong wind wherever they came into view.

The wind and snow have subsided, the clouds have dispersed and the fog has disappeared, and the sky and the earth are clear and clear without any obstruction.

In just one day, countless forts had been erected.

At this moment, the area around Taiping Village was full of scattered camps.

Countless fiery red flags were fluttering above the fortress, indicating the identity of the defenders in the fortress.

The sun and moon flags are fluttering, and the dragon flags are fluttering.

The animal flags are swaying, the large scrolls are standing tall, and the statues of Liuding and Liujia are beating and beating in the strong wind, as if they have really arrived in the mortal world.

Countless fiery red flags were billowing in the strong wind, like a prairie fire.

Opposite to it are layers of fortresses composed of four-color flags and arranged around the mountains on both sides of Qingshan Pass.

Tens of thousands of Qing troops were arranged in all directions, scattered in all directions like stars in the sky, guarding Qingshan Pass.

The mountain roads of Qingshan Pass were crowded with vehicles, cattle and sheep preparing to leave the pass, as well as plundered people.

The people who were tied together by ropes were men and women, old and young, and they were all driven forward blindly like zombies.

Sun Chuanting slowly put down the telescope in his hand. All the scenes on the mountain road in the distance were all in his eyes. His expression was gloomy and terrifying.

Sun Chuanting's eyes were dark and his tone was cold, without anger or color.

Only those who are familiar with Sun Chuanting know that this is the external manifestation of Sun Chuanting's anger reaching the extreme, and the murderous intention has filled Sun Chuanting's heart.

Chen Wang stood beside Sun Chuanting, holding his sword.

Standing together with Cao Wenzhao, Cao Bianjiao, Zu Kuan, He Renlong and Liu Guangzuo.

The low horn sound slowly rose from the distance, and Sun Chuanting also slowly turned around at this time.

Chen Wang lowered his head slightly and followed Zu Kuan and Liu Guangzuo to stand on the right side of Sun Chuanting.

When the siege of Jinan was solved, Zu Kuan was recruited into the army by Sun Chuanting, and he followed him in the army ever since, and did not join the Guan Ning Army.

Liu Guangzuo was the former commander-in-chief of Baoding. After Liu Yuliang, the chief assistant of the cabinet, left the capital to supervise the division, he has been controlled by Liu Yuliang.

However, Liu Yuliang did not know military matters and had no courage. He led the army to pursue Wuqing and did not dare to pursue it again.

Sun Chuanting looked down upon Liu Yuliang's behavior and ability, so he asked Liu Yuliang to stay in Wuqing and not participate in the subsequent war.

However, the generals and elite soldiers under Liu Yuliang were naturally transferred away by Sun Chuanting.

As the commander-in-chief of Baoding, Liu Guangzuo was naturally transferred into the army.

Since the Qing army entered the customs, they have been rampant in Baoding, but Liu Guangzuo, as the commander-in-chief of Baoding, did not dare to attack, and even the few battles he fought ended in defeat.

But to be honest, Liu Guangzuo cannot be entirely blamed for this situation.

Those in the mainland military towns who have the courage to go out of the city and fight as slaves in the field are actually considered pretty good.

After all, everyone knows how much money they receive, how much armament they have, and how many soldiers they have.

Sun Chuanting turned around, and Chen Wang followed Sun Chuanting and turned back.

At this time, they were not the only ones on the Taipingzhai lookout.

Just above the observation deck, Chen Xinjia and Gao Qiqian sat opposite each other.

Chen Xinjia is on the left, Gao Qi Qian is on the right.

Behind the two people, a group of generals stood in rows on each side.

Chen Xinjia wore a black gauze hat and a crimson civil official robe. In the center of the robe, there was a bright peacock embroidered, highlighting his status as a third-grade civil servant.

Chen Xinjia sat upright on the seat, placing his hands on the armrests, and saw flashes of light from time to time as his eyes moved.

Behind Chen Xinjia, Hu Dawei and Zuo Guangxian stood upright with their robes tied and holding swords, followed by the generals from the four towns of Shaanxi, Xuanfu, Datong, and Shanxi.

Many of them are old faces that Chen Wang is familiar with.

Zhang Yingchang, Deng Qi, Chen Guofu and others were all veterans of Hong Chengchou's command, and Chen Wang had already had some dealings with them earlier.

Gao Jie surrendered early in the morning. At the beginning, he gave Gao Jie thousands of elite cavalry, so that when Gao Jie surrendered, he would be able to become a guerrilla.

Others are Li Yougong, Liu Shijue, Liu Qin and others from Xuanda and other towns.

The reason why he got to know the soldiers in Xuanda and other towns was actually because of the Battle of Jiazhuang, when he led the cavalry to charge into the formation and rescued Lu Xiangsheng, whose life was almost hanging by a thread.

Because of this relationship, when Dong'an and Wuqing gathered generals later, many generals from the three towns of Xuanda came to visit them, and they became familiar with them.

