scourge the qing dynasty

Chapter 393
The sound of the golden gong sounded, and the Qing army's Mahada Department, which was really too exhausting, began to retreat. The rear team became the front team, and the front team became the rear team, and they retreated from the battlefield in an orderly manner.Seeing this scene, the fat army cheered thunderously, and countless generals of the fat army rushed to Li Tianzhi, asking for a general offensive. Even Yao Qisheng, the strategist of the fat army, agreed with this tactic and suggested to Li Tianzhi: "General Li, it's time for a general attack!" , if you kill one more Mangou in the field, you will have less resistance when attacking the city."

"Not busy." Li Tianzhi still looked unhurried, raised his binoculars to carefully observe the situation when the Qing army retreated, and after a while he praised: "We can't attack all the time yet, Man Gou, the leader of the army, is a bit capable, and the pioneers are not rash." , The latter is orderly, and it is rare to be able to do this when retreating from the battle. At this time, the general attack will not take advantage of it, and it will increase our casualties."

Putting down the binoculars, Li Tianzhi ordered again: "The Chinese army advances slowly, keeping a distance of two miles from the Mangou brigade. The front team pursues and bites the Mangou's tail. Then send orders to Yitanbu to let his cavalry quickly intersperse and roundabout Go to the front of the full dog team's retreat route to intercept, block the full dog team's retreat, force the full dog team into chaos, and wait until the full dog team is in chaos before launching a general attack."

The generals of the Fatty Army's Suzhou Legion, who had long been accustomed to Li Tianzhi's conservative style, agreed to follow the order helplessly, commanding the middle army of the Fatty Army to advance slowly, chasing the Qing army in an orderly manner, and always keeping the queue in order.Yao Qisheng on the side praised: "General Li is really stable, no wonder the prince can rest assured to hand over the southern line to you, and never worry about the southern line."

"Military division is too much." Li Tianzhi said modestly: "Li Tianzhi is stupid, his only strength is a little self-knowledge, knowing that he is not as good as General Gao Dejie in surprise battles, not as good as General Wang Xu in tough battles, and not as flexible in tactical command as General Han Daren. It's even worse than the unrestrained and unpredictable nature of the prince's use of soldiers. Therefore, Li Tianzhi can only take the word of stability, and would rather not have military exploits, and never be greedy for exploits, risk the lives of soldiers, and not fight uncertain battles."

"It's rare for General Li to be so humble." Yao Qisheng flattered him, but he secretly admired Fatty Lu's ability to employ people well. Putting Li Tianzhi, who had a stable personality, on the Zhejiang battlefield to overwhelm others, not only could he avoid capsizing in the gutter, but also It can minimize the unnecessary consumption of the Fat Man Army on the secondary battlefield of Zhejiang.Basically, it can be said that if Han Daren, Gao Dejie, and Wang Xulai were replaced on the southern front, with their combat style, it would definitely take half or even less time to end the Zhejiang war, but the casualties and consumption of the Fatty Army are definitely lower than Lee Cheon-sik is much bigger.

Li Tianzhi's prudent tactics once again hit Mahada's seven inches. Even though his own army had already retreated in large strides, the fat army still did not launch a general attack, but only advanced slowly and steadily in pursuit. Mahada inevitably groaned secretly, knowing that If the Fatty Army attacked and pursued, the formation would inevitably be chaotic. As long as I kept the Qing army in order and retreated in an orderly manner, the loss would not be too great, and at the same time, it would cause more casualties to the Fatty Army.However, the Fatty Army also maintained an orderly pursuit, which was more troublesome for the Qing army. If the Fatty Army protruded and rushed into the queue, the whole army would collapse and be massacred wantonly by the Fatty Army.

