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

Chapter 688 Ambition
This is a gentle hill, with some locust trees, birch trees, or other miscellaneous trees growing on the side of the hill, and a small Zhuangzi is covered by the trees below.

Zhuangzi is a common village in the north. The adobe courtyard walls are covered with thick thatch on the roof. Occasionally, a few ruined houses with tiles can be seen, which have been destroyed at this time. The families of big families have always been their main targets of looting.

Li Zicheng rode his horse and stood on the hill. Looking far into the distance, he saw a dirt road in the east of the mausoleum, passing by the side of the village, winding to a small river running from north to south in front, and then crossing the river by a stone bridge. Continue to the northeast.

Boom.

At this time, to the east of Zhuangzi, a tide of horsemen was rushing forward. They could not see their heads in front and their tails in their backs. They ran on the dirt road in the east of Zhuangzi, stirring up dust all over the sky.

Because on both sides of the road and near the dry river, there are large tracts of wasteland and the terrain is flat, so the endless horse team criss-crossing the ground, just galloping forward, not necessarily just walking on dirt roads.

In fact, the plains and the rivers were dry, so there were too many places for horsemen to walk. Even some wheat seedlings planted near some villages were trampled down by the intruder cavalry unceremoniously.

Next to the cavalry team, there was a team of infantry and refugees marching like a tide, driving countless mules, donkeys, strong cattle and other animals, transporting food, fodder and luggage. Or push carts, wheelbarrows and so on.

They were nervously transporting food and grass, and the footsteps of people and animals stepped on the road, making a constant crash.

A gust of wind blew up, and the dry loess and dust covered Li Zicheng's body. Henan and Hebei were originally dry, but now they are dry again and again. Whenever the wind blows, more dust will be rolled up.

But he didn't care, he was just satisfied with watching the vast team, seeing them mighty and mighty, spreading to the horizon, especially the cavalry in the army, which made Li Zicheng satisfied.

"Before the battle, there are [-] horses, called three walls, the former will look back, and the latter will kill them!"

This kind of cavalry tactics was accomplished in the 16th year of Chongzhen in history. Although it is not as good as it is at this time, it is also quite large-scale. He is excellent in tactics, and he is also very tight in the training of soldiers.

The horse soldiers in the special army enjoy the best treatment. Years of wars, starvation, infantry, horse soldiers and other treatment and selection systems have also made the fighting power of the Chuang army more and more concentrated on the cavalry.

Those cavalry soldiers whizzing away, their banners were white for a while, red for a while, and black for a while, all of them behaved in a manner that controlled their horses, and they all had a sturdy meaning.

Of course, although Li Zicheng worked hard to supply the army with cotton armor and uniform uniforms, it is too difficult to support soldiers and horses. Even the soldiers of the fifth battalion under his command still wear messy clothes. Many of them wear felt hats and turbans , wearing full waist armor or short body armor.

There are also a large number of people who still wear crotch, which is like a bulletproof vest for future generations.

Fortunately, this kind of cotton vest is light and flexible, and can also protect the vital points of the chest and abdomen. In the Central Plains, where riding and shooting are not the mainstream, such protection is still sufficient for now.

There was a sound of trampling horseshoes one after another, watching the people and horses galloping in the dust, Gao Yigong, Tian Jianxiu and others behind them all showed joyful expressions.

Gao Yigong was the general manager of the entire army, and Tian Jianxiu was the old battalion commander. Therefore, when the generals Liu Zongmin, Li Guo, Hao Yaoqi, Yuan Zongdi and others rushed to encircle the cavalry, they still stayed by Li Zicheng's side. , It was a wave of old battalion soldiers.

There is also Niu Jinxing wearing a square scarf, riding a horse beside Li Zicheng, stroking his long beard as if planning a strategy, and Song Xiance sitting in a wheelchair, pinching his fingers to figure out something, slowly showing a smile on his ugly face.

