The eighth day of July, the night before dawn.
Commander Xu Ming gathered the soldiers of the cavalry battalion and rode out of the camp in the dim light before dawn. The whole battalion, excluding the craftsmen, military doctors, veterinarians and other personnel, totaling more than 3,600 soldiers, carried four days of rations towards Agate Mountain. march.
Liu Yan stood in the new army camp and watched Xu Ming lead his troops to attack until the army slowly disappeared into the darkness.
"Sir, is the information given by Yang Sichang trustworthy?"
On the side, Miao Shao said worriedly, obviously distrustful of Yang Sichang and worried that the soldiers of the cavalry battalion would make mistakes.
Liu Yan frowned slightly and said: "Yang Sichang's intelligence is credible. He will not make a fuss about the outcome of this battle. After all, Yang Sichang still wants to gain a foothold in the cabinet with his military exploits. It's just..."
"What are you worried about, sir?"
Liu Yan said: "It's just that Zhang Xianzhong has been besieged in Manao Mountain for a while, and he can still get money and food from the outside world. He is also related to the bandits in Shaanxi and Shanxi. This shows how far the bandit chaos is now. If you want to It’s probably unrealistic to calm down the turmoil quickly!”
Miao Shao sighed: "The common people are suffering!"
At the same time, Yang Sichang was staring at the map in the Chinese army's tent in a daze. The governor of Shaanxi Zheng Chongjian frowned and looked at Yang Sichang without saying a word for a long time. Yes, since the bandits over there can transport food and grass, they can go south to support Agate Mountain. Our army must capture all the bandits' troops as soon as possible, otherwise things may change!"
Zheng Chongjian's intention was very clear, that is, to continue to attack Agate Mountain, rather than using slow techniques such as cutting off the grain road. Of course, the main force in the attack on Agate Mountain must be Liu Yan's command, and Zheng Chongjian would definitely not let his Qin army rush in front.
Yang Sichang said: "Governor Zheng, don't worry. Most of the bandits in Shaanxi are the remnants of the Xian bandits. There won't be too many of them. Even if they go south, they won't have much effect. As for Li Zicheng's troops, he is not at odds with the Xian bandits. They will go south to support, so we still have time. If we cut off the Xianthief food route first, then the morale of Xianthief's troops will be shaken. Then we can storm Agate Mountain and we will be able to surround and annihilate the Xianthief army in one go!"
Zheng Chongjian said: "That's not impossible, but I heard that Liu Yan only sent one battalion of more than 3,000 people. What can such a small number of people do?"
Yang Sichang raised his head in surprise and said, "Didn't Liu Yan personally lead the army to attack?"
"The supervisor doesn't know yet?"
Zheng Chongjian said hurriedly: "Liu Yan only sent one of his commanders to lead the army to attack. Although the more than 3,000 people were cavalry, the number was too small. According to the information sent by Liu Guoneng, this bandit's grain transport team There are thousands of people in the team, plus the elite soldiers sent out by the thieves to infiltrate from various places, and the escorting bandit soldiers and horses are six to seven thousand people, how can Liu Yan defeat the more than 3,000 people!"
After Yang Sichang gave Liu Yan the order, he ignored it and stayed in the Chinese army's tent to think about the next move. At this time, after listening to Zheng Chongjian's words, he began to beat in his heart: "Liu Yan won't be perfunctory with me. Bar?"
After thinking for a while, Yang Sichang said: "Liu Yan's troops are very powerful. More than 3,000 cavalry may be enough. We should just wait for the news. If Liu Yan fails in this battle, I will punish him severely."
Seeing what Yang Sichang said, Zheng Chongjian didn't know what to say, so he drank a cup of tea and said, "Okay, let's wait here. In two hours, the generals from various ministries will come over to hold a military meeting. By then, the general will be defeated." I will also come to participate. I am worried that if the Superintendent announces the raid, General Ping Thief will take the opportunity to make a fuss."
Yang Sichang also felt a headache and said: "We will talk about it at that time, but as long as Liu Yan can win this battle, he can't say anything compared to General Pingthief."
"That's best!"
Time passed little by little, and soon a long red-yellow line appeared in the eastern sky. A ray of morning sun rose slowly from the sky to the earth, gradually illuminating the earth.
At this time, in the northwest of Agate Mountain, there is a hill called the North Slope. The terrain here is slightly higher and surrounded by dense vegetation. To the south is the rolling hills of Agate Mountain, and to the north is a hill that is not too high. of hilly highlands.
On the north hillside, there is a fairly wide mountain road. This mountain road is the only way to go south from Ziyang County, Shaanxi Province to Manao Mountain.