In desperation, Mahada had no choice but to order the generals at all levels to order the three armies to retreat slowly, resolutely maintain a dense formation, and never give the fat army a chance to make a surprise attack. Therefore, Mahada's order was resolutely implemented. More than [-] Qing infantrymen worked hard to stabilize their formation and retreat while resisting the violent impact of the front team of the Fat Man Army, while slowly retreating eastward.However, due to the different types of arms, the cavalry of the Qing army on the two wings of the battlefield could not do this. They were rushed to pieces by the ferocious fat cavalry, and gradually retreated to the east. Free up your hands to gradually build up.

After another meal, the cavalry of the fat army led by the traitor Itambu was completely gathered, and then charged, outflanked and turned back to the front of the retreating direction of the Qing army, and began to block the retreat of the Qing army with bows, arrows and muskets.Seeing this scene, the Qing army was in a panic. Mahada urgently ordered his deputy Ekuna to lead the army forward to open the way, and rushed forward against the dense rain of arrowheads, trying to close the distance with Itambu for hand-to-hand combat. Itambu Then he quickly commanded the cavalry of the Fat Man Army to turn their horses' heads, while trotting forward to keep a distance from the Ekuna army, while constantly turning their heads and shooting arrows, shooting and killing the Ekuna army who were chasing their own army on foot. In the middle, the Qing soldiers of Ekuna's team fell down howling, and gradually fled towards the two wings. Ekuna tried his best to restrain him, but it was still useless.

After shooting down nearly half of Ekuna's former army, Itambu suddenly ordered the former army to turn around and launch a counter-charge towards the Ekuna army. More than 2000 fat cavalry cavalry rushed west like a flood. Even the more than 4000 infantry in Ekuna were engulfed, and the loud shouts of killing echoed in the sea of ​​cavalry in an instant, and the retreat of the main force of the Qing army was temporarily blocked.

Seeing this, Mahata naturally ordered troops to be deployed forward, and to fight to disperse the Fatty Army to intercept them as soon as possible; on the Fatty Army's side, Li Tianzhi quickly mobilized [-] troops to attack, charged from the right wing and detoured to the front of the Qing Army to strengthen the block, forcing The Qing army broke through from the north and south, prompting the Qing army to divide its troops.At the same time, Xinqing Qianhutu also overwhelmed the right-wing cavalry of the Qing army, and began to outflank the front of the Qing army, joining the blocking battlefield.

When the infantry and cavalry of the two fat armies charged towards the blocking position, Yao Qisheng, who had anticipated the enemy's attack, quickly made a suggestion to Li Tianzhi. The favorable terrain forced the Qing army to immediately break out of the encirclement to the south to avoid being encircled by the fat army on the east, west, and south sides.Li Tianzhi was very satisfied when he heard that, and immediately ordered the whole army to speed up their pace, bypassing the main battlefield and outflanking south.

Seeing the infantry and cavalry of the Fatty Army rounding to the east, and seeing the main force of the Fatty Army suddenly speeding up and turning to the south, Mahada, who was also cautious in using troops, finally lost his composure. If the Grand Canal is blocked, the army will inevitably suffer heavy casualties.Forced into desperation, Mahada could only grit his teeth and order: "The whole army breaks out to the south and charges at full speed. We can't give Wu Gou a chance to make dumplings for us."

The order was conveyed, and the Qing army that had been in strict order was finally loosened. The various units of the Qing army that had been attacked before and after turned around and headed south one after another, charging with all their strength to break through. However, people's footsteps varied from fast to slow, and the speed of the troops was also different. Running with all their strength, the Qing army brigade naturally began to be in chaos, and the fat army took the opportunity to rush and fight, forcing the Qing army to become even more chaotic.

When the main force of the fat army led by Li Tianzhi rushed to the right-wing battlefield and plunged into the waist of the Qing army, the Qing army was finally in complete chaos. The generals and soldiers of the Qing army scrambled towards the no man's land in order to survive, trampling on each other. There were countless dead, and the Fatty Army gradually divided into battalion-level teams, rushing into the chaotic formation and attacking back and forth. With courage, he led the controlled army only to break through to the southeast where the Fatty Army had no time to encircle, secretly praying that more Qing soldiers would escape back to Shaoxing to defend the city.

