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

Chapter 256 Man Jianghong

The ground seemed to be trembling all the time, looking at the wave of Qing soldiers coming up like a sea, General Xuan's face was shocked: "There are too many Tartar soldiers here, right?"

Lu Xiangsheng, Wang Dou and the others also looked dignified, and the slaves were powerful, beyond everyone's expectations.But since it's here, let it be!Fortunately, the army has made all preparations, and when the slaves come up, everyone can fight with peace of mind.

I don't know how long the sound of the hoofbeats sounded, and then it gradually weakened, and the large puff of smoke and dust also flew away, revealing dense layers of flags of various colors around it, as well as Qing soldiers in various armors.They gathered several miles away, densely packed, and they did not know how much they surrounded the Xuanda Camp.

A few miles directly in front of the camp, there are many huge golden dragon banners erected here. Under one of the dragon banners, the Zhengbai Banner of the Qing Dynasty, Prince Rui of Gushan Erzhen, was ordered by the general Dorgon to ride on the back of a horse. The war horse overlooked the Xuanda camp.

Behind him, surrounded by the Eight Banners Manchuria, the banner owners of the Eight Banners Mongolian Banners, and the Lord Baylor of each Banner.According to the color of their own flags, the armor on their bodies was also different, some were all white, some with white borders, some with all red, or some with red borders, but all of them were well-armored, and the horses on their crotches were also incomparable.

Dorgon looked at it for a long time, and thoughtfully said: "They set up camp quickly to take precautions. This Ming army is indeed a formidable enemy!"

Not far from him, Yibai, the leader of the Mongolian Zhengbai Banner of the Eight Banners, called out: "I have been ordered by the general, do you want the warriors of each banner to launch a wave of attacks first to dampen their spirit?"

Dorgon shook his head and said: "Don't underestimate the enemy. After our [-] troops have gathered, food, supplies, artillery, chariots, and the captured Ming people arrive, we will continue to attack without giving them a chance to breathe. Now According to the general's order, the warriors of all banners set up camp on the spot, the camp must be strong, and take all precautions!"

Under Dorgon's order, the Qing soldiers around the Xuanda camp dug and erected camps on the spot. Slowly, a continuous camp appeared in front of the Xuanda sergeant. It seemed that they could not be seen at a glance from any direction. On the edge of the tents of the Qing army, all kinds of flags are flying.

The flag-bearers on the watch pole cart kept sending flags. The Qing army camps were mostly located along the Zhangshui River ten miles to the east, and there were also many upstream and downstream Haoshui Rivers close to the Xuanda Camp. There seem to be fewer camps on the other side of the river.

Sergeant Xuanda quietly watched the Qing soldiers set up camp, seeing that they were called Ma Si, and the auxiliary soldiers of the brigade were facing the cold wind, going out to carry water and make food, and there was a lot of foreign accents.As night fell slowly, in the Qing army camp, the lights were lit up, and finally merged into a bright sea of ​​lights.In addition, the Xuanda camp is also brightly lit, looking down from the sky, it looks like there are several huge never-ending cities around Julu.

That night Lu Xiangsheng summoned the generals to discuss matters again, and Lu Xiangsheng tried his best to cheer him up.After the discussion, Lu Xiangsheng called Wang Dou to stop and asked Wang Dou to accompany him around.Lu Xiangsheng followed the general Chen An, and Wang Dou was accompanied by Xie Yike and a few other guards. The group remained silent, just patrolling around the camp.

The entire Xuanda camp was already heavily guarded, soldiers from each battalion kept patrolling, and shouts of commands kept ringing out.Other than that, there was no one around the tents, except for the dim light of the dotted lanterns and torches in front of the tents.

In the outer line of defense of the Xuanda camp, each battalion here has also arranged a large number of night watchmen, who are placed on rows of wooden poles on the ground, and are hung with layers of lanterns, shaking from time to time in the cold wind, and also illuminating the surrounding areas. Territory.In order to prevent the Qing soldiers from stealing the camp, except for these night watchmen and lanterns and torches.The ground on three sides surrounding the Xuanda camp was also covered with dense layers of barbed wire, and refusal horses were also spread in each important area.

