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

Chapter 273 Decided to leave
Wang Dou didn't mention this matter much, and under the consolation of everyone, he asked the governor Chi Dacheng about Xu Yue'e.

Chi Dacheng said: "The official went to Zanhuang on the second day of the lunar new year. Unexpectedly, Mrs. Xu's whereabouts were erratic. It took many days before the official met Mrs. Xu's headquarters and persuaded her to serve the court. I also heard that the officers and soldiers of Xuanda were besieged Julu, the lower officials thought over and over again how to get rid of the siege. I arrived around Julu two days ago, but the slaves and thieves are powerful and the siege is very thick. One step later..."

Having said that, he sighed and shook his head again and again.

Under Wang Dou's order, when he went to Zanhuang to recruit Xu Yue'e, besides bringing two attendants with him, he would not accept him for two nights.He lived in Xu Yue'e's village for several days, and has inquired about Xu Yue'e's affairs in detail.

"In the tenth year of Chongzhen, Xu Yue'e's seven daughters left Shunxiangbao and fled to Baoding Mansion, and then went to Zhending Mansion. In the territory of Yuanshi, they rescued Hu Jinlie, the leader of the horse thief in Huwei Village, Zanhuang County, and his party. Thanks to Xu Yuee's life-saving grace, Hu Jin Lie recognized her as a righteous daughter, and followed her up the mountain."

"In the next few months, Xu Yue'e followed the tiger to plunder everywhere. Because of his bravery in battle, all the money he got was distributed to his subordinates. He didn't take a penny himself. His prestige in the village was growing day by day, and he won the hearts of all the thieves. At the end of the tenth year of Chongzhen , Hu Jinlie was seriously injured in a fight with a horse thief surnamed Yang in Lincheng County, and died soon after. His last words were to take Xu Yuee as the leader. There were seven little chieftains in his village, all of whom had been with Hu Jinlie for many years. They refused to accept Xu Yuee as their leader leader."

"Five days after Hu Jinlie's death, Xu Yue'e set up an ambush in the name of a banquet and killed seven of them. Following the example of Shunxiangbao, the ranks were established, and each person in the village was divided into three classes. The first-class soldiers, all the thieves, had armor, horses, wives and sons. The original number was 300 people. The status is the most respected, the wealth enjoys the most, and Xu Yuee personally leads the department, and is Xu Yuee's confidantes."

"Second-class ordinary sergeants, each thief's equipment is uncertain, and his wife is uncertain. If he is outstanding in combat power and has a wife and children, he can choose to enter the first-class. The rest are civilians. They are all refugees from various places. The time in the village is getting longer, you can be selected as an army, and the family has enough food and clothing. So in Huwei Village, everyone is vying to be an army, and even more eager to be Xu Yue'e's confidant."

"At the beginning of the 11th year of Chongzhen, Xu Yue'e wiped out the tribe of horse thieves surnamed Yang in Lincheng County. The momentum increased, and there were more than 500 defectors. There were more than 11 people in the tribe, and [-] first-class soldiers. , no longer looting the people in the territory of Zhending Mansion, and destroying the horse thieves in the territory everywhere, collecting their wealth, silk, grain and rice, and getting the approval of the local government and gentry."

"In April, Xu Yue'e collected protection fees in Zanhuang, Lincheng, Yuanshi, Neiqiu and other places. The villagers and merchants passing by in these places must pay a certain amount of food, rice and money to Xu Yue'e's cottage every year. In exchange, Xu Yue'e promised to free her from horse thieves , rogues, and even harassment by officers and soldiers, so that they can farm and do business with peace of mind.”

"Protection fees?"

Wang Dou was stunned for a moment, and then listened to Chi Dacheng, the governor of the town, say: "The local government intends to destroy Xu Yue'e's tribe, but there are many strongholds in the Taihang Mountains, and most of the local people have tipsters. , just trying to appease."

"This time when the slaves invaded, Xu Yue'e changed her army into a slave-killing army. There were many slaves killed and injured, and the momentum was loud. The officials and people were in awe, and there were more defectors. The local people only knew Xu Yue'e, but they didn't know how many officials there were."

Chi Dacheng said: "The lower officials were ordered by the general to be included, but Xu Yue'e didn't seem to have this intention. The lower officials saw that she had a deep scheming mind, and her plans were big. She was not a generation who would be willing to be inferior to others. It was forced to be included and kept by her side. It does more harm than good."

Wen Fangliang sneered: "What a young lady Xu, she made a big splash in Zanhuang, but the general waited for her wrongly."

