It was the bitter end of winter, and the cold wind was cracking the skin in the wilderness. In a forest not far from the Tang River, several Ye Bushou from Liu Yan's army were quietly lurking. They all wore big coats and felt hats, and they all looked like ordinary people. Beside several people, there were many mules and horses parked, all with bits in their mouths.
At this time, they were looking around cautiously. After crossing the Tang River, not far to the south was Dingzhou City. To the north, dozens of miles away is Qingdu City, and less than a hundred miles further north is Baoding City. Of course they couldn't see Qingdu City and Baoding City from such a long distance.
Looking around, it seems that everything except wheat fields in the world is rivers, and everything except rivers is wheat fields. There is a village almost every few miles. This Qingdu became Wangdu County in later generations. Taihang Mountain can be seen in the distance to the west, and the plains within the territory are as broad as a stone. The soil is fertile and the water is beautiful. Baoding Prefecture is known as the "Hometown of Ten Thousand Acres of Pearls and Springs".
However, at this time of the cold winter, it seemed that everything was yellow and black. A few people were riding horses and did not walk on the official roads. The wheat fields that were frozen hard were also very easy to walk on. From time to time, you can see some curls of light smoke rising. Of course, it is not smoke from cooking, but the traces of Qing soldiers raging around and burning villages.
A few days ago, the Tatar soldiers who stayed out for several nights showed signs of leaving Qingdu and heading to Dingzhou. However, this does not mean that there are no Tatar soldiers in Qingdu. Yesterday, when several people passed by the Yao Mother Temple in the southeast of the city, they saw hundreds of Tatar soldiers with white flags gathered there. At that time, dozens of people chased after them.
Fortunately, there were only three men and three horses in Ye Bu Shu, so the Tatar sentries couldn't outrun them. Several soldiers who had not gathered in the night killed another carbine, and even captured a Tatar infantryman. After skinning him alive, they finally vented their hatred for being chased for dozens of miles.
Seeing that there was no movement around him, he couldn't help but said to someone after staying up all night: "Xu Tou, it's freezing cold here, how about making a fuss?" He took out his pipe from his arms, took out the fire stick, I really want to take a nice sip.
"No, prevent the fireworks from leaking our traces."
Na Xutou stopped him sternly, and then he sighed and said: "This is how the adult brother in our team was discovered and captured by the Tatar sentry. When we found his body... that look was so miserable. …”
As he said that, Xu Tou choked up a little, and everyone also calmed down. Staying late at night is an extremely dangerous job. Since Liu Yan sent out troops, there have been casualties in the army for about ten nights. What's even more frightening is that if you fall into the hands of the Tatar soldiers while scouting, you will be unable to survive or die, and it will be extremely miserable.
The success of Ye Bu Shu in their team was originally a lively and cheerful young man, and he was also good at singing folk songs. He had always been the pistachio of the Ye Bu Shu team of ACCCIM. Unexpectedly, he died like this a few days ago.
This Xu leader is Xu Mingde, the captain of the Ye Bu Shu team. He is a relatively calm middle-aged man and the current captain of the Ye Bu Shu team, Zuo Shao of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.
Xu Mingde was playing with a huge thunderbolt in his hand at this time, which was the original form of the grenade in later generations, but it was a bit bigger, as big as a human head. It was used to ignite the fire. It was specially made among the new troops of Xiahe Village.
Of course, such a large thunderbolt cannot be used in field battles, as it is more likely to kill friendly troops than the enemy. It is generally used by the Ming army to defend cities.
After Liu Yan's army reunited with Xuanda's officers and soldiers, in order to prepare for the next battle, all the battalions stayed up all night. Following Liu Yan's order, Xu Mingde also went out in person, leading several small teams to stay out all night to investigate.
Although Xu Mingde looks calm on the outside, he has a rich inner world. He is most afraid of falling into the hands of the enemy. Therefore, when he is in a desperate situation, as long as there is a chance, he will choose to commit suicide immediately. There are different ways to die. Wonderful method.
