scourge the qing dynasty

Chapter 169
"Man Gou is catching up again! Man Gou is catching up again—!"

Accompanied by the nervous shouts of the scouts from the rear army, the official road full of soldiers from the Wu army sitting all over the place seemed to be boiling, and it boiled all of a sudden. Jumping up, he stuffed the cold steamed buns he had just gnawed into his bosom, quickly drank two handfuls of roadside ditch water, and shouted, "Get on your horse! Get on your horse! Get on the west! Pay attention to the number of people, don't let them go!" Fall behind!"

Almost at the same time when Gao Dejie's rear troops remounted their horses and began to retreat westward, on the official road in Guizhou in the east, a clear cavalry of the Qing army appeared, shouting that the tide was coming, and arrows and bullets were raining down. Generally, the overwhelming attack, a dozen or so Wu army cavalry in the rear team couldn't dodge in time, they were shot like hedgehogs by arrows in an instant, screamed and fell down the official road, Xuan was trampled into meat sauce by the Qing army's iron cavalry, and many other Wu troops The cavalry was injured by an arrow, gritted their teeth and stepped forward, and fled back to the rear under the cover of their companions' bows and muskets. Finally, there was no large-scale lagging behind.

"Kill!" Amidst the neat roar, Mite Qing fiercely led Laita to charge forward, frantically swinging his knife to block Wu Jun's arrows, while desperately urging his horse towards the Wu Army's rear. The Mite Qing cavalry behind them also looked like crazy monsters, Howling ghosts and wolves rushed one by one faster than the other, and in a blink of an eye they had already approached the Wu army's rear.Gao Dejie was forced to have no choice but to turn around and return to his horse. He led his army to charge back and formed a group with Laita's army. There were crowds of people on the narrow official road. Fighting and slashing on the road like a beast, the sound of killing soaring into the sky reverberated the mountains, and the leaves fell.

The Qing army launched a full-scale attack on the second day of May in the 11th year of Kang Mazi. Aobai led the 22 Qing army into Guizhou with Prince An Yue Le as the vanguard, and marched into the hinterland of Guizhou in two ways.Because no one thought beforehand that Oboi would collapse so quickly in front of Fatty Lu's tricks, and change his established strategy so quickly to enter Guizhou for a decisive battle, so the generals and soldiers of the Wu army, including Fatty Lu himself, were unavoidably caught off guard and evacuated in a hurry After Zhenyuan City, he was quickly bitten by the Mite Qing army, and was forced to fight and retreat. The road back to the teacher was extremely difficult.

In view of the fact that the main force of the Qing Dynasty was divided into troops in Zhenyuan Prefecture, they took the road of Shibing and Qingping all the way to Guizhou, and Kaili Avenue all the way to Guizhou, planning to join forces in Guiding. In order to avoid being made dumplings by the Qing army, Gao Dejie had Hastily dispatched his deputy, Gao Hongchen, to lead [-] cavalry ahead, and retreated day and night to garrison important throats such as Guiding and Zoumaping to protect the way of retreat, so as not to be dumped by the enemy. Two thousand cavalry and more than a thousand infantry from Zhenyuan who voluntarily followed the Wu army to Anshun formed the central army, which was handed over to Fatty Lu, and the front, middle and rear armies retreated westward together.

Gao Dejie has been through the battlefield for a long time, and although his tactics are extremely correct when he leads the army in person, what Gao Dejie didn't expect was that Yue Le, the forward of the mite Qing Dynasty, pulled out [-] cavalry from the former army and divided them into four teams. Give Laita, Mu Zhan, Shuo Nai and Zhao Liangdong the command of the four fierce generals, changing every ten miles, taking turns chasing and taking turns to rest, biting the tail of the Gaode Jie army like four mangy dogs, and biting if they catch up , Gaode Jiejun returns to the division and runs to the death, Gaode Jiejun retreats again and then changes to another team to chase and kill, so repeatedly, the intention is to slow down the speed of Gaode Jiejun's return to the division, tire the Wu army, wait for the time to wipe out this mite in one fell swoop The Qing army's disgraced Wu army elite.

Yue Le's move was very successful. No matter how elite the Jie army was, after a series of hard battles with almost no breaks, the casualty rate rose rapidly. The generals, soldiers and horses were extremely tired, and the speed of withdrawal was forced to slow down. , It took two days to completely evacuate Zhenyuan Mansion, and was bitten by Laita again as soon as he evacuated to the junction of Zhenyuan Mansion and Duyun Mansion.