At this time, Gao Xun has become a full-time member, and he is in the general position, sitting in the tent, looking forward to his own glory.He pondered for a long time, then cupped his hands to Wang Dou and said: "General, the last general thinks that Xu Yue'e must get rid of this girl. Although this girl's life experience is miserable, I, Shunbao, have kindness to her. She doesn't think of kindness, she has learned a lot of skills, and ran away Going outside to establish a stronghold will have a very bad influence. Our Shun Township Army is all good people who fear the law, and there are precedents before, so it is inevitable that people will have different opinions."

Chi Dacheng, the governor of the town, said: "The army attaches great importance to the law. According to the previous military regulations of the Shun Township Army, after being arrested by the fleeing army, they will be punished with [-] army sticks, their fields will be confiscated, and their families will be driven out of Shun Township Fort. After arriving at Huwei Village , Xu Yue'e has taken responsibility for the [-] army sticks in public, and beheaded him afterwards, which hinders the justice of the law."

"She led the rescue this time, and she always thought of the incense of our Shun Township Castle, and solved the most critical military situation. It can be regarded as a balance of kindness and righteousness. Xu Yue'e's subordinates are leading the way. Our Xuan army is still under heavy siege. Any action that affects morale is a crime. Unwise, the two military sects will not agree. Even beheading Xu Yue'e after the incident is like killing a donkey, which will have a very bad impact on the general's reputation."

"Of course, we have learned from the past. We must guard against it. There are loopholes in the laws of the army. This is the dereliction of duty of the subordinate officials. After returning to Shun Township Castle, the subordinate officials intend to revise the military law. All fleeing troops will be executed, their fields will be confiscated, and their families will be sent to the mines of Shunbao to serve in the mines." Ten years, as an example to others."

Wang Dou shook his head: "Xu Yue'e."

Thinking of meeting Xu Yue'e in Xingzhuang that day, and her murder of her son, all the past events in Jingbian Fort and Shunxiang Fort seem to be vivid in my memory... After a long time, Wang Dou said slowly: "The matter of Xu Yue'e, we will As Governor Chi Zhen discussed, this matter will not be brought up again."

"Our army suffered a lot of casualties, and the relevant aftermath matters need to be properly dealt with. Tonight, the army will be reorganized overnight. If there is a shortage of sergeants in each department, they will be reorganized into a complete corps. Go back to Shunxiang Fort in the future, and then reorganize and make up for it. Troops."

He looked around at the crowd and said in a deep voice: "Gentlemen, this is a critical moment for the life and death of our Shun Township Army. You all need to work hard and work together to tide over the difficulties."

There was a clang of iron armor, and everyone in the tent stood up and shouted loudly: "Follow the general, work together, and overcome difficulties together."

Wang Dou regained his spirits, and all the generals present had a backbone. People said that the mourning army would win. Although the Shunxiang army suffered heavy casualties in this battle, and Duchen Lu also died in the battle, it aroused everyone's determination to fight against the enemy.

……

That night Wang Dou came to Yang Guozhu's Chinese army tent, where he will discuss with Hu Dawei, Yang Guozhu and others the future fate of Xuanda's army.Lu Xiangsheng died in battle, without a backbone, and everyone's heart was at a loss.

However, Xuanfu Town, Shanxi Town, and Dubiao Camp are among the people.Xuanfu Town had the most people, and Yang Guozhu was the commander in chief of Xuanfu Town, so he was the leader of the crowd, and even Hu Dawei came to Yang Guozhu's tent to discuss matters.

Among the generals, Wang Dou is also an extremely important figure. Although his military rank is low, his subordinates are brave and capable of fighting. In terms of combat power, his military headquarters is faintly the backbone of the entire army.

All the important generals from each battalion arrived, including Wang Dou, Wen Fangliang, and the new Chief Qian, Zhong Xiancai.As for Yang Guozhu, his Chinese general Guo Yingxian and two of his subordinates arrived.Hu Dawei also brought two Qian Zongs here, and only Qian Zong Yang Guodong remained in the Supervising Biao Battalion.There are also Xuanfu General Zhang Yan's subordinates, and two Qianzongs are also coming.

The atmosphere in the tent was gloomy, not to mention the huge number of casualties in each battalion, Lu Xiangsheng was killed in battle, and the rest of the main general who died in battle were all guilty.Even if Wang Dou, Yang Guozhu and others break out of the encirclement, they don't know what kind of punishment they will face from the court in the future.

In the past, everyone would be fine if they had soldiers in their hands, but now the ministries suffered heavy casualties, no matter how great the contribution was made, the Xuan army may be useless in the eyes of the court princes.This is the sorrow of the military generals in the late Ming Dynasty. No matter how many battles they lost, as long as they had soldiers in their hands, they would be meritorious.No more soldiers, no matter how many victories you fight, it is useless.

