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

Chapter 272 It's My Mistake

Everyone around gathered around, and when they saw Lu Xiangsheng dead, they all lost face and fell to their knees.

At this time, there were only half of the people in the supervising battalion, and Yang Guodong, the chief officer, was the only one left. They bowed around Lu Xiangsheng's body, all screaming, especially Yang Guodong, whose grief was unstoppable.

Footsteps sounded, but it was Yang Guozhu and Hu Dawei from the two wings who arrived. Seeing the situation in front of them, they were stunned.Yang Guozhu caressed Lu Xiangsheng's body with trembling hands, and saw the fatal stabbing on his chest.The net towel was dripping with blood, and there were countless wounds on his body, but this spear killed Lu Xiangsheng.

Yang Guozhu's hands trembled more and more, and tears rolled down his eyes: "The governor..."

He shouted loudly: "The governor..."

Worshiping in front of Lu Xiangsheng, weeping loudly, all the soldiers in the field were crying.

The neighing of war horses sounded, and a magnificent white horse came running, but it was Lu Xiangsheng's favorite rider, Wu Ming Ji.The white horse ran to Lu Xiangsheng's side, sniffed it with its nose, and then arched Lu Xiangsheng's body with its mouth. Seeing that he was still not moving, the white horse let out a mournful cry, spread its hooves and ran away in a distance.

Everyone stared blankly at Wu Mingji running away.Yang Guodong moved forward with his knees and adjusted Lu Xiangsheng's body. He took off Lu Xiangsheng's blood-soaked sackcloth, and the governor's seal was still tied behind his elbow.Seeing this situation, he cried again.

Wang Dou stood in a daze, while Yang Guozhu and Hu Dawei assisted Yang Guodong in collecting Lu Xiangsheng's body. At some time, Wen Fangliang quietly came to Wang Dou's side.He also had many scars on his body, and he staggered a little when he walked.

Wen Fangliang whispered to Wang Dou: "General, the bodies of Brother Han and Brother Yang have arrived."

Wang Dou looked over abruptly, only to see Shen Shiqi and Zhong Xiancai coming forward with their bodies in their arms, kneeling on the ground with sobs: "General..."

The two cried loudly, Wang Dou's eyes were straightened, he walked slowly in front of the corpses of Han Zhong and Yang Tong, and caressed their bodies with trembling hands, slowly, his tears rolled down one by one, and finally the tears like rain.

Beside Wang Dou, Li Guangheng also broke down in tears. He pointed at Han Zhong's body and cursed: "...you bastard, why did you leave like this? What about my daughter after you left? She is only 17 years old..."

He burst into tears, Gao Xun and others around him couldn't help comforting him, Wang Dou stood up, suddenly he staggered and couldn't stand steadily, Wen Fangliang, Sun Sanjie and others beside him rushed forward to support Wang Dou's body.

Wen Fangliang cried: "General, Brother Han and Brother Yang died fighting for the country. People cannot be resurrected after death. General, please take care of your health..."

He wanted to persuade him to say something, but in the end he choked up and couldn't make a sound.

Footsteps sounded, and a voice said loudly: "General, the subordinates led the army to help, and arrived by luck."

Then he screamed, his voice trembling: "Ah, Mr. Han Qian, Mr. Yang, and this... Governor, what's going on, what's going on... why are they all dead..."

It was Chi Dacheng, the governor of the town, who screamed around the corpses like the end of the world.

Wang Dou saw that not far behind Chi Dacheng, there was another group of people standing on the passageway of the earthen wall. A woman at the head was looking at him quietly. She was wearing leather armor, a red cloak, and wrapped her head in a scarf. Holding a spear in her hand, it was Xu Yue'e.

Wang Dou gradually calmed down. Seeing him, Xu Yuee took a few steps forward and knelt down on the ground: "The leader Yue'e came late, I hope the general will forgive me."

Everyone behind her prostrated themselves on the ground, Wang Dou looked at her for a long time, then said in a deep voice, "Madam Xu, please get up."

Xu Yuee thanked Wang Dou and stood up, and everyone behind her also stood up together.

The face of Xu Yue'e in front of her was more resolute than when she first saw her, and there was more composure and confidence in her gestures.She stood quietly holding a spear, and her cape and cloak were blown by the cold wind, giving her a heroic look.The faint pride and composure on her expression is nothing compared to the down and out in Jingbian Fort and Shunxiang Fort that day.