However, it was not Xuanda and the generals from Shaanxi who attracted Chen Wang's attention.

What really caught Chen Wang's attention was the two old acquaintances standing behind them - Guo Tianxing Hui Dengxiang, Hun Shiwanma Jinzhong, Yi Dougu Huanglong, and Qian Cock Zhang Er.

In the ninth year of Chongzhen, Prime Minister Hui Deng was defeated by Zuo Guangxian in Pingliang Mansion. His generals were routed and defeated. After being captured, they had no choice but to surrender.
In the [-]th year of Chongzhen's reign, the army of [-] horses marched into Zhongzhong, but failed to attack Hanzhong. They were defeated by Sun Chuanting's troops and surrendered. The person guarding Hanzhong at that time was Chen Wang.

The corner of Xiang Huiden's mouth twitched slightly, and when he saw Chen Wang's gaze, he dodged slightly.

Ma Jinzhong's expression was extremely unnatural, and he directly shifted his gaze and pretended to look elsewhere.

Both of them had suffered a lot at the hands of Chen Wang.

Yi Dougu Huanglong and Qian Cock Zhang Er behaved completely differently from Hui Dengxiang and Ma Jinzhong. Although they were frightened, they had fawning expressions on their faces.

Unlike other bandits who surrendered, they had no possibility of surrendering and being sentenced again. They were completely on the opposite side of the bandits.

Because Gao Yingxiang suffered heavy losses and lost his last chance to win because of the betrayal of the two of them.

Now I am afraid that no one at the head of the 72nd Battalion wants to kill him quickly.

Among the bandits from various places, there were those who really wanted to avenge Gao Yingxiang, and there were also those who wanted to use their heads to establish their prestige.

But no matter which reason it is, they have blocked the way for them to surrender and rebel again.
Now they can only follow the Ming army to the dark side, and they will never join the bandits again.

Faced with the flattery of Yi Dou Gu Huang Long and Qian Rooster Zhang Er, Chen Wang did not ignore it but nodded lightly in response.

Yi Dou Gu Huang Long and Qian Rooster Zhang Er first had a flash of surprise on their faces, and then quickly changed their expressions and revealed smiles.

Chen Wang was not surprised by this change.

Yi Dou Gu Huang Long and Qian Rooster Zhang Er are not having an easy time.

The two relied on their military exploits and the surrender of their tribesmen, although they took the position of guerrillas.

However, there has been no chance of advancement. The two of them have been on the road to suppress the enemy. The troops and horses under their command are constantly being depleted, but it is difficult to replenish them.

The situation of the two of them is exactly the same as the situation Gao Jie encountered at the beginning.

It's just that Gao Jie brought more than a thousand elite cavalry back then, and he was much more capable than Yi Dou Gu Huang Long and Qian Gong Ji Zhang Er. He had meritorious service in consecutive battles and was promoted to the rank of general of Yansui Town.

Moreover, Gao Jie and He Renlong have a feeling of being from the same hometown, and He Renlong will give them more or less official support.But a bucket of grain, a yellow dragon, and a thousand roosters have no fellow villagers and no friendship below.

Originally, the two people under Sun Chuanting had a relatively easy life, but after they were transferred to Hong Chengchou's control, it became even more difficult.

Hong Chengchou has always been dictatorial, and he has no regard for the slightest grain of sand in his eyes. He does not allow the military academy below him to form cliques in the slightest.

The situation of Yi Dougu Huanglong and Qian Gongji Zhang Er became more and more isolated.

Chen Wang didn't pay much attention to Yi Dou Gu Huang Long and Qian Rooster Zhang Er, but turned to look at Gao Qiqian sitting on the other side.

Chen Wang had never met Gao Qiqian before, and he didn't have the slightest fondness for this internal official with a record of misdeeds in history.

But due to the situation and official career, he is just drifting with the crowd at the moment.

Gao Qiqian sat on the right side of Chen Xinjia, but the image was completely different from what Chen Wang had imagined at the beginning.

Chen Wang originally thought that the image of an internal official should be roughly the same as that of a civil official, untied, pampered, and with a feminine temperament.

In the memory of the old master, the internal officers who were supervising the army had this image. They always rode in carriages when marching.

But when he saw Gao Qiqian, Chen Wang realized that his view was wrong.

Gao Qiqian has a dark complexion, a tall figure, thick eyebrows and deep eyes, and is extremely capable in his movements.

In terms of image aura, Gao Qiqian does not look like a eunuch, but more like a military commander.

No wonder Chongzhen favored him, but his appearance gave Gao Qiqian a lot of extra points.

It's just that the face without a beard shows his high-level identity.

As an internal official, Gao Qiqian's outfit was very different from Chen Xinjia's.

Gao Qiqian wore a three-mountain hat made of true blue crepe and a pure red python robe.

In the Ming Dynasty, there were four levels of conferment. From top to bottom, they were divided into python, flying fish, bullfighting and unicorn.

The python pattern looks like a dragon pattern, so-called "five claws are dragon, four claws are python".

