Section 83: Flag sacrifice and war begins
It was already daybreak, and major civil and military officials and local celebrities from Qiongzhou Prefecture and Hainan Province arrived one after another. [Read the latest chapter] Palanquins and horses keep arriving. The area around the earth platform has become a gathering place for gauze hats and square scarves. They must all feel very honored and excited to be able to attend today's grand ceremony. While greeting each other reservedly, they stretched their necks and looked around, waiting for the coach to appear.
On the earth platform, two tiger leather seats have been placed. One is the seat of He Rubin, the chief military officer guarding Guangdong, and the other is the seat of Zhao Ruyi, the supervisor of Hainan Province, who is assigned to the left political branch.
Suddenly, a horn sounded, and the entourage of He Rubin and Zhao Ruyi began to enter the school grounds. The two dismounted in front of the earth platform, and boarded the earth platform with cheers and crowds.
Under the platform were surrounded by He Rubin's generals, soldiers and servants, a total of three to four hundred people, all with helmets on their heads and swords and spears in neat formation, waiting for them. He Rubin and Zhao Ruyi, surrounded by generals and staff, had already taken their seats in the middle. He Rubin was leaning sideways and saying something to Zhao Ruyi. Zhao Ruyi sat calmly, raised his slender face slightly, twirled three strands of his beard, and just nodded slightly, looking cold and conceited. On both sides of them, according to the custom of left civil and right military, stood two rows of higher-status civil and military officials and staff. As usual, they all lowered their hands and held their breath, showing a respectful and solemn look.
Many soldiers and horses had gathered on the school grounds, and the invited local gentry sighed in surprise while twirling their beards. They were talking in low voices and pointing at the various flags flying on the school grounds. No one could figure out how many soldiers and horses there were.
The older ones among them can still vaguely remember the grand occasion of the official army crossing the sea to clean up the troops during the Wanli Period. It seems that this time is not inferior to that of the past - the official army crossing the sea is said to have 50,000 troops.
Apart from He Rubin's Zhenbiao and his retainers, Zhibiao and Fubiao, the Guangdong Ming Army has four generals and a guerrilla unit who have arrived in Qiongshan: Chaozhou General and Qiongya General. , General Lei Lian, General Chaozhou and Guangdong training guerrilla general.
These five generals are different from the empty deputy generals, staff generals, and guerrillas that became increasingly common in the late Ming Dynasty. They are real military attachés with titles in each defense zone. Basically all the main forces in Guangdong, except for the Dongxishan Ginseng generals who were anti-Yao, were almost mobilized. The officials, gentry and common people in Qiongzhou have not seen such a formation for decades.
Gou Chengxuan watched from a distance on the hillside. He was on a high ground and could see clearly. While I was watching, I heard someone shouting,
"It's unfair, it's unfair. This villain is a good citizen."
He was slightly startled and turned around. It turned out that there were several prisoners who had stripped off their upper bodies and were tied up, with scars all over their bodies from being tortured. They were being escorted by several soldiers and driven towards the school grounds. They were shouting as they staggered away.
"I am an ordinary merchant. I only go to Lingao to buy needles and threads. I beg you to spare my life."
"The villain is not careful, he is wronged, he is wronged"
Gou Chengxuan thought he had caught a spy, but the old soldier behind him whispered: "This is to beheaded to sacrifice the flag." Then he sighed, "I heard they are all small businessmen, because they have been to Lingao Caught."
"Oh, it turns out that the one who went to do business with Kun Thief deserves to be killed." Gou Chengxuan suddenly screamed. If there weren't so many people coveting the petty gains of the Kun thief, how could the Kun thief be so rampant and able to gather more than ten thousand people. I heard that when Goujiazhuang was destroyed, many people came to Yanchang Village to help the bandits carry weapons. After the village was broken, they had a share in carrying Goujiazhuang's property and even demolishing houses. This time when he returns to Lingao, he must massacre the entire Yanchang Village. No one will be left alive, he thought to himself, and women cannot allow them to live.
"Although it is somewhat unjust, it is your own fault," a voice said not far away. Gou Chengxuan turned around and saw that this person was Qian Taichong, Zhao Ruyi's staff. Gou Chengxuan quickly flattered him: "What brother said is absolutely true."
