Chapter 236: Chase
Zhang Fang's body has long since rotted in the mountains of Xiongsuoze River, but the transfer yard he set up on the south bank of the intersection of Xiangshui River and Liuchong River to resell military rations is still there. Not only is it here, but it is also crowded and extremely busy at the moment. The Shuixi people who escaped from Bijie helped the old and young with their pots and pans and staggered towards Zhijin. Walking in the opposite direction were the grain trucks and loaders of the brigade. The loaders were all on board, and the loaders were directly blocked. Push it onto a temporary pontoon bridge built with river boats and transport it directly to the north bank.
An Bangyan looked to the west worriedly: "Brother, how long does it take for that general to catch up?"
"No matter how fast it is, it will take three or four days. The boats and rafts are all at my brother's place, and the Han dogs can only take the official road. The chariot leader and the men are lying in ambush in the woods beside the road. If they have time, they will cause trouble. We have blocked the pursuing cavalry of the Ming army, and they will not move quickly. It is easy for us to believe that we have at least one day of warning time." She Chongming answered in his mouth, but his face was very gloomy.
An Bangyan thought about it for a while: "Brother, how about we set up an ambush here? No matter how powerful that guy is, if you and I have 60,000 to 70,000 men, if we fight half of them, we can always eat him!"
"No!" She Chongming said without thinking, "My brother has thought about it on the boat these days, but it won't work. There are many of us, but there is not enough space here. If we want to expand, we have to spread out more than ten people along the river. Twenty miles. With such a long distance, the cooperation and coordination between the villages depended on the two-legged communication of the messengers. Then Sun Jie did have a way to manage the army. He found that the battalions of Zhongfu Dinghui formed their own formations, and the Han soldiers had armor With shields, they can defend for a long time. More importantly, they have golden drums, flags, trumpets, cannons and fireworks to communicate with each other. Once they discover our flaws, they can coordinate with each other to attack, and it will be easy to defeat each of us."
"Then... how about leading them to an open area?" An Bangyan continued to ask. From She Chongming's words, he already knew that Sun Jie was the most powerful enemy, so he always had the idea of getting rid of them first even if he risked his family's fortune.
"No way. These Ming Gou guys have cannons, a lot of cannons. When they find themselves in an ambush, those cannons can be set up before we can surround them. Their archers are also very powerful. In Chengdu, my brother took advantage of the Han Dog bows." The great loss of the soldiers... Well, I won't go into details. In short, we can't fight in open areas. Timely communication is our shortcoming, and the lack of iron armor and firearms is also our shortcoming. This Ming army is different from others, and we can't fight with them head-on." She Chongming He shook his head again.
An Bangyan said angrily: "According to what my brother said, we can't defeat you no matter what, so why not just surrender and wait to be cut to pieces?"
She Chongming smiled: "Brother said that battlefield communication and firearms are our shortcomings, but we also have strengths that Han dogs cannot match!" As he spoke, he cast his profound gaze on the mountains in the distance, "This mountain, This is our strength, our friends, and our home! If we lead them into the mountains, the armor will be a burden, the firearms will be useless, and just one or two hills away, the golden drums and flags will become useless. Those Han dogs, Who can outrun our people in the forest?"
An Bangyan's eyes lit up: "Brother is so right! Regarding the war, Ayan listens to my brother!"
She Chongming continued: "According to the news from Yongning, we now have two groups and three groups of Han troops in Miaoland. One group is Sun Jie chasing my brother on the west side, and there are two groups on the east side. Liu Chao leads a group of Han troops. Twenty thousand people are on the Yachi and Luguang front lines; Zhu Laogou has led ten or twenty thousand people from Wei Laoshun in Chengdu to garrison troops in Guizhusi and Weiqing Wei areas."
An Bangyan interjected: "Half of the troops and horses of the Chengdu Guards were divided and stationed in Longli and Xintian near Guiyang. Although the leaders of the Leping Division and Pingfa Division there ostensibly defected to the Ming Dynasty, they settled down We have been eating for more than a hundred years, and everyone knows it by heart. Zhu Laogou is a person and knows all these things, so he sent Chengdu soldiers to control it, otherwise he would not be able to sleep peacefully."