Xu Mingde always thinks about what kind of suicide method he should choose if he is in a desperate situation. After thinking about it in many ways, he was not satisfied. In the words of later generations, it was not heroic or romantic. If he is in dire straits, he will light the thunder, and even if he dies, he will have to drag a few Tatars on his back.
At this time, Xu Mingde was playing with Thunder and thinking about his next move. Suddenly he stayed up all night and shouted in a low voice: "Tou Xu, there is movement in the east...Tatars!"
Everyone jumped up immediately.
I saw smoke and dust billowing in front of them, and dozens of horses were chasing each other wildly in the wilderness. The sound of arrows piercing the air and the incomprehensible curses of the aliens kept coming.
I saw two soldiers who stayed at night, constantly whipping their horses, galloping forward as fast as lightning, as long as they reached the forest in front.
Behind the two men, there were ten Tatar cavalry still chasing after them. They were dressed in pure white cotton armor, but they were the sentinels of the Tatar white flag. While shouting loudly, they unfurled their bows and nocked arrows, constantly shooting at them.
Two Ye Bushou, who were also soldiers of Liu Yan's army, rode their horses to the front of the woods, and immediately shot out a shower of arrows from inside. Four or five of the Qing soldiers who were chasing them immediately fell off their horses, and they fell off their horses. The crossbow also penetrated the head of a Qing infantry soldier.
Immediately afterwards, several Ming soldiers roared out of the woods on horseback. The remaining three Qing soldiers saw that the situation was not good and immediately turned around and fled.
"Suddenly!" With a sound, a horse rope flew over like a ghost, and was accurately placed on the head of a Qing soldier. The rope was tightened instantly, and the Qing soldier was pulled backwards and off his horse. His mount neighed and fled far away. The remaining two Qing soldiers didn't even look back and galloped back on their horses.
After Xu Mingde and others succeeded, they did not stop and ran away in the opposite direction. They could not stay in this forest for long.
The Qing soldier was dragged wildly by the crowd. When he stopped in an unknown forest, his bloody flesh was no longer human, and his helmet had already fallen off and disappeared.
At this time, the Qing soldier struggled to look around and saw that the few people in front of him were all dressed as ordinary Ming people, but judging from their horses and equipment, they must be the elite Ye Bushou of the Ming army.
Seeing these people looking at him with fierce eyes, the Qing soldier also felt chilled. Just as he was about to struggle to get up, he suddenly heard a loud shout and a Ming soldier's fist hit him hard on the lower abdomen. The Qing soldier's eyes were prominent. , Hehe made a sound, curling up in pain.
Then the Ming soldier strode over, his face full of anger, and his voice was as unpleasant as nails scraping against an iron plate. He smiled evilly and said in Manchu: "Dog Tatar, tell me everything you know, and grandpa will give you a good time!"
Just as he was talking, he grabbed the money rat tail of the Qing soldier and lifted him up. The Qing soldier was quite strong, and his heavy body was supported by a pigtail. He explained clearly What is a critical moment?
The Qing soldier was dragged behind the horse for an unknown number of miles. His mouth and nose were already bleeding, and his face was covered with dust. In addition, being pulled up like this, he felt that his scalp was about to be torn off, and he suddenly let out bursts of screams.
Seeing this, Xu Mingde said coldly: "Xiao Dongzi, this Tartar will be handed over to you for interrogation."
The arrogant Ye Bushuang named Xiao Dongzi said excitedly: "Don't worry, Xu Tou. My Xiao Dongzi will definitely serve him well. I guarantee that this Tartar will even reveal how many men his mother stole."
At this time, a cruel taste flashed across Xiao Dongzi's face. He took out a rusty knife, grabbed the Qing soldier's money and pulled his tail aside. Soon, there was a long and shrill howl, interspersed with bursts of angry curses from Xiao Dongzi.
Over there, Xiao Dongzi was interrogating the Tartar's tongue. He saw Xiao Dongzi cutting off the Tartar's flesh piece by piece with a rusty knife, and heard his cries of death, but Xiao Dongzi But he was a little breathless, as if he was too excited to restrain himself.
