As night fell, the desperate Ding Shaoyin stood on Yingpan Ridge, looking up at the dark night sky with an expressionless face.
The entire mountain range was trapped in a dangerous night and was in a state of turmoil. Even though the fighting had long since ceased, the muffled sound of muskets fired by light birds could still be heard from time to time in the dense forest, echoing far and wide in the mountains and valleys.
He held a letter in his hand, written by Liu Chengzong. The content of the letter mainly praised Bai Guangen's ingenuity and courage, and did not mention a word about persuading Ding Shaoyin to surrender, but every seam between the lines was persuading him to surrender.
Liu Chengzong said to Brother Ding, a very exciting battle was fought by the Gulang River. In case you don’t know, I will write you a letter.
This Bai Guangen was very courageous. He was defeated at the Huangyang River, retreated to the fork of the Gulang River and reorganized his army. He relied on his quick wit to set up an ambush, and he actually caught our general Zhang Tianlin off guard.
Brother, you always thought that Bai Guangen would come to join you. Who would have thought that he would dare to pretend to be in retreat and fight back alone?
There is also Zhang Tianlin, our strong man. You are not familiar with this person, but I know very well that he is strong-minded. If a person is in a relaxed mood and is ambushed suddenly, even if he is not defeated, he will be forced to retreat.
He was good at fighting and retreating, killing four times in a row with carbine, and finally defeated Bai Guangen in Bai Guangen's ambush position. He is really a powerful person.
But the most powerful one was Bai Guangen. After he was defeated, he did not choose to flee south. Instead, he took more than 300 people from the north and fled under the eyes of his brothers. By now, he had passed Shimen Gorge and headed for Ningxia.
This is a smart man, with superior skills, who knows he is surrounded.
At the end of the letter, Liu Chengzong told Ding Shaoyin that this battle also taught me a lesson. Even if the lion fights the rabbit, even if you are sure of victory, you have to use all your strength and not relax. Now the only thing stopping me from returning to Hehuang is my brother. Do you think it is? Isn't that true?
Ding Shaoyin had been scolded for three days, but when he read the letter, he couldn't take a breath and almost choked to death.
He thought, I am just a commander of the Liangzhou Guard, not even a commander. Who the hell am I provoking? How could he be placed in such an important position by fate and face such a terrifying opponent?
My officers were either killed at the beginning of the war, or they were squatting in the city of Liangzhou and acting like bastards; my colleagues died in battle first, then fled, or surrendered if that was not possible.
By now the situation was extremely clear. Bai Guangen's escape route and Liu Chengzong's letters mutually confirmed that the Marshal's army had set up an ambush in the south and surrounded them. The possibility of breaking out was unlikely, and even the chance of dying in battle was slim.
Because this is a mountain that is easy to defend but difficult to attack. The reason why it is easy to defend but difficult to attack is because of the geographical advantages. The geographical advantages are always mutual. If I can't go up, you can't get down.
When Ding Shaoyin found out that there was no food and no reinforcements inside, they could not even hope to rush down the mountain to fight to death... They could already see the outcome at a glance, either they would be set on fire and burned to death, or they would be surrounded and starved to death.
At this time, one person was poor, and Ding Shaoyin thought of Chai Shihua, who was under house arrest by him.
Although Chai Shihua was under house arrest, he was content with his life under house arrest. The year this man was born, his father Chai Guozhu was already the chief military officer with two general seals. He saw a lot, heard a lot, and knew a lot. If there are many, the sky is not afraid of and the earth is not afraid.
Ding Shaoyin could put him under house arrest, but he would not be in more danger in the camp. In turn, because Ding Shaoyin put him under house arrest, he had no guilt in this war and had nothing to fear.
Therefore, he had eaten well and slept soundly in the mountains these past few days. Others had to lose more than ten kilograms of meat when they went to war. Fortunately, he had some meat on his originally thin face, showing a bit of wealth.
Not long after he fell asleep at night, he heard the soldiers reported that Ding Shaoyin was coming. Chai Shihua got up from the bed and put on his clothes.