"Oh? Zhu Laogou divided his troops? That's even better!" She Chongming was overjoyed when he heard this, "Brother led Sun Jie to the mountains of Xiongsuo Zexi. Liu Chao didn't have much friendship with him, so the Han dogs His temperament, it would be nice not to take credit from him or cause trouble for him, and he has planted a lot of fields and has to take care of them. Shouldn’t he risk his own life and property to help him block his brother? Even if he blocks him, he is not afraid, Jinsha, Shuixi, Gu There are people from Awei here. We can always know the news in advance, avoid interception, and lead them all into the mountains! Zhu Laogou only brought the Chengdu Guard's few troops, and divided the troops. He was able to control the Guiyang area. Reluctantly, I dare not leave the city. Ayan, please send troops to follow Sun Jie. Brother is in front, and you are in the back. Let's block this most powerful Han dog in the mountains of Xiongsuoze River! Eat Sun Jie, Let's go back and fight Yachi and Lu Guang together. When Liu Chao runs back to Guiyang, it will be another siege! This time we fight to the death and capture Zhu Laogou, and then we can have a good talk with the Ming Dynasty."
Anbangyan said happily: "Okay! That's it! Ayan will send troops the day after tomorrow. First, the cat is in the mountains on the other side of the Yachi River. Brother, you go north from Shuixiyi. The Ming army wants to chase my brother and explore the horse. I don’t know how to go into the mountains. When they pass by, Ayan will keep a distance of a day and follow them. The old man Sidingzhou from Xiongsuo Zexi will help us pass on the news at any time."
On the official road by the Xiangshui River, a large group of Ming troops were marching. In each military camp, one troop was deployed on the outermost side, wearing armor and on guard. The other soldiers were lightly armed to protect the auxiliary troops transporting the baggage. An Yun'ao's thousands of Zhenxiong soldiers were also divided into several groups, led by their respective village leaders, and mixed in and out of each battle camp.
On a dense tree crown in the forest dozens of feet away, Che Shao, hidden in the leaves, looked angrily at the Ming army on the official road in the distance. After lying in wait for a long time, he shot down two cavalry soldiers, and was very proud of scaring away the cavalry chasing the old village leader. But starting from the second day, this complacency was replaced by anger - the Minggu were marching in this posture, and it was difficult for them to have a chance to make a sneak attack again. The bamboo bow couldn't reach it if it was far away, and it couldn't break the armor if it could reach it; if it was close... Xiangzang and Bulong were unwilling to give in, so they sneaked closer and were discovered by the Zhenxiong soldiers in the team before they could draw their bows! With a shout, the Ming army immediately stopped. In the blink of an eye, a shield wall was erected from beginning to end, and the Zhenxiong soldiers screamed and rushed towards the hiding place of the two... in a few breaths, they displayed their possessions and divination cages. It was chopped to pieces.
Fortunately, the marching speed would be greatly reduced. It was estimated that it would take at least four or five days for them to reach the Jinjiyi transfer station. So I decided not to make unnecessary sacrifices and just keep an eye on them from a distance.
Sun Jie was not in the army, but asked Shangguan Fei for twenty horse soldiers to act as temporary guards, and then ran to Chishui alone to find Luo Qianxiang - according to his plan, both Liu Chao and Luo Qianxiang needed to make a lot of decisions. It's a big sacrifice, but Liu Chao's attitude is hard to say. He has a close relationship with Luo Qianxiang, so he decided to go there in person.
When Sun Jie finished speaking his thoughts, Luo Qianxiang was silent for a while. Sun Jie hurriedly said: "Brother Luo, I am not giving orders to the elder brother as a commander, but discussing this method with the elder brother as a brother." Is it possible? I know it’s too much to ask my eldest brother to give up Chishui. I don’t need to be embarrassed..."
