Chapter 224 Dead End (Part 2)
Zhang Fang looked to the east and before he could rejoice when he saw Chen Qiyu's banner, he saw that the soldiers in the camp who were looking forward to a savior were killed by these "brothers" from yesterday, like melons and vegetables. He finally realized that he had been fooled. . At this time, An Bangyan behind him also blew the horn, turned the feint attack into a real attack, and launched a general offensive of the entire army.
The body of Governor Wang, dressed in a red official robe, was tied to a bamboo frame more than two feet high by Chen Qiyu and carried to the public. Wherever he went, the Ming army completely collapsed.
Zhang Fang quickly calculated in his mind: To the west is An Ni's main force, to the east is Chen Qiyu to intercept them, and to the south is the Liuchong River controlled by "one hundred thousand Miao barbarians" - well, run north! To the north is the Huozhuo Fort controlled by An Wei. Although this guy is An Bangyan's nephew, he sent an envoy to ask for surrender a while ago. Although Lord Wang sternly rejected it, he didn't completely break his face. Isn't it possible that things will go wrong? Do it absolutely? As long as he can escape, to the north is the Xiongsuoze River he just enclosed... which is only a stone's throw away from his hometown of Zunyi!
Thinking of this, Marshal Zhang Fang did not hesitate anymore and gave instructions to the guards around him, leaving the commander's flag where it was, and dozens of riders headed north towards Juechen.
The tall flag is a magnet for attracting enemy troops. In this era, no general on either side has a God's perspective overlooking the overall battlefield. They can only judge the location of the opponent's command center through the commander's flag - leaving the commander's flag where it is, the more Miao thieves it attracts, the more likely it will be for Zhang Dashuai to run away. The smoother, right?
Not this time.
Chen Qiyu suddenly changed sides. In a hurry, Zhang Fang fled with only a few dozen horse guards, not even the dozens of infantry guards who had been sent to the rear to resist An Bangyan's stable front. The battalion officer of the Chinese army looked up at the high-flying flag of "Pingman General", then looked at the back of the general and his entourage who had galloped half a mile away, and then looked around in all directions with excitement on his face and babbling in his mouth. Ah, the Miao soldiers who were roaring towards me spat on the ground with a black face and ordered to his bodyguards: "Cut down the flag! Tell the men to shout 'The Commander Abandoned the Army' to me! We men won't Hit, surrender!"
Zhang Fang faintly heard the overwhelming voices in Chinese behind her, "Commander abandons the army." She looked back angrily on her horse, and saw the flag of the Chinese army commander falling down, and suddenly a surge of anger towards the Miao thieves arose in his heart. : Why don’t these damn Miao barbarians like to surrender!
Although most of the time they failed to succeed, and even if they were rewarded, they would be deducted and not get much, the Ming army still liked to chop off the heads of surrendered soldiers and even innocent people. The "barbaric" Miao people have no such thing as head skills. Therefore, unless there is an inextricable blood feud with the Han army in front of them, or they are completely red-blooded, as long as they lie down and ask for surrender, generally speaking, they will definitely win. Most of the soldiers in the camp were beaten a few times and then sent to do hard work. This is what Marshal Zhang Fang hates: if the Miao thieves kill them all indiscriminately, won't those damn dogs resist desperately for a while and buy themselves more time to escape?
However, due to the early response and the fact that the headquarters has a large number of troops - company soldiers, auxiliary soldiers and civilians, the total number exceeds 10,000, spreading out on a large beach - it seems that whether it is an security thief or a Thief Chen didn't even notice his small group of cavalry at this time.
Not far ahead is the Fire Keep. Zhang Fang, who was slightly relieved, started to worry again: Will the little thief An Wei come out and stop him at this time? Needless to say, the advantage of riding a horse is that it can run fast; but it also has disadvantages: it is too dependent on roads and can only run along the official road - and of course the Burning Keep is built close to the official road! At this time, Zhang Fang and others no longer dared to care about the horse power. They knocked their spurs with their feet and shouted loudly. They whipped the horses' hindquarters with whip after whip, and passed by the fort at lightning speed.
Fortunately, it was quiet in the Burning Keep. Dozens of horsemen galloped past the fort with their hearts high. When they took a peek, there were only a few dozen wild heads emerging from the fort wall, looking at them and the others. The fort gate was not open at all. Even so, Zhang Fang did not dare to relax. He rode at high speed until the sun was setting in the mountains. His horse was dripping with sweat. No matter how hard he whipped, he couldn't get up to speed, so he stopped driving hard.
Of course, these horses are only one of a hundred good horses, but they have run at full speed for sixty or seventy miles. If they are not recuperated for a few months, they will be useless. But it doesn’t matter. The green hills are still there, and there is no need to worry about running out of firewood. As long as Marshal Zhang can run back to his hometown in Zunyi, horses, soldiers, silver... given time, it won’t be as much as he wants! Alas, Zhang Fang's heart bleeds when she thinks of the money: That's enough money for several carts! They ran too fast, but the guards hurriedly stuffed a few tablets into their arms. At this moment, they all fell back into the hands of An and Chen—along with those military rations, they were given to them for free by their own efforts!