The battlefield became a mess, a part of the fat army took the battalion as a unit to charge around the battlefield, and a fat army formed two brigades under the leadership of Li Tianzhi and Yang Yingyuan, dedicated to chasing and attacking the Qing army brigade, forcing the Qing army to attack. The army collapsed further.The soldiers of the Qing army fled all over the mountains and plains, trampling and crowding each other. The soldiers could not find the generals, and the generals could not find the soldiers. There were countless dead. Some Qing soldiers could not receive their salary for less than four months. The surrender of the Fat Man Army led more soldiers of the Qing Army to put down their weapons and surrender, and became the cannon fodder for the Fat Man Army's next battle.

Fortunately, the battlefield is only ten miles away from Shaoxing. The cavalry of the Qing army who were killed by the fat man army quickly gathered under the organization of another leader of the Tong Jia family, Lang Su, and returned to the battlefield to respond. The support of the army cavalry and the deadly battle with the pro-army, Mahada was lucky enough to escape the pursuit of the Fatty Army, broke out from the southeast where the Fatty Army was weak, and fled to Shaoxing City with about 7000 Qing infantry and cavalry.Li Tianzhi knew that if too many Qing troops were allowed to return to the city, it would definitely cause huge trouble for the Fatty Army to attack the city, so he personally led an army to chase and kill him, and also sent Hutu's cavalry to chase and kill Mahada. Tail of the brigade.

Under the scrambling of people and horses, the distance of ten miles was reached in an instant. When they saw Shaoxing City from a distance, Lu Zhangtai, the fat brother of Li Tianzhi and Yao Qisheng, suddenly remembered a big event, and screamed like a pig: "Where is Sanshui? I Where is my good brother Zhu Sanshui? Where did he go? Should he intercept him outside Shaoxing City?"

After being reminded by Lu Zhangtai, Li Tianzhi and Yao Qisheng suddenly realized that one of their troops had indeed disappeared suddenly. The Zhu Sanshui cavalry who had rushed to Shaoxing before had disappeared on the battlefield. His thousand cavalry had rushed to the east in advance. It should be resolutely blocked here, but somehow it disappeared without a trace, what went wrong?Did he go astray during the pursuit?Or betray the fat army?Returned to the arms of the Qing army?
After a flash of thought, Yao Qisheng suddenly discovered another strange thing, pointed to the east and exclaimed: "General Li, look quickly, the defeated soldiers of Man Gou have rushed to the bottom of the city. Open the city gate?"

Li Tianzhi quickly raised his binoculars, and it turned out that the Qing army's vanquished vanguard had already rushed to Shaoxing's west gate, and the gate of Shaoxing's west gate was still closed. Even the suspension bridge was not put down, blocking the way for the Qing army's defeated soldiers to return to the city to defend. , Li Tianzhi couldn't help being very puzzled, and asked suspiciously: "What happened in Shaoxing City?"

Yao Qisheng and Li Tianzhi were puzzled two or three miles away. Mahada, who had already rushed to the city of Shaoxing, was even more puzzled than them. He ordered his soldiers to come forward to ask about the situation, and ordered the defenders in the city to open the gate as soon as possible.Soon, Tian Fengji, who was staying behind the governor of Zhejiang Province, stood up on the city and shouted: "General Mahada, where is General Mahada? Just now a Wugou army pretended to be our army, trying to deceive the city, but was killed by our army , Are you really the Qing army? Please ask General Mahada to come out and speak."

"Wu Gou pretended to be our Qing army to swindle the city?" Mahada was taken aback. He slapped his horse forward, trotted to the side of the suspension bridge, and shouted at Tian Fengji, "Master Tian, ​​I am Mahada, hurry up City, Wu Dog is about to rush up!"

"Wait a moment, general, let the suspension bridge go." Tian Fengji waved his hand and ordered, and Mahada, who was extremely nervous, was also relieved, but at this moment...

"The dog thief will die!"

