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

Chapter 249
Wang Dou and Chen An came to the barracks of Dubiao Camp, which is in the area of ​​Nanquantou.From Nanquantou to Weijiazhuang, along the banks of the Xiaoyi River, the sergeants of Xuanda Sanzhen set up a large camp, and the continuous banners seemed to be endless.

When Wang Dou came to Governor Xingyuan, a group of country gentry and civilians who came to work in the army were being sent away here. Lu Xiangsheng was full of spirits, and led the three towns' generals and generals to watch them go away.He still did not forget to teach the generals: "...as long as our officers and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty spare no effort to kill the thieves and serve the country wholeheartedly, the people will eat pots of milk to welcome the king's teacher."

All the generals agreed, seeing Wang Dou coming, Lu Xiangsheng said happily, "General Wang is here?"

Everyone behind him also greeted Wang Dou affectionately, and Wang Pu, the commander-in-chief of Datong Town, even shouted loudly: "General Wang, brothers and all the soldiers are waiting eagerly, waiting for General Wang's explanation and instruction." Do you know?"

Wang Dou hurriedly said: "Don't dare, it should be the last general who asks the soldiers for advice."

One by one, I bowed hands with all the commanders, and everyone rushed into Lu Xiangsheng's Chinese army tent to continue discussing the topics of the previous few days.

Everyone agrees that Wang Dou's army is brave and capable of fighting, but in fact weapons and armor are not the main problem. The officers and soldiers of the entire town dare not say that, at least in the main barracks of each family, it is not a big problem to have good armor and equipment.

Wang Dou even took the opportunity to ask Lu Xiangsheng for some advanced self-generating firecrackers and Lumi blunderbuss, hoping to study them after returning home, and Lu Xiangsheng generously agreed.As for the formation, which one of the general army's study rooms and mansions has not collected a large number of military books?Even if some people are illiterate, it is not a problem for each family to have staff praise paintings. They come from the family of generals and have their own experience in battle.

Hu Dawei, the commander-in-chief of Shanxi Town, pondered and said: "In this case, it is a matter of soldiers and drills."

Wang Doudao: "What Hujunmen said is very true. Qi Shuai once said: soldiers are chosen by you, there will be regulations, soldiers have quotas, and salary is limited. Wild and honest people, not urban slippery ones, this kind of soldier training will make it easier for the sergeant to fear the military law and abide by the regulations, and he can use his arms and fingers in battle, and he can be a dignified formation."

The above Wang Dou's words are all Qi Jiguang's best experience in military training. In the battle of Hunhe, Qi's army fought to the last man.

Everyone is pondering, what Wang Dou meant, they also understand that everyone knows their own affairs.The military discipline of each battalion is broken, and the soldiers are not good enough to be soldiers.Some of these people may be brave, but their presence in the army does more harm than good.

According to Wang Dou's words, these people are going to be laid off, so there are only a few hundred people left in the thousands of people in each battalion, the shortage of troops is a point, how to arrange the people who are laid off?Recruiting sergeants again, where will the food and salary come from?
Wang Dou said: "Let them reclaim the fields. There are many wastelands in the Ming Dynasty, but there is no shortage of places to farm."

Wang Pu, the commander-in-chief of Datong Town, asked, "Where do you get the money to farm the land?"

Wang Dou smiled and said, "But the imperial court has to find a way."

All the generals exchanged meaningful glances, and the soldiers in Wang Dou's army were well-fed, which was naturally because Wang Dou had a lot of money and food.Wang Dou used to be just a guard or a garrison. Not only did the court not pay food, but he also collected taxes. However, he was able to support so many powerful soldiers, so he must have his own way to make money.

This matter can only be understood, not talked about. This wonderful recipe is the core of Wang Dou's own achievements, and it is impossible for him to say it.But everyone here, who can be the general of a town, who doesn't have two brushes, who doesn't have a way to make money by himself?Can they support their own servants only by the food and salaries that the court pulled out?

Wang Dou's words opened up a new way of thinking for everyone.There is a successful example of Wang Dou, maybe everyone can try it.

Of course Lu Xiangsheng knew where Wang Dou got his training money and rations, so he glared at Wang Dou, but Wang Dou pretended not to see it.

……

In fact, what Wang Dou said to the generals had already been said to Lu Xiangsheng. Many things were simple to Wang Dou, but in Lu Xiangsheng's position, they were extremely complicated and often made him powerless.He sighed secretly, and said seriously: "Okay, now the generals are discussing matters."

Immediately, everyone in the tent sat upright, and Lu Xiangsheng said: "After the great victory in Dingzhou, the capital was invigorated, and the Holy Majesty repeated his imperial edicts, and the morale of all the soldiers in the battalion was also high. Now most of the slaves and thieves are going south to really Ding, take advantage of this vigor, I declare that the rest of the army in Gaoyang is over. The governor has decided that tomorrow I will send troops to Zhending to relieve the suffering of the people there."

Armored and clattered, everyone stood up and shouted: "I would like to follow the governor's saddle horse, kill thieves and serve the country, and make new achievements."

After the great victory in Dingzhou, the generals and soldiers of Xuanda's three towns showed awe of the Qing soldiers, which can be said to have been wiped out, and the morale of the army reached its peak.

Lu Xiangsheng was also very satisfied: "The victory in Dingzhou proves the nature of slaves and thieves. As long as our officers and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty are brave enough to kill thieves, their heads will be our military exploits. The generals will leave their names in history, and they will be killed on that day. , everyone, work hard!"

They shouted loudly: "Kill the thief and serve the country, kill the thief and serve the country!"