The number of casualties in each battalion has been counted. Among the original 800 people in the supervision battalion, there were more than 400 casualties, and Yang Guozhu's Xuanfu Zhenzheng Barracks had a total of more than 300 casualties.Hu Dawei's Shanxi Zhenzheng Barracks suffered a total of more than 3000 casualties.There were [-] people in each of the two commander-in-chief battalions, and nearly half of them were killed or injured.

What was even worse was Zhang Yan's subordinates, who had 2000 people in his battalion, with more than [-] casualties, and the main general died in battle.Wang Dou saw that in the tent, Zhang Yan's two chief executives tried their best to approach Yang Guozhu, and Yang Guozhu also intended to annex this team, so as to win over the two of them.

If Zhang Yan's troops are annexed, then Yang Guozhu's strength will be supplemented.And in everyone's eyes, the troops that Xu Yuee came to help were Wang Dou's subordinates, even though those people were horse thieves, they were still troops, weren't they?So after the fierce battle, Yang Guozhu and Wang Dou's soldiers and horses were not damaged, and their voices were the loudest. Only Hu Dawei was miserable, and there was nowhere to replenish their troops.

After Lu Xiangsheng's death in battle, only Yang Guodong, head of the Supervision Battalion, remained as the chief officer. He had already stated that he did not want to return to Chen Xinjia's Supervision Battalion after the war.Although there are only about [-] people left in his battalion, all of them are heroes who can serve as elite servants, so Yang Guozhu and Hu Dawei tried their best to win him over.

Yang Guodong hasn't figured out which camp to join yet, and he plans to wait until Duchen Lu's funeral is settled.

At this time, everyone was discussing the important issue of Xuan Dajun's going and staying.

Yang Guozhu and Hu Dawei intended to break out of the encirclement and leave Julu. Everyone in the tent agreed: "We waited for our big army to stay by the Haoshui River in order to cooperate with the inside and the outside and defeat most of the slaves in one fell swoop. Then stick to it for several days. , the whole country was helpless, and even the high-altitude dive dozens of miles away did not come to rescue."

"Now that the governor has died in battle and died for the country, and we have suffered heavy casualties, what's the point of staying here?"

"That's right, I'm going to do my best, and I can't just rely on Xuan Dabu to fight this battle."

Everyone was chattering and wanted to leave, but they were also worried that they would be chased by the Qing soldiers when they broke through, leading to the annihilation of the entire army.

Yang Guozhu said to Wang Dou: "General Wang, in your opinion, what should we do?"

Everyone in the tent attached great importance to Wang Dou's opinion, and after hearing Yang Guozhu's question, they all fell silent.

Wang Dou also decided to leave, it is meaningless to stay here, he said: "Yang Junmen, Hujunmen, you generals. Since the Battle of Julu, I have announced that the entire army suffered more than [-] casualties, and General Yimo It is guessed that the slaves surrounding us should also have more than [-] casualties, among which the armored slaves will not be less than [-]. Fighting, I am terrified. Especially the two white flags of the slave chieftain Dorgon, the casualties should be even greater, and they are unable to drive the slave banners to fight, so it is a good opportunity to break through at this time."

He said: "Our army still has enough food and grass, and there are hundreds of chariots and many artillery in the army. As long as we are cautious and form a strong camp in the wild, I don't think the slaves will dare to pursue them."

He said: "Tomorrow our army will rest for a whole day. If the slaves and thieves dare not attack the stronghold, it means they are exhausted and we can retreat calmly."

Yang Guozhu and Hu Dawei nodded, and Hu Dawei said: "When our army retreats, the three armies can be silent, one is to mourn for the governor, and the other is to mourn the soldiers, so that we are more sure of breaking through."

Wang Dou said: "The mourning army will win, what Hujunmen said is very true. However, the general thought that the affairs of the governors should not be reported to the public for the time being, so as to deter the slaves and thieves."

Wang Dou's words were approved by Yang Guozhu and others. The next point is where to retreat and rest after breaking through?
Since entering the guard, Xuan Dajun has followed Lu Xiangsheng. He has been constrained by everything in the court, food and salaries have not been provided, and reinforcements have not been issued. Now that Xuan Dajun has suffered a lot of casualties, it is necessary to prevent the rest of the Ming army from becoming malicious and annexing everyone. .

Wang Doudao: "Mrs. Xu came to help today. Her headquarters is located in Zanhuang's stronghold. The terrain is dangerous. I can go to Zanhuang first, rest for a whole day, and then fill the city with Baoding. At the end, I will store a large amount of grain and grass there, enough to feed the whole army. Food. Then to a certain place in Yizhou, there will also be a large amount of grain and grass stored in the end. Our army is resting while watching the development of the situation, and we will make a decision at a later time."

Everyone in the tent nodded, and the matter was decided in this way.

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Old White Bull: There is another chapter tonight.

(End of this chapter)