Lu Yizhong was furious, thinking that you, a crazy student, were just a scholar. He insisted on holding on to your talent and letting it go. He pointed at his nose and reprimanded: "You are a crazy and rebellious person. If you talk nonsense again, I will punish you for disturbing the morale of the army."
"Hmph, do you still want me to disturb the morale of the army?" Qian Taichong didn't buy it and was about to retort when someone came looking for them.
"Gentlemen, please go to the camp meeting."
When leaving the city, Qian Taichong felt that all the troops at the gate of the city had been replaced by the people and horses of the Zhenbiao, and all the swords and guns were unsheathed very neatly. rolling
A group of horses rolled through the city gate. The officers and soldiers at the city gate did not close the city gate after they left. The city gate remained open to facilitate the entry and exit of people and horses.
In the Chinese military camp, although He Rubin's servants and Zhenbiao were still quite stable, this rain of rockets had reduced the morale of the camp to the lowest level. Many people are whispering, thinking that they must retreat.
In the big tent, the camp leaders have already arrived. They are now well aware of the power of the Kun bandits' firearms. There is no sense of security in setting up camp here. Moreover, no matter how high the wall is built or the trench is dug, it will not be ineffective. The Kun bandits' rockets can be fired from more than ten miles away. If you shoot it, it will be hundreds. This battle can no longer be fought.
The generals had no intention of fighting, and the coach felt that the fight could not go on. He Rubin knew that it was meaningless to insist on setting up camp in Chengmai to confront the Kun bandits at this time. Now the morale of the army had collapsed, and the food road could not be restored soon. It is better to retreat to Qiongshan to get food before the troops have suffered a devastating blow, at least there is still room to take on the blame. However, he had no right to make the decision to withdraw his troops alone, so he turned his attention to Zhao Ruyi.
Zhao Ruyi wanted to retreat a long time ago - this time the attack on the Kun thieves was obviously destined to fail, and the fire attack just now scared him so much that he almost left his body. This was the first time he encountered indiscriminate long-range attacks from behind the front lines. One of his servants was hit directly by a rocket during a rocket attack and died instantly. He hoped to escape from such a desperate situation as soon as possible, seeing that all the generals wanted to retreat. I just agreed.
Next, they discussed the order of the retreat of each battalion and the flags and methods of communication. He Rubin knew that it would be difficult for him to explain to the governor and the court this retreat, so he couldn't help but look dark and let everyone discuss it without saying a word. Zhao Ruyi saw that he looked bad, and was afraid that he would go crazy or commit suicide because of the sudden death of the general, and the 20,000 troops would immediately collapse. So he loudly said to the generals:
"My army has been victorious against the bandits, but the stone mountain has suffered a small setback. The army will return to Qiongshan to eat before we worry about it."
At that moment, he said a lot of words to boost the morale of the generals, and then the atmosphere in the big tent was slightly restored. It was decided to withdraw early tomorrow morning to avoid confusion and confusion caused by unclear visibility of the troops breaking out at night.
It was stipulated that Chen Renjie, General Qiongya's troops, and Hainan's local Cao Jun and Xiang Yong would be at the front and responsible for opening the way. Among the five participating generals, Tang Yunwen's team was the most complete. Most of the team were locals and they were familiar with the terrain. Cao Jun and Xiang Yong's hometown camps are mostly in the Qiongshan and Wenchang areas, so their fighting spirit to attack Lingao is low, but they should still have the fighting will to seize the road and fight back.
The ministries followed closely, fighting and leaving. The troops behind the palace were guarded by the Zhenbiao camp and led by guerrilla Sun Changzuo. He Rubin assigned him two thousand men and horses, including one hundred of He Rubin's horsemen and one hundred of Song Ming's cavalry. Sun Changzuo knew that these two hundred horses were used by Lord Zhentai to save his life. He was very grateful at the moment and said that he would lead his troops to fight to the death against the rear.
There is also Li Modao's firearms camp in the palace army. This firearms battalion that lost its cannon was of no use in everyone's opinion, so Li Modao could only take the firearms battalion to defend the camp, and the last one left the camp and retreated. He Rubin's instructions to him were that if the road was cut off and he could not evacuate, he would retreat directly to Chengmai County to assist in the defense.
After the generals resigned, He Rubin said to Zhao Ruyi: "My lord, please rest in the old camp in this town, and then retreat with the old camp after dawn."