He knew the reason for Ding Shaoyin's visit very well. Before Ding Shaoyin could speak, he poured a bowl of water, drank it by himself, shook his head and said: "General Ding, why are you coming to me at this time? I can't beat you now, let's go." You can’t escape, you can only defend.”
Chai Shihua didn't hate Ding Shaoyin at all. Although this man took away his power and humiliated him on the battlefield, he didn't blame Ding Shaoyin too much in his heart.
Because since the war began, Chai Shihua's mental state was the same as that of the Gansu Ming Army, at a loss.
Before Liu Chengzong broke through Jiayuguan, he led Yang Jiamo's general military standard battalion to Zhuanglanghe to suppress the battle. He could not fight a battle that had no chance of winning. This was an official position. From his own point of view, the clan members were all in Xining, and there were You can’t fight a battle that has a long chance of winning.
In fact, most people would just consider surrender when it comes to this. However, Chai Shihua cannot accept surrender. He is not an ordinary person. He is a loyal martyr of the Ming Dynasty and led Yang Jiamo's elite. Surrender is not just about the honor and disgrace of one person.
These three embarrassing and thorny problems disappeared as Ding Shaoyin seized power.
So on the surface it was Ding Shaoyin who put Chai Shihua under house arrest, but in fact it was Chai Shihua who cooperated with Ding Shaoyin to put himself under house arrest.
As soon as Ding Shaoyin came in, he was stunned before he opened his mouth. He opened his mouth in silence. After a moment, he said awkwardly: "Bai Guangen was defeated. General Cao still doesn't believe it. There are enemy troops in the north, east and south. We are surrounded." .”
Chai Shihua also lamented the situation of the war. He wanted to say something, such as hindsight nonsense, such as the battle should not be fought like this, and the soldiers in the camps should not be separated, but he suppressed his desire to express himself and did not say anything.
Nothing he said at this time was of any use. Chai Shihua comforted him lightly: "General, you tried your best. Yingpanling has beautiful mountains and clear waters. It's not a bad place to die."
Ding Shaoyin nodded, stood up and clasped his fists, saying, "General, please help me arrange defenses together."
Chai Shihua was calm at first, but after hearing this, he suddenly became anxious. He patted the short boy and said angrily: "When I had soldiers, you put me under house arrest to seize the soldiers and dispersed all the boss soldiers' sons. Instead, you asked me to arrange defenses with you and arrange a place." fart!"
"I tell you, the armies on all routes should not be separated. Wouldn't it be better to join the army of more than ten thousand soldiers to rush across the Yellow River than the current situation? By now it is too late to say anything. Why don't you tell the whole army that you are willing to surrender? Those who are willing to descend, those who are willing to go, leave, those who are willing to stay, stay!"
Ding Shaoyin didn't say much, stood up and bowed to say goodbye.
He really took Chai Shihua's advice to heart. That night, he summoned the army's lieutenants and generals and asked them to inquire about the soldiers' wishes. Those who wanted to go should go and those who wanted to stay would stay.
Early the next morning, two Ming soldiers without armor came down the mountain to ask for surrender. Liu Chengzong readily agreed to the request and promised that as long as the Ming soldiers on the mountain surrendered voluntarily, they would be given the establishment of a Liangzhou camp, and all officials would serve in their original positions. He also promoted Ding Shaoyin to one rank and made him the commander of the Liangzhou Guard.
However, Liu Chengzong also kept an eye on it. He asked General Han Shiyou of Huben Camp to surrender to the east of Yingpan Ridge and on the bank of Gulang River. After making sure that the surrendering team was OK, he then pulled them to the north of Yingpan Ridge.
Within a few moments, soldiers on Yingpan Ridge came down the mountain in an organized manner. Han Shiyou carried out the surrender at the bank of the Gulang River. After working for an hour, the soldiers arrived at the north of the mountain.
He reported back to Liu Chengzong: "Commander, we have surrendered 1,442 people. This is the list. There is no Ding Shaoyin. He is still on the mountain and refuses to surrender."
Liu Chengzong frowned slightly when he heard this, looked through the directory, and said in surprise: "Yang Jiamo's clan members have surrendered, and he, Ding Shaoyin, is a fellow Wei Suo Zhi, but he wants to fight to the end with me? Let Han Shiyou send people up the mountain to talk. If he is dissatisfied with the official position, Just give him another place; if he doesn't want to serve me, let him disperse his troops, and I will give him a piece of land to settle down in Ganzhou."
