A small soldier of the frontier army in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 242 Only with Wang Dou by my side can I feel at ease

Li Youde said: "Daniu, this Tartar will be handed over to you for interrogation."

The flesh-faced Ye Bushou said excitedly: "Don't worry, Li Tou, I will definitely take good care of him, I promise, this tartar will pour out even a few men his mother stole."

A cruel look flashed across his face, he took out a rusty knife, grabbed the Qing soldier's pigtail and pulled it aside.Soon, there was a long and mournful howl, interspersed with bursts of angry shouting from a big bull.

Chen Ying glanced over there, good guy, the brothers from Baoan Prefecture tortured the Tartars much harder than their brothers from the Supervision Camp.It wasn't until this time that Li Youde had the opportunity to ask Chen Ying: "Brother Chen, are you okay, are you injured?"

Chen Ying shook his head, and then cursed angrily: "Bie Duzi, brother missed, out of five brothers, three were lost."

He let out a long sigh: "Two were killed on the spot, and one brother was captured. I'm afraid it was..."

He resentfully punched a big tree in front of him, the tiger's mouth was broken and he still didn't know it.

This is a sturdy middle-aged man, not tall, but very strong, with a leather cap on his head and a thick cotton robe, dressed like a resident of Liaodong.His accent is also somewhat different from that of Baoanzhou. Fortunately, everyone speaks more official Chinese when he is away on an expedition, so there is basically no problem in communicating.

His face was full of wind, frost and pain, with cracks open, and his eyes seemed to be beating with raging anger. He was carrying a huge step bow and quiver on his back, and a horse bow and a huge sword were hung on the saddle of the horse beside him. saber.

Not far from him, there was Ding Yumao'er, the battalion supervisor who accompanied him out of the sentry. He was a very ordinary-looking person, so he couldn't tell him apart from the crowd.He was also wearing a cotton robe and a heavy old shedding fur hat, and stood aside with his hands bound, like a cowering old farmer.

He looks like he is in his 40s, but according to him, he is not yet 30 years old, and he also speaks with a Liaodong accent. There is a big scar on the right side of his cheek, which seems to have been grazed by a sharp arrow.He is usually reticent and dull, and rarely speaks a few words, but there is always a cunning and cruel light in his mouse-like eyes.

At this time, Yu Mao'er was standing beside Daniel watching him torture the tartar, watching Daniel cut off the tartar's flesh piece by piece with a small rusty knife, and listening to his desperate cry, he Some panting, seems to be too excited to restrain myself.

Hearing Chen Ying's words, Li Youde was also silent, he said: "On the day I joined the army, I expected such an outcome. A warrior dying in battle, shrouded in horse leather, is better than dying on a bed..."

He said a few words, thinking of his broken brother, there were also tears in his eyes.

Li Youde didn't want to mention this matter, and said to Chen Ying: "Fortunately, I waited for a few days to find out the situation of the Tartar soldiers in front. In the direction of Dingzhou, there is an army of Tartars with white flags all the way. The bandit leader Duoduo and Commanded by Abatai. Going to Gaoyang, Dorgon, the head of the bandit, led the Tartar soldiers with the Zhengbai flag, and mainly attacked Gaoyang, Raoyang, Wuqiang and other places. There was also Yuetuo, the head of the bandit, and the Tartar soldiers with the Zhenghong flag , mainly attacking Wuyi, Zaoqiang, Hengshui and other places, I will pass this information to Duchen Lu and others as soon as possible."

At this time, the captured Qing soldier had been tortured to death by Daniel. Li Youde ordered his head to be cut off and his armor to be stripped off, leaving a bare headless body in the woods.Before getting on the horse, Chen Ying stretched out her right hand and said to Li Youde: "Brother Li, it is a great honor to go out to fight with the brothers in Baoanzhou."

Li Youde's big hands were held together with Chen Ying's, they hugged each other, patted each other's shoulders and laughed.Their hearty laughter spread far and wide, and it seemed that even the howling cold wind could not cover up their laughter.

……

At this time, in the territory of Qingdu, a row of people and horses, most of them cavalry, more than 1 people, spread out in a marching array. The sea of ​​red armor and flags seems to have no end in sight.

Forward, central army, central, rear, the traditional marching ranks of the Ming Dynasty.Among the group of horses and horses, Yang Guozhu and his Chinese army general Guo Yingxian walked in the front, as the forwards, and they also held the banner of "former army commander".

Then came Lu Xiangsheng's supervising battalion, Xuanfu general Zhang Yan's [-] troops, and Wang Dou's security battalion to form the Chinese army.Then there is the main barracks of Wang Pu, the commander-in-chief of Datong Town, as the central part, and finally Hu Dawei, the commander-in-chief of Shanxi Town, is the rear.

Each road is less than one mile apart, and they all advance steadily in a row of several horses, and the flags are shot one after the other in an orderly manner.