The python was the first class of people who were given robes in the Ming Dynasty. Except for internal officials, those who could receive python robes as robes were all loyal ministers and high-ranking officials.

It has always been considered a great honor to receive such favors.

During the Hongzhi period, although Emperor Xiaozong of the Ming Dynasty intended to restrain eunuchs, he repeatedly issued orders not to abuse python robes. Although it was effective for a while, it was impossible to prohibit it due to long-standing habits.

After Chongzhen succeeded to the throne, he was rarely rewarded with python robes, and even among the internal officials, there were not many of them.

Gao Qiqian was able to wear a python suit and was entrusted with the important task of controlling Guan Ning's elite, which shows how much trust he had in Chongzhen's heart.

Gao Qian leaned slightly and leaned back on the chair. His eyes had always been on the rolling Daqing Mountains in the distance.

Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of Sun Chuanting's movements, and his eyes turned accordingly.

Behind Gao Qiqian was Zu Dashou, who was standing lightly pressing the handle of the Yanling knife.

Then there were a group of Ji Liao generals standing, all of whom kept a certain distance from Zu Dashou.

There is no need to say much about Zu Dashou's status in Jiliao Group.

Chen Wang basically knew the rest of the generals and knew many of them by name, but not many of them knew him.

After all, when he was in Liaodong, he was just a servant following Cao Wenzhao.

"The military situation is very strong, so I won't say much else."

Sun Chuanting acted vigorously and resolutely, walked up to him, gently waved his sleeves and spoke.

"The situation of Jiannu's defense has been clearly investigated, and the information collected over several days is all on this sand table."

Following Sun Chuanting's words, everyone's eyes also fell on the sand table placed in the center of the stand.

Everyone had noticed the sand table in the center earlier, and more or less took a look at it to check the situation.

"Chen Wang."

Sun Chuanting's voice sounded, and Chen Wang immediately stepped forward.

As a pioneer, it is naturally his task to collect this information, and he has personally marked many things on the sand table.

Sun Chuanting had already communicated with him before convening the military meeting and asked him to be responsible for explaining the deployment situation.

Sun Chuanting's voice fell, and the eyes of all the generals on the observation deck, including Chen Xinjia and Gao Qiqian, also fell on Chen Wang.

Invisible pressure came suddenly.

Chen Wang's expression did not change. He could remain calm despite being rained down by swords, guns and arrows. How could an occasion like this make him fearful?
Sun Chuanting asked him to explain the deployment. The first level of purpose was to cultivate his strategic command.

Another reason is to make him stand out in front of everyone and make him famous in the court.

This time King Qin, the biggest gain for Chen Wang was not the military exploits accumulated through fierce battles all the way.

The biggest gain is actually winning the trust of Sun Chuanting.

After the Battle of Jinan, Chen Wang clearly noticed the change in Sun Chuanting's attitude.

Sun Chuanting now regards him as a direct descendant.

Chen Wang showed no stage fright and walked to the side of the sand table, then picked up the command whip placed aside and tapped it lightly on the sand table.

"According to the summary of detective reports, "there are more than [-] troops garrisoning within [-] miles of Qingshan Pass. "

"The slaves built a total of 49 camps around Daqing Mountain to block our army's access to the mountain road."

All the 49 camps deployed by the slaves on the sand table were clearly marked, and the approximate number of people was even written on the small flag.

"The forts set up by the slaves include three large camps, nine middle camps, and the remaining 37 camps are all small camps, guarding key passes in the mountains."

Chen Wang held the command whip and passed over the black flags scattered on the sand table one by one.

"The number of people in the small slave camps ranged from one to three. The largest number had a thousand people, and the smallest number only had a hundred people."

"The central camp is usually guarded by a Jia La, and the number of people is about [-]."

"There are three big camps. Except for one big camp in the center of the mountain road, the other two camps are set up on the mountains on the left and right of the mountain road and on the important passes passing Qingshan Pass..."

Chen Wang was a little uncomfortable speaking at first, but as time went by, he became more and more comfortable speaking.

"...the number of slaves guarding the central camp on the mountain road exceeds [-]. The proceeds from slaves entering the customs and plundering are basically concentrated here, and they are being transported out of the customs in a steady stream."

"The camp at the intersection of the two mountains has more than 6000 guards. The blue flags are placed all over the Jiannu camp on the left mountain, which should be the two blue flags of Jiannu. The white flags are placed all over the Jiannu camp on the right mountain, which should be the two blue flags of Jiannu. white flag."

It is not difficult to estimate the number of Qing troops. You only need to count how many Niulu flags and Jiala flags there are, and then roughly observe the situation of the camp, and you can estimate it.

On the sand table, the Qing army's fortresses were stacked on top of each other, surrounding the Daqing Mountains, firmly guarding the central mountain road and protecting the safety of the transportation channels.

The [-] Qing troops used the mountain as their momentum, formed a formation to defend, and set up nets to wait.

The Qing army was ready and showed its fangs.

(End of this chapter)