Chapter 321
"The soldier ran away!"
Hearing this, Cheng Shijie's face was filled with bitterness. If he had not become the commander-in-chief of the Ning Navy in the past and later generations, he would have believed that the soldiers would be afraid of the enemy and flee in confusion.
However, in this time and space, Cheng Shijie, who had been the commander of the Duoning Navy for four years, knew very well that the border troops on the nine sides were all elite soldiers of the Ming Dynasty and had very rich combat experience. As a veteran, it is absolutely possible to show your back to the enemy, let alone a group of enemies riding war horses.
No matter how a person can run with two legs, he cannot outrun a four-legged beast. In a field battle, the Ming army may be overrun by Jiannu or Mongolian cavalry, but the problem is that this is in the solid Jingzhou. Anbao, Jinganbao, which has been holding on for more than two months, is still as hard as iron with its front feet, but its back feet are broken?
The old man was actually more sad and angry than Cheng Shijie, with deep helplessness in his grief and anger: "Jing'an Fort has been attacked by Mongolian Tatars from time to time. For many years, it has been as solid as Mount Tai. I don't know why it suddenly jumped, and I also don't know." What do those generals think? They clearly have so many troops, but they just refuse to fight the Tatars. They retreat as soon as they see the dust and wait for the wind to fall. A few hundred Tatars can rampage through Jingan Fort and become invincible!"
"What? What did you say?"
Cheng Shijie was struck by lightning: "Only a few hundred Tatars?"
"My lord, don't you understand yet?"
The old man smiled sadly: "The Xuanfu defense line has collapsed, and the Tatars have broken through Jingan Fort!"
Jingan Fort, also known as Jinghu Fort, was built in the Ming Dynasty. Because it guards the Baihe Gorge, it is commonly known as Baihe Fort. Jingan Fort is not an independent fortress. There are more than a dozen side castles set up along the Jingan Ancient Road to the north. , the frontier of Jingan Fort.
There is a garrison in the city. The garrison is a higher-ranking officer who has a mansion and is stationed here all year round to command the defense in this area. There are many soldiers stationed in the city, with "actually 888 officers and soldiers". The soldiers need barracks to rest. There are barracks in the city, as well as official residences, which are quite large.
Jingan Fort belongs to the east road of Xuanzhen, and controls important pass points such as "Donghekou in the east, Xihekou in the west, Kuotou Dun in the north, and all the way to the edge. Luanquan Temple and Xujiachong are six or seven miles away from the edge." Natural insurance can be relied upon.
"Yanqing Prefecture Chronicle" records that the castle has a south gate and a west gate and is a brick city. Most of the castles in this area are earthen castles, but this one is a brick castle. The brick-clad city wall outside is expensive to build, but it is strong and strong and can withstand fierce attacks, which shows its military status.
The key to the problem is that Jingan Fort is the doorway to the capital, located in Miyun. Miyun was the main road leading to the capital in ancient times.
"Hundreds of Mongolian Tatars attacked the city and plundered the territory along the way. It was like entering an uninhabited country. So many fortified cities were not defended at all. The enemy troops surrendered as soon as they arrived..."
When the old man said this, his eyes almost burst out with fire, and he let out a sad roar at the hazy sky: "God, open your eyes and look! This country is going to die, it is going to die... "
The tragic roar made Cheng Shijie's hands and feet cold and speechless. There was only one thought left in his mind: "Why is this happening? Why is this happening?"
As early as when Cheng Shijie took over as the Prime Minister of the Nine Borders, he sent out military orders to the generals of the Nine Armies to strictly guard against death. As long as the soldiers died, he would replenish them. If the armor was lost, he would replenish it. Who dared to retreat without authorization, even to the ends of the earth? , also kill without mercy.
As long as the border town is defended, Cheng Shijie will personally pay fifty taels of silver as a reward for every level of beheading of a Mongolian Tatar. If he beheads a level three or above, he can obtain a household registration based on military merit, move to Liaodong, and divide the fields and houses.
It can be said that Cheng Shijie used a big stick in one hand and sweet dates in the other to temporarily stabilize the morale of the army. In order to prevent food shortages in various parts of the Nine Borders, Cheng Shijie also tried every means to transfer food from Liaodong into the customs. However, because of the cold weather and the freezing of the Bohai Sea, It was temporarily impossible to transport. Although the Bohai Sea was frozen, the Liaodong Ordnance Bureau temporarily built an ice boat.
This kind of ice boat uses the base of a four-wheeled carriage, removes the wheels, and installs a sled. In order to prevent the sea ice from suddenly breaking, a sheepskin raft is used on each ice boat as a buoy. Once it accidentally falls into the water, the inflated sheepskin raft can Provides buoyancy to prevent sinking.
The problem is that this kind of transportation volume and speed are far less than that of large ships. However, transporting by sea in a straight line saves distance and time. However...
All this was in vain due to the fall of Jingan Fort.
In Miyun County in December, the weather is intense. The cold wind is like a long knife, repeatedly sweeping away all living things, and the world is vast. Cold, so cold!
What is surprising is that even in this hellish season when water turns to ice, you can still see a large number of people dragging their families with them, braving the cold wind, walking heavily towards Miyun County.