The army set off from the city of Baoding yesterday, and arrived in Qingdu today, with a daily march of no more than [-] li.It was normal for cavalry to travel hundreds of miles a day. Speaking of which, the speed of the army was slowed down by Wang Dou and Zhang Yan's army. After all, most of their army was infantry.

However, Wang Dou believed that it was beneficial for Xuanda's army to maintain a marching speed of sixty miles a day. Xuanda's army had been hungry and tired for a long time. Although the soldiers rested for a few days, the sergeants and horses were still very tired.If the army is now running two or three hundred miles every day, and only a few hundred of thousands of people reach a certain place, it will not be possible to talk about marching strictly and maintaining the integrity and dignity of the army.

Behind each army is their densely packed mules and horses. Generally, each battalion of the general army carries a large number of tents, horses, gunpowder, tiger squatting guns and other things.After Wang Dou transported the grain and grass, a large number of grain and grass chariots and horses followed behind each battalion.

These supplies inevitably dragged down the marching pace of the army. The soldiers in the towns of Xuanda were already suffering from hunger, although the food and grass in their camps were less than half a month's worth of food.But no matter what, these food and grass must be carried with you to be at ease. If the marching speed is a drag, it will be a drag.

Lu Xiangsheng rode vigorously on his Wuming steed, and looked back at Wang Dou's army approvingly. Those soldiers were all good soldiers.They followed Wang Dou's Chinese army banner, ten people in a row, one by one, marched neatly, and came out from Baoding City, their formation was always so strict, even the soldiers were no exception.

Most of these people are infantry, and everyone wears heavy armor. After marching for several days, no one is left behind, and the marching ranks are always kept so strict!It is said that there are ten people in a row, and there are ten people in a row, and each row looks like a straight line.

On a long march, even the cavalry of the three towns could not do this. The line of counting horses was already a little crooked. Zhang Yan, the general of Xuanfu behind Wang Dou, had good cavalry in his army, but half of them were infantry. Right now their marching ranks are already sparse, and many sergeants are listlessly dragging their tired bodies, struggling to keep up.

Just looking at the marching lineup, Wang Dou's army is so strong that it can be said that it is firmly ranked first among the three towns of Xuanda.

Lu Xiangsheng was full of admiration, the more he looked at Wang Dou, the more he fell in love with him, but it was a pity that Wang Dou's military status was not enough, otherwise he would be transferred to the town to train soldiers and horses for the towns, and train an army as strong as the Shun Township Army for Daming.

In fact, Wang Dou also noticed this problem. In the main barracks of each town, when it comes to personal bravery, most of those battalions are stronger than his own Shun Township army.It is a pity that they are far inferior to their own Shunxiang Army in terms of military discipline, orders and prohibitions, and the cooperation of the battle formation.

But in battle, the most important thing is to cooperate in an upright battle formation, and personal force is ranked last.Therefore, the army at the end of the Ming Dynasty only relied on a small number of servants to fight. When it won, it rushed up, and when it lost, it was defeated for thousands of miles.

As a result of this situation, Wang Dou reckoned that the underpayment of the troops in the various towns was one of the reasons, as well as the neglect or difficulty in training on a daily basis. For example, there were only deserters in the various armies of the Ming Dynasty. It was rare for anyone who was willing to stay as a soldier, and they were treated like treasures. Who would want to deal with these people ruthlessly?

Fortunately, all of my drills are new troops, so as to avoid the phenomenon of soldiers, and my sergeants do not need to be paid. They are cheap and easy to use, and they are mass-produced.If Wang Dou were to lead a battalion in a town, he still didn't know what to do.

At this time, they had already passed Puyang River, not far from Qingdu County, smoke and dust billowed from the south, and there seemed to be dozens of horses galloping towards this side on the horizon.

Immediately, there was a commotion among the three armies. Since entering Qingdu, some Qing sentries have been encountered on the road one after another.There is no way, the Qing soldiers put too much psychological pressure on Xuan Da's officers and soldiers.

Lu Xiangsheng ordered the whole army not to move, and those who violated it would be beheaded, and immediately sent his sentry scouts from the Supervision Battalion to patrol and check.Soon, news came from the sentries of the battalions and the superintendent battalion that these dozens of riders were the brothers of the Shunxiang army who went out to scout at night and the superintendent battalion came back and brought back important things. intelligence.

Lu Xiangsheng was overjoyed, and soon, surrounded by all the battalions, Li Youde, Chen Ying and others rolled back to Lu Xiangsheng's Central Military Headquarters, and reported the results of the sentry to Lu Xiangsheng, Wang Dou and others.There were actually only eight of them, but Wang Doujun didn't take them in at night, and charged each of them with three horses, which made them very powerful, and the smoke and dust they raised seemed like dozens of horses.

After reading the information, Lu Xiangsheng was overjoyed, and ordered the three armies to gather and set up camp, and then notified the generals of the towns to come to his tent to discuss military affairs.Immediately, the soldiers and horses of each battalion stopped, dug trenches on the spot, and built camps, and the people in one group neighed.

