Begging in late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 418
Since Qin Shihuang unified the entire empire, the history of China has always been that the north ruled the south, the Han conquered Chu, the Jin conquered Dongwu, the Sui conquered Chen, and the Song conquered the Southern Tang. The argument that the Mongols occupied the whole country caused the nomadic line to move south, and there were also a large number of cavalry in the south, but now, he has thrown this idea far away.

It's purely because of the cold, it's so fucking cold!
These days, there is no concentrated tribute. You can watch TV while wearing a vest, eating ice cream, and there is no global warming like that of later generations. You don’t even have down jackets. It's frozen like a dog, and now the season has entered September and it's closer to October. If you change to the Gregorian calendar, it will be the end of October. I still don't feel much in Yangzhou, but as soon as I cross the Huaihe River, Song Qingshu is directly frozen.

Thanks to Jiaduobao, they temporarily recruited all the county-made cotton clothes from shops in several nearby prefectures and counties. Even the men from the Dabie Mountains who were recruited had a piece of their hands. They were delayed in Huaibei for a few days, and they were wrapped up one by one. The bread-like begging army has just embarked on the journey again.

The scale of this expedition is also unprecedented for the Qihuo Army. There are a total of eight divisions. The Left Fifth Division replaced the Anqing First Division, which was converted into a naval division, with a total of 4000 people. However, the number of cavalry in this army was very small. The first division and the second division were all pure infantry divisions. For the cavalry battalion, add one yuan and three thousand cavalry.

Almost all men with household registration in Dabie Mountains and Anqing were organized into militias. In addition to the regular army, Sun Chuanting also recruited 5 civilian men from various townships, a total of [-].

It’s not that the south can’t raise horses. A few forests were circled in Yinghuo Mountain as a racecourse, and the road was leveled. Every day, the horses were put on a gallop for exercise. With good nutrition, the Mongolian horses imported on the grassland still changed to eat and drink. It looks not inferior to that in the hands of the Mongols. Although it is not as rich as Dai County, there are more than 5000 horses, mules and cows among the people who help pull things.
All the way from Jiangnan, there are large ships carrying supplies. Even if there is a delay of a few days, it will take half a month to enter Shandong from Yangzhou. At least we can make it before the end of October, the deadline of the Ministry of War, so that Ma Shiying, who is half-brained, can be counted. relieved.

But when it was close to Dezhou, I had to say goodbye to the sea boats. The battlefield had already shifted to Hebei, and finally walked a section of the canal, and I had to rely on both feet to go out of Shandong.

The army of 5 people stretched into a marching formation of more than 3000 meters. The main cavalry marched in front of and behind the army. There were two battalions of cavalry on the left and right to protect the flanks. The carriages were wrapped, but the ten 500-jin Hongyi cannons of each division and hundreds of [-]-jin cannons were pulled by the infantry themselves. In case of an emergency, they could fire at any time. Damn it.

The bleak autumn wind not only did not blow the banners with Ming characters and Song characters, but the banners were frozen hard and sorghum had been frosted. Moreover, from the coach Song Qingshu to the junior soldiers, they also seemed a little weak.

In the Great Patriotic War, saving the common people from fire and water, fighting against the Tartars with a smile on the battlefield, it’s not like Song Qingshu didn’t have that passion. Once upon a time, he also dreamed of holding a steel gun and fighting to the death with the invading foreigners, even if it was a war. Death on the battlefield is also a worthy death, but it feels so aggrieved to fight for the Ming Dynasty.

Even in the core area of ​​the empire in Yangzhou, Song Qingshu didn't feel like one of his own people. He traveled through states and counties, closing the city gates one after another like guarding against thieves. The county officials didn't even see each other. Not at all, not even the hay, bran, and soybean meal that feed the horses, and no county is willing to supply them, forcing the beggar army to send quartermasters with money to buy these things in advance where they need to pass it is good.

This is not the most uncomfortable thing, the uncomfortable thing is that along the way, he encountered sarcastic remarks, gentry looked down on soldiers, and the most bizarre thing was that there was an official who was a three-pao official and arrogantly stopped Song Qingshu, asking him to stay in the army and take his house Only when it is repaired can they go. This march is also the first time that Song Qingshu did not restrain the order of the army, and let Fengyang Xinyi Division take a "vacation" for two days.

It’s no wonder that the army at the end of the Ming Dynasty became more and more warlord, military discipline became worse and worse, the court became more and more immobile, and people’s hearts were full of flesh.There is no military food, and the soldiers don't go to grab it and starve to death?The military salaries are all picked out by the chief general, and the court didn't pay a penny, and there was no kindness at all. At critical moments, who would listen to him?
Song Qingshu himself was quite aggrieved. Before he came, he had expected that this national war would not be peaceful, but he didn't expect it to be so complicated. He had just crossed the Yellow River. The imperial decree came. Today, Lu Xiangsheng ordered to advance at full speed. Tomorrow, Yang Sichang ordered to march cautiously. The soldiers should not be too tired.Hu Qi fought all the way to the capital city, without even a unified style.

And after entering Hebei, what's even more disgusting is that the imperial court sent a eunuch and a civil servant to supervise the army. The two hundred and fifty sesame wool don't understand, but there are a lot of farts every day, and the imperial court pays a dime They didn't give anything, and the two bastards actually wanted to ask Song Qingshu for bribes. Song Qingshu, who was so angry on the first day, almost took out his gun and collapsed the two bastards. He was so scared that his immediate boss Ma Shiying, the governor of Lufeng, personally forced him He stuffed the gun back in his hand, and then took the eunuch and that fart supervisor Yushi into his [-] pacesetter battalion, separated on both sides, so that there was no mutiny.