Zhao Ruyi said: "The students still have some luggage that they have not packed in the city..."
"This town will send people to handle it immediately."
"No, no," Zhao Ruyi said quickly, "There are many manuscripts and books among them. If the students don't go there and the servants are ignorant, I'm afraid they won't be able to sort them out."
"Okay, please go back, old gentleman."
Zhao Ruyi hurried back to Song's house in the city with his servant Pegasus, and his staff also followed him back. As soon as this group of people came back, the courtyards of various large households in the city where Song Zhai and his staff lived became a mess. Zhao Ruyi, who was supervising the army this time, was originally prepared to search and loot along the way. When he arrived at Lingao, he was able to obtain many of the Kun thieves' playthings and treasures. So I brought many empty boxes and servants. Although the defeat was too quick and the gap was not filled, due to the filial piety of the lieutenant generals and the dedication of the gentry along the way, after entering Chengmai this time, he received many gifts from the Chengmai County Magistrate and the gentry in the county. Because Song Zonghui asked for his protection, he also gave him fifty taels of silver and a calligraphy and painting by a famous artist of this dynasty.
As soon as he returned to Song's house, he ordered his servants to pack and bundle all the belongings immediately, and sent people to collect the people's vehicles and prepare to escape.
Although the staff were not officials, they received various gifts along the way, and they had to be packed and taken away one by one. They were no better than Zhao Ruyi, who brought with him seventy or eighty servants - the illustrious Lu Yizhong, who brought thirty or forty servants with him. The average servant, a poor scholar like Qian Taichong, only has a little boy servant. So some people only picked up the soft goods and packed them into boxes, while some even took away the few pieces of local cotton cloth they had given. There was chaos and a lot of people shouting for a while. While the servants of each family were packing their luggage, they simply moved their belongings at will in the living room of Song House, including all the furnishings on the table, the calligraphy and paintings on the walls, and even the curtains on the bed. The servants of the Song family all exclaimed, "We are being attacked by officials." Seeing the chaos, Song Huizong ordered his family members to send their family members, old and young, to the inner courtyard. When he was there, he resisted the robbery by the insurgents and hurriedly went to find Chang Qingyun.
Chang Qingyun was supervising several servants to bundle and carry the luggage. While he was loudly instructing the servants, he kept reprimanding them for not doing things quickly. A servant accidentally spread the bundled luggage, and several pieces of local specialty jibebu were scattered on the floor. Chang Qingyun roared again and again.
"What's the point of suddenly packing up?" He was panicked. In fact, Song Huizong had already guessed that the officers and soldiers were going to flee for their lives, but he still held on to a glimmer of hope, hoping that this was just a camp move.
Chang Qingyun said to him in a low voice because he had been very attentive to his reception these past few days: "To be honest, the army is out of food and grass, and was burned by the Kun bandits' rockets for a while, so our troops will return to Qiongshan."
This news was like a bolt from the blue, and Song Zonghui almost fainted - what would happen to the county once the officers and soldiers fled?
"I am about to return to Qiongshan, but I don't know when I will come back to Chengmai?"
"This is a major military matter, how do we know?" Chang Qingyun said, "In my opinion, it can take as little as three months and as long as half a year."
"This, this," Song Zonghui was in a panic. As soon as the officers and soldiers left, the army of thieves was under the city. The fall of the city was a matter of time. "I wonder how many soldiers and horses are left to guard the city?"
Chang Qingyun said impatiently: "Students don't even know about the important military affairs."
Song Zonghui stood there for a long time, until a staff member came to him and asked him to help recruit a few chicken buses and civilians to transport his luggage. He quickly agreed casually and rushed to the county government office.
Liu Jingxuan was in the county office as anxious as a headless chicken. The rocket attack just now made him frightened. He was afraid that the thieves would take the opportunity to attack the city. While urging the regiment's brave people to put out the fire, he personally led people to the city to check the situation. He saw many military camps outside. Fires broke out everywhere, and people and horses made a noise. His heart sank to the bottom. Finally, after all the fires were extinguished, the bandits did not attack the city. He just went down to the city and returned to the Yamen, where he had someone cook him a supper.
Before they even finished the bowl of rice noodles, they received news that the camps outside and inside the city were making noises, and they didn't know what had happened. Liu Jingxuan quickly put the bowl down and ordered someone to wring a hot towel. He was going to wipe it off and go out to investigate. As soon as the servant's handkerchief was brought, Song Zonghui arrived in a hurry.