Amidst the loud shouts, a fat general in white clothes and robes suddenly jumped out from Tian Fengji's side, holding a strong bow, he drew the bow and set up an arrow and shot it down. With the sound of the arrow piercing through the air, Mahada, who was caught off guard, was shot by an arrow. Facing the door, the arrowhead entered the brain through the eyes, and then pierced through the back of the head, blood and brains splashed together, Mahada screamed, fell off the horse and died on the spot.The fat army general roared again in mite language: "Listen up, Qing dog in the city, I am Zhu Sanshui, the general of the Great Zhou Dynasty. The inlaid blue flag used to be in charge of Guerjia. Don't die!"

Roaring, Zhu Sanshui waved his hand, and the flags of the Qing army on the city wall fell to the ground one after another. One after another, the fat army's white army flags were inserted on the city wall. Countless fat soldiers with white hats stood out of their arrow stacks, and pointed their bows and arrows at the defeated Qing army at the bottom of the city. The defeated Qing army was also in chaos.The generals of the fat army in the distance clapped their hands and cheered loudly. Lu Zhangtai was so happy that he jumped up on his horse and shouted excitedly, "Good job! Sanshui good job! I'll just say it , how could you abandon me?"

The city of Shaoxing fell into the hands of the Fatty Army inexplicably, and the defeated Qing army who managed to escape here were completely desperate. Shaoxing City could not enter, and the Fatty Army behind them had already rushed to the front. The nearest Shangyu City near Shaoxing was seventy or eighty miles away. (Shangyu in the Qing Dynasty was located about [-] miles east of Shangyu in the Qing Dynasty, and still south of the canal). With the Fatty Army in hot pursuit, it was simply difficult to escape back to Shangyu after walking seventy or eighty miles. Ascending to the sky, you have to cross the Cao'e River with a lot of water in the middle, and the hope of escaping back to Shangyu alive is even slimmer.

In desperation, countless soldiers of the Qing army dismounted and surrendered, and most of them fled in all directions. Only Tong Jia and Lang Su led more than a thousand riders around Shaoxing City, yelling at Tian Fengji that the traitor would die, and fled to the city without giving up. Shangyu County, more than 70 miles away, is dying.Li Tianzhi did not hesitate, and immediately ordered Hutu to lead the Qing army to pursue and kill them, and tried their best to annihilate the remnants of the Qing army, laying the foundation for the next Ningbo battle.

It was also when they entered Shaoxing City and met Zhu Sanshui. Li Tianzhi, Yao Qisheng and others understood the reason why the Fatty Army took Shaoxing City for no apparent reason. The [-] cavalrymen of the Qing army had been killed by Zhu Sanshui and less than [-] people were killed. Shaoxing opened the city and let these defeated soldiers enter the city. Once the door was opened, it was never closed, and no arrows or guns were fired to stop it. Just like that, Zhu Sanshui's team was let into Shaoxing City.

They entered Shaoxing City very smoothly, and when Zhu Sanshui was puzzled, Tian Fengji, who was staying in Shaoxing, appeared in front of him with Fatty Lu's token, telling him that he was grateful for Fatty Lu's care and care, and decided to give Fatty Lu all the best. The army surrendered and led the defenders to sacrifice Shaoxing City. After Zhu Sanshui came to his senses, he had an idea to prevent the fat army from planting the military flag on the city wall. He hurriedly took over the city defense and boarded the city wall to guard. With Tian Fengji's help and excellent archery skills, he shot and killed Mahada, the leader of the diehard Qing army.

After listening to Zhu Sanshui's introduction, Lu Zhangtai was of course jumping and jumping happily. Li Tianzhi and Yao Qisheng were also overjoyed. They hurriedly expressed that they must ask for credit from Fatty Lu for Tian Fengji, and decided to give Zhu Sanshui a first credit, and issued a big reward on the spot.At the same time, the good news on the battlefield in the western suburbs of Shaoxing came one after another. Mahada’s deputy Ekuna and the hardcore traitor Li Rong were killed, and Li Rongchun and Yang Lin were captured alive. The position forced a large number of Qing soldiers to the side of the Grand Canal, and the surrender was successful, and more Qing soldiers were captured in other positions.