They were cold, hungry, and exhausted. Many of them collapsed because they exhausted their last strength. Once they fell, they could never get up again. These were the people who had been evacuated from Xuanfu East Road. They had lived in Xuanfu for many years. Who knew that the situation suddenly changed and the Mongols came to Xuanfu East Road like crazy and started fighting with them.
As a common people in Xuanfu, there are no longer farmers in the simple sense. The brutal fighting during the Jiajing Dynasty lasted until the Qiu Chongzhen Dynasty. The endless war forced every peasant to become a soldier. They held weapons and guarded the settlements. , fought to the death, and some settlements were captured, but most of them were still in their hands.
The Mongols attacked again and again, but they fought back. They firmly believe that as long as the imperial court can give them strong support, they can make the Mongols bleed dry on the Great Wall defense line on Xuanfu East Road!
However, everything has changed now. Many border troops suddenly turned their backs and gave way to the defense line. The Mongolian army surged in from the defense line like a flood that burst its embankments. The Xuanfu East Road, which was originally unbreakable, made the Mongolians wail in despair. The defense line collapsed in this way. The Ming army soldiers distributed on the long border defense line were divided and surrounded one after another. The rear was messed up by the Mongolian cavalry, and there was smoke and fire everywhere.
The Xuanfu army had no time to protect itself and could no longer provide strong support to the people. Many settlements were flooded by the incoming Mongolian cavalry...
You can imagine the mood of the border soldiers who have guarded this land for generations and shed too much blood. They covered the retreating people, and the Mongolian cavalry was not only following them slowly, because the Mongols looked at Xuanfu East Road. The defense line was opened rashly, but they did not dare to go too deep, for fear that the Ming army would set up a trap to ambush them.
Fortunately, the Mongolian army had lingering fears, otherwise these people would not have had the chance to evacuate to Miyun County. However, the small Miyun County was already overcrowded. There was no food, no winter clothes, and no charcoal fire to keep warm. Even after a near-death experience, The people who arrived in Miyun are also complaining every day.
At the critical moment, a convoy appeared outside Miyun County. It was a very large convoy, with hundreds of large vehicles. A steward wearing a thick cotton coat stepped forward and shouted: "Listen up, everyone, we are now We need some help here!"
Everyone was stunned for a moment. They couldn't enter the county town. They stayed outside the city and didn't know when the Mongolian army would come to kill them. They could survive with a stutter and hot soup. As for working, what did it mean?
Someone boldly asked: "We are willing to help, can you feed us?"
"Okay, everyone who comes here to work will have two big bowls of soybean porridge, with oil and salt, and you'll be satisfied!"
With a bang, young people with enough strength swarmed forward, followed by the old, weak, sick and disabled. Anyone who could move rushed towards the convoy.
This convoy naturally came from Liaodong. Now as Liaodong's industrial development becomes faster and faster, coupled with the cessation of large-scale immigration, Liaodong has a problem of labor shortage.
Now that refugees have appeared on the Great Wall defense line, they can solve the problem of lack of manpower in Liaodong. After receiving Cheng Shijie's invitation, Dongfang Trading Company, Huizhou Commercial Alliance, Changfeng Trading Company and Jixian Trading Company, all of which can be counted in Liaodong, sent people to directly Come to Liaodong to accept refugees.
It costs a certain amount of money for these refugees to go to Liaodong. According to this season, without twelve or eighty taels of silver, these refugees have no chance of reaching Liaodong alive.
Relatively speaking, in order to solve the problem of difficulty in recruiting workers, companies are naturally willing to do so. Unlike in later generations, when migrant unions automatically flocked to big cities to find jobs, in this era, people still habitually guard the one-third of an acre of land in their hometowns. , even if you can't survive, you won't leave your hometown easily if you carry it hard.
More than sixty miles northwest of Miyun, on the banks of the Baihe River, and still more than ten miles away from Jingan Fort, a group of Mongolian cavalry roared in, chasing a group of fleeing people.
However, just as they were killing the fleeing people unscrupulously, the ground shook, the snow particles danced, and the Mongolian cavalry straightened up and looked to the south.
I saw a black line appearing on the horizon, a cloak as black as ink fluttering in the cold wind, and a murderous aura coming towards my face. Cheng Shijie led the Ning navy cavalry forward to arrive here.
Cheng Shijie looked at these Mongolian cavalry quietly. Each Mongolian cavalry had one or two bloody heads hanging on their necks. Some were adult men, some were women, and some were children. The leading general was tall and had a rough face. , Don't be angry and be powerful, the fierce general Qia Ketu under the command of Xietu Khan, a native of Mongolia in the desert.
Cheng Shijie waved his hand angrily: "I will kill these beasts for you!"
Although the cavalry of the Ning Navy has always been the shortcoming of the Ning Navy, the problem is that the cavalry of the Ning Navy is weak compared to the strength of the Jiannu cavalry. They are not a little bit stronger than the Mongolian cavalry.
The Ning Haijun cavalry roared to attack the Mongolian cavalry, and the Baihe River became the main battlefield. These crazy Mobei Mongolian cavalry had never seen the strength of the Ning Haijun, and they had never even heard of the Ning Haijun. .