Soon, the captured Qing soldier was tortured to death by Xiao Dongzi, and Xiao Dongzi successfully asked the questions he wanted, so Xu Mingde ordered to chop off his head, peel off his armor, and leave The next naked, headless body was in the woods.
After all these things were dealt with, Xiao Dongzi said with a solemn face: "Tou Xu, I have asked about the situation of the Tatar soldiers in front: in the direction of Dingzhou, there is the Tatar army with white flags, led by the bandit leader Duduo. and Abatai are heading to Gaoyang. The thief leader Dorgon leads the Tatar soldiers of the Zhengbai Banner, mainly attacking Gaoyang, Raoyang, Wuqiang and other places. There is also the thief leader Yue Tuo, who leads the Tatar soldiers of the Zhenghong Banner. The troops are mainly attacking Wuyi, Zaoqiang, Hengshui and other places. We will pass this information to Lu Duchen and your Excellency as soon as possible."
At this time, in Qingdu, there was a mighty column of people, mostly cavalry, more than 10,000 people, spread out in a marching array. The sea of red armor and flags seemed to have no end in sight.
The army is divided into forward, middle, middle and rear, which are the traditional marching columns of the Ming Dynasty. Among the group of people, Yang Guozhu led his troops at the front, serving as the vanguard, and also held a banner of "Commander of the Former Army".
Then came Lu Xiangsheng's Supervisory Biao Camp, which combined with the two thousand troops of Xuanfu General Zhang Yan and Liu Yan's Xiahe Village New Army to form the Chinese Army. Next, the main barracks of Wang Pu, the chief military officer of Datong Town, is the middle part, and finally the rear camp is Hu Dawei, the chief military officer of Shanxi Town.
The soldiers and horses of each route were less than ten miles apart, and they all marched steadily in a queue of several horses, with flags following each other in an orderly manner.
The army set off from Baoding City yesterday and arrived in Qingdu today, marching no more than sixty miles a day. It is normal for cavalry to travel hundreds of miles a day. Speaking of which, the speed of the army's march was slowed down by Liu Yan and Zhang Yan's troops. After all, most of their troops were infantry.
However, Liu Yan believed that it was beneficial for Xuan Da's army to maintain a marching speed of sixty miles a day. After all, Xuan Da's army was hungry and exhausted for a long time. Although the soldiers rested for a few days, the soldiers and horses were still very tired. If the army now marches two to three hundred miles a day, only a few hundred of the thousands of people will be able to reach a certain place, and it will be impossible to march in a strict manner and maintain the integrity of the military posture.
Behind each army is their densely packed mules and horse baggage. Generally, each general's camp carries a large number of tents, horses, gunpowder, squatting cannons and other items. After Liu Yan transported grain and grass, a large number of grain and grass carts and horses followed behind each battalion.
These baggage inevitably slowed down the march of the army. The soldiers in various towns in Xuanda were already suffering from hunger. Although the food and grass in their camps was less than half a month's food, no matter what, they must carry this food and grass with them. Only then can you feel at ease, and the marching speed will drag you down.
Lu Xiangsheng rode energetically on his war horse Wumingji. He turned back and glanced at Liu Yan's army with approval. It can be said that all of those soldiers were good soldiers. They followed Liu Yan's Chinese army banner, ten people in a row, marching neatly one by one. When they came out of Baoding City, their formation was always so neat, even the heavy baggage soldiers were no exception.
Most of these people were infantry, and everyone was wearing heavy armor. After marching for several days, no one fell behind. The marching column was always so orderly! If there are ten people in a row, there will be ten people in a row, and if you look at a straight line from each row, it will be a straight line.
After a long march, even the cavalry in the three towns could not do this. The queue of several horses was already a little crooked. Zhang Yan, the general of the Xuanfu behind Liu Yan, had good cavalry in his army, but half of them were infantry. Their march was now sparse, and many soldiers were dragging their tired bodies listlessly, struggling to keep up.
Just looking at the marching lineup, Liu Yan's army is so strong that it can be said to be firmly ranked first among the three towns of Xuanda.
Some people died, but not completely...
