After Dorgon gave the order, the Qing soldiers around the Ming army camp dug and set up strongholds on the spot. Slowly, the continuous Qing army camps appeared in front of the Ming army soldiers. It seemed that they could not be seen from any direction. On the edge of the Qing army tents, a sea of flags of various colors fluttered in the cold wind.
The flag bearers on the pole carts kept transmitting flags. Among the Qing army camps, the most numerous were by the Zushui River ten miles away to the east. There were also many upstream and downstream of the Haoshui River close to the Ming army camp. Only the west side of the Haoshui River There seemed to be fewer campsites on the other side of the river.
At this time, the soldiers of Xuanda and Shandong were quietly watching the Qing troops camp, and saw that they were shouting "Ma Xi", and the auxiliary soldiers of the brigade were facing the cold wind, going out to fetch water and make rice, and the foreign accents kept coming to their ears. .
As night falls slowly, in the Qing army camp, dots of lights light up, and finally merge into a bright sea of lights. In addition, the Ming army camp was also brightly lit. Looking from the air, it looked like several huge cities that never sleep appeared around Julu.
That night Lu Xiangsheng summoned the generals again to discuss matters. Lu Xiangsheng knew that the Qing army's military strength had brought a great impact to the generals, so he began to cheer for the generals.
After the discussion, Lu Xiangsheng stopped Liu Yan again and asked Liu Yan to accompany him around. Lu Xiangsheng was accompanied by his general Chen An, and Liu Yan was only accompanied by Miao Shao and a few other personal guards. The group was just patrolling around the camp.
The entire Ming army camp was heavily guarded, with soldiers patrolling each battalion constantly, and commands and shouts kept ringing out. Other than that, there was no one around the tents except for the dim light from the lanterns and torches in front of the tents.
In the outer defense line of the Ming army camp, each battalion here also arranged a large number of night watchmen. They were placed on rows of wooden poles on the ground and hung with layers of lanterns. They shook from time to time in the cold wind and illuminated the surrounding areas. boundary. In order to prevent the Qing soldiers from stealing the camp, in addition to these night watchmen and lanterns and torches. The ground surrounding the Ming army's camp on three sides was also covered with layers of iron caltrops, and the key areas were also covered with anti-horses.
It is actually not easy to steal a camp in this era. Not to mention that there are many soldiers suffering from night blindness, and the banners and drums of the cold weapon era have lost their effect. A sneak attack by a small group of troops is okay, but a sneak attack by a large group of troops is purely adding to the chaos. Therefore, it is extremely difficult for the Qing soldiers to sneak into the camp of the Xuan army. Similarly, it is not that easy for the Xuan army to sneak into the Qing army's camp.
Liu Yan and Lu Xiangsheng came to the outer defense line of the camp. Looking at the dense sea of lights in the Qing army camp opposite, Liu Yan was in a trance, as if he had returned to later generations and faced the sea of lights in the city.
The group of people walked around the perimeter of the camp, and finally came to the Haoshui River. Opposite there was also the faint sea of lights in the Qing army camp, and connected with the stars in the sky, it seemed that it was impossible to tell which was the sky and which was the earth.
The cold nights in midwinter are bone-chilling, and the night wind by the river is even stronger. Liu Yan was wearing armor and felt cold to his bones. Sometimes when a cold wind blows, Liu Yan can't help but shiver all over his body, and from time to time he hears the sound of people's teeth clashing together around him.
In the dark night by the river, Lu Xiangsheng, Liu Yan and others saw a fire burning somewhere. Several people were jumping around the fire. One of them threw paper money from time to time and muttered: "Come back! Come back... …”
Lu Xiangsheng's general Chen An strode over, and soon he came back to report: "The governor is a brother of the governor's Biao camp. He is doing a spiritual salvation for his brother Ye Bushou who died in the two days of fighting. During the day, he reported to the governor With permission.”
Lu Xiangsheng nodded, and everyone silently watched the soldiers of the Dubiao camp jumping around. It was not ridiculous, but it was extremely solemn. Liu Yan's eyes suddenly became moist. I don't know how much time passed, but the few soldiers dispersed. Lu Xiangsheng was wearing a big cloak and just stared at the sea of lanterns in Qingying across the river without moving. After a long time, he suddenly asked, "Liu Yan, this time the imperial court has summoned your troops to help our troops." Governor, don’t you regret it later?”