……

In Lu Xiangsheng's large tent of the Chinese army, the armored generals of the three towns and their relatives sat around the tent and watched Lu Xiangsheng happily raising a message in his hand.

"What we heard from the outposts is that in the territory of Qingdu, there is a group of slaves, thousands of people, led by Jialazhangjing, a white banner of Nuzheng. In Dingzhou, there are thousands of slaves with a white banner. Abatai is the leader. In Gaoyang, there are thousands of slaves and thieves, and the slave chief Dorgon leads..."

All the generals listened attentively to Lu Xiangsheng's words, especially Wang Pu, the commander-in-chief of Datong Town, looked at Yang Guozhu enviously.

The battalions did not close their posts at night, they all shrank into a pile in fear, and did not dare to spread out at all.Such important information was obtained by Wang Douye, the general of Xuanfu Town, and the servants of the Supervising Biao Battalion. They scored another meritorious service in Xuanfu Town, and Yang Guozhu, who is the commander-in-chief, naturally shared the benefits.

"The situation of the enemy has become clear. Now Qingdu, Dingzhou, and Gaoyang cities have sent people asking for help. The governor wants to hear what the audience thinks. I announce to the generals, which slave army should be fought and which city should be rescued. ?”

In history, if the Qing army entered the land of no one, it would fight in isolation everywhere. Without reinforcements, no matter how strong the city was, it would be broken one day.At this time, the Qing army was heading south several times, and there were people asking for help everywhere. Although it was not expected that Lu Xiangsheng's army would rescue their city, the dead horse was used as a living horse doctor. The officers and soldiers in the nearby city heard that Xuanda's army was coming Afterwards, there were still waves of people calling for help, and every wave of people cried and complained that one was more miserable than the other.

Lu Xiangsheng wanted to save every place, but hated that he was incapable of avatars, that there were too few soldiers under his command, and that the determination of the soldiers to fight was also a little weak.Although there is an example of Wang Dou's great victory, the rest of the soldiers of the three towns still need a victory to encourage them.

Lu Xiangsheng's words made the generals ponder for a while. According to their thinking, of course, it is better to save Qingdu. The Qing soldiers here are no more than a thousand, and their [-] army can still be eaten. In the special army, there are three armies of Yongguan The Wang Dou Department exists.As for Dingzhou and Gaoyang, the number of Tazi soldiers there is still a bit more...

Wang Dou didn't have any idea about Dingzhou and Qing. If he wanted to rescue, he could only save the most important one, and that was Gao Yang.Anyway, that's where Sun Chengzong is located, and I can't just watch his old man die in battle.

Immediately he got up and said: "Minister, Yang Junmen, the last general is willing to lead his troops to Gaoyang to relieve the siege of old Sun Ge."

Everyone was startled, before Lu Xiangsheng and Yang Guozhu spoke, Wang Puji, the commander-in-chief of Datong Town, said: "It must not be done, the slaves and thieves are powerful, and General Wang's mere thousands of soldiers are fighting against the enemy. How can the door bear to see General Wang die?"

He sincerely said to Lu Xiangsheng: "Minister, the military division is weak, and it is better to discuss the matter of rescue in the long run."

Just a joke, how could Wang Pu feel at ease if such a powerful army as the Shunxiang Army was not kept by his side?Wang Dou wanted to lead the army away, that was absolutely impossible.

Yang Guozhu also didn't want Wang Dou to leave his side, he said to Wang Dou gently: "General Wang, please sit down."

He said to Lu Xiangsheng: "Minister, the last general also thinks that General Wang's loyalty and bravery are admirable, but slaves and thieves are powerful, so we must not think of dividing troops to rescue."

Hu Dawei pondered for a long time, and said: "I declare a large army, and I can first relieve the siege of Qingdu. Qingdu is not far from Dingzhou. After the siege of Dingzhou is relieved, we can go to Gaoyang with the whole army to relieve Sun Pavilion. The sleepiness of old age."

Wang Pu applauded the case: "What the Hujunmen said is the words of a veteran seeking the country."

Lu Xiangsheng also made up his mind. Given the current situation of the Xuanda officers and soldiers, they still have a lot of fear, so it is really impossible to divide the troops to rescue.It is better to destroy the enemy army in Qingdu first, and then make a plan after reversing the fear of the enemy and the fear of fighting among the soldiers.I hope that the defenders of Dingzhou and Gaoyang can persist until their reinforcements arrive.

At this moment, suddenly hearing the constant sound of alarms outside the tent, a personal guard rushed into the big tent and reported to Lu Xiangsheng: "I would like to report to the governor, a group of slaves, about a thousand people, were found several miles south. I declare the big camp and come."

Everyone in the tent was startled, Datong Town Commander Wang Pu jumped up and shouted: "How many slaves are there?"

After getting affirmative reply from thousands of people, he snorted coldly, clasped his fists to Lu Xiangsheng majestically and saluted: "Governor, at the end of the day, I would like to lead the army to fight, and kill all these slaves!"

(End of this chapter)