Yang Qingyuan looked at Liu Zhongcai and his group who were bowing respectfully to him. A look of surprise appeared on his face. After looking Liu Zhongcai up and down, he asked.
"By the way, why are you here to greet me, how about Yao Ge? As the guard of Sangmuguan, why doesn't he come out to greet me?"
When Liu Zhongcai heard this, he couldn't help but panic. Then he leaned down and responded to Yang Qingyuan tremblingly.
"Yes...it's like this. The general has been ill recently and has specially ordered his subordinates to come and greet you!"
Yang Qingyuan, who was riding on a war horse, suddenly became furious after hearing the explanation given by Liu Zhongcai. Then, he glanced at Liu Zhongcai rather arrogantly and said in a deep voice.
"Huh, I'm feeling sick. I think this is obviously your excuse!"
As soon as Yang Qingyuan finished speaking, the scene fell into a dead silence.
The officers behind Liu Zhongcai thought that the matter had been exposed, and their expressions suddenly became gloomy and uncertain. Not far away, the Ming soldiers dressed as personal guards had also quietly touched the long knives on their waists.
Hearing this, Liu Zhongcai had no choice but to laugh twice, trying to ease the embarrassment. Then, he summoned up the courage to ask Yang Qingyuan.
"General...general, you mean..."
Seeing this situation, Yang Qingyuan glanced at Liu Zhongcai and then spoke.
"Hmph, I see, he, Yao Ge, is still holding a grudge for what happened back then, so he sent you to greet this general!"
Then, Yang Qingyuan changed the subject, looked at where Liu Zhongcai was, waved his hand, and gave instructions.
"That's all, I, the general, don't care about this. Just lead the way!"
"Yes, General, please follow me!"
When Liu Zhongcai heard Yang Qingyuan's words, he couldn't help but breathed a sigh of relief. An imperceptible look flashed in his eyes and he said respectfully.
Immediately, Yang Qingyuan and other generals, led by Liu Zhongcai and his party, marched towards Sangmuguan.
As soon as Yang Qingyuan and his party entered Sangmuguan, they saw the city gate suddenly closed, separating them from the soldiers behind them. Then many armored swordsmen and axemen poured out from the hiding place, attacking Yang Qingyuan and his party layer by layer. Surrounded.
Seeing this situation, Yang Qingyuan suddenly felt that something was wrong, but holding on to the last bit of luck, he looked at Liu Zhongcai not far away and asked.
"This...what the hell is going on?"
"Humph, what a fool. Don't you understand that we have already surrendered to the court?"
When Yang Qingyuan heard this, his face was full of shock. When he was about to say something, he felt a chill on his neck, as if something fell to the ground.
His eyes also turned sideways. Just when Yang Qingyuan was about to open his mouth to say something again, his eyes suddenly went dark and fell into endless darkness.
After Yang Qingyuan's head was chopped off, the other swordsmen and axemen swarmed up and chopped the people who were with him into mincemeat.
The air was filled with the smell of blood and fishy smell.
Then, Feng Yue was seen wearing black armor, standing on the city wall of Sangmuguan, suddenly pulling out the long sword from his waist, shouting hoarsely.
"Give it to me, General, kill——!"
As soon as Feng Yue finished speaking, he heard a drum sound like raindrops.
Immediately afterwards, there was an overwhelming cry of killing. The originally closed city gate was reopened, and Shi Bangxian was seen leading the army, riding a maroon war horse, and charging out from the city gate. Behind him were countless horses on horseback. The Ming army wielding the Yanling Sword.
Subsequently, a large number of Ming troops who had been ambushing the surrounding area gathered from all directions, completely cutting off the opponent's retreat.
When the soldiers who came to support saw this situation, they didn't know that they were being ambushed, and they suddenly fell into panic.
Immediately afterwards, in the Ming army's position, more than thirty tiger squatting cannons, as well as the new cannons that had been set up, also roared.