Qian Taichong snorted coldly. He looked down upon this retired scholar. He didn't go to the school grounds today - his fame was too low and he had no official position. When he got to the school grounds, he could only stand far away and wait on the class. Qian Taichong is a proud and arrogant person, how can he bear such contempt? Just watch the excitement in this military camp.
He had always thought highly of himself, and he knew that Zhao Ruyi was willing to ask him to be his staff not because he admired his moral articles, but because of the kindness introduced by his fellow villagers. When he first arrived in Qiongzhou, a land of southern barbarians, Zhao Shenzheng was sent to Guangzhou before he could think of any impressive measures to show off his skills. Obviously, he didn't take him seriously.
In several strategic meetings to suppress thieves, Qian Taichong has been eager to try and propose several strategies to win everyone's admiration. However, he had no military experience at all and had never read any military books. Even if he talked about military affairs on paper, he could not do anything about it. He could only talk about people's hearts and minds, which made everyone hate him.
He originally didn't want to deal with people like Gou Chengxuan, but since he wanted to make a difference in the aftermath of the Lingao war, he had no choice but to be polite to this rare Lingao native.
"They are just greedy for small profits, so they go to Lingao to do business. It is indeed too much to insist that they are spies for the thief." Qian Taichong said, "However, as the saying goes, the people in the countryside are afraid of punishment. He must be afraid of severe punishment. If he is allowed to follow the trend of profit without punishment, other stupid people will regard the government as soft and benevolent and can be bullied, and they will follow suit one after another. Within a year and a half, people's hearts will definitely change, and they will not wait for the thieves to cause chaos. Qiongzhou is not mine."
He spoke so arrogantly, Gou Chengxuan could only listen respectfully. He very much agreed with the fact that ordinary people feared punishment and pursued profit. Just as he was about to think about what to say to satisfy him, suddenly the cannon sounded again.
The few prisoners just now were pushed and shoved to the flagpole of the school ground. These common people included small traders traveling to Lingao, as well as people who accidentally said a few good words about the thieves in Qiongshan. They were all captured by spies who were thieves.
They were ordered to kneel down. Several card swordsmen came over, and with the sound of cannons, several bloody human heads fell to the ground one by one and were placed under the flagpole.
Immediately afterwards, twenty-four large snare drums started beating. The sound of the drums was low and the rhythm was concise and unembellished; on the contrary, it had an awe-inspiring power. When the beating reaches a climax, even the heaven and earth seem to shake. With the shocking drum beat and the sudden sound of the horn, a red flag was raised on the podium.
The army gathered in the distance like dark clouds began to move slowly, like the faint thunder before a heavy rain. The footsteps of the soldiers became louder. The swordsmen holding broadswords and the bows and arrows carrying The spearmen with hands and spears pointed at the sky, the firearmsmen carrying three-eyed blunderbuss and bird blunderbuss... one after another, each in a certain formation, walked over in neat steps, countless flags were flying under the soldiers The smoke and dust they stepped on floated in the air.
The horns were wailing and the drums were rumbling. The troops participating in the military parade were the most elite part of the Ming army crossing the sea, totaling 7,000 people. The troops were neatly organized and well-equipped, and they had an overwhelming momentum.
This was the first time in his life that Qian Taichong participated in such a large-scale military parade. He couldn't help but get excited, and his heart was shaking slightly because of nervousness. He clenched the fan in his hand and stared intently at the advancing people and horses in the smoke.
This army is worthy of a battle. Qian Taichong thought that the imperial court still had good soldiers and generals. The officers and soldiers I saw on the way to the palace were either tired and lazy, or they were arrogant and brave. Now that he saw such elite troops, he couldn't help but feel reassured about this campaign, feeling that victory was only a matter of time.
"Everyone says that the Kun thieves are very disciplined and their troops are neat and orderly. I think they are nothing more than that. They may not be able to beat the elites under He Zhentai's command."
"Yes, except for the guns and firearms, the Kun thieves are not very good at attacking and stabbing, but they rely on the strong boats and cannons." Gou Chengxuan was also shocked by the astonishing momentum of the parade. He said this partly to flatter Qian Taichong, and partly sincerely. Seeing the momentum of the army, Gou Chengxuan felt that it would not be a problem to wipe out all the Kun, thieves and ugly people.