After a bloody battle, he was forced to throw dozens of grenades. After finally killing the Laita army, Gao Dejie didn't even have time to count the casualties of the soldiers, so he immediately yelled: "Quick retreat, full of dogs will be replaced again!" People are chasing them, so retreat to Qing whistle first, where the terrain is steep, you can stick to it and rest." Wu Jun cavalry agreed one after another, and hurriedly dragged their tired bodies back on their horses, and continued westward along the official road.

"Where is Lu Yifeng's central army?" Taking advantage of this opportunity, Gao Dejie turned to his deputy and asked.The deputy replied loudly: "Back to General Zuo, the news is already in the morning, Lord Lu's Chinese army has arrived at Qingwei."

"Send someone to give him an order to garrison at Xinpaizhai to meet the rear army." Gao Dejie yelled, "Tell him, tell him not to be afraid, it's not that he is the rear, the brothers are too tired , we have to change a group of people.”

Gao Dejie asked Fatty Lu to tell Fatty Lu that it was not without reason to tell Fatty Lu not to be afraid. Since ancient times, the most feared thing among the generals of the friendly army is the emergence of people who are greedy for life and fear of death. There are countless examples of friendly army defeats. Fatty Lu was a civil servant when he first entered the battlefield. Naturally, Lao Qiu Ba Gao Dejie was also afraid of Fatty Lu's attack, and did not dare to run for his life in the rear. As a result, Gao Dejie's exhausted army was completely annihilated.After the messengers flew away, Gao Dejie ordered the army to destroy the bridge on the Chong'an River, and slowed down the pursuit of the troops a little, before heading west desperately.

It is also unlucky for Gao Dejie. The spring and summer seasons in Guizhou this year are generally dry and rainless, and the Chong'an River has little water flow. Although the Gao De Jie army destroyed the bridge, the new round of chasing Mite Qing fierce general Shuo Nai's team can still swim. Crossing the river, they caught up with Gao Dejie's rear army again before Gao Dejie's army got a firm foothold at Qing whistle.Gao Dejie groaned in his heart. He clearly knew that the narrow roads around Qing Whistle Whistle, with high mountains and dense forests and cliffs on both sides, was the most ideal place to hold on and rest. However, given that the Qing cavalry chased too fast, the Wu army soldiers had no time to stand firm. Naturally, it was impossible to rely on favorable terrain to defend and rest, so Gao Dejie had no choice but to give up this favorable terrain and lead his army to continue westward.

"Kill!" Just when Gao Dejie was almost desperate, there were sudden killing sounds on the cliffs on both sides of the road, and rolling stones and trees fell like raindrops, hitting the waist of the Qing army's pursuers. When Dejie turned around in surprise, he saw the flag of the Wu army fluttering on the top of the mountain, and the white and fat Fatty Lu jumped out at some point. There was also throwing torches to ignite the woods on both sides. At the same time, a cavalry from the Wu army rushed out from the left and right flanks of the Gaode Jie army, outflanking the Qing army's front team that had been cut in two by huge rocks and fallen trees.

"Hahahahaha! Good brother! Good brother!" Seeing this scene, Gao Dejie was naturally ecstatic, knowing that Fatty Lu must have discovered that this whistle is a good place to stab a knife with a sap, so he resolutely gave up on the west. Jin, set up an ambush here to meet the friendly army behind the palace, and this saved Gao Dejie's emergency.In ecstasy, Gao Dejie quickly turned his horse's head and shouted: "Brothers, kill!"

"Kill!" The Wu army's cavalry, who had been chased by the Qing army, was also full of morale.What puzzled Gao Dejie was that the two Wu army cavalry commanded by Lu Fatty shouted, "Surrender, don't kill! Surrender, don't kill!"

In the end, it didn’t matter if you shouted. After the desperate Chiqing cavalry dropped their weapons and surrendered, the soldiers of Fatty Lu’s army really didn’t kill them, they just put them aside and watched them. You're still a rookie, what's the point of taking prisoners?"

Fatty Lu's trap was well prepared. After cutting the Qing army in two, he continued to throw trees and torches from the top of the mountain, igniting the sky-high fire, completely cutting off the Qing army, and temporarily blocking the Qing army behind. Army reinforcements made it impossible to quickly reinforce the trapped front team, and the more than 600 surrounded Qing troops saw that the reinforcements were hopeless and that the Wu army would not kill the prisoners, so most of them put down their weapons and surrendered, and a small number of recalcitrants were chopped into meat sauce by the superior Wu army , chopped into several pieces, the battle ended in less than an hour.

