nanming man

Chapter 93 The Battle of Zhongzhou Nine

More than two hundred miles southwest of Xiangcheng, on the official road leading to Nanyang Fucheng, a group of people struggled in the rain.

The cold rainwater in the sky, like broken beads, kept falling.

Since the officers and soldiers withdrew from Xiangcheng, the sky has been raining heavily for several days. The road is muddy, and lighter vehicles can barely walk. It is very difficult for the artillery carts equipped with artillery to move.

On the muddy road, several officers and soldiers in coir raincoats chanted and pushed a cannon cart stuck in the mud.

"One, two, three, push hard!" The little banner officer commanded anxiously, with several soldiers pushing behind and a mule pulling in front, neighing non-stop.

There are many types of trains, some are loaded with clothes and quilts, some are loaded with rations, and some are loaded with artillery.

These vehicles formed a line on the official road and spread for several miles. From time to time, the wheels got stuck in the mud and paralyzed on the official road.

Looking down from the sky at this time, on the road to the northern foot of Fangcheng Mountain, a red line stretches for more than ten miles.On the congested road, people's voices and horses neighing, the sound of leather whips beating mules and horses, and the shouting and cursing of soldiers all rang out, making it extremely noisy.

Sun Chuanting was wearing a coir raincoat and standing by the road on horseback. He stared at the embarrassed army with a serious face, and turned his head and asked, "Yingwu, how far is the army from Fangcheng Mountain in the north of Yuzhou?"

According to Sun Chuanting's plan, he would retreat to the foot of Fangcheng Mountain and face Li Zicheng with his back. However, the heavy rain made the march slow, and the army had not arrived yet, which made him a little worried that Li Zicheng would catch up.

"Supervisor, Mr. Zheng sent someone to report that he has passed Chenjiaji, only [-] miles away from the foot of the mountain, and he will arrive in two days." Gao Jie clasped his fists as the rain hit him.

When Sun Chuanting heard that it would take two more days, he couldn't help frowning. He was silent for a while, then suddenly turned to look at the person next to him.

That person was Qiao Yuangui, deputy envoy of the military supervisor, who was in charge of logistics. He felt Sun Chuanting's gaze, and immediately urged his horse to approach Sun Chuanting.

The two were very close, and Sun Chuanting leaned over, turned his head and asked in a low voice, "How is the food situation?"

Qiao Yuangui urged the horse to get closer, and replied in a low voice: "Reporting to the supervisor, there is no news from the direction of Shaanxi. It is estimated that the grain road has been cut off, but the prefect of Nanyang has already raised some grain for the supervisor, and it is being transported to Yuzhou."

"How much food does the army have?"

Qiao Yuangui stretched out three fingers, "Three days."

Sun Chuanting was dizzy, his body swayed on the horse, and he almost fell off the horse. He stabilized his body and looked up at the sky. The cold rain hit his face, which instantly revived him.

If it hadn't been raining, he should have reached the boundary of Yuzhou by now, setting up his position, waiting for Li Zicheng to bump into him head-on.

"Yingwu, send an order immediately to let the army abandon the heavy loads and march faster! You must arrive at Yuzhou before dark tomorrow." Sun Chuanting looked at the sky and suddenly turned his head to give the order.

Gao Jie was about to embrace his fists to accept the order, when a group of cavalry came rushing from behind in a panic, the leader was Chen Yongfu, the general soldier of Henan Province.

The cavalry galloped over, trampling the horseshoes in the mud pit, and splashing the sewage, which shocked the Qin soldiers on the road to dodge again and again, cursing their mothers.

Hearing the commotion, Sun Chuanting turned his head to look, and saw that Chen Yongfu, covered in blood and with a few arrows stuck in the gaps in his armor, was running towards this side, his face turned red immediately.

"Master, the thieves are chasing up, and the last general has already dispersed!" Chen Yongfu almost rolled off his horse, hurriedly came to Sun Chuanting's horse, and reported on one knee.

Sun Chuanting knew that something was wrong when he saw him. His lips trembled slightly, and he tried his best to calm down and not let himself appear flustered. "What's the situation now? Where are the bandits?"

"Chief Qin is fighting to the death, and the bandits are less than fifteen miles away from the rear!" Chen Yongfu replied in a deep voice.

Sun Chuanting opened his mouth wide and did not speak for a long time, it was God not helping him.

"Master, do you still want to send the order?" Gao Jie couldn't help asking softly when he saw Sun Chuanting was silent.

Sun Chuanting's chest heaved a few times, looked at Chen Yongfu who was still kneeling in the muddy water, and said comfortingly: "Mr. Chen, go gather your subordinates and bandage the wound first. Your task has been completed, and the rest will be left to the governor." .”

Sun Chuanting's words made people feel at ease, and made the generals feel a kind of support, so that they would not panic.

Chen Yongfu clasped his fists in salute, covered the arrow wound on his arm with one hand, stood up, and two of his subordinates immediately stepped forward to help him away.

Sun Chuanting waited for him to walk away, then turned to Gao Jie and said, "The military order just now has been cancelled, and now the governor has issued a new order, ordering the army to stop marching, and set up an array on the spot, ready to face the intruders!"

Gao Jie had some hesitation on his face. This was too far from their plan, but Chuang Jun had already caught up, and they had no other choice.

Thinking of this, Gao Jie's face became solemn, "Don't worry, the supervisor, the general will pass the order, we will fight the intruders."

Sun Chuanting waved his hand, "You go."

As soon as Gao Jie left, Sun Chuanting looked up at the sky again, as if he had a pair of eyes that could disperse the dark clouds in the sky.

In the wilderness south of Ye County and north of Yuzhou, the cold wind howled and the drizzle continued, making the entire sky and land hazy.

Tens of thousands of Ming troops set up a large formation here, like a forest of spears and canine teeth. The soldiers were motionless in the rain. From a distance, it looked like a forest.

At this time, the ground suddenly began to tremble slightly, and then there was the sound of rolling thunder, and a crowd of people appeared in the far distance to the north, and countless intruders were like a raging tide, pressing towards the south.

In front of the crowd were nearly [-] cavalry galloping wildly, splashing pieces of mud from the horses.

Qin Yiming and hundreds of officers and cavalry, with broken armor and arrows shot by bandit soldiers in their backs, were rushing forward to flee again.

While urging the horses, Qin Yiming looked back and saw the cavalry running behind were shot off their horses by the bandits from time to time.

Behind the cavalry of the Ming army, a large group of cavalry who broke into the army waved their whips and chased after them, bending their bows and shooting arrows from time to time, shooting and killing the Ming army in front.

"General Zhi, we're catching up!" A bandit cavalry raised his head and suddenly reminded him urgently.

Li Guo raised his head to look south when he heard the sound, and couldn't help but change his face.On the vast field, a human wall suddenly appeared, and tens of thousands of Ming troops formed a large formation several kilometers long, waiting for them.

At that moment, Li Guo couldn't help but rein in his horse, and shouted loudly, "Stop!"

The cavalry around them raised their heads and blew their horns. More than ten thousand galloping cavalry suddenly slowed down their horses and rushed for more than 100 meters before slowly stopping.

Without the pursuit of the cavalry, Qin Yiming led hundreds of cavalry, and the pressure immediately eased, bypassing the large formation in front of the Ming army, and going backwards.

At this time, Li Zicheng, who was wearing a coir raincoat, led more than a hundred riders, galloped to the front, stopped beside Li Guo, and began to watch the Ming army in formation with stern eyes. A big battle was about to break out~
(End of this chapter)