He didn't have time to be polite to the county magistrate, so he quickly told him that the officers and soldiers were preparing to withdraw to Qiongshan at dawn.
"Are you serious?" Liu Jingxuan almost jumped up, even ignoring the rice noodles that had not been wiped off the corner of his mouth. "My soldiers are leaving?"
"Seriously" Song Zong would tell the staff and officers in the city who were packing their luggage one by one, and also said what Chang Qingyun said. Then he sighed and said, "What Mr. Chang said is not true."
"What should we do?" Liu Jingxuan's face turned pale. "As soon as the officers and soldiers leave, the thieves will come to attack the city. The thieves' firearms are so powerful..." At this point, he could no longer say anything, even though they were defending the city at the beginning. They stayed in Chengmai for dozens of days, but that was just because the thieves surrounded them without fighting, but it didn't mean that they couldn't capture the city.
"I think we are the only ones who have joined the city and climbed the palace together. Please stay..."
Liu Jingxuan knew that this method was not a solution at all. Now that the food route was cut off and they were attacked by gunfire, the morale of the army was in great chaos. Isn't the life and death of tens of thousands of people under He Zongbing and his own head more important than this small county town? Falling into the county seat was indeed a crime for him, but it was by no means a capital crime. Why is it necessary to stay in this desperate place and live together with the soldiers and people of this county?
Thinking of this, Liu Jingxuan cried and said: "I think this method is useless. I just pity the gentry people in this city." He sighed and declared that once the city was breached, he would commit suicide and die for his country.
"I think it's better for you to go to the old camp of He Zhentai and use the advantages and disadvantages. Let Master Zhentai leave a force to help defend the city." Colleagues in the Yamen suggested.
"Most of the food and grass in the city have been confiscated by the army. Even if there are soldiers to defend the city, they can't hold it without food supply." Liu Jingxuan sighed.
Song Zonghui was not thinking about this, but that once the officers and soldiers escaped, they would inevitably rob the city before leaving. Although He Rubin led troops from the province, there was no guarantee that he would be able to suppress his men. Thinking of this, he felt that it was better not to abandon the officers and soldiers - since the 20,000 officers and soldiers had to flee in the face of the bandits, what was the use of leaving 5,000 men? If the bandits were to capture the city, it would only be a matter of time.
The officials in the yamen had the responsibility to defend their territory and had to defend to the end, but the common people like them did not have to fight to the end. I was already thinking of surrendering if the Kun bandits tried to attack the city. At the moment, he just echoed a few words, but said no more.
During the discussion, a flying horse from the primary school came to deliver an order: The entire county must immediately prepare 20,000 kilograms of dry food, and at the same time recruit civilians and chicken coaches. Delivered to the camp before dawn.
"It's easy to prepare dry food. Xiaguan immediately arranged for each household to light a fire to cook. But the peasants and the chicken bus are trapped in the city now, and Xiaguan can't leave the city gate. How can we prepare?" Liu Jingxuan asked anxiously.
"This is an order from an adult and has nothing to do with the young one." The junior colonel rolled his eyes and said, "It must be done before dawn." As he said that, he got on his horse again and flew away.
Liu Jingxuan was so anxious that although Chengmai was a large county in Hainan, there were only a few hundred young men that could be recruited in the county. Most of the regiments who defended the city were provided by villages near the city. Steaming 20,000 kilograms of dry food is not an errand that can be done in a moment. He also wanted to convene a meeting of Jin gentry at starry night. Or Song Zonghui muttered: "We'll leave at dawn, why bother talking?"
Liu Jingxuan knew what he meant, and he was a little worried: "What if the general asks about it?"
Song Zonghui sneered: "I'm afraid it won't be too late to ask about this by then." He then whispered that now he just asked the women to light the fire to make dry food and wait for the dry food to be shipped out at dawn.
"...You don't even have to make enough dry food. Firstly, you don't have enough time. Secondly, when the troops arrive, they are already eager to return. They will rush to leave first at dawn. How can there be time to wait for the dry food from the county in peace? Until..." Song Zonghui whispered, if you have a few thousand kilograms of dry food, you can just take care of it. There is no need to waste more of the county's food reserves.