Han Shiyou, who was on the bank of the Gulang River, couldn't help but smile bitterly as he listened to the guards conveying the commander's orders.
The two brothers Han Shipan and Han Shiyou defected to Liu Chengzong along with the Guyuan soldiers of Yang Yao and Wang Wenxiu, but the others became foreign generals and led the troops, and the two brothers became Liu Chengzong's personal soldiers.
Since joining the Lions Camp, the two brothers have basically never left Liu Chengzong's side. Han Shiyou is too familiar with Liu Chengzong's habits. As soon as he heard these words, he knew that their commander's weird temper was coming back - don't look at us. Rebels just like loyal people.
But this time Liu Chengzong was going to be disappointed. Not long after, Han Shiyou handed over the army to his commander-in-chief and personally rode to the North Road camp to meet Liu Chengzong and persuaded him: "The commander-in-chief, Ding Shaoyin, cannot surrender. He wants to die. Let his wish be granted."
Liu Chengzong asked: "How do you say this?"
"We have already announced the surrender of troops. Ding Shaoyin is a hereditary commander and his only son is Ding Zizhen. Before the war started, Ding Shaoyin had decided to seek death and asked Ding Zizhen to go to Ningxia to find Hong Chengchou."
Speaking of this, Han Shiyou shook his head: "There are many sons in the world who don't care about me, but there are very few who don't care about their sons. I think Ding Shaoyin must have a strong conscience."
Liu Chengzong did not reply, but looked at Yingpan Ridge wordlessly. After a long time, he skipped the topic and asked, "There are still fifteen or six hundred people on the mountain?"
"The defeated troops on the front line are Ding Shaoyin's headquarters." Han Shiyou nodded and said, "Absolutely."
Liu Chengzong nodded slowly. He could understand Ding Shaoyin's mentality of wanting to use his family and life to pave the way for his son. He could also accept that the Ming army on the mountain finally refused to surrender: "Send an order to the Gansu Second Battalion and Zhang Tianlin Camp, and order the Third Battalion to camp in Yingpanling." Dig trenches and build walls at the foot of the mountain.”
"Commander, do you want to surround them?" Han Shiyou clasped his fists and asked, "Why don't we let the Huben camp attack the mountain? There are only a thousand of them, so they should be able to defeat them in one go."
Liu Chengzong glanced at Han Shiyou helplessly: "Their troops have become smaller, but their guns and artillery are on the mountain. They are determined and their combat power has not weakened. On the contrary, the road to the Zhuanglang Valley is clear, and we are still fighting with them." what?"
Enclose the mountain, dig trenches and build forts to ensure that the enemy cannot escape with heavy firepower. Even if more than a thousand light soldiers escape, they will not be able to influence the situation of the battle.
At this moment, several gunshots were heard from the west of Yingpan Ridge, followed by intensive gunfire.
Liu Chengzong immediately frowned and looked to the west with a puzzled expression... At this time point, it happened that the Ming army on the mountain wanted to surrender. It was also the best time to break through the Ming army, so there were no gunshots on the battlefield. strangeness.
But when he saw this direction, Liu Shishi was dumbfounded and muttered to himself: "Yingpan Ridge is a mountain, and the west of Yingpan Ridge is still a mountain, right?"
His Tang soldiers had already explored that area. There were still mountains on the other side, and there was an old forest surrounded by the hills. In the future, when Emperor Chongzhen died, he would even be able to go into the old forest to find materials for his coffin. .
Because of this, even if he planned to besiege, Liu Chengzong did not plan to encircle the west side. The troops there would not be able to enter. The enemy troops on the mountain might get out, but there would be no way to the west. The road could not be seen until the west end of Liutiao River.
Further west of that place is a small basin enclosed by mountains, called Zhang Yi.
In fact, Zhangyi was the seat of Zhangye County in the Han Dynasty. During the Wuliang Period, it was always an important military town in the Hexi region that was easy to defend but difficult to attack. After only a thousand years of wind and rain, the local area was already densely covered with various types of Huoshaogou, Binggou, Shaofangtai and the like. Names related to war relics.