"Pass down the order to collect the prisoners' horses and weapons, cut off the thumbs of both hands, and let them go!" Fatty Lu shouted loudly as he ran towards Gao Dejie, "Remember, the two big captives The thumb will be cut off at the root, and those who resist will be killed!"

"Brother Yifeng, are you stupid for studying too much?" As soon as Fatty Lu ran close, Gao Dejie immediately reprimanded: "Cut off the thumbs of both hands of the captives, and then let them go? Thank you for thinking." Come to such a bad idea, such a prisoner is released, and he is not an enemy if he takes up arms? Kill them all!"

"No, I can't be killed!" Fatty Lu hurriedly stopped him, persuading him: "General Gao, let's not say that it is not good to kill prisoners. Our Yunnan-Guizhou army and the Mangou army are about to have a decisive battle. If we start the process of killing prisoners, who will dare to attack us in the future?" Surrender? Cutting off their thumbs works best."

"Cutting off the thumb is useful for the ball?" Gao Dejie asked angrily.

"General Gao, you don't understand this." Fatty Lu said with a sinister smile: "Brother Dajie, if you don't believe me, you don't need your thumb to draw the knife and swing the knife, draw the bow and set the arrow, try to see if you still have the strength?"

Gao Dejie was confused, tried according to Fatty Lu's request, and found that without the help of his thumb, no matter how he used the weapon, he could not use force, let alone pose a threat of strength. Gao Dejie couldn't help but said in surprise: " Huh? What's the point of this?"

"Brother Dajie, you have never studied human anatomy, and you don't know how important thumbs are." Fatty Lu said with a sly smile: "Although thumbs on human hands are inconspicuous, but without thumbs, hands will lose [-]% of their strength. It is impossible to pick up a weapon to kill people, even pick up a hoe to plow the fields and ride a horse with a rein. Cutting off the thumbs of the captives looks benevolent, but it can also turn them into complete battlefield useless people. Wouldn't the effect be better? ?”

"Oh, so that's the truth." Gao Dejie suddenly realized, and couldn't help laughing and cursing: "Damn it, you scholars are still insidious! Just do this, cut off the thumbs of all the captives, and tell them to go away !"

When the wolves and tigers of the Wu army pounced on the poor mite Qing lamb and swung their knives, Fatty Lu hurriedly said to Gao Dejie: ​​"Brother Dajie, the fire won't stop Mangou for long, we can't delay too long, After finishing the work, leave immediately, your army is already very tired, you go first, and I will come to the rear. All the captured horses will also be given to you, and the overtired horses will be replaced, it would be a pity to die from exhaustion."

"Then please, we will meet at Zoumaping." Gao Dejie was indeed extremely exhausted, so he agreed without refusal, and urged: "Remember, the roads in Guizhou are characterized by many mountains and small roads. The highest points on both sides of the road must be monitored to prevent Mangou from turning around and outflanking the path. Mangou Zhao Liangdong was the commander-in-chief of Zhenyuan, and he is more familiar with the roads and terrain in this area than you."

Fatty Lu agreed loudly, and then Gao Dejie led the previous rear army to go first, resting while trotting, leaving Fatty Lu to command the rear of the army on the spot, and although Gao Dejie handed over the responsibility of the rear to Fatty Lu, deep down Still extremely worried--can this Fatty Lu, who has just entered the battlefield, really stop the chasing soldiers full of dogs like wolves and tigers?

Gao Dejie's worry was probably paranoid. After walking for more than ten miles, when he arrived at another place with narrow roads, Gao Dejie saw Fatty Lu's loyal running dog Xiao Erlang leading hundreds of infantry, The felled trees were piled up on both sides of the road, and kerosene was poured and poured, as if they were going to set fire to stop the enemy.Seeing that Fatty Lu was so fully prepared for the rainy day, Gao Dejie couldn't help but feel secretly happy, and hurriedly asked Xiao Erlang who came over to salute, "Your young master sent you to do this?"

"Back to General Zuo, yes." Xiao Erlang explained: "The young master asked me to lead three hundred infantry first, and cut down trees to block the roads in narrow places, and set fire to the road as soon as Mangou came, so as not to let Mangou Catch up with me... Wait, you can't pass!"

Shouting, Xiao Erlang rushed to a piece of fertile grass, and yelled at the soldiers of the Wu army who were about to herd horses there, "Don't let the horses go there, it's poisoned! It's poisoned!"

