Anti Qing

Chapter 4
At Maoshi in winter, everything is silent.

There was hazy darkness everywhere, and the sunrise was still early.

Li Zijing led his dark brown war horse and followed Liu Fangliang to Yuanwanggou.

Only after experiencing it for yourself can you know why Duoduo would rather wait for Kong Youde's Hongyi cannon for [-] days than get involved in it.

Along the way, there are criss-crossed ravines in the distant view ditch. Trees, vines, and weeds block the view. It is difficult to see the plateau clearly from the bottom of the ditch, and it is very easy to set up an ambush.

Suddenly, Liu Fangliang stopped.

"Come out."

As soon as the words fell to the ground, in the Yuanwanggou, which was still empty just now, [-] Dashun veterans dressed in black tunics appeared in a moment.

Some people hid behind trees, some hid under terraced terraces, and some lay down among the bushes.

Like Liu Fangliang, they had replaced their arrow jackets with cotton armor before the night attack, which could not only avoid making too much noise, but also keep out the cold.

Li Zijing's eyes widened, watching an old camp get up from the bushes at his feet, and sighed in his heart that he didn't notice it at all.

The weather at the end of December, in the pass, is also bitingly cold at night.

The veteran battalion soldiers in Dashun had never experienced such cold weather, and many of them were already shivering from the cold.

"This bird's weather is so cold in Guanzhong."

Liu Fangliang spat.

"Little King Chuang, in the military books you have read over the years, is there anything about cavalry robbing the camp?"

Li Zijing recalled it for a while before he said.

"Yes. A person holds a piece, and a horse binds its hooves."

Liu Fangliang frowned and repeated a few words in a low voice.

"A person holds a piece, and a horse wraps its hooves"

"What do the first three words mean?"

Li Zijing looked around, went to the tree and broke off a small branch, holding it to his mouth to gesture.

"When marching at night, let everyone bite the branches to avoid making noise."

Liu Fangliang smiled and shook her head, then raised her eyes and looked around.

"The ditch is winding and winding, and it's not easy to walk a horse. If a dog lays an ambush, it will be on the slope. At that time, we will really be barking every day, and the ground will not work."

"There is really an ambush, why didn't they come out earlier?"

The surrounding Dashun old battalion has been fighting for many years, and has set up ambushes many times to defeat the official army, but they have never heard of the principle of marching and fighting by biting branches.

They discussed it in whispers, but no one thought it would be of any use.

Li Zijing didn't care about the strange eyes from around him, and knew it would be useless to talk too much, so he bit the branch and walked slowly up the slope while leading the horse.

If Li Zijing wanted to command the army, Liu Fangliang would definitely not respond, but in his opinion, this was just biting a branch, and Emperor Yongchang still had to give face.

Liu Fangliang was quite helpless, after thinking for a while, she turned around and gave the order.

"Let everyone bite the branches, wrap the horseshoes in cotton cloth and go out of the ditch!"

Since this was a covert march at night, the order could not be sounded, and it could only be delivered by manpower. The team of 500 people was not many, but they were distributed in the Yuanwanggou in a narrow and long way.

It took some time for Liu Fangliang's location to reach the ears of the old battalion soldiers on both sides.

However, the old battalion soldiers are the elite of the Dashun army after all. Liu Fangliang joined the frontier army in his early years and was one of the first Dashun generals to follow Li Zicheng, with a high prestige.

Hearing that it was his order, he obeyed without saying a word.

Soon, all the hoofs of the horses were covered with a layer of cotton cloth, and the [-] old battalion soldiers were all biting short branches and leading the horses towards the Yuanwang Ditch.

Li Zijing led the horse with one hand, and moved upwards from the bottom of the ditch, pushing away many vines and shrubs. Some paths were narrow and long, and only one person and one horse could pass through, which was quite laborious.

Fortunately, the original body has been with the camp for many years, and his physical strength is not bad.

But at the same time, Li Zijing was also observing the surrounding situation.

Liu Fangliang's marching plan has changed from a brutal charge in history to a covert night attack. As long as he can find the location of the Qing army's ambush, he will have the opportunity to sneak behind the Qing army's ambush and take the lead!
Liu Fangliang's opinion is correct. If Duoduo set up an ambush in advance, the best place is Yuanwanggou.

But along the way, the slope has always been so silent, without any movement.

The old battalion had already boarded the Yuanwanggou, leading their horses and marching slowly towards the Qing army camp.

As time went by, Li Zijing could already see a little irritability on the faces of some old campers, just because he was biting a branch and couldn't yell at him.

Liu Fangliang also began to regret, why didn't he just lead people to the Qing army's camp, and fight fiercely for a day, it is impossible for Duoduo to set up an ambush.