It is not easy to steal a camp in this era, not to mention night blindness, and the signal of the cold weapon era has lost its effect.It's okay for a small group of people to attack, but for a large army to attack, it's just adding chaos.Therefore, it is extremely difficult for the Qing soldiers to steal the camp of the Xuan army. Similarly, it is not so easy for the Xuan army to sneak attack the camp of the Qing army.

Wang Dou and Lu Xiangsheng came to the outer defense line of the camp. Looking at the dense sea of ​​lights in the Qing army camp opposite, Wang Dou was in a trance, as if he had returned to later generations and faced the sea of ​​lights in the city.

The group circled around the camp, and finally came to the Haoshui River. Opposite was also the faint sea of ​​lights in the Qing army camp, connected with the stars in the sky, it seemed that it was hard to tell which was the sky and which was the earth.

The cold night in midwinter is icy cold, and the wind is even stronger by the river.Wang Dou was wearing armor, and felt cold to the bone.Sometimes when a gust of cold wind blows, Wang Dou can't help shivering all over his body, and from time to time he hears the teeth of everyone around him touching up and down.

The north of Ming Dynasty is really cold. Wang Dou's soul is a southerner. Although his body is strong, after a few years, he is still not very suitable for the severe cold of the northern winter.

In the dark night by the river, Lu Xiangsheng, Wang Dou and others saw a fire burning, several people jumped around the fire, and one of them threw paper money from time to time, muttering: "Come back, come back... "

Lu Xiangsheng strode over to Chen An, and soon he came back to report: "The governor, it is Chen Ying, Yu Mao'er and others from Jia Dingying who practiced the method of salvation for the dead brother Li Youde in Baoan Prefecture. During the day, there was a report to the governor. license."

Lu Xiangsheng nodded, and everyone quietly looked at Chen Ying, who was in charge of the standard battalion, Yu Mao'er and the others jumped up and down, not funny, but extremely solemn, Wang Dou's eye circles suddenly became moist.

I don't know how long it took before Chen Ying and the others dispersed. Lu Xiangsheng, wearing a cloak, just looked at the sea of ​​lights in Qingying across the river without moving. No regrets?"

Although he took the name of Wang Dou himself, he rarely called him so affectionately, it seemed that he treated him more harshly in front of others.Suddenly hearing Lu Xiangsheng's affectionate tone, Wang Dou was taken aback for a moment, then smiled and said: "What regrets, following the governor to kill thieves, even if you die, you deserve it!"

Lu Xiangsheng sighed softly: "You shouldn't have come. You have already made military achievements in the eastern suburbs of the capital, Tongzhou, and your prospects are bright. Following Chen Du's command, you will not be trapped in such a tight siege like you are now, and your future is unpredictable!"

Wang Doulang said with a smile: "The governor has the kindness of knowing and citing the general. Although the general is a warrior, he also knows the truth of the kindness of a drop of water, and he should repay it with a spring. If you are in a tight siege, you will be in a tight siege. Just kill thieves and kill Have a blast!"

Lu Xiangsheng murmured something and sighed: "Although you are a warrior, you understand the principle of loyalty better than most literati. We have read a lot of sage books, not as many as you."

Then he said: "After the war slaves have retreated, the governor will report to the emperor again, begging to go home Ding You. It is really unfilial for a family to die and not be able to accompany his children to keep his filial piety by his side."

Wang Dou comforted: "Since ancient times, loyalty and filial piety have been difficult to achieve, and the governors don't have to blame themselves too much."

Lu Xiangsheng nodded silently, then wrapped his cloak tightly around his body: "It's still too cold in the north, I really miss the scenery in the south of the Yangtze River."

He turned his head and smiled at Wang Dou: "In the future when I return to Changzhou, if Guoqin comes to Yixing, I will definitely welcome you."

Wang Dou said with a smile: "It's so agreed, the general will definitely come to have a meal if there is a chance."