As for people, they have also lost a lot in the formation of these names, and now it is like a no man's land.
Liu Chengzong's army only left a hundred or so Tangqi in Huoshaogou, and they were scattered at various mountain passes. They mainly occupied the commanding heights to observe the enemy's situation in Yingpanling on the opposite side, without considering that anyone would run that way.
Not long after, Tang soldiers from the west came over and reported: "Commander, more than 800 people ran to the west and plunged into the forest. Now the first ten people have begun to climb the mountain. Should we pull the artillery soldiers over and shoot them down?" ?”
"Light-packed?"
"Pack light."
Liu Chengzong waved his hand and said: "Then why bother, let them go into the mountains and become bandits... This Ding Shaoyin would rather go into the forest than surrender. There are more than 800 people following him. It's really strange. I guess we will still be in Liangzhou Goodbye Wei."
Ding Shaoyin is the commander of the Liangzhou Guard. If he crawls into the mountains and comes out alive, he will definitely rush to the Liangzhou Guard that has not yet fallen.
Unexpectedly, not long after, the general from Han Shiyou's side also came over and reported that he had obtained important information from the surrendered soldiers, saying that the Ming army on Yingpan Ridge was divided into two factions.
One group is dominated by Yang Jiamo's model soldiers. This group of people will follow Ding Shaoyin to the end and never surrender.
The other faction is dominated by the carriage camp composed of the Liangzhou Guard Banner Army. These people are all soldiers brought out from the Liangzhou Guard by Ding Shaoyin. Many of them have already gone down the mountain and surrendered. Those who stayed on the mountain have other plans.
Their plan was to follow Chai Shihua to the west. This so-called west was far beyond Liu Chengzong's imagination. He thought that these people might go to Zhangyi, but who knew that they were crazy about Turpan.
Chai Shihua said that Gansu fell to thieves, and he wanted to serve the country, but he could not accomplish much with his small force. Surrender was not what he wanted, so he might as well take the risk and go abroad to start a new business.
Liu Shizi wondered what kind of strange two-way rush this was. The soldiers of the general camp did not follow the commander of the battalion, but instead followed the commander. The flag army of Liangzhou Guard did not follow the commander of the commander, but was led by the commander of the battalion. He pretended to travel two thousand miles.
What is the key to these two thousand miles? In order to leave the enemy, they have to bypass enemy-occupied areas and walk on the Qilian Mountain Road that stretches for thousands of miles. The Qilian Mountains are indeed not particularly cold in this season, and the march is not a hellish difficulty.
But the problem is that the end point of their expedition is Hami, two thousand miles away.
Liu Shizi shook his head. He felt that Chai Shihua was not as honest as Ming Jun.
He was thinking that maybe he could bypass Gansu and Jiayuguan by walking through the Qilian Mountains, but Dunhuang, Hami, and Barkol from south to north, if he wanted to go to Turpan, these three places couldn't be bypassed.
And Dunhuang, Hami, and Barkol, aren't they still my territory?
"No more than Chai Shihua." Liu Chengzong secretly laughed in his heart. This little expert in long-distance running waved his hand and ordered: "Send orders to Zhang Tianlin's camp. When the three trenches are repaired, Gulang Gorge will be his base. He can defend Shixia Pass and encircle There are seven or eight hundred people like Ding Shaoyin living on the mountain."
"First surround him until he has no food supply, and then try to persuade him to retreat. Anyway, it's just the rhetoric of thanking him for his loyalty to the army and his ambition to serve the country. If he is willing to leave, let him leave his artillery equipment, pay him a small amount of food and grass for traveling, and allow him to evacuate through Shixia Pass. Entering Ningxia, father and son will be reunited; if he still refuses to leave, let him starve to death in the mountains."
Liu Chengzong thought that instead of fighting, this group of people would squat on the mountain and finally retreat to Ningxia without surrendering. This news would spread among the Ningxia army, which should be of great benefit to his war in the coming year.
As for the rest of the army, Liu Chengzong had a smile on his face: "Let's go back to Hehuang and enter Lanzhou!"
Good evening!
(End of chapter)