Luo Qianxiang waved his hand to stop Sun Jie: "I'm not reluctant to let go, but I'm thinking about it. If it weren't for the handsome brother, my brother would be used as cannon fodder by the extravagant thief and die under the wall of Chengdu, and he would have to be plotted against him. . In the past, my brother only had a small Shuinao Village, and it was still too early to be safe... No, that's not the word, how do you say it?"
"The situation is precarious." Sun Jie whispered.
"Yes, it's precarious. That's a good word." Luo Qianxiang praised and continued, "Now that my brother has a large area like Yongning, Chishui City was taken by the handsome brother who helped his brother lure away the extravagant thieves. , let alone give up temporarily, what’s the big deal if you lose it? I’m thinking, how can I teach the luxury thief to be fooled. Well, that’s it.”
Sun Jie said with emotion: "Brother!"
Luo Qianxiang slapped his thigh suddenly: "Yes! Set fire! In the past few days, a certain person will transport the food from Chishui back to Yongning, and call Lao Hu from Shuidi Village to watch over it. Then he will go there by himself in the middle of the night every one or two days Set the fire a few more times, and the news should get out. The extravagant thieves will definitely think that there are still many remnants here, and the troops of a certain person are not strong enough to suppress them. The handsome brother did not follow him but went to fight against the water thieves. They will definitely bite the hook and come to grab Chishui. I will return to Yongning. With those cannons, Yongning will be fine. Set fire to more. The extravagant thieves will not be able to wait and defend after entering the city. The handsome brothers can press over from the east and they can Beat the extravagant thief to death. Well, that’s it.”
Sun Jie was overjoyed and retaliated with a heavy punch: "Thank you, Brother Luo! It's just that it was burned too much. If I get it back later, I will have to rebuild it, which will cost a lot."
Luo Qianxiang laughed: "Isn't it a big advantage to pick up a city for free? Besides, as long as the extravagant thief lives, Luo will not be able to sleep well. Beating the extravagant thief to death and burning half of the city is worth it, that's it. "
In order to prevent being intercepted by the rebels halfway, Sun Jie asked Master Shang to copy his plan into two copies in advance. The plan was decided. He asked Luo Qianxiang for a fast boat, and sent two groups of military envoys each with a copy from the foot of the building in southern Sichuan to Guiyang to report to Zhu Xieyuan, while he hurried back to Bijie to catch up with the army.
The speed of the Ming army was much slower than She Chongming expected. After three days of wandering in the mountains of Yizexi, An Bangyan finally received news from spies: the Ming army had arrived at the transfer site and was gathering on the south bank, and a large number of auxiliary soldiers were cutting down trees around it. At this time, Elder An had some regrets: She Chongming collected all the rafts in the Xiangshui River. Except for some good boats that were sailed downstream and dragged ashore to hide some, the others were scuttled or burned - they deserved to be punished. Sun Jie left a few boats behind and asked him to build a pontoon bridge for convenience! It seems that more than 30,000 people like him have to wait in the mountains for more than two days!
However, this was the last time Elder An received news from the spies: the auxiliary soldiers of the Ming army built several rafts at a very fast speed and carried the cavalry to the north bank. The cavalry team crossed the river and spread out along the river, forming a military barrier. Anyone who was close enough to see behind was captured by the cavalry team.
Elder An endured two more days in the mountains, but still didn't see any movement by the Ming army to build a bridge to cross the river. An ominous premonition arose in his heart: Something was wrong, something was terribly wrong! While sending people to contact She Chongming, the entire army came out of the mountain and rushed toward the Xiangshui River.
The horse team on the north bank saw a large group of Shuixi Army coming towards them from a distance. With a whistle, they all got on the raft and ran back to the south bank. Then across the river, they yelled and taunted the Shuixi Army who was blocked by the sound of water... This time Anbang Yan was not successful. I completely understand - Sun Jie had no intention of crossing the river at all. Everyone thought he would go after She Chongming's Yongning Army, but he went straight to Zhijin, taking advantage of the main force to be taken to Hebei, to dig out his own nest. !