Li Zicheng noticed Song Xiance's actions, and let go of the last bit of uneasiness. He sighed: "So many plans, so many arrangements, and finally led Cao and Wang into a tight siege. It is up to people to plan things, and it is up to heaven to make things happen. It depends on the end result."

Niu Jinxing laughed, and said: "Don't worry about King Chuang. Both Cao and Wang are in my trap. The army is surrounded, and they can't fly. When Cao Wenzhao died, his nephew will follow in his footsteps today!"

"These two are earls. If we can get rid of them, the Ming court will definitely be shocked, and the Kaifeng officers and soldiers will no longer have the will to fight."

Li Zicheng smiled and said: "My family knows my own affairs, and the frontier army is powerful. It is okay to severely injure his troops, but it is difficult to destroy them!"

His expression fell into memory. At that time, he led 20 soldiers and horses to attack Fengxiang, and Cao Cao led [-] horses to march from Ningzhou. On the way, Cao Bianjiao won the pursuit. Cao Wenzhao was killed, but a large part of his troops still stood out from the encirclement.

Right now, there are nearly [-] soldiers in the second town who want to encircle them. In terms of combat power, they are probably much stronger than Cao Wenzhao back then. Let them be eliminated?Li Zicheng really wanted to, but he knew it would be difficult, so in his strategy, the best result was to injure them severely, so that in the future battle of Kaifeng, they would not be able to form a support.

Of course, this battle also has its own advantages. One is that there are many horses, and the other is that there were not as many cavalry at that time, and the combat power was far worse than now.

Regarding this point, Niu Jinxing certainly knows that although it is beneficial for the army to fight against the officers and soldiers of the Central Plains, it is still difficult for the upper army. The two of them are flesh and blood, and if they can withstand shells?
As for the current coalition forces, there are [-] to [-] horsemen in total. It is possible to entangle those frontier troops. As long as they are entangled, hundreds of thousands of infantry and hungry people will encircle them. .

He shook his head and said: "Most of the cavalry on the two wings of my rebel army, Master Liu, the chief sentry, came out from Dangshan, Prince Chuang personally led the rest of the horsemen who entered the camp to go out from the proud state, and Ge, Zuo Wuying, Master Cao, and Master Sun came out from Yongzhou. Go out of the city, use the horsepower of the cavalry to be fast, and we can encircle today..."

"Cao and Wang's Buying are indeed sharp, with a large number of firearms from the east, but the cavalry is limited in strength. Our division will defeat the few with a large number, and the chances of winning are obvious. As long as they severely injure their cavalry, they will be like turtles in a urn."

Li Zicheng nodded happily, this is his plan, tens of thousands of cavalry, against the thousands of cavalry of the frontier army, the victory is obvious, so when the encirclement is encircled, the cavalry of the coalition army will set off first, not looking for a big result, just to entangle them Stop their cavalry, keep up with the infantry, encircle the army, and win time.

And for this battle, I started planning when Cao and Wang came east from Kaifeng, and chose Xiayi or Yongcheng for the ambush. For this reason, I took the initiative to evacuate Guidefu City, and even created a stance of fleeing. How can you not be happy to see that the army's strategy is going well?
Thinking about the achievement of this strategy, Li Zicheng couldn't help saying: "Li Dingguo is brave and resourceful, if he can take over my camp, he will be like a tiger with wings added."

The generals around him also praised him highly. Niu Jinxing's eyes flashed with jealousy. To be honest, he is not afraid of the bravery of everyone in the camp. ?
On the face, he said with a smile: "Young Yingjie, don't underestimate him."

At this time, Gao Yigong suddenly said worriedly: "Although the rebel army has laid out a strategy, and most of the cavalry on the two wings have agreed on a time to attack and encircle them, I'm afraid that when I wait, Master Liu, the chief sentry, will not arrive in time."

Although there was a plan in advance, and the time and place were set, but at this time there was no telegraph or phone call, and it was all relying on sentry cavalry to communicate. It was too difficult to think of a handy command layout.

Li Zicheng was also worried about this, and all parties could not arrive in time, but he still said on the face: "Trust Master Liu, there will be no delay."