At the end of the military parade, the yellow flag on the stage was raised, the drums rumbled again, and all the soldiers suddenly let go of their throats and let out an earth-shattering shout. With the sound of a gong, the school grounds suddenly became silent again.
"It's time to practice the formation," Qian Taichong said excitedly.
After a while, a general hurriedly came to the commander's stage and handed a formation booklet to Zhao Ruyi with both hands.
The drums beat rapidly again, and the team that was originally in a square formation began to run quickly, and the square formation turned into a long snake-like column in the blink of an eye. Qian Taichong saw that this formation change was not only rapid, but also neat and orderly, without any chaos. Unconsciously, he secretly shouted: "Okay!" Mr. He is indeed a veteran general, and his troops are indeed elite.
Then, as the gongs and drums and flags changed, these thousands of people continued to change their formations and practice formations. The drums rose and fell, and the formations also changed again and again. Sometimes there was a long snake formation, sometimes a two-ceremony formation, Sometimes it's a Tai Chi formation, sometimes it's a chain formation, sometimes it's a car formation... it changes into more than a dozen styles in a row. Thousands of soldiers in armor carried weapons and ran back and forth in the dust for almost an hour.
Qian Taichong opened his eyes and became more and more interested. A feeling of heroism and excitement arose in his heart, and he couldn't help shouting: "Please come to Lingyan Pavilion for a while, like a scholar and a marquis of ten thousand households."
Gou Chengxuan was startled by him and thought he was going crazy. He quickly moved a few steps away.
The drill continued.
…
Just as they were mesmerized, a large high-powered telescope on the mountain not far away was also watching the lively scene of the school grounds.
Telegrams were continuously transmitted via radio to the field army headquarters in Ma Niao.
"The total size of the enemy army is 22,000. The main force is about 8,000."
"The enemy force includes about 2,000 rural warriors."
"Twenty Hongyi cannons."
…
Cameras equipped with high-power focal length lenses filmed the entire drill process of the officers and soldiers. That night, He Ming and all the officers above the battalion saw the video USB disk sent by the special investigation team in Ma Niao's headquarters. The two team members marched from Qiongshan to Chengmai on foot, and then Yu Zhiqian personally drove a motorcycle to Ma Niao Lai.
As the spectacular military drill appeared on the screen, everyone gradually became fascinated and started talking:
"It's so spectacular! It's so different from any period movie," Dongmen Chuiyu said in surprise.
"Yes, just the scene of beheading was very spectacular. Five people's heads fell off at once, which was like killing a chicken."
"He Rubin's main force is still very elite. The formation is not bad, but it is not neat enough."
"This large-scale group gymnastics is far worse than North Korea."
…
After much discussion, everyone concluded that the quality of the Ming army's individual soldiers was good, and the overall morale of the army was not bad, but the content of the drills was obviously outdated and obsolete.
"They are still playing group gymnastics-like formation changes. In fact, things like the long snake formation are of little use even in this time and space. They are purely mere formalities. As for stacking Arhats, somersaults, etc., they are basically the same as acrobatics. about there."
"No matter what they are practicing, according to the people in the big library, after the flag parade, the troops will be dispatched soon. It's time for us to dispatch too." He Ming said, "Tomorrow we will serve breakfast according to class standards and set off on time at 6 o'clock .Now we compare the watches," he said, raising his hands.
"Everyone, go and have a rest. There are still a few hours until tomorrow so you can have a good sleep. We still have many things to do in Chengmai tomorrow. Disband."
At 5:30 in the morning, He Ming got up from the thatched bed and got dressed. The orderly brought him face wash. As soon as he finished washing his face, he quickly ate the porridge brought by the orderly. As soon as he finished breakfast he immediately gave the order: "Blow the drums and blow the trumpets."