Streams of white smoke rose up along with the orange-red firelight, and the deafening sound of cannons echoed in the ears of the Banzhou soldiers.
Every time a cannonball falls from mid-air, it will take away a large area of life in an instant.
Under the cover of artillery, the morale of the Ming army became stronger, and then to the beat of drums, they attacked the 40,000 reinforcements sent by Yang Lie to support Sangmuguan!
The six thousand elite cavalry who had already been ambushing on both wings seemed to be in an uninhabited land. After a few charges, they separated the opponent's formation, so that the head and tail could not see each other, and they had to fight on their own.
After completely dispersing the opponent's formation, Commander-in-Chief Fang Xu reined in the reins, turned his gaze away from the Banzhou soldiers in the distance who were desperate to break through the encirclement from their own side, and said in a deep voice.
"Reload!"
After Fang Xu finished speaking, he saw the soldiers behind him taking off the muskets on their backs, taking out the paper-cased bullets they carried, biting them open, and began to load them in an orderly manner.
After the ammunition was loaded, the soldiers behind Fang Xu raised their blazing guns in unison, aiming at the Bozhou soldiers in the distance who were rushing toward them desperately.
"Those who shoot without orders will be killed!"
After Fang Xu finished speaking, he began to estimate the enemy's position in his mind. When the Bozhou soldiers rushed to a distance of less than sixty steps, Fang Xu swung down the Yan Ling Dao in his hand.
"put!"
'Bang bang, bang bang, bang bang! '
There was a burst of gunfire, and after that, a white and pungent smoke filled the air.
The gunfire sounded, and the Banshu soldiers in the distance screamed and fell down. The distance of sixty steps was enough to penetrate their armor!
Moreover, the fire cannons currently used by the Ming army have been improved by the Department of Weapons. Their power and range have been greatly improved compared to previous fire cannons.
Because the distance between the two sides was so close, the Ming army did not even need to aim. They only needed to mechanically load the ammunition and pull the trigger, and scores of Bozhou soldiers would fall down.
After this situation repeated several times, soon no Bozhou soldiers dared to break out from the position where General Fang Xu was.
When Fang Xu saw this, he waved the whip in his hand. The horse under him felt pain and rushed towards the direction of the Bozhou soldiers.
"Brothers, kill me!"
"Kill!"
As the battle became more intense, soldiers from both sides screamed and fell from their horses from time to time, and were then trampled into a pulp.
I saw Fang Xu cleanly wiping the neck of the Banzhou soldier in front of him. He no longer remembered how many people he had killed, he just mechanically waved the Yanling sword in his hand.
Every time he wields the Yan Ling Dao, a fresh life will be taken away. He just mechanically slashes the enemies in front of him before moving on to the next place.
As the casualties reached a critical value, the morale of the Banshu soldiers had completely fallen to the bottom. They could no longer resist any resistance, discarded their weapons one after another, and began to flee desperately.
At this moment, there is only one thought in their minds, and that is - escape!
Get out of here, get out of this hell-like place!
Driven by this idea, those Banshu soldiers began to flee in a panic. In the process, countless Banshu soldiers were trampled into pulp. Some even saw that they could not escape and simply knelt down on the ground to beg. The Ming army could spare his life.
But the Ming army, which was already red-eyed, had no intention of stopping. For them, the more enemies they killed, the richer the rewards they would receive.
Therefore, in their eyes, these Boshu soldiers are no longer human beings, but achievements in being able to walk!
With the passage of time, the battle situation has gradually begun to show a one-sided trend. Those Bozhou soldiers have been killed by the Ming army and have lost the courage to resist. So much so that only a few Ming soldiers can chase hundreds of soldiers. Bozhou soldiers ran away.
The battle lasted until late at night. The 40,000 Bozhou soldiers who came to support Sangmuguan had also been annihilated by the 60,000 Ming army that had ambushed near Sangmuguan early.