"Poisoned?!" The soldiers of the Wu army were startled and quickly reined in their horses.Gao Dejie was shocked and asked, "Poison? You poisoned horse grass?"

"Back to General Zuo, this is what the young master explained." Xiao Erlang explained: "The young master said that after the enemy's cavalry were blocked by the sea of ​​flames, they would definitely let their horses graze and rest while fighting the flames or waiting for the flames to go out, so the Let's pour arsenic water and croton beans on these fertile grasslands, and wait for the horses full of dogs to bait."

"Drenching arsenic water? Sprinkling crotons?" Gao Dejie blurted out his eyes, and blurted out, "Your young master, you really have a good heart! Are there any other cheap tricks?"

"Yes." Xiao Erlang's answer stunned Gao, "Young master also asked us to catch some poisonous snakes, and we are going to put them in the grass beside the road where the dogs must stop. The young master also said that the time is too late. Otherwise, he even trained a group of dogs in Anshun, so that these dogs would rush to bite when they saw the dogs in military uniforms, and then tied explosives to the dogs."

"Fuck! Fatty!" Gao Dejie cursed unbearably, and at the same time secretly heaved a sigh of relief. If Fatty Lu's cheap tricks can work, maybe he can really complete the mission of the queen.

………………

For the next day or so, the Mite Qing army suffered a lot from chasing and killing Gao Dejie with great ease. Whenever they were about to catch up with Gao Dejie's army in the rear, either sides of the road were either bursting into flames, or The landmines exploded on the ground, blocked by the sea of ​​flames, and when they finally extinguished the fire, the horses under their crotches fell to death, foaming at the mouth, or fell to the ground continuously; The roiling venomous snakes in the grass killed and bit them; or the ditches and wells beside the road were also poisoned, poisoning many soldiers and war horses.Lai Ta, Mu Zhan, Shuo Nai and Zhao Liangdong, who were in charge of the pursuit, were so angry that the four generals of Mite Qing yelled and jumped like thunder, but they were helpless.

Of course, these little tricks are always of limited effect. They can only be used as harassment in the face of the absolute superiority of the Mite Qing army. The rear army commanded by Lu Fatzi himself has been overtaken by the Mite Qing army several times. However, during the bloody battle on the battlefield, The fledgling Fatty Lu showed the courage and calmness that Mangou secretly admired. He was always at the forefront to boost morale, commanded decisively, and never ran away to survive. His morale was always kept high, and he retreated several times. Mite Qing pursued the soldiers, and the loss was not too great.

When Fatty Lu retreated to Zoumaping and joined the rested Gaode Jiejun, the Wu army's battle line finally stabilized. At the same time, Shuo Nai, Laita and other Qing generals were afraid of being surrounded by Wu army reinforcements because the pursuit was too deep into the hinterland of Guizhou. Reluctantly, he stopped in his tracks, and watched helplessly as the Wu army team, which was more slippery than a fox and more ruthless than a jackal, walked away.And after this retreat, Gao Dejie couldn't help but patted Fatty Lu on the shoulder and said with a smile: "Brother Yifeng, you're so good, you're a genius on the battlefield! It's agreed, we will partner again when we counterattack in an all-round way." Kill all the dogs!"

On the seventh day of May, the Gaode Jie army withdrew to Guiding County and joined forces with Gao Hongchen's army who had arrived here first. Dejie's exhausted army continued to perform the task of the rear, covering the retreat of the Gaode Jie army to Guiyang and Anshun.At the same time, the main force of Mite Qing had also arrived in Chong'an, and basically went deep into the hinterland of Guizhou. Gao Dejie and Fatty Lu jointly carried out the task of luring the enemy into the deep, and finally announced that it was a success.

On May [-]th, Fatty Lu and Gao Dejie's team finally returned to Anshun. The old traitor Wu Sangui personally led all the civil and military officials of the Pingxi Palace to welcome them out of the city, and ordered a heavy reward for Gao Dejie's army. After reporting Fatty Lu's great achievements and greatly praising Fatty Lu's military ability, the traitor Wu, who had already decided to leave Fatty Lu to his children and grandchildren, was even more overjoyed, so he rewarded Fatty Lu alone, but Fatty Lu shamelessly All the rewards were donated to the soldiers of Gaode Jiejun, as well as the families of the soldiers who died in battle before, in order to buy people's hearts. The soldiers of Gaode Jiejun were grateful and convinced.