There are usually a lot of pedestrians here. There are no government or military checkpoints here. Merchants and pedestrians coming and going do not need to be inspected or paid taxes. Most people who travel north and south go south or north from here.
But at this time, it was difficult to see anyone on this mountain road.
War is raging in Shaanxi to the north. Li Zicheng, Liu Zongmin and other gangs of thieves have turned all of Shaanxi into a white ground. Everywhere they passed was like locusts passing through. The people, old and young, were carried away. As long as they were men, no matter they were Old men aged sixty or seventy or children aged twelve or thirteen must serve as the vanguard of the bandit army. Women, on the other hand, are all organized into women's and children's camps. They wash, cook, and even serve for the bandit army every day. It is also used as a tool for soldiers to vent their animal desires.
It can be said that compared with the Manchu and Qing Tatars, there is actually no difference between the bandit army and the Manchu Tatars in terms of harming the people. Their destructive power is equally powerful.
Under such circumstances, naturally no travelers from Shaanxi in the north went south.
In the south, Zhang Xianzhong's troops suddenly entered Sichuan, and then the imperial encirclement and suppression army also entered Sichuan. The two armies faced each other on the Agate Mountain in the south, so pedestrians going north from the south were also cut off.
Xu Ming was sitting on the hillside on the south side of the north hillside. This was a gentle mountainous area. The people around him were enough to hide the army, and they could also overlook the mountain road on the north hillside.
Mr. Qian Dong Yun was also sitting next to him. He glanced at the mountain road below and said in a low voice: "Sir, we have been waiting for less than half an hour. Counting the time we spent on the road, an hour has passed. If the grain transport team really wants to I've been here a long time since I left here, why haven't I seen anyone yet?"
Xu Ming glared and said, "How do I know!"
"Then shall we wait?"
"nonsense!"
Xu Ming said angrily: "Du Zhongming's Central President is ambushing in the north, and Lu Yuan's Right President is ambushing in the south. The two of them have to block both ends of the mountain road and are easily discovered by the enemy. Send someone to remind them to stay hidden." , don’t scare away the enemy!”
"Sir, I've reminded you twice. Are you still reminding me?"
Xu Ming stared and was about to scold Dong Yun when he suddenly saw a long dragon appearing on the mountain road below. He hurriedly signaled Dong Yun to shut up. Then he leaned over and looked around, only to see a convoy slowly walking from north to south. Come.
"coming!"
Dong Yun asked in a low voice: "Sir, is this the bandit's food transport team?"
"Use your brain!"
Xu Ming said with hatred, "Shaanxi is in such chaos. Apart from the thieves' grain transport team, how can there be such a large-scale caravan!"
Dong Yun nodded in agreement, then pointed downwards and said: "Look, sir, these are soldiers and horses of rogue thieves!"
Xu Ming looked intently and saw thousands of bandit soldiers guarding both sides of the convoy. This convoy of more than 200 carriages was marching southward in a mighty manner. Thousands of bandit soldiers were also following along. It was originally quiet. The mountain road suddenly became noisy.
These bandit soldiers had no military discipline to speak of. They talked casually while marching, and they didn't even have a formation. They were just like "outing in the mountains". They could only tell the general affiliation by watching the crowds gather and disperse.
"mob!"
Xu Ming said disdainfully, while Dong Yun grinned and whispered: "This battle is too good! It's just a pity that all the food and grass have to be transported back, and we can't intercept it."
"Let's talk about it after we get back!"
Xu Ming saw that nearly half of the thieves' grain transport team had passed, and hundreds of carriages had passed by. So Xu Ming waved his hand suddenly, and Dong Yun's group of 550 gunmen had all gathered at this time. Halfway up the mountain, three lines were lined up and on standby.
The army commanders, flag commanders, and generals all looked here, and saw Xu Ming wave his hand, and the generals roared angrily.
"put!"
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
"Prepare the second batch! Release!"
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
"The third batch comes forward, release!"
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
After each row of gunners finished shooting, they quickly retreated, leaving the shooting range to the next row of comrades, and then retreated to the back to reload quickly. The three rows of gunners formed a continuous firepower output, and immediately filled the mountain road with firepower. Thousands of thieves beat them to the point of being knocked upside down, and even the horses pulling the carts were beaten to death.
At the same time, the roar of bird cannons was heard from both sides of the mountain road. Xu Ming laughed and said: "Du Zhongming and Lu Yuan have taken action over there, okay, I will close the door and beat the dog today!"