Immediately afterwards, the drummer on duty outside his tent beat the drum and announced the order. In an instant, the sound of military bugles and the sound of war drums filled the sky. The whole Ma Niao camp was boiling
After five minutes, the drumbeat of "loading the truck" sounded. In an instant, all the tents of the officers and soldiers were rolled up. After another ten minutes, the leading troops beat the battle marching drum. The soldiers marched continuously for five hours, and the stragglers were taken in by the rearguard. At noon they took a short break on the roadside for lunch, and everyone ate dry food. Twenty minutes later, the troops continued to advance. At around five o'clock in the afternoon, the sea breeze brought a mouth-watering aroma of food.
Navy ships had already delivered the field cooking truck to Chengmai Camp a few hours in advance. On the now leveled land, a field cooking truck was smoking, and from the thermos pot with the lid tightly covered came the aroma of rice and "stew"? The latter was a variety of vegetables and meat. Stewed together.
The exhausted soldiers smelled the aroma of the food and cheered up. Speed up the pace and arrive at the preset camp.
After You Huhu made the plan for the Chengmai battle in the staff department, the other companies he left behind in Ma Niao all drove to the foot of Chengmai County to form a siege on Chengmai. The engineering team began large-scale battlefield construction activities, and a camp that could accommodate 10,000 people was ready.
Tian Liang led the company into the camp. He was promoted to second lieutenant by surprise during the expansion of the army. Although it was less than three years since he joined the army and became a second lieutenant, according to the travel group, he was riding a rocket, but in his opinion Come on, my promotion has been slowed down to the root.
At the same time that year, Ruan Xiaoer, the fastest, was already a second lieutenant in the navy. Even among the same group of people in the Army who were promoted to corporals, many had already been promoted to second lieutenants in the Army, but they were never promoted to officers.
Of course, officers are better than sergeants. Not only is their treatment a grade lower, but their status in the field is also different. With the clattering officer's command knife hanging on his waist, everyone would look at him more when he walked on the street. Tian Liang always wanted to hang up the command knife and go to Bairen General Hospital to see Guo Fu. In his heart, he had long regarded Guo Fu as his wife.
But in more than two years, except for a few occasional encounters on the road, he has never seen this friend who wandered and begged with him again, and he has not even spoken to her once. Tian Liang felt that every time he met Guo Fu, she was more beautiful than before. Especially the slim-fitting blue dress, which outlined her exquisite figure, made Tian Liang sleepless for several nights.
He began to feel ashamed and felt that he was just a petty non-commissioned officer and no longer worthy of Guo Fu. He wanted to become an officer more urgently than before.
Although Tian Liang is very eager to be promoted, he also knows that his learning ability is too poor. He can't even memorize a copy of "Infantry Drill Manual", and he always ranks at the bottom in every military skills assessment. If it hadn't been for this military expansion, God knows how long he would have served as a sergeant.
He was not afraid at all of fighting with the officers and soldiers. Tian Liang has been in the Fubo Army for more than two years, and he clearly knows that the advantages of the Fubo Army are far beyond what the official army can match. After a long period of training, the soldiers under his command were familiar with their weapons and were full of confidence in this powerful weapon. They were repeatedly brainwashed by Wei Aiwen and others, and instilled a strong awareness of "don't forget the well digger when you are ready" , deeply realized that defending the Lingao regime is to defend one's own interests. Moreover, the widely publicized stories about the defeats of the officers and soldiers in Liaodong and the mainland, as well as their robbery and killing of good people for deeds of merit, made the soldiers hate and despise the officers and soldiers.
After being promoted to an officer, he hung up his command knife for the first time and put on the officer's epaulettes. He happily went to Bairen General Hospital to find Guo Fu, but the news he received was that Guo Fu had been transferred to Sanya.
This news made him depressed for a long time. He knew that Sanya was located in the southernmost part of Hainan Island. It was hundreds of miles away from here, and it would take seven days to travel by boat. As a soldier myself, it is impossible to go to such a far place without a vacation.
At that moment, she had no choice but to give up the idea of meeting Guo Fu.
This time he was going to fight with the army, so he decided to make a meritorious service no matter what, and get a medal, preferably a third-class meritorious service or above, so that his salary could be increased by part, plus the bonus for the third-class meritorious service and his own With my savings, I can roughly pay it all...
While he was thinking wildly, he completely forgot about the work in his hands. It wasn't until the company commander's messenger came over and asked why the work of unloading the tents hadn't started yet that he panicked and quickly took his people to make arrangements. u! ~!