Liu Jingxuan listened to Song Zonghui's suggestion, and at the same time arranged for people to make dry food, and at the same time asked people to ring gongs to recruit the people in response to the accident, and the people in the city hid one after another. Song Zonghui gathered all the regiment heroes again and waited at three city gates. They only waited for the officers and soldiers at the city gate to leave and immediately rushed to close the city gate. To prevent officers and soldiers from taking advantage of the chaos to rob.
The people in the county are making preparations nervously, and some of the troops and staff officers originally stationed in the city are also leaving the city. Someone took the opportunity to rob the city. Several fires broke out in the city, and there were sounds of killing, shouting and begging. Several corpses killed by rebel soldiers were lying on the street in front of the county government office. The gate of the county government office has been closed, heavy bolts have been fastened, and door bars have been added. Liu Jingxuan led dozens of people to protect the seal in the lobby. He was very frightened. On more than one occasion, a small group of rioters broke into the county government office with dazzling swords and guns, demanding that he "get some money." "Material money", he was not only afraid that the officers and soldiers would rob the county treasury so that he could not explain it, but he was also worried about his wife and concubines in the back office, fearing that the rebel soldiers would break in and insult them.
He Rubin didn't know that the officers and soldiers in the city had been driven away as enemies. He was sending people to urge the troops and staff in the city to leave the city quickly, and at the same time gathered all the troops near the old camp. He ordered that all clumsy equipment should be discarded, and only food, grass and light firearms should be brought. He asked Li Mo to put all the remaining cannons on the camp, and when covering the retreat, he discharged all the cannons and threw them away.
Zhao Ruyi said in a low voice: "I might not be able to account for the many discarded armored weapons and equipment. According to the student's opinion, it is better to send them all to Chengmai County and leave 500 people to help guard the city."
He Rubin was convinced, and immediately ordered all the armored weapons and equipment to be discarded to be transported to the county town, leaving a Qian Zong and 500 soldiers to help guard the city.
In the blink of an eye, the sky was already dark, and He Rubin immediately ordered the entire army to break camp and set off. Chen Renjie led General Qiongya's men and horses and the local cao army at the front, followed by 10,000 defeated soldiers from all walks of life, and then his own elite 2,000 people to cover the old camp and baggage.
Although he had already arranged for unused heavy equipment and redundant armored weapons to be sent to Chengmai County in advance, things happened in a hurry and many officers and soldiers in the camp were eager to escape and left the camp without cleaning up. Discarded weapons and armor were everywhere.
When he heard the report that Chen Renjie's troops had marched out, he felt a little more at ease. What he was most afraid of was that the soldiers would rush for their lives in panic and nervousness, which would cause chaos in the retreat. Even if there were only two or three thousand Kun thieves, they would still be able to seize the opportunity. The officers and soldiers were severely defeated. Therefore, He Rubin was very nervous and asked people to go out from time to time to investigate the withdrawal status of various people.
Kun Thief is very good at detecting horses. Every time he intercepts the Tang Ma sent by him, even Xi Zuo rarely returns, and he has not captured a single prisoner in several battles. The situation on Kun Thief is as deep as the sea, and even the slightest news cannot be transmitted. Come. He Rubin knew that he was like a blind man and a blind horse. He could only fight the battle by groping step by step. He was in a very dangerous situation.
Shortly after Chen Renjie's team came out, the following teams also came out one by one. He felt a little relieved when he received the news that all the troops in the front team were safe and had gone three or four miles away. He was thinking about what to do next after retreating to Qiongshan, and how to report it to the commander of the army - he knew that Zhao Ruyi would definitely blackmail him for a sum of money... While he was thinking about it, he suddenly heard a series of rumbling cannons outside. , so dense that there were almost countless sounds. He was shocked and didn't know where the Kun thieves got so many cannons. Then there were people shouting and horses neighing, and there was chaos. He was shocked and immediately stood up and asked hurriedly:
"What's going on outside?"
"The Kun bandits are attacking," a soldier hurriedly reported, "cannons are being fired in the east."
He Rubin's heart sank. To the east was the direction in which Chen Renjie's front team was retreating. Could it be that the Kun thieves have set up a defense line on the road to prevent the army from retreating?
In a moment, the sound of cannons and gunshots outside became more and more intense, and the noise in the camp became louder and louder. Even his standard camp began to experience fluctuations. He was about to send people to investigate again when Ye Zhengfang, a guard from the Chinese army, hurried in and reported:
"The former army, the former army" he seemed to be breathless in fear, "the former army was defeated" v! ~!