After all, Yang Qingyuan, the general who was in charge of commanding the support army this time, and other major generals were lured to Sangmuguan before the battle began, and then the swordsmen and axemen who had been ambushed in the city were chopped into pieces.
This 40,000-strong Bozhou army, without a general to command the central army, was naturally no match for the Ming army, which was far stronger than their own in terms of weapons and equipment, fighting will, and tacit understanding.
Due to the lack of effective command, these Banzhou soldiers quickly fell into fighting on their own and were strangled one by one by the Ming army, but most of them were trampled to death.
On the battlefield, corpses lay everywhere, rivers of blood flowed, and the air was filled with a disgusting smell of blood. There were broken limbs and broken arms everywhere. You would feel a little sticky when you step on the ground. The scene in front of you was like hell. Same.
At this moment, as night fell, the Ming army was holding torches and began to clean up the battlefield in an orderly manner, searching for anything that could be used from the corpses, and taking care of themselves to avoid leaving any survivors.
On the city wall of Sangmuguan, Feng Yue, governor of Huguang, looked at the scene in front of him with a look of relief on his face.
He knew that after he eliminated the 40,000 Bozhou soldiers who came to support him, Yang Lie would no longer be able to organize effective resistance in a short period of time. The army he led was about to march straight in and attack Yang Lie's lair, Hailong. Tuen.
While Feng Yue was still conceiving the next strategy in his mind, he saw the guards on the side stepping forward and reporting respectfully.
"Sir Governor, Shi Bangxian wants to see you!"
"Well, let him come over!"
After hearing this, Feng Yue withdrew his gaze from the Ming troops who were cleaning the battlefield in the distance, nodded, and gave instructions.
Then, Shi Bangxian, covered in blood and looking tired, appeared in front of Feng Yue.
Although Shi Bangxian was extremely tired after a day of fighting, at this moment, his eyes were still shining with an inexplicable light.
After that, Shi Bangxian bowed his head and said in a deep voice.
"Sir Governor, the specific casualties have been calculated. In this battle, our army suffered 5,682 casualties, and a total of 38,624 enemies were wiped out!"
"Order the soldiers to collect the corpses safely and record all the names of the fallen soldiers on the roster!"
After listening to Shi Bangxian's report, Feng Yue pondered for a moment and then gave the order.
"As you command, Lord Governor!"
Upon hearing this, Shi Bangxian raised his hands and saluted Feng Yue respectfully.
Just as he was about to leave, he heard Feng Yue's voice without any emotion ringing in his ears.
"Kill all the Bozhou soldiers who have surrendered. This is the time to pay homage to those dead brothers!"
When Shi Bangxian heard this, he was stunned for a moment, then lowered his head and responded in a deep voice.
"Yes, Lord Governor!"
After Shi Bangxian left, Feng Yue looked away, looked at the guards on the side, and gave instructions.
"Let's go back!"
"Yes, Lord Governor!"
Immediately, under the escort of his personal guards, Feng Yue returned directly to the Chinese army camp.
After returning to the camp, Feng Yue immediately ordered people to prepare paper and pen. After thinking about it for a long time, he just picked up the pen and wrote it down.
"Your Majesty, the minister has led a large army to conquer Sangmuguan, and set up an ambush to annihilate the 40,000 Bozhou soldiers who came to support Sangmuguan. After this battle, General Yang Lie will no longer be able to organize effective resistance in a short period of time!"
"In this battle, our army suffered 5,682 casualties. The next step is to lead the army to attack Suiyang!"
"After the army captures Suiyang, if the Sichuan Division's Third Route and the Guizhou Division's Two Routes progress smoothly, we can divide our troops into three routes and launch attacks from Suiyang, Renhuai, and Tongzi directions to besiege Hailongtun!"
"In addition, after verification in several battles, the paper-cased bullets sent by the Arms Department can significantly increase the reloading speed of firecrackers and have extremely high reliability. In addition, new cannons and improved Fire gun..."