Wang Dou glanced away, and Xu Yue'e lowered her head involuntarily.On both sides behind her, there are also several women in leather armor, who seem to be her personal bodyguards, they are the same group of deserted soldiers from Shun Township that day. Seeing Wang Dou, they all avert their eyes and look restless .

Behind Xu Yue'e, there were still a few stout men standing, all wearing armor, which seemed to be armor captured from the Qing army.They looked at Wang Dou with some curiosity, and their eyes were even more rebellious. Their eyes circled around Xu Yue'e and Wang Dou, as if wondering why the head of the family was so respectful to this brilliant general in front of him.But they didn't say anything, they just couldn't stop looking at Xu Yue'e, obviously Xu Yue'e had a very high prestige in their hearts.

Outside the second earthen wall, there are more than 1000 strong men dressed in different styles, some wearing cotton jackets and fur robes, some wearing armor, and holding various weapons.All of them were leading war horses, ordinary horses, or mules and horses. Their eyes were a little unscrupulous when they looked around. Seeing blood and corpses everywhere around the earth wall, broken chariots and weapons and flags were scattered all over the ground. They all grinned and took a long breath. Short of breath.

However, although they were unruly, no one spoke, and the formation was quite stylish, quite like a military army.

Wang Dou looked at Xu Yuee for a long time, and behind him, Wen Fangliang, Zhong Xiancai, Gao Xun and others also looked at Xu Yuee, with different expressions.Inside the earth wall, many Xuanda officers and soldiers also looked at them, with curiosity in their eyes, the ones who came to help were not officers and soldiers... Who is the leading woman?
Yang Guozhu and Hu Dawei also came to Wang Dou's side, Yang Guozhu said: "General Wang, who is this woman?"

Wang Doudao: "Junmen, this is Mrs. Xu Yue'e Xu. She was at Shun Township Fort in Baoan Prefecture that day."

Yang Guozhu looked at Xu Yue'e, then at the horse thieves on the other side of the earth wall, and nodded thoughtfully.

Hu Dawei gave a low praise from the side: "What a woman, she is really a woman."

Wang Dou said in a deep voice: "Xu Niangzi, this is Yang Junmen, the commander-in-chief of Xuanfu Town, and this is Hu Junmen, the commander-in-chief of Shanxi Town, come and see us soon."

Xu Yue'e stepped forward and bowed to Yang Guozhu and Hu Dawei: "Xu Yue'e, a military woman from Shun Township, Baoan Prefecture, has seen the two soldiers."

Yang Guozhu said: "Mrs. Xu please, you lead a group of righteous men to come to the rescue. They are loyal and courageous. This army will definitely write a letter to the imperial court as a commendation."

Xu Yue'e remained motionless, and thanked her lightly.

Wang Dou asked: "Miss Xu, how many soldiers and horses did you bring to help?"

Xu Yue'e cupped her hands and said: "Returning to the general, Yue'e led a slave killing army of [-] people from Zanhuang County, and there were actually more than [-] people."

"Slave killer?"

Yang Guozhu and Hu Dawei looked at each other, and Hu Dawei murmured: "I seem to have heard of it."

Wang Doudao: "It's really hard work for Mrs. Xu to come to the rescue from afar."

He ordered that the general Zhong Tiaoyang of the supply camp was seriously injured, so Gao Xun and Zhen Fu Chi Dacheng led Xu Yue'e and others into the camp.Xu Yue'e thanked Wang Dou and gave a few orders, and immediately the horse thieves outside the earthen wall became noisy, and under the watchful eyes of Xuan Da's officers and soldiers, they led the horses and filed in.

Xu Yue'e bowed to Wang Dou and the others, and under the leadership of Zhen Fu Chi Dacheng and the others, they went to the inside of the camp.The girls behind her didn't dare to look at Wang Dou, they dodged and followed behind her.

Wang Dou saw that the horse thieves who followed were all strong and strong men, each of them smelled very bloody, obviously they had been in battle for a long time.Most of the horse thieves who can survive in the troubled times and grow stronger are actually rich in combat experience, otherwise they would have been wiped out by their comrades or officers and soldiers. What they lack is discipline.

