Autumn of the 17th year of Chongzhen

Chapter 39
Thirty miles to the west from Chizhou, the flags and weapons of the Zuo Army were scattered all over the place. Wang Yan led the cavalry to chase and kill them all the way, breaking through the camp of the Zuo Army, and Huang Degong's army followed. Geng had no choice but to abandon the defeated army on the south bank and cross the river to return to Anqing.

After this defeat, Zuo Menggeng lost nearly half of his elite troops, and all supplies on the south bank were abandoned.

Wang Yan went to the riverside, watching the Zuojun warships shuttling on the river, he could only look at the river and sigh.He felt extremely regretful that he failed to kill Zuo Menggeng and solve the threat of the Ming Dynasty's western front in one fell swoop.

At this time, Wang Yan was by the river, hastily bandaged the terrible wound on his face, and led the cavalry to join Wang Wei's infantry.

As the old saying goes, if you kill one thousand enemies, you will lose eight hundred yourself.

The Zuo Army was defeated, but the Zhongyi Battalion had 100 soldiers and lost more than 100 people. Among them, the infantry lost [-] people, and the cavalry lost more than [-] people on the hill.

When Wang Yan learned that so many brothers died in battle, and most of them were his old brothers brought out from Shandong, he couldn't help feeling sad for a while.

He asked Wang Wei to handle the funeral affairs, register the dead brothers, and then report to the Ministry of War. When he recovers Heshan in the future, he will seek compensation from the brothers' families.

Li Taizhen took his brothers to clean up the battlefield, record the military exploits, and count the supplies.

In the Battle of Xiaoshan, almost all the 500 cavalry of the Left Army were lost to the Zhongyi Battalion, so in addition to the horses that were killed or ran away, they got more than [-] horses.

At this time, it was almost dark, so Wang Yan asked the army to feed on dead horses and settle down on the hill first.

The dead are long gone, and the living are as good as their husbands.

Piles of bonfires, dotted with the darkness of the night, the soldiers of the Loyalty Battalion leaned together, surrounded by oily barbecue, talking about today's war.

The old pawn temporarily forgot about his dead brother, bragging about his bravery, and the pawns in the battalion were also extremely excited because of today's outstanding record.

In this battle, the Zhongyi Battalion beheaded more than 2000 people from the Zuo Army, and cut off the flag of the Zuo Army Commander, turning the tide of the battle.

When Wang Yan was thinking about how to reward his men and horses, Li Taizhen, who had gone to the city to ask for military tents and other camp supplies, just came back and brought an envoy from the city.

Wang Yan saw that after a big victory, Huang Degong and Liu Liangzuo held a banquet in the city and invited him to the meeting.

At that moment, Wang Yan handed over the matter of camping to Wang Wei, and then hurried to the city with the military envoy.

The banquet was held in the Guo'an Mansion of the General Army in Chizhou. When Wang Yan arrived, everyone had already drunk three rounds, and the atmosphere was harmonious.

There were three tables set up in the hall, full of people, but Wang Yan didn't know any of them, so he had to stand aside first.

"But where is the general Wang who cut off the Zuo Zei Shuai flag?" Huang Degong was very happy to win today, so he drank a lot until he was slightly drunk. He saw the guards leading a young general in and put down his glass asked.

"The last general Sizhou is guarding Wang Yan, and I pay my respects to Lord Hou." Hearing this, Wang Yan hurriedly saluted, and then said to the many superiors: "My lords."

At this time, Huang Degong had already left the table and walked to Wang Yan. Seeing that he was a handsome man, and the blood-stained bandages on his face added a bit of heroism, he couldn't help but rejoice: "A good general!"

After Huang Degong finished speaking, he held Wang Yan's hand personally, pulled him to sit beside him, and then introduced everyone in the hall to him. Inside.

Huang Degong's attitude towards Wang Yan was obviously one of support and solicitation. Seeing this, all the generals in the hall couldn't help but change their expressions.

In today's battle, Chizhou almost fell. If Wang Yan didn't come out suddenly, Huang Degong might have died to thank His Majesty. Therefore, Wang Yan is not only the person who made the first contribution today, but also Huang Degong's benefactor.