At the celebration banquet, old man Wu resigned Gao Dejie and Fatty Lu to the first and second seats, raised his glass and laughed loudly: "Thanks to Dajie and Yifeng, it took less than three months Just forcing the old fox Oboi into the hinterland of Guizhou for a decisive battle has saved us Yunnan-Guizhou soldiers and people a lot of food, grass and time. After defeating the old thief Oboi in the future, both Dajie and Yifeng should remember their achievements."

After the old traitor Wu finished speaking, the civil and military generals of the Pingxi Palace were naturally full of flattery, praising the old traitor Wu for employing people properly, which created such a miracle. Gao Dejie was very modest and pushed Fatty Lu forward, saying that it was thanks to It is only after Fatty Lu's bad ideas that smoke from his ancestral graves that he made such a great achievement. Otherwise, whether he can introduce the old fox Oboi to Guizhou would be a big problem.When Fatty Lu tried to be modest again, he was already surrounded by sycophants from Pingxi Palace, and he was stunned on the spot.

It is not without reason that the old traitor Wu is so excited and happy. Although Anshun is only more than 400 miles away from Yunnan, the hometown of the old traitor Wu, and the Anshun Basin, the main grain-producing area of ​​Guizhou, is somewhat self-sufficient in grain and grass, and the logistical pressure is relatively small, but this Over the past five months, the more than 400 miles of roads in Guizhou have also caused the old traitor Wu to suffer enough. During World War II, the Qinglong 24 turns that frightened allied drivers were on the supply line of the old traitor Wu. During World War II, the road widened and reinforced by U.S. military engineers was so difficult, but how terrifying this road was in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties is beyond words.So even the traitor Wu himself is not sure, if Lu Fatzi and Gao Dejie fail to lure the enemy, and Obai firmly implements the strategy of blocking Yunnan and Guizhou, how long he can last in Anshun.

After successfully luring the enemy, the Yunnan, Guizhou and Wu troops felt relaxed and relieved, but the main force of the Qing army complained endlessly. It was also at this moment that those generals and officials of the Qing Dynasty who complained about Oboi's inaction before finally understood the goodness of Oboi before. Hard work—what is the name of this road in Guizhou?Even the best official road, the widest place is only about one foot, and the narrowest place is less than seven feet, and it is still moving over mountains and ridges, winding mountains and valleys, there are cliffs everywhere, and deep mountains everywhere. Lao Lin will become muddy and slippery when it encounters rain. If you take one step forward and slide three steps backward, marching with a large amount of food, grass and luggage under such road conditions is no longer suffering, but suffering!
"Goddamn Oboi old thief! Why don't you insist on a decisive battle at the border of Huguang, but why do you want to enter Guizhou?!" This sentence suddenly became the common voice of countless generals.

On May 28th, the main force of the Qing army led by Oboi himself finally arrived in Guiyang. Guizhou Governor Cao Shenji and Guizhou General Li Benshen, who together with Wu Sangui raised troops on the side of the Qing Dynasty, fled without a fight, and fled to Anshun with the soldiers and civilians who voluntarily left Guiyang. Some of the people who refused to leave and Guiyang were left behind to Oboi—the base camp of Traitor Wu is in Yunnan, Guizhou, a ghostly place where birds don’t lay eggs. It will not waste energy and troops to defend Guiyang.Although Aobai understood the vicious intentions of the old traitor Wu, he still had no choice but to enter Guiyang City and set up a camp by the Nanming River to let the army rest and prepare for the battle, and waited for the rear army to gather by the way.

After the news spread to the Wu army camp in Anshun, some idiots also suggested to take advantage of the Qing army's unstable foothold to launch a general offensive to give Oboi a bad start, and to prevent Oboi from repeating his old tricks, defending Guiyang and confronting Wu Sangui's army.As a result, as soon as this suggestion was uttered, this idiot was immediately scolded by the old traitor Wu and the dog-headed military advisers under the old traitor Wu, "Oboi old thief defends Guiyang and confronts us? He wants to defend and let him defend it." More than 20 dog food and grass will be transported from Huguang to Guiyang, without our hands, the mountain roads in Guizhou can kill him!"

On the first day of June, the last Qing army led by Jie Shu arrived in Guiyang.So far, the main forces of Yunnan, Guizhou and Mite Qing who were preparing to participate in the war had all arrived on the battlefield. The Yunnan-Guizhou army was 18, and the Mite Qing army had more than 25 troops stationed in the prefectures and cities along the way to protect the grain roads.The two warring parties with a total strength of more than [-] are facing each other, waiting for the final battle - the decisive battle!
(End of this chapter)