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

Chapter 418
To the people of Xiangyang City, the bandit attack on Xiangyang last night was like an unreal nightmare.Fortunately, this nightmare came and went quickly. General Dingguo led an army to help, and soon defeated the bandits and drove them out of the city.
They guarded the four gates, searched for the remaining rogues in the city, and suppressed the criminals who took advantage of the fire to loot. At noon, the streets and alleys had restored peace.Some disbanded government officials and soldiers were collected, and they beat the gong to inform all the streets and squares that the city was safe and all the neighborhoods could go out.
Everyone came to the street, the street was clean, if not for some bloodstains left on the street, everyone thought they had a dream last night.
Of course, there are also some differences. There are more mighty soldiers with different accents on the streets, and they are constantly patrolling the streets and alleys, so that anyone who has a different heart dare not move.
These military masters are terrible at first glance, and all the people stay away from them in awe.
Fortunately, as long as they don't commit crimes, those military masters won't mess with them.Everyone felt at ease, and they talked about what happened last night. The teahouses and restaurants were full as soon as they opened, and all kinds of gossip were flying all over the sky, all about the thief offering and the general Dingguo.
When the people who fled outside the city returned to the city one after another, Xiangyang City returned to its former prosperity.
Wang Dou sits in the West Gate Tower of Xiangyang City, and his subordinates keep reporting to him all kinds of movements inside and outside the city.
After Li Guangheng chased them out of the south gate, because some thieves fled to the southeast of Xiangyang, he sent out a team to chase them down.After killing the thieves in the city, Wang Dou also sent two teams of cavalry to participate in the killing in the southeast.
On the way to suppress the fleeing thieves, near the Yangjia River, soldiers of the Shun Township Army also found a group of fleeing officers and soldiers looting merchants and people.After a rush, all the rest were captured, about 100 people. The Ministry asked the general for instructions on how to deal with these people.
But he said that the leader was a general of officers and soldiers, and I heard that he had something to do with Zuo Liangyu, the "general who suppressed the bandits". His younger sister was Zuo Liangyu's favorite concubine at this time.Those who were captured were all arrogant, they had different accents, and the results of the interrogation showed that most of them were ex-bandits who had surrendered, or people recruited from various places to serve as soldiers for food, not all of them were from Huguang.
Wang Dou stared at the outside of the city, and said indifferently: "Put them together with the captured bandits and ruffians, and deal with them together after the incident in Xiangyang!"
Xie Yike was by Wang Dou's side. Hearing this, he said contemptuously: "These officers and soldiers can't kill thieves, but they are capable of harming the people. Hearing them, I think of the beasts I saw in Baoan Prefecture and Yongning City before."
Wang Dou snorted coldly: "If it falls into my hands, it's their bad luck."
Everyone in the Central Military Department looked at each other and smiled, they all knew that the general had murderous intentions, in the past in Bao'an Prefecture and other places, officers and soldiers like this scum did not know how many were killed.
At this moment, Yiwu Yebuzhao came rolling from the official road, and they galloped while shouting loudly: "Great victory, great victory, great victory for the Shun Township Army. Great victory, great victory, the Liu thief was wiped out, the Xian thief was killed, the great victory!" Great victory, the thief was killed..."
With a bang, everyone who heard the news was excited.
Wang Dou was also overjoyed, he laughed loudly after Yebu received the detailed report from the captain.
That's great, Zhang Xianzhong died at last, and his painstaking planning was not in vain.
The bandit Xian died and was killed by General Dingguo's troops. The news spread quickly and the whole city was in an uproar.
Zhang Kejian, the deputy envoy of military preparations who got the news, Wang Chengzeng, the magistrate of Xiangyang, and others hurried over. When they saw Wang Dou, they asked, "I heard that the thief Xian died. Is this really true?"
Wang Dou said: "Of course, our soldiers are chasing and suppressing the remaining thieves. They will return to the division soon, and then we can see the remains of the thieves."
Zhang Kejian and others were all overjoyed, and they all murmured: "That's great, that's great."
Zhang Kejian and Wang Cheng once exchanged glances, and Zhang Kejian said: "Your department killed the giant thief, relieved the country's crisis, relieved the worries of the saints, and made extraordinary achievements! As a soldier, how can I not show it? Go ten miles out of the city to welcome you!"
"Oh?"
Wang Dou looked at them for a while and said, "Alright, we'll go out of the city to meet them."
……
At this time, Zhang Kejian had recruited some disbanded officers and soldiers, so he selected a general who was closely related to him, led some soldiers, together with the officials in Xiangyang, and some old people from various villages, called a guard of honor and music troupe, etc., playing and beating all the way, Go out of the city with Wang Dou and others.
The people of Xiangyang who got the news gathered at the west gate of Xiangyang one after another. From not far from the west gate, along the official road and moat, to the west street area in the city, there were crowds of people.
Ten miles to the west of Xiangyang City, there is an archway on the official road, and there is a pavilion welcoming officials beside it. Wang Dou led the general guard, the Central Military Department, and Zhang Kejian and others were waiting by the pavilion.
When it was about the end of the day, I heard thunderous hoofbeats in front of me, and a large number of cavalry came in black.Seeing that kind of momentum, all the officials of Zhang Kejian and Xiangyang soldiers were astonished. They didn't expect that Wang Dou had so many elite cavalry besides the powerful cavalry in Xiangyang City.
Soon, the army rushed to the front of the archway, and the whole army dismounted.
Wen Fangliang, Gao Shiyin, and Li Guangheng stepped out in front of Wang Dou, pushed the golden mountain, turned down the jade pillar, and bowed down to Wang Dou: "See the general!"
Jia Ye Qiangqiang, all the troops behind him bowed down and shouted: "See you, general!"