Huang Degong witnessed the battle outside the city today, and he highly appreciated Wang Yan's ability to seize the opportunity, and he was also very satisfied with the combat power of his subordinate Zhongyi Battalion.

"General Wang's talent, it's a pity to be on the garrison. It's better to come to the army. I will definitely ask the court for the post of commander-in-chief for you." Huang Degong looked at Wang Yan with a drunken smile and said: "General Wang Willing?"

After Gao Jie's death in February, Huang Degong intended to annex his subordinates, which almost triggered a fight between the two armies. Unexpectedly, Huang Degong would bring the Zhongyi Camp under his command again, Wang Yan couldn't help feeling a little unhappy.

Liu Liangzuo, who was sitting on Huang Degong's left, couldn't help but change his face when he heard it, obviously he didn't want Huang Degong to recruit Wang Yan's men.

Although Huang Degong was loyal to Daming and fought bravely when encountering foreign enemies, once the crisis was resolved, he wanted to expand his strength.For Daming, he didn't know whether it was a blessing or a curse.

"Hou Ye fell in love with the wrong one!" Wang Yan was indeed very attracted to the position of commander-in-chief, but what he wanted was the commander-in-chief of the imperial court, not the commander-in-chief of any feudal town, so he refused: "Qingyu Prince Duoduo has already sent troops across Shangqiu and approached Sizhou, he will have the responsibility of guarding the land at the end, and he is eager to return to the north, so I am afraid that he will not be able to serve under Lord Hou's account."

"Oh~" Huang Degong couldn't help but feel a little disappointed when he heard the words. He really admired Wang Yan very much, and he couldn't help sighing: "Since that's the case, then I won't embarrass General Wang."

Hearing this, Wang Yan couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. On the other table, Huang Degong's subordinates Tian Xiong, Ma Degong and others couldn't help but feel relieved. Wang Yan had a panoramic view of this.

"General Wang made a great contribution to this battle!" Huang Degong continued: "Although you are not willing to be attributed to this marquis, I will not miss you for the credit you deserve. Reward."

"It's about merit and reward, but I have something to say, I don't know if I should say it or not!" Liu Liangzuo, who was on the side, couldn't help raising his eyebrows when he heard Huang Degong's words, and said quietly.

Seeing that Huang Degong was not annoyed by his refusal, but was willing to record his military achievements truthfully, Wang Yan was overjoyed, but when he heard Liu Liangzuo's words, he couldn't help but tense up.

"Whatever Uncle Guangchang has to say, you can say it directly." Huang Degong said after taking a sip.

"Since rewards are based on merit, shouldn't the seized supplies be collected and distributed according to merit?" Liu Liangzuo smiled slightly, then suddenly looked at Wang Yandao.

Hearing this, Wang Yan couldn't help being taken aback, and then immediately realized that Liu Liangzuo had taken a fancy to the more than 500 left army horses captured by the Zhongyi Camp.

There is a shortage of horses in the south. A good horse can be sold for 100 taels of silver, and there is no market for it. Five hundred war horses are a lot of wealth. No wonder Liu Liangzuo is tempted.

Huang Degong's face couldn't help but change when he heard the words. Liu Liangzuo was obviously not only targeting the horses in Wang Yan's hands, but also the materials in Huang Degong's hands.

When Chizhou started the war, Liu Liangzuo guarded the north and east gates, so when the Zuo army retreated, his men could not catch Huang Degong's army that came directly from the west gate.

Almost all the supplies in Zuo Menggeng's camp on the south bank fell into the hands of Huang Degong, and judging by his expression, it was obvious that he had no intention of sharing them with others.

Just after the war, the threat from the left army has not been completely eliminated, and the Qing army is coming to attack from the north, but the Ming army seems to be at odds with each other, each for their own selfishness, Wang Yan couldn't help but feel a chill in his heart.

　The author has to prepare to go home and go shopping for his parents today, so there are only [-] words, I hope everyone understands.

　　Also thanks to Xiaocha Harcan, Mo Da, brother is just a legend for their recommendation and support.

　　


(End of this chapter)