Wang Dou also shouted along with the crowd. Encouraged by the great victory in Dingzhou, more and more Ming troops dared to go out of the city to attack the enemy. Now the military situation is optimistic.This time the Qing soldiers entered the bandits, which was much more difficult than in history.

At this moment, a guard rushed into the account and reported to Lu Xiangsheng.

Lu Xiangsheng stood up with a smile on his face: "Another imperial decree has come, generals, I will follow the governor to welcome you!"

……

Outside the big tent of the Chinese army, another eunuch read the imperial decree to Lu Xiangsheng and others. Apart from commending him, he urged Lu Xiangsheng to lead his troops to Zhending immediately.

This was already in Lu Xiangsheng's expectation. What was beyond his expectation was that behind the imperial decree, it was also mentioned that the military situation in Shanxi was urgent. , Immediately returned to Shanxi to relieve the crisis in Taiyuan.

Lu Xiangsheng was stunned for a while, but he immediately accepted the order.Wang Pu also received the imperial edict, and there was also a statement from the Ministry of War. When he received the imperial edict, his expression was very strange, and then he came over with great pain, kowtowed and said goodbye to Lu Xiangsheng. You can no longer follow the governor to kill the enemy."

Tears welled up in Lu Xiangsheng's eyes, and he helped Wang Pu himself to get up. He said to him gently, "You don't have to do this, general. You can also serve the country when you return to Shanxi, and you don't have to follow the governor's command."

He confessed to Wang Pu: "No matter where the general goes, he must remember the principle of serving the country with loyalty."

Wang Pu choked with sobs and said: "The governor's instruction will be written down at the end."

He bid farewell to Yang Guozhu and Hu Dawei, both of them sighed, no matter how much they looked down on Wang Pu, a dude who spent money to buy an official position, but these days fighting side by side, there is more or less a comrade-in-arms friendship, When parting, the two were reluctant to part.

When parting, Wang Pu also patted Wang Dou on the shoulder, and sighed: "It's a pity that I can no longer fight side by side with the general. After this battle, if the general arrives in Datong, the brothers will definitely greet him."

Wang Dou solemnly bid farewell to him. No matter how unbearable Wang Pu was in history, at least in this current battle, he has behaved orderly and deserves his respect.At the same time, a shadow floated in his heart, everyone only thought that Shanxi was in danger, and it was reasonable for the Ministry of War to transfer Wang Pu back to aid, and only Wang Dou knew that Yang Sichang might be behind the scenes.

Yang Sichang is quite talented in politics and military affairs, but he is short-sighted, narrow-minded, and extremely vindictive.He and Lu Xiangsheng only have different political views, so he is planning everything here, disregarding the overall situation because of his personal feelings?What a pity.

On that day, Wang Pu led the army and left the camp, leaving a large empty camp, Sergeant Xuan saw that there were thousands of brothers missing in the army, the morale that was originally high inevitably dropped a part.Lu Xiangsheng summoned the whole army to encourage them, and only then did the morale of those who had fallen pick up a little.

After Wang Pu left, Lu Xiangsheng led only Yang Guozhu, the commander-in-chief of Xuanfu Town, Hu Dawei, the commander-in-chief of Shanxi Town, Wang Dou, Zhang Yan, the general of Xuanfu Town, and others, with about [-] troops.In the early morning of the second day, Lu Xiangsheng led the army and left Gaoyang under the farewell of the gentry and people in the city led by Sun Chengzong.

Leaving the road, Wang Dou frequently looked back at Gaoyang County, leaving Gaoyang for Zhending this time, the future is unpredictable.What comforted Wang Dou was that at his solemn request last night, Sun Chengzong was finally willing to leave Gaoyang City for Baoding, which relieved a hidden worry in Wang Dou's heart.

In history, before the Qing army besieged Gaoyang City, Sun Chengzong's good friends Cai Ding, Mao Yuanyi and others persuaded Sun Chengzong to take refuge in Baoding, or simply go to the south, but Sun Chengzong politely refused.In the end, at the age of eighty, he led his whole family, nephews and the people of Gaoyang to rise up to resist. In the end, six sons, two nephews, and twelve grandsons and nephews all died in the country.Perhaps it was the emotion of the siege by the Qing soldiers. Sun Chengzong couldn't bear to refuse Wang Dou's kindness, and finally agreed to Wang Dou's request to preserve this useful body.

Wang Dou finally left Gaoyang with peace of mind. Although his strength is limited, he can save one of the loyal people of Daming.

A simple wish.

……

It was nearly three hundred miles from Gaoyang City to Zhendingfu City, Lu Xiangsheng, Wang Dou and others traveled southward.

At this time, the Qing soldiers had penetrated into Hengshui, Zaoqiang, Zanhuang, Lincheng, Gaoyi and other places in Zhending Prefecture.Although they encountered many Qing soldiers along the way, large and small groups of enemies, but fearing the prestige of this army, the Qing cavalry just watched from a distance, and did not dare to get too close.So along the way, although there were some small groups of contact wars from time to time, the overall march was smooth.

Thinking that there is a large amount of food and grass in the army, Lu Xiangsheng and others have experienced painful starvation. They know that it is extremely difficult to prepare food and grass in the chaos of war, and there is no place to buy it if there is silver. The food and grass carried in the army is the lifeline of this army. .

Therefore, although the Tang Bao of the Ministry of War was urgent, Lu Xiangsheng still listened to the opinions of Yang Guozhu and others. It is better to march steadily. Generally, the whole army marched sixty to seventy miles a day.

A few days later, that is, on November 11, 29th year of Chongzhen, Lu Xiangsheng, Wang Dou and his party arrived under the city of Zhendingfu.

(End of this chapter)