……

At this time, near Yongcheng.

In front of him, the self-protected Zhuangzi was in ruins, but Li Dingguo and Sun Kewang saw it, and their expressions remained unchanged.

They were adopted by Zhang Xianzhong since they were young, and they participated in various wars. Zhang Xianzhong has a violent and bloodthirsty personality. He is omnipotent in killing and massacring cities, destroying villages and threatening the people. How can you not participate in these things?
Therefore, Li Dingguo, Sun Kewang and others have long been accustomed to seeing the ruins and ruins of the refugee soldiers and horses.

The two of them were standing in front of the steps of the Guandi Temple in Zhuangbei at this time, just watching the mighty cavalry team passing by. Those soldiers and horses were all men and horses from the Fifth Battalion of Ge and Zuo. The banners they raised were either "horse" or "horse". He", or "Liu".

As for Sun Kewang, Luo Rucai and others, especially Sun Kewang and the remnants of Zhang Xianzhong, they were brutally attacked by Wang Dou in Xiangyang City, so the cavalry now, together with Luo Rucai, only have a few thousand horsemen, of course they cannot be used as the main force of the siege.

They and the main force of the infantry in the battalion were mainly used to supervise and escort the hungry soldiers. At this time, behind the horse soldiers, it seemed that the flood of hungry people covering the field only rushed to the west of Yongcheng. Some of them were still there. The locals of Guide Mansion, Chuangjun and others were all coerced when they came.

Just like Liu Niang and others at that time, their expressions were exhausted, terrified, and bewildered, and they just followed the crowd unconsciously.

These personnel, in addition to cannon fodder, will also be arranged for various things.

For example, along the west side of Yongcheng to the land of Haozhou, under the arrangement of Li Zicheng and others, several deep trenches had to be dug to prevent frontier soldiers from fleeing into Fengyang Mansion in Nanzhili.

Not only that, but almost every [-] or [-] miles they went to the hinterland, they had to dig several trenches to surround those frontier regiments, and then dug countless trenches around them as a means of siege.

Sun Kewang's eyes flashed brightly as he watched the crowds marching like a tide, and he praised: "It's really spectacular. Soon, there will be bloody battles in this place, and there will be many corpses... But, after all these years, who remembers What about those corpses and blood? The bones are left behind, and the blood is soaked in, fertilizing the fields, and then wild flowers and weeds will grow, and it may become a paradise for children."

Li Dingguo looked at Sun Kewang in surprise, but remained silent.

Sun Kewang smiled again, flicked his horsewhip, and whispered: "Hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses gathered together to fight, it's a great momentum, but in this grand battle in the future, Li Chuang's reputation will only be fulfilled, and I will fall into the stirrup with the whip, What do you get after only being unknown, second brother, are you willing?"

He said: "Of course, if you offer Guide's strategy, you will definitely become famous in the camp in the future..."

Li Dingguo said anxiously: "Brother..."

Sun Kewang waved his hand: "Second brother, this is a good thing, and it will be of great benefit to me in recruiting soldiers and horses in the future. Brother, how can I be jealous and jealous, and talk about my brother?"

He said: "Just relying on Li Chuang, second brother, do you think you can avenge your adoptive father?"

Li Dingguo pondered his righteousness, and said: "Although the king thief is willing to be the imperial court's eagle dog, but he looks at his style and relies on King Chuang..."

He shook his head slowly.

The hatred of killing one's father is irreconcilable, so after the Battle of Xiangyang, he and Sun Kewang paid great attention to collecting information about Wang Dou, even the Xuanfu Times, and the more he looked at it, the more chilling he felt. Big, but compared to Wang Dou, it still pales in comparison.

Relying on him for revenge, obviously, is far away.

Sun Kewang took Li Dingguo's arm affectionately, and whispered: "If you want to take revenge, you need to have your own influence. Looking at Henan, it is Li Chuang's territory, so I think that we can't stay here in the future, I think, go south." , is a good choice."

(End of this chapter)