But these horse thieves in front of them are well organized, I really don't know how Xu Yue'e manages them.

The Xuanda officers and soldiers present also noticed that most of these reinforcements were not good people, not even volunteers from the militia, and they were most likely swordsmen and horse thieves from some village.But it's good to have reinforcements, especially after they broke the siege of the Qing army, and heard that these people came to rescue under the order of General Wang, so everyone welcomes them very much.The woman who was the leader was even more the object of discussion.

Yang Guozhu said to Wang Dou: "General Wang, if these... these folk righteous men can be recruited, we will have another brave warrior in Ming Dynasty. They must be properly settled. If there is anything lacking, you can report it to me and the Hujunmen. Let them stay in the camp in peace."

Wang Dou said: "Don't worry about the army, the general will understand."

……

It was getting late at this time, and after collecting the bodies of Lu Xiangsheng and others, everyone ignored the sadness and hurriedly cleaned up their respective battlefields.The corpses and weapons of the Qing army could no longer be cleaned up. Each battalion buried the corpses of their own soldiers, rescued the wounded, counted the number of casualties, and discussed matters together at night.

"To this day, the entire army has suffered a total of 870 five casualties, of which 130 were killed in battle, 350 were seriously injured, and 380 were slightly injured... Han Zhong, the general manager of Part B, died in battle, and Yang Zhong, the general manager of Part B, died in battle. Tong died in the battle...Li Youde, the battalion officer who does not close at night, was killed in battle, Zhong Tiaoyang, the general manager of the battalion, was seriously injured, and Xie Yike, a relative of the Chinese army, was seriously injured... Ten officers and 23 armor commanders were killed in the battalion. 45 corps leaders..."

In the tent of Wang Douzhong's army, Chi Dacheng, the governor who had just returned to the Xuanda camp, reported the shocking list of casualties one by one in the sad voice of the governor.

Everyone in the tent had a gloomy face, and the atmosphere was dull.This list means that more than half of the entire Shun Township Army suffered casualties, and its vitality was seriously injured. If it weren't for the battle of defending the camp, and the unique tenacity of the Shun Township Army, this army would have collapsed long ago.

"According to the military law of our Shun Township Army, the chief officers of each department, each headquarters, and each team were killed in battle, and all the adjutants automatically took over the post. The list of the Zhenfu Division is as follows. The former chief of Department B, Zhong Xiancai, took over the position of Chief Qian of Department B. Shen Shiqi, the deputy commander-in-chief of Division B and Division A, took over as the commander-in-chief of Division B and Division B. Originally...originally..."

"The list is drawn up, and the general will make a decision."

Wang Dou said in a deep voice, "Sure!"

"It is difficult to transport corpses across thousands of miles. Except Han Qianzong and Yang Bazong who died in battle, the remains of the rest of the soldiers had to be cremated on the spot. Collect the ashes, waist badges, and important clothing relics and return them to the hometown for burial. The spirit plaques are enshrined in the Baozhong Shrine."

"allow!"

After the funeral was arranged one by one by the governor Chi Dacheng, everyone in the tent fell silent again.

Wang Dou was silent for a long time, and slowly said: "I, Wang Dou, am sorry for everyone. If I hadn't led the army to help, so many brothers in the army would not have died in battle."

With tears in his eyes: "I am sorry for them."

Wen Fangliang said: "What's wrong with the general? The general is generous and fearless. We are trapped in a tight siege. This is because of the cunning of slaves and the power. It is not the general's fault."

Chi Dacheng said in a deep voice: "The general rescued the governor from thousands of miles away. His loyalty and loyalty moved the heavens and the earth. I can only hate the court..."

He smiled miserably: "Our army has been under siege for many days, and the whole country is helpless. Only a horse bandit came to help. Haha, this is really a fairy tale through the ages."

Saying this with Chi Dacheng's temperament, it can be seen that today's events touched him.

Li Guangheng had been sitting silently, and at this moment he said: "Han Zhong died in battle, and he died well. You can't blame the general for this."

Wang Dou shook his head slowly: "It was my mistake."

Everyone looked at him, they didn't understand where Wang Dou's fault came from, everyone thought it was because Wang Dou was too sad, they all tried to comfort him.

(End of this chapter)