When the last word fell, Feng Yue couldn't help but breathed a sigh of relief, and then he checked it carefully from beginning to end. After confirming that it was correct, he put the brush aside.
After the ink on the paper was dry, Feng Yue put it into an envelope with great solemnity, called his subordinates, and gave instructions in a deep voice.
"Send this battle report to the cabinet, 800 miles away, no delay!"
"As you command, Lord Governor!"
Seeing this situation, the subordinate did not dare to show any slightness. He immediately looked stern and said in a deep voice.
…
Feng Yue's 800-mile urgent battle report was finally delivered to the capital after ten days of non-stop travel.
Forbidden City, Cabinet.
At this moment, everyone was reviewing the memorials sent as usual.
It has been almost half a month since the imperial court issued a proclamation against thieves and sent troops to invade the state. During this half-month, the topic of this aspect in the capital has gradually weakened.
Then, Xu Jie put aside the completed memorial in his hand, looked at Yan Song, and took the lead in provoking the topic.
"Mr. Yan Ge, I see that more than half a month has passed. Why is there no news from Bozhou? Could it be that something happened?"
After Yan Song heard what Xu Jie said, he put the brush in his hand back to its original position and responded calmly.
"It shouldn't happen. Feng Yue is very organized in his marching and fighting. In addition, the imperial court gave Feng Yue strong support in terms of food, wages and weapons before the war officially started. Therefore, this battle is absolutely impossible to lose!"
After Yan Song finished speaking, he changed the topic, then looked at Xu Jie aside, raised his eyebrows, and turned to ask.
"By the way, Mr. Xu Ge, I heard that Song Yiwang, who is distributing land to the people in Shandong this time, was you personally recommended to His Majesty?"
When Xu Jie heard Yan Song's words, he couldn't help but secretly increase his vigilance. After all, Song Yiwang was disliked by Yan Song because Shangshu impeached Hu Zongxian and Ruan E.
Not long ago, this Song Yiwang lived up to the great trust of the court and successfully completed the task of distributing land to the people in Shandong, and was subsequently sent to serve in a local area by His Majesty.
"Why did Yan Song mention this person? Could it be that he was planning to take revenge?"
Xu Jie thought so, a look of hesitation suddenly appeared on his face.
At this moment, a rush of footsteps was heard outside the cabinet. Not long after, a subordinate staff member was seen running into the cabinet panting and out of breath.
After regaining consciousness, the subordinate official fell to his knees on the ground with a plop, looked in the direction of Yan Song and Xu Jie, and said in a deep voice.
"Excuse me... Mr. Ge, this is the battle report sent by Feng Yue, governor of Huguang, eight hundred miles away!"
After the subordinate officer finished speaking, he carefully took out the 800-mile urgent battle report from his arms and raised it high above his head.
The subordinate's words instantly attracted the attention of everyone present.
Afterwards, Xu Jie didn't care about anything else. He walked quickly to the subordinate official and took the envelope from his hand.
Immediately afterwards, Xu Jie opened the envelope and began to browse the contents.
Everyone in the cabinet couldn't help but cast their eyes on Xu Jie, holding their breath and concentrating, not daring to make any movement.
When Xu Jie finished reading the last word above, his breathing inevitably became rapid.
Seeing this situation, everyone's faces were full of eagerness. Zhang Juzheng on the side could not restrain his curiosity and took the lead to ask Xu Jie.
"Mr. Xu Ge, how is the situation?"
When Xu Jie heard this, he suddenly came back to his senses, looked in the direction of Zhang Juzheng, stroked his beard, and laughed loudly.
"We won, the front line won. The army not only successfully broke through the difficult and heavily guarded Sangmuguan, but also set up an ambush and annihilated in one fell swoop the 40,000 Bozhou soldiers who came to support!"
"What!"
As soon as Xu Jie finished speaking, everyone present couldn't help but take a breath, with shock on their faces.