Everyone around laughed, and Lu Xiangsheng couldn't help but shook his head.

……

That night, when Wang Dou slept in the middle of the night, he suddenly heard the faint sound of crackling from the surroundings. It was from the Qing camp, like besieged from all sides, perhaps it was the fighting spirit of the Qing soldiers to break down the Xuan Da army.The sound of chirps is faint and mysterious, echoing faintly in the night sky.

Wang Dou listened for a while, then simply sat up, his heart was surging, the battle tomorrow would be extremely difficult, could he change Julu's fate with his own painstaking efforts?

Scenes of the past appeared in front of my eyes, from the time I was struggling in Huoludun, Shun Township, to the present, I could no longer look back, Wang Dou sighed: "Tomorrow, let's fight to the death!"

He thought about it quietly for an unknown amount of time before Wang Dou fell into a deep sleep again.

……

On the ninth day of December in the 11th year of Chongzhen.

Early in the morning, the horns of the Qing battalion rang non-stop. From morning to night, it seemed that large groups of Qing troops had arrived, joining the army that had arrived yesterday.They camped densely around the Xuanda camp, surrounded by three layers inside and three layers outside.

There was still no fighting that day, but it was obvious that the Qing soldiers had already made up their minds to wipe out most of Xuan's troops.The intelligence has already become clear that there are large groups of Qing soldiers gathered in the east, north, and south of Xuanda Yingpan, only the west of the river will be less.

This is not due to Dorgon's negligence, but their intentions are more sinister. Using the tactics of encircling three Queyi, it seems to leave a westward escape route for Xuanda's army, so that the whole army will have the desire to survive, thus weakening the desperate ambition.Lu Xiangsheng, Wang Dou and others can be sure that there must be a large number of ambushes in the west direction.Even if there was no ambush, as long as Xuan Da's army retreated, the whole army would have no fighting spirit, and the Qing soldiers would encircle and chase after them.

During this day, Wang Dou, Lu Xiangsheng and others all looked towards the Qing camp, estimating the constant arrival of Qing troops.Wang Dou estimated that the number of Qing troops besieged this time was at least twice as large as in history. Wang Dou sneered: "Either you underestimate it or take it too seriously. Dorgon and others are sick!"

The tenth day of December.

This day was sunny and the weather was good, but the wind was obviously stronger than yesterday, and the cold wind whizzed in from time to time, making the banners and clothes flutter.

At the beginning of about three hours, the horns of the Qing camp sounded again, and people from each camp came out densely, and finally formed an airtight one, on the distant horizon, coming from three directions, darkly, towards the Xuanda camp.

The Qing soldiers were finally about to go to war, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Lu Xiangsheng came to the middle of the outer defense line, faced the camp, bowed to all the soldiers, and encouraged them loudly.He said in a loud voice: "I and the soldiers share the court's grace, so we can't die if we suffer, and we can't live if we suffer!"

Everyone cheered, and Wang Dou shouted: "Brothers, kill those dwarf tartars!"

Everyone laughed, and Lu Xiangsheng also laughed.

The dense forest of guns was erected, and in the Baoan Prefecture Army, whoever was the first to sing the military song "Man Jianghong" of the Shun Township Army: "The place where the crown is leaning on the railing, and the rain is resting. Look up, look up to the sky and scream, with a strong heart. Thirty years of fame And soil, eight thousand miles away, cloud and moon..."

Wang Dou's impassioned interface: "...The shame of Jingkang is still unresolved. When will the hatred of the courtiers be eliminated? Drive a long car and step through the gap in Helan Mountain..."

Lu Xiangsheng also spoke loudly: "Zhi Zhi eats Hulu meat hungry, laughs and talks about thirsting for Xiongnu blood..."

More and more people sang, and slowly the military songs merged into a majestic piece.From Lu Xiangsheng to Wang Dou, to Yang Guozhu, to Guo Yingxian, to Hu Dawei, to Zhang Yan, all the soldiers were singing loudly.At this moment, everyone is not afraid, no longer afraid.

(End of this chapter)