On October 21, the begging army who was led around in a large circle in the North China Great Plains could be considered to have received a clear order. The Qing army had broken through Fangshan and captured Zhending. The begging army turned south and returned to Gaoyang County. Stationed in the ground to protect the supply line for King Qin's army on the flanks of the canal.

Song Qingshu couldn't bear to wander around on the North China Plain. Even though he had eight elite divisions, most of them were infantry, he did not have an advantage against cavalry on the vast plain. You must know that even in the Napoleon era, Napoleon the Great invaded Russia I was almost cut off by the Cossack cavalry and couldn't find the north. I didn't dare to make the next attack for a full four hours. With a round of equipment, the begging army was able to level with Napoleon's army, and even the combat experience and combat thinking were even lower. Some, as for the Qing army, it should be much stronger than the Cossacks in fighting against the Great Ming Dynasty.

Especially what Song Qingshu can't stand is his cheating teammates. Many prefectures and counties in Hebei can't even provide reliable information. Today this one says that the Qing army has reached Linqing, and tomorrow the one says that the Qing army is still in Baoding The mansion area and Lu Xiangsheng's army soaked mushrooms, and there were even some who said that the Qing army would borrow Yin soldiers, and they could travel thousands of miles a day. Anyway, the whole of Beizhili seemed to be full of Qing soldiers.

It's better to garrison on the spot, relying on the city wall to defend on the spot, is it better than facing a hundred thousand Tartar cavalry?

"Commander, according to the last general, the Tartars are still entangled with the imperial army in the area of ​​Baoding Mansion. After all, Lu Xiangsheng is a well-known fierce general in the world. The three major battalions are no less than [-] people. Although the Tartars are arrogant, after all, they are going deep alone, and they are afraid that our Great Ming will cut off their retreat. As for the Tartars that appear in various prefectures and counties, they should be small groups of Tartars. The usual tactics of the Tartars are to plunder with light soldiers, harass the officers and troops in the rear, wait for the officers and troops to loosen, and then press down with a large army!"

"Also, Commander, you have a misunderstanding. Although the cavalry of the eastern captives are sharp, they are not much better than the Mongolian Tartars. The most elite of the captives are their infantry. Orders are forbidden, and they are not afraid of death. During the battle of Sarhu, there were captives. Soldiers rode horses to the official army formation, jumped off their horses, slashed and slashed, thus breaking the Marin army formation, we need to defend against this in advance."

Although Sun Chuanting was a small official in his early years, he also served as a counselor for the Liaodong military aircraft. He knew a lot about Donglu, and the firm also had many branches in Beizhili. While riding a horse, Sun Chuanting gave Song Qingshu a clear analysis. But the audible Song Qingshu couldn't help grinning and yelling angrily.

"Oh, my Gaoyang County is in the outskirts. Tartars are rampant in the country, but the imperial court dare not fight. Just watching the Tartars looting everywhere, the princes of the imperial court, let the donkeys kick their heads! "

"The commander-in-chief can't say the same. Duke Lu Xiangsheng fought with the princesses in the court, but Yang Sichang, Cao Huachun and other dignitaries are the main peace. The emperor is caught in the middle, which is also a dilemma."

"So the emperor is an idiot. He is the supreme ruler of the Ming Empire. If he wants to fight, he will gamble everything to fight to the death. If he wants to reconcile, he should kneel down early and be good. Send the two princesses there, and send some tax coins to spend. Peace of mind to cultivate the country. , This battle is not a fight, and there is no peace, one hand is tied and the Donglu is choking each other, and the battle that can be won must be lost. Just watch, Lu Xiangsheng will die of bad luck in a short time!"

Sun Chuanting almost fell off his horse in fright. He looked around and saw that they were all his own soldiers, Zhang Ruolin, the censor of the army, and Sun Maolin, the eunuch of the army. Terrified, he huddled in Lufeng governor Ma Shiying's place, without outsiders, Sun Chuanting breathed a sigh of relief, and clenched his fists at Song Qingshu sadly: "Marshal, how can you scold the emperor? This is disrespectful!"

"Huh, disrespectful, if it weren't for the emperor and the mud, whether to suppress or support, and to change the order of Liaodong day and night, without any responsibility, the country can be messed up like this, a shop is not managed carelessly, it is the shopkeeper's responsibility, If a business fails to operate, it is the responsibility of the owner like me. If a country is in turmoil, it is the responsibility of the emperor. What kind of treacherous ministers, it is because the emperor does not know people well, let alone scolding him, he will beat him when he sees him!"

It is estimated that there is no one other than Song Qingshu who dares to make such nonsense these days. Seeing him with his head raised for granted, Sun Chuanting just shut up sadly.

At this time, the messenger soldier in front also galloped back on the horse, and turned over suddenly in front of Song Qingshu's horse.

"Report to Commander-in-Chief, we have arrived at Gaoyang County!"

"Oh? It's here?"

With a snort, Song Qingshu picked up the binoculars casually, but when he looked around, his brows could not help but frown, and then he snorted coldly and threw the binoculars back heavily to his chest.

"His grandma is a bear!"

(End of this chapter)