You shouldn't have listened to this little King Chuang's nonsense, what kind of covert night attack is going on!
If you fight according to your own ideas, you may have broken through the Qing army's camp by surprise!
Beads of sweat gradually formed on the forehead of Li Zijing who was wearing a hat, he was anxious and murmured: "Ambush, ambush, where are you hiding?"

From Yuanwanggou, there is a distance of about five miles to the place where the Qing army set up camp.

It has been going forward for so long, but there is no movement at all. Could it be that the history books are wrong?

Looking at the ditch from afar, the vision is wide.

Extending down the steep plateau wall of Niutouyuan, there are a series of gullies, dotted with weeds and vines, intertwined on the exposed mound, and there is an indescribable desolation.

Li Zijing looked around, and his eyes passed over the gully under Niutou plateau several times, but he didn't pay attention.

Suddenly, a group of wildebeest jumped out of the gully in a panic.

Li Zijing's expression was shocked, his anxious eyes froze, and the five words from Sun Tzu's Art of War came to mind.

"Beast terror, Fu Ye!"

"Will Duoduo's ambush be hiding at the bottom of the ditch?"

In an instant, Li Zijing understood why Liu Fangliang fell in the ambush in history.

No one thought whether the Qing army would set up an ambush immediately after fighting in the daytime or not. The most important thing was that Duoduo's sword was slanted, and he chose the least likely place to set up an ambush.

It is this series of gullies under Niutouyuan!
The gully is a downwardly sunken terrain, with sloping loess slopes on both sides, and some places are so deep that people and horses are easy to get stuck, and they are natural dead places.

Once the army is trapped, it is as difficult as ever to get out, and no one will take the initiative to get into the grave.

Duoduo probably set up an ambush under the gully after carefully inspecting the nearby terrain before and after coming to Tongguan, and also had a detailed analysis of the Dashun Army's combat tactics.

It's a big gamble!
Historical facts have proved that Duoduo was indeed betting right.

From Li Zicheng to Liu Fangliang, the leader of the night attack, no one in Dashun thought that the Qing army would set up an ambush outside the camp after a day of fierce fighting.

Not to mention that they would not consciously explore the gullies under the Niutou Plateau that stretched for more than ten miles!

"There is a volt!"

Li Zijing turned around and pulled out the Yanling Saber with a bang.

If the historical records are correct, the only possible place to set up an ambush when going to the camp of the Qing army is under this gully!
Under the dark night sky, these two words were like a thunderbolt, which suddenly struck the top of the old battalion soldier's head. Everyone's heart trembled, and their steps subconsciously paused.

"Where is the volt?"

Liu Fangliang pulled out his saber, stared wide-eyed and looked around.

"There are a group of wildebeest running away in panic at the bottom of the gully, there must be enemy troops hiding!"

The clouds parted and the moon shone.

Liu Fangliang held the knife handle tightly with one hand, and looked in the direction of Li Zijing's finger. After staring for a while, his eyes suddenly tightened.

"Prepare for battle!"

"Go to the ditch ahead, shoot the arrow!"

The veterans are all veterans who have fought for many years, and some reactions are engraved in their bones.

Although not many people noticed the moonlight at the bottom of the gully, and the faintly flickering knife light, they still acted according to the military orders, as if they were facing an enemy.

"call out--"

There were a considerable number of archers in the old camp who could draw bows, and they immediately opened their bows and set up arrows, and threw a round of arrows at the bottom of the gully.

In the Central Plains, soft bows and long arrows were the standard equipment of the Ming army. The Dashun army's own manufacturing technology was not yet mature, and the old battalion also uniformly used the Kaiyuan bow captured by the Ming border army.

The Kaiyuan bow has a narrow bow surface and is easy to roll an arrow, so it is very suitable for throwing.

After a round of shooting, the scene suddenly fell silent.

The old battalion of the Dashun Army looked at each other in blank dismay. Many people still don't understand why the smearing has been going on for so long, and their whereabouts are suddenly exposed.

The bottom of the gully was so quiet, there was still no sign of an ambush.

A round of arrows from the old battalion passed by, and there was not even a little movement.

Liu Fangliang frowned, and slowly put down the saber, feeling suspicious.

"Could it be that you misread the flashing light?"

The next moment, countless shouts of killing suddenly erupted from the bottom of the gully.

The armored Qing army had already gritted their teeth against the rain of arrows from the Dashun army and climbed up to the top of the ditch, brandishing steel knives, charging towards the old battalion with all their teeth and claws.

　Mao Yuanyi's "Wu Jing Zong Yao"

　　"Yellow birch bows, black lacquer bows, white birch bows, and hemp back bows have different names, but they are actually the same. Today's Kaiyuan bows are strong and durable, and are often used by soldiers from the nine borders. They are most called sharp weapons."

　　
　
(End of this chapter)