Seeing that the overall situation of the Shaoxing battlefield has been decided, Li Tianzhi and Yao Qisheng couldn't wait to ask Tian Fengji about the situation in Ningbo. Tian Fengji replied: "Mangou's remnant army in Ningbo has about 7000 people, including about [-] navy troops, stationed in Zhenhai. Lieutenant General Chen Shikai led the navy. The remaining [-] troops were stationed in Ningbo City and Fenghua City respectively.

"By the way, Fratta originally recruited a group of pirates called stinky red meat, but because they hadn't paid their military pay for more than four months, that group of pirates went to the sea to rob again last month, and abducted a group of pirates. With a large amount of ammunition for the Ningbo navy, now Ningbo Mangou, regardless of the navy or the army, can only defend the city and the port at most, and can't use the strength to launch an attack, and because of the arrears of military salaries and isolation, morale has declined sharply."

"Okay!" Li Tianzhi patted his thigh with great joy, and ordered: "Hurry up and send an order to Yang Yingyuan, let him lead the troops of the headquarters, chase and kill the defeated army who fled to Shangyu overnight, and must wipe out the remnants of Mangou on the bank of Cao'e River, and then Then stay and rest, and leave the task of cleaning the battlefield to others."

"General Li, General Yang's headquarters are the second and third batches to enter the battlefield, and they are quite tired," Yao Qisheng reminded.

"I have to chase after I'm tired. I have to keep the vitality for the prince." Li Tianzhi said solemnly: "The news that we are full of dogs in Shaoxing will soon reach Geng Jingzhong's ears. Geng Jingzhong's child is alone and helpless. Hangzhou, I don’t want to leave a new force just in case something happens in Hangzhou, what should I do?”

"It's still General Li's careful calculation." Yao Qisheng smiled, no longer objecting, and let Li Tianzhi's personal soldiers go out of the city to deliver the order.

"General Li, Commander Yao, the guilty minister has an idea." Tian Fengji suggested: "The student has a little friendship with Chen Shikai, the vice-admiral of the Ningbo Navy who is full of dogs, and he has a good relationship with Giltabu. The guilty minister intends to write two letters to the Zhenhai Port and Ningbo City, recruit them for the Zhou army."

"Master Tian's plan is very clever, but in this way, your family in Shanxi...?" Yao Qisheng asked hesitantly.

"The criminals have already donated Shaoxing City to the Great Zhou Army, and the fire can no longer be covered with paper, so why should we worry about it?" Tian Fengji said with a wry smile: "I can only write another letter, and ask the Great Zhou Army to send it to you." Shanxi, let's see if they can move and hide in time."

Li Tianzhi was silent, sympathizing with Tian Fengji's current situation, and then nodded vigorously and said: "Well, please, Mr. Tian, ​​please repair the books for your family as soon as possible. I will immediately arrange for a fast boat to send you to Hangzhou overnight. Please send Mr. Tian to you as quickly as possible." sent his family letter to Shanxi."

"General Li, please ask your lord to seal the Qiantang River tightly, cut off the connection between Shaoxing and Geng Jingzhong, and let Geng Jingzhong know as little as possible about the situation on the Shaoxing battlefield." Yao Qisheng reminded Li Tianzhi, and then Yao Qisheng turned his eyes and immediately turned to Tian Fengji and said : "Master Tian, ​​can I trouble you to write another letter of appeal to Geng Jingzhong? Just say that we attacked Shaoxing City fiercely, you fought very hard to defend the city, and the food and grass in the city can only last for a month at most. Please ask him Fulfill the covenant, quickly send troops to rescue Shaoxing City, or encircle Wei and rescue Zhao to support it."

"Of course no problem." Tian Fengji smiled and replied: "I signed the covenant with Geng Jingzhong, and of course he believed the letter I wrote for help."

(End of this chapter)