With an exclamation, a horse lost its front hoof and fell down. The horse first knelt on its front legs, then fell to the side. It struggled for a few times and failed to stand up. It had to lie on its side on the ground, looking helplessly at its owner. . The sky had darkened, and Zhang Fang estimated that he had reached his "own" territory in Xiongsuoze River. At this time, he did not see his pursuers, so he felt relieved and ordered: "Just rest here. Tomorrow morning Keep going, we can return to Zunyi at noon!"
Fortunately, there are streams all over this area. The guards dismounted one after another. The chief guard took out the dried meat from his backpack and handed it to Zhang Fang. Some people began to clean up the night camp by the forest, some collected firewood, and the rest took the reins of their companions' horses and led them away. Horses drink in the stream. The owner of the fallen horse hobbled and took off his helmet to fetch water. Then, enduring the pain, he brought the helmet filled with clear stream water to the mouth of his beloved horse - they cherished the war horse much more than they did their comrades in the army. Much better.
We simply ate something by the campfire. Everyone loosened their girths on the horses, but did not take off their saddles. They just put down the saddles and asked them to graze nearby. The humans did not take off their armor and found a more comfortable place. The place tilted down, and soon there was the sound of snoring. When the cold moonlight shone down, everyone fell asleep except for the two people who were on night duty in the first round.
After about half an hour, the two sentries could not bear the strong sleepiness, so they woke up the other two to take over the post, and fell to the ground and fell asleep in the blink of an eye. A shift worker stood up in a daze, feeling that the light from the campfire was a bit dazzling, so he raised his hands to shield his eyes, walked a few steps outside and untied his belt to urinate. Suddenly he stumbled, as if he tripped over something, and fell down. . The other person was still staring in confusion and asked something. Just when he was about to stand up, a bamboo arrow flew silently and hit his throat. The guard stretched his hands in vain toward the place where the arrow was hit. He muttered twice in his throat, leaned forward, and fell down.
Zhang Fang was kicked hard in the face while she was sleeping. With a "pop" sound, her nose was broken. In the light of the bonfire, Marshal Zhang, whose face was covered with blood, was terrified to see an old acquaintance - Sidingzhou, an old native of Xiongsuo Zexi who had been purified and left home not long ago! Then he turned his face and looked at his personal guards. They all had sharp Miao knives on their necks. A few who tried to struggle were all killed without mercy on the spot.
In the afternoon of the second day, Sidingzhou led more than a hundred tribesmen into the gate of Huozhuo Fort. Zhang Fang and others were tied in a string and staggered in the middle of the team.
Firekeep is Anzui's home base. We have said before that An Wei was the son of An Yaochen, the Shuixi Xuan comfort envoy who had made great contributions to the Ming Dynasty. Because he could not afford the benefits demanded by the Han officials, he never dared to take up the post. An Bangyan was his uncle. .
On the surface, An Bangyan and She Chongming openly rebelled, and An Wei did not participate in it - everyone knows that this is a self-protection strategy within the An family: the She'an family was just invaded by the Han The officials were forced intolerable, and no one really wanted to overthrow the Ming Empire. Their biggest hope was to win a looser autonomy, and the Han officials just didn't want to bully people to death. However, compared to the huge empire, the small chieftain in the southwest corner is insignificant. If it succeeds, everyone will be happy. If it fails, Anjia Zhengshuo will stay out of the matter after all, and he can always leave a trace of incense and prevent the entire family from being wiped out. Not long ago, when Wang Ershan was stationing troops in Dafang, An Wei sent someone to ask for surrender. On the one hand, he reiterated his firm position that he had not participated in the rebellion, and at the same time, he also interceded on behalf of his uncle: As long as Mr. Wang promised to forgive, Xiao Anzi was willing to persuade him to surrender. The uncle captured She Chongming and his son to respond to Master Wang!
Of course, his request was rejected by Mr. Wang, who was full of righteousness and self-satisfaction: although extravagance and rebellion will not be forgiven, peace and rebellion must be punished, and all the rebels who participated in the rebellion must accept the thunderous wrath of the court! Of course, if there is true remorse, the court will be lenient, for example, changing the sentence of death with a thousand cuts to halving or execution.
The envoy who settled in the throne left in anger.
Precisely because of this, when Zhang Fang was brought into the Fire Castle, a trace of luck arose in her heart: Wang Ershan was dead, and now he was the most powerful person! As long as he sees An Wei and promises him a generous reward as the supreme commander of the entire army... well, Xiaomanzi can agree to any conditions - as long as he can let himself go!
However, Zhang Fang did not see An Wei. The entire Fire Castle was almost empty. Except for the dozens of Miao soldiers seen on the wall the day before, the castle was full of old, young, women and children.
Sidingzhou rested for the night in Huozhuo Castle, and took Zhang Fang and his party on the road the next day. At noon that day, Zhang Fang finally saw the person he least wanted to see: An Bangyan.
In fact, An Wei has always been in the Fire Castle, but he just lives in seclusion. However, being weak means being weak, there should be at least a few thousand Miao soldiers in Fire Castle - where have these people gone?
At this moment, the Miao soldiers from Huozhuo Fort were on their way back - carrying the head of Deputy Commander Xie Zhongren.