Liu Yan was startled, and the imperial court ordered him to lead his troops to help Lu Xiangsheng's troops. At that time, they just said that they would come and join him as soon as possible. However, Liu Yan had hundreds of years of experience in later generations, so he naturally knew that as long as he led his troops, they would reach Julu. Here, we will face a near-death battle, but Liu Yan still leads his troops to come. Why?
Of course, one reason is to try to save Lu Xiangsheng. After all, Lu Xiangsheng is a rare perfect star in the late Ming Dynasty, and Liu Yan can save one by one. Secondly, Liu Yan also wanted to win the battle of Julu. Victory in this battle was crucial to Liu Yan, as it was related to Liu Yan's future promotion to official positions and development of strength.
With the results of this battle in hand, Liu Yan will be able to act much more smoothly in the future. This time, Liu Yan must take a gamble.
So Liu Yan smiled and said, "What are you regretting? If you follow the governor and kill the thieves, you will die. Even the general will deserve his death!"
Lu Xiangsheng sighed softly: "You didn't want to come. There are so many soldiers and horses in Shandong Dusi, and it is not your turn as a defensive officer to come. If you stay in Shandong, with your nature, it can be said that you have a bright future, and you won't If you are trapped in a tight siege like this, your future is unpredictable!"
Liu Yan laughed loudly and said: "The governor is kind to the general. Although the general is a warrior, he also knows the principle of repaying the kindness of a drop of water with a spring. If you are trapped in a tight siege, you will be trapped in a tight siege. It is a good time to kill the thieves. !”
Lu Xiangsheng murmured something and sighed: "Although you are a warrior, you understand the principles of loyalty better than most literati. We have read many books by sages, but not as many as you."
Then he added: "When the slaves and thieves retreat from this battle, I will appeal to the emperor again and beg you to go home to Ding You. After the death of the family Yan, it is really unfilial for a child to not be filial by his side."
Liu Yan comforted him and said, "It is difficult to have both loyalty and filial piety in Zangu. The governor does not need to blame himself too much."
Lu Xiangsheng nodded silently, then folded his cloak and said, "It's still too cold in the north. I really miss the scenery in the south of the Yangtze River."
He turned to Liu Yan, smiled, and said, "When my governor returns to Changzhou in the future, if you come to Yixing, I will welcome you with all my heart."
Liu Yan said with a smile: "It's settled, I will definitely come to my house for dinner if I get the chance."
Everyone around them laughed, and Lu Xiangsheng couldn't help but shake his head.
That night, when Liu Yan slept until the middle of the night, he suddenly heard the faint sound of crackles coming from the surrounding area. It came from the Qing camp. It was like being besieged on all sides. Perhaps it was used by the Qing soldiers to break the fighting spirit of Xuan's army. The sound of the sword was mysterious, faintly echoing in the night sky.
Liu Yan listened for a while and then simply sat up. His heart was racing. Tomorrow's battle would be extremely difficult. With all his hard work, could he change the outcome of the Battle of Julu?
Scenes of the past appeared in front of him, from Wangjiazhuang Dapan Dun to the present, he could no longer look back. Liu Yan sighed in his heart: "Tomorrow, let's fight to the death!"
He thought quietly for an unknown amount of time before Liu Yan fell asleep again.
Early the next morning, the horns of the Qing camp sounded non-stop. From morning to night, it seemed that large groups of Qing troops arrived and merged into the army that arrived yesterday. They camped densely in the surrounding area, surrounding the Xuanda camp, three layers inside and three layers outside.
There was still no fighting that day, but it was obvious that the Qing soldiers had made up their mind to wipe out Xuanda and Shandong soldiers and horses in one go. The intelligence is already very clear. There are large groups of Qing soldiers gathered in the east, north and south of the Ming army camp, with only Hexi having fewer soldiers.
This is not because Dorgon and the others were negligent, but because their intentions were more sinister. They used the tactic of surrounding three buildings to seemingly leave an escape route to the west for Xuan Da's army, making the whole army want to survive, thus weakening their desperate struggle. ambition.
Lu Xiangsheng, Liu Yan and others were certain that there must be a large ambush in the west. Even if there is no ambush, as long as the Ming army retreats and the entire army has no fighting spirit, and the Qing soldiers surround and pursue them in three directions, only one out of ten Ming soldiers will be able to escape.