Wang Dou stretched out his hand and said in a deep voice, "All the soldiers have worked hard!"
Everyone shouted: "I am willing to die for the general!"
The sound shook the whole field, everyone in Xiangyang changed countenance and trembled, not daring to move.
Gao Shiyin stood up abruptly and shouted: "Bring it up!"
Immediately, a soldier came out, threw a head in front of the archway, and shouted: "The leader of the bandit is first."
Another armored soldier came out, threw down his head, and also shouted: "The leader of the bandit is first class."
Another came out and dropped his head.
someone else...
Slowly, the official road in front of the archway was filled with heads, Zhang Kejian and others gasped. With so many heads, it could be that the Xianbu bandits who attacked Xiangyang were all dead.
Some soldiers came over with several corpses and said: "Generals Bai Wenxuan, Ma Wu, and Wang Xingguo of the bandit department, here is the body of Liu Wenxiu, the son of the bandit!"
Zhang Kejian and others came up to watch, and they were indeed generals offering thieves, and they were all thieves.Including Ainengqi, the thief who was killed in the city, he offered all the troops of the thief and went away.
Finally, in the anticipation of everyone, Zhang Xianzhong's body was brought up. Zhang Kejian and others watched and finally confirmed it. Everyone shouted: "It is indeed a thief, it is undoubtedly a thief, a good death, a good death! !"
Looking at Zhang Xianzhong's corpse, everyone in Xiangyang felt mixed feelings. It was this person who had been the scourge of Ming Dynasty since the third year of Chongzhen.In the eighth year of Chongzhen, Zhang Xianzhong broke through Fengyang, dug the tomb of Emperor Gao, and cut down hundreds of thousands of pines and cypresses in the imperial mausoleum.
In the tenth year of Chongzhen, Zhang Xianzhong feigned surrender, and in the 12th year, he rebelled against the rebellion. Since then, it has been out of control. The supervisor Yang Sichang even formulated the strategy of "four positives and six corners" and "ten-sided net". Zhang Xianzhong ran away.
On the contrary, he attacked Xiangyang by surprise and died at the hands of Wang Dou who came to help him on the way. There is nothing more wonderful than this.
Zhang Kejian murmured: "A peerless feat."
……
Zhang Kejian sent people to find some big carts, and put the bodies of the heads of the bandits and the generals of the bandits on the carts.In particular, a wooden pillar was erected on a large cart, and Zhang Xianzhong's body was tied high on it, as was his dead adopted son.
When the army entered the city, Wang Dou's all-round armored knights made the people of Xiangyang awe, but the carts that came over afterwards made the whole city boil.Countless people gathered to watch the dead body of the thief. There was a sea of ​​people, the whole West Street was crowded, even the roofs were covered with people.
Finally, a high platform was built in front of the Drum Tower at the entrance of the street, and the corpse of the thief was displayed to the public for several days. There were so many spectators every day that King Xiang couldn't help but go to watch it.
Its lineup was so prosperous that Ming people's notes specifically recorded this matter.
At this time, the news of Luoyang's great victory just reached Xiangyang, and it shocked the whole city. Wang Dou's name was known to all women and children in Xiangyang City.
Not only that, what happened in Luoyang, what happened in Xiangyang spread to the whole of Huguang and Jiangnan at an astonishing speed.
……
Wang Dou's two great victories in two battles, two rescues of the vassal king, especially the battle of Xiangyang, are quite legendary. The process and experience were later interpreted into various legends by the world.
There is a saying that is more recognized by the world. After the great victory in Luoyang, General Wang Dou of Shi Dingguo drove into Sichuan day and night because of the writing of the Ministry of War.He happened to rush to Xiangyang City, and when he saw the commotion in the city, he immediately dispatched sentry and scouts, and immediately rescued them after learning that the thieves had attacked the city.
Out of confidence in his combat power, General Dingguo took only one division with him, and sent two other armies to cross the upper reaches of the Han River to cut off the bandits' retreat, and finally succeeded in rescuing the city and beheading the bandits.
At that time, everyone lamented Wang Dou's ingenious luck for making such a remarkable achievement.
Of course, there are doubts about this statement. It is not easy for two thousand cavalry to cross the river at night. There are many crossings. Who will help them cross the water?
People kept jumping up and saying that they helped the army to cross the water, but people who cared about it verified that many of them belonged to nothing.
The battle of Xiangyang was full of mysteries and became a problem in history, and the world has been arguing for many years.
……
On the day when the army entered the city, Zhang Kejian, the deputy envoy of military preparations, and others did not dare to be negligent, and arranged for the army to be stationed in various barracks in the city to rest, and carried a large amount of wine and meat to reward them.Not only that, but the gentry and villagers in Xiangyang continued to offer condolences for many days afterwards.
In the afternoon, after a sumptuous celebration banquet at the Bingxian Mansion, Zhang Kejian and Wang Chengzeng, the magistrate of Xiangyang, looked at each other and nodded secretly.
Zhang Kejian warmly greeted Wang Dou to have tea in the side hall, and then tentatively said: "The general has won a great victory, and he has made extraordinary achievements. I don't know how to write this victory report?"
Wang Dou calmly took a sip of tea and put down the cup: "What does Bing Xian mean?"
Zhang Kejian and Wang Cheng were overjoyed: "There is drama."
Wang Chengzeng said with a smile all over his face: "General Wang, what I mean by this officer is that some Spring and Autumn brushwork can be used in this victory report."
Seeing Wang Dou frowned, he hurriedly said: "No, no, general, don't misunderstand the meaning of the subordinate! The general's credit, the subordinates will never dare to take half of it! I and Bingxian have a few words of kind words, and put them in a few pens."

(End of this chapter)