On the mountain road, the bandit soldiers were running in all directions. The lead bullets continuously fired from the mountain were like heavy rain, causing heavy casualties to these bandit soldiers who lacked armor and shields. In a short period of time, two to three thousand people fell, and the rest Not wanting to fight, they fled south and north one after another, and then ran into the defense line of the middle and right commanders of the cavalry battalion.
Although the officers of the cavalry battalion are good at cavalry combat, their equipment is similar to that of an infantry battalion, with half muskets and half cold weapons. Even counting the number of night guards and guards, the number of muskets equipped is even more.
Therefore, the soldiers of the cavalry battalion formed a formation and fought on foot without any concessions. Dealing with these bandits and miscellaneous soldiers was as easy as chopping melons and vegetables.
In less than a stick of incense, no one could be seen on the mountain road. From south to north, the entire mountain road was filled with dense corpses, including stray soldiers and fallen horses. The hot air was full of corpses. There was a strong smell of blood, which made people uncomfortable.
In this battle, without losing a single soldier, the cavalry battalion succeeded in a surprise attack and captured the bandit's grain transport team. The general officers began to clean the battlefield. Dong Yun led his troops to search for fish that had slipped through the net in the surrounding mountains. Lu Yuan led The heads were chopped off, and Du Zhongming led his troops to count and seize them.
Xu Ming was walking on the mountain road and saw many horses that had been killed by cannons. He complained distressedly: "You guys didn't pay attention just now. With so many horses, dozens of them must have been killed. You're a loser." !”
Du Zhongming, who was not far away, said with a smile: "Sir, please stop complaining. You were the loudest just now: hit me, fire, hit!"
Xu Ming stared and said, "Why, are you arguing with me?"
Du Zhongming immediately rubbed the soles of his feet and slipped away: "Sir, that's what you said, I heard it!"
"You bastard!"
Not long after, the soldiers of the cavalry battalion finished cleaning the battlefield, and Xu Ming ordered the captured items to be escorted back to the military camp.
Those carts that lacked horses were also pulled by the horses of the cavalry battalion and transported back together.
In the main tent of the Ming army, Yang Sichang looked at Zuo Liangyu, who was pulling a face, and then at Liu Yan, who was silent, and sighed slightly in his heart.
"Generals, this is how it is. Once the news comes back from General Liu's command, we will discuss the next strategy."
Zuo Liangyu immediately said: "Supervisor, in my opinion, Liu Yan is just perfunctory! That grain transport team is so important. Zhang Xianzhong will definitely mobilize heavy troops to escort it, but Liu Yan only sent more than 3,000 cavalry. What if we are defeated in a surprise attack?"
Liu Yan sneered and said: "My general sent more than 3,000 cavalry to rob the grain. I have already given Zhang Xianzhong a lot of face! There are just thieves and soldiers in the area. Our new army only sent a total of 1,000 people to destroy them. It was just to let the governor." The general is relieved, so I sent a battalion of more than 3,000 soldiers there."
"Ha ha."
Zuo Liangyu laughed loudly and said, "Crazy guy! Xian thieves have been running rampant in the southwest for many years. Do you think they are ordinary thieves?"
Zheng Chongjian, He Renlong, and Li Guoqi also looked slightly sideways. The three of them all knew that Liu Yan's troops were powerful, but Liu Yan was too confident at this time. The elite combat power of Zhang Xianzhong's troops was still considerable.
Liu Yan said coldly: "Instead of making nonsense here, General Ping Zei, it is better to think about how Zhang Xianzhong's troops came down the mountain. Both the east and west roads were blocked by General Ping Zei. Is there someone who was acting against them secretly?" Let Zhang Xianzhong's soldiers and horses go over to transport food!"
Zuo Liangyu couldn't sit still anymore, and immediately said loudly: "Supervisor, Liu Yan is spitting blood!"
Yang Sichang smiled and said: "Haha, we are all here for state affairs, so don't argue. I think you generals should go back first, and wait until the battle report is sent, and then I will..."
Suddenly, a guard quickly walked into the Chinese army's tent, clasped his fists and said: "Reporting to the Superintendent, the Shandong soldiers raided the bandits' grain transport team and returned in triumph, beheading 6,850 people and seizing 18,000 grains." One hundred and forty-three stones and horses!”
Yang Sichang opened his mouth and suddenly got stuck. Zuo Liangyu looked at the guard with wide eyes, almost bulging out of his eyes.
Zheng Chongjian, He Renlong, and Li Guoqi had expressions of disbelief on their faces, and then they all looked at Liu Yan.
Liu Yan had a smile on his face and said to Yang Sichang: "Supervisor, it seems that we don't have to go back and wait for news."
Some people died, but not completely...