Throughout the day, Liu Yan, Lu Xiangsheng and others looked towards the Qing camp, assessing the Qing troops who were constantly arriving. Liu Yan estimated that the Qing army under siege this time was at least twice as powerful as the Qing army in history. Liu Yan sneered in his heart and said to himself: "Either we underestimate it, or we pay too much attention to it, Dorgon and others are sick! "
Another day passed. The sun was shining brightly and the weather was good. However, the wind was obviously stronger than yesterday. The cold wind howled from time to time, blowing the banners and clothes.
In the early morning of that day, the horns of the Qing army's camp sounded again, and densely packed men and horses from each camp were seen coming out. Finally, they merged into an airtight mass. On the distant horizon, from three directions, a dark and dense crowd rushed toward the Xuanda camp. .
The Qing soldiers were finally about to start the war. All the soldiers exhaled. Lu Xiangsheng came to the middle of the outer defense line, faced the camp several times, bowed to all the soldiers several times, and loudly encouraged them. He said loudly: "My soldiers and I share the favor of the imperial court. We must not worry about death, but don't worry about life!"
Everyone shouted in joy, and Liu Yan shouted: "Brothers, kill all those short Tatars without leaving any trace behind!"
Everyone laughed, and Lu Xiangsheng also laughed.
A dense forest of guns was erected. Among the new troops in Xiahe Village, I don’t know who took the lead in singing the military song "The River is Red": "I was leaning against the railing with anger, and the mist rain stopped. I looked up, looked up to the sky and roared, with strong ambitions. Thirty years of fame and achievements. Earth, eight thousand miles of road, clouds and moon..."
Liu Yan's impassioned response: "...Jingkang's shame has not yet been resolved. The hatred of the ministers, when will it be eradicated? Drive a long chariot and traverse the gap in Helan Mountain..."
Lu Xiangsheng also said loudly: "Zhuangzhi eats Huns' meat when they are hungry, and talks about drinking Huns' blood when they are thirsty..."
More and more people sang, and gradually the military songs became a majestic one. From Lu Xiangsheng to Liu Yan to Yang Guozhu, to Hu Dawei to Zhang Yan, all the officers and soldiers of the Ming army were singing loudly. At this moment, everyone had no fear and was no longer afraid.
After the soldiers of the Ming army sang "The River is Red", the soldiers of the new army in Xiahezhai sang their own military song "The End of the Han Dynasty"
"Don't you see, the Han Dynasty's army has weak crowns, and the prisoners are asking for long tassels.
I don’t see you, Ban Ding is far away, Jueyu Qingqi urges Zhan Yun!
A man should be in a dangerous career, why should he let a scholar's crown ruin his life?
Kuang Nai's country is in danger as if it were full of eggs, and the feathers and feathers are racing without stopping!
Abandon my old pen and keep my wartime pen,
At one call, more than 100,000 comrades sang war songs and joined the army.
Anbang country, clean up the dust, vow to sweep away the slaves in the East without caring about themselves! "
Lu Xiangsheng and other soldiers listened to the new army of Xiahezhai singing this military song, and their hearts were filled with excitement. Although they could not sing, they also raised their arms and cheered. The morale of the Ming army reached its peak.
The majestic song of the Ming army spread far away. When the Qing soldiers who were approaching from three sides heard it, many of them had solemn expressions. This Ming army was different, so everyone should be careful.
In the sea of Qing military flags coming from the front, the golden dragon flags of the ordered General Dorgon and Yangwu General Yue Tuo could not help but billow in the cold wind. Following the flags of the two men, in addition to their numerous domestic slave guards, were also the dragon flags of the second flag of Bagala and Zhangjing. Behind the dragon flag, there are Baya soldiers in silver armor and riding horses on their hips. Behind the Baya La soldiers were the soldiers of the Alihachaoha battalion of the two banners.
"What are those nikans singing?"
The rest of the people didn't know, but Dorgon and Yue Tuo understood clearly. They had listened to Yue Fei's "Man Jiang Hong" since they were children, but when they heard it again, they found it so harsh.
In addition, although they had never heard the military song sung by the Ming army later, Dorgon and Yue Tuo felt that this song was more harsh than "Man Jiang Hong", and their faces became very ugly.
"This Ming army must not be left here, it will become a big problem in the future!"
Dorgon no longer hesitated, and immediately called Niulu Zhangjingtan of Eight Banners Manchuria Zhenghong Banner Baya La Camp to worship, ordered him to lead his troops to attack, and also mobilized soldiers and horses from various ministries to accompany the attack.
Yue Tuo also nodded in approval.
Some people died, but not completely...