Then, Yan Song stretched out his skinny hand to Xu Jie and said slowly.
"Mr. Xu Ge, show it to me!"
"Um."
After Xu Jie responded, he immediately handed the battle report in his hand to Yan Song's hand.
After Yan Song took the battle report from Xu Jie's hand, he began to browse it with special concentration. After he finished browsing the above content, he murmured to himself: "Win... win!"
After that, the five members of the cabinet all learned about the great victory ahead from the battle report in their hands.
Afterwards, Gao Gong was the first to react, looked in the direction of Yan Song and Xu Jie, and asked.
"Mr. Yan Ge, Mr. Xu Ge, do you need to send this battle report to the Supervisor of Ceremonies as usual?"
When Yan Song and Xu Jie heard this, they didn't hesitate at all. After looking at each other, they said in unison.
"No need, let our cabinet personally report this news to His Majesty!"
Everyone saw that the first and second ministers of the cabinet had already made their decision and no longer raised any questions about it.
Then, Yan Song stood up from his seat tremblingly, looked around, and proposed to everyone.
"Without further delay, let's go to His Majesty's side quickly!"
"Yes, Mr. Yan Ge!"
Afterwards, everyone embarked on the road to Qianqing Palace without stopping.
…
On the other side, inside the Qianqing Palace.
At this moment, Lu Fang came to Jiajing with silent steps and reported respectfully.
"Your Majesty, here is a personal letter written by Liu Mi, the envoy of Jinyiwei Town, to you!"
After Lu Fang finished speaking, he took out the envelope from his sleeve and handed it to Jiajing respectfully.
When Jiajing heard what Lu Fang said, a look of surprise appeared on his face, and he immediately spoke.
"Liu Mi, why is he writing to me? Could it be that something happened in Zhejiang?"
After Jiajing finished speaking, he took the envelope from Lu Fang's hand. After opening it, he began to browse the contents in detail.
Lu Fang, who was waiting on the side, saw this situation with an uneasy look on his face.
After Jiajing finished browsing the contents of the letter, he put it aside, chuckled, and then spoke.
"Heh, this Liu Mi has given me a problem?"
"Your Majesty, what do you mean..."
Jiajing faced Lu Fang's extremely puzzled gaze and explained in a leisurely manner.
"Liu Mi said in the letter that a puppet supported by their Jin Yiwei was named Makoto Tsunoda. He was born in a samurai family in Miyazaki, Kyushu, Japan. Later, due to the decline of his family, he joined the ranks of Japanese pirates. During a battle, , was captured by my Ming Dynasty."
"Later, Makoto Tsunoda surrendered to the Ming Dynasty, and with the secret support of Jin Yiwei, he recruited a large number of wandering samurai. Currently, he has successfully established a foothold in the Miyazaki area of Kyushu, Japan, and became the most powerful local warrior in one fell swoop. power!"
"Perhaps because he rose too fast, he was feared by the other daimyo around him. Later, the daimyo around him united to attack him. Therefore, he reached a deadlock and asked me, Da Ming, to give him more help!"
After listening to Jiajing's narration, Lu Fang's face also showed a look of surprise. Then, she plucked up the courage and asked Jiajing.
"Then...then what are your plans, Your Majesty?"
When Jiajing heard this, he glanced at Lu Fang quite indifferently, and then spoke.
"We can support this Makoto Tsunoda, but I, the Ming Dynasty, will never do business at a loss, let alone let it escape our control!"
"Don't worry about this matter now. I plan to put this matter on the cabinet agenda for discussion when the time comes!"
After listening to Jiajing's words, Lu Fang's face suddenly showed a sincere expression, and he leaned down and responded respectfully.
"Your Majesty, Holy Might!"
At this moment, the guiding eunuch hurriedly entered the Qianqing Palace and reported respectfully to Jiajing, who was sitting on the dragon chair.
"Your Majesty, Mr. Yan Ge and the others are outside asking for a meeting!"
(End of chapter)