When the distance between the two sides was still more than 500 meters, the Ning Navy Cavalry was galloping and loading ammunition. The Mongolian cavalry on the opposite side burst into laughter when they saw that the Ning Navy Cavalry actually used muskets against them.
They are no strangers to muskets. They only have a range of thirty to fifty steps. More importantly, the accuracy is extremely poor. Even if they stand still, at a distance of fifty steps, the hit rate of the muskets is less than 30%. The accuracy rate within thirty steps is It can barely reach 70%. If you want to accurately hit the target, you need to be within a range of about twenty steps.
However, the problem is that the rifles equipped by Ning Haijun's cavalry are bolt-action rifles of the 8th year of Chongzhen's reign. Let alone thirty steps, even three hundred steps have a high accuracy. Of course, these must be elite shooters. After Ning Haijun's cavalry was loaded, when it was about 150 steps away from the opponent, it stopped advancing and steadily raised its gun to aim.
"Bang bang bang bang..."
As a burst of crackling gunfire rang out, a large piece of the Mongolian cavalry on the opposite side fell. These Mongolian cavalrymen who fell to the ground after being shot did not understand why Ning Haijun's cavalry gun could hit so far and so accurately until they died.
Of course, the Ning navy cavalry did not care about the reaction of the Mongolian cavalry. After firing the first shot, they put away their rifles, drew their sabers, clamped the horse's belly, and rode towards the Mongolian cavalry. The sharp sabers formed a ball of light, and the Mongolian cavalry suddenly They were killed and defeated. In terms of combat effectiveness and head-on fighting, they were far from being Ning Haijun's opponents!
The combat effectiveness of the Ning navy cavalry was still extremely powerful, and soon the remaining Mongolian soldiers fled towards the distance.
Looking at the vigorous figures of Ning Haijun's cavalry, these fleeing people felt a sense of security in their frightened hearts. These loyal and brave soldiers are still there, and hope is there. There is still hope for the Ming Dynasty, and the Ming Dynasty will definitely fight back. They are still You can go home.
Cheng Shijie did not pay attention to this battle. Victory is inevitable, and failure is a problem.
When Meng En entered the Chinese army's tent, Cheng Shijie was staring at the sand table, helpless.
"Commander!"
"Have you found out what you were asked to investigate?"
"Reporting to the Commander-in-Chief, we have found out that the name of the garrison of Jingan Fort is Qiao Zhaolin. It was Qiao Zhaolin who ordered the entire fort garrison to retreat. Sun Wei, the deputy garrison of Jingan Fort, was dissatisfied with the retreat and was killed by Qiao Zhaolin..."
Cheng Shijie said: "Let me dig out Qiao Zhaolin and move Xiangdongchang and Jinyiwei. Spend money when it's time to spend it. Now is not the time to save money!"
"yes!"
Meng En asked again: "If Qiao Zhaolin is found..."
"I want no one from the Qiao Zhaolin clan to be let go."
Cheng Shijie was very angry. It was now basically certain that Qiao Zhaolin was attracted by someone. The surviving soldiers of Jingan Fort confessed that Jingan Fort had a total of more than 2,300 shi of food. It could last at least four more months. There was no shortage of food and grass. There is no shortage of ammunition, and there are still more than 800 troops, so it is not a situation where we cannot hold on.
The Mongolian army fought around Jingan Fort for more than half a month, with no more than a hundred casualties. It was a joke to say that Jingan Fort could not be defended. No matter how much it cost, Cheng Shijie would kill Qiao Zhaolin alive.
There are many problems facing Cheng Shijie now. I don't know how many people in the Nine-Border Army have been roped in. Ning Haijun's more than 10,000 troops were placed on Xuanfu's defense line of more than 1,300 miles, with an average of less than ten men per mile. No matter how powerful Ning Haijun's soldiers were, they had their limits and they might not be able to defend it.
The core of mobile defense is news. The fundamental reason why the Desert Fox can adopt mobile defense with equipped troops is information. At that time, there were telegraphs and telephones. Any time the enemy situation was discovered, Rommel could respond quickly.
Now Cheng Shijie does not have this condition. He has decided whether to return to future generations and get a batch of high-power radio stations. But the problem is that the Great Wall defense line is surrounded by mountains and hills, and the signal is not like it is at sea. The signal at sea is the most ideal and spreads the farthest, but the mountains Time, big discount.
It is not possible to divide the troops, and it is even more impossible not to divide the troops. This gives Cheng Shijie a very headache.
Suddenly, there was a gust of cold wind outside the tent.
"Report to the Commander-in-Chief, Eunuch Gao wants to see you!"
"Let him in!"
"yes!"
Not long after, Gao Qianfengchenwennu entered the big tent. He said with a complaining look on his face: "General Cheng, why did you come at all?"
In Gao Qiqian's view, Cheng Shijie should never have taken over the mess of the Nine-Border Defense Line. This was simply a hot potato, and whoever touched it would be unlucky.
Now there is only a problem in Jingan Fort. Of course, this is just the beginning and is far from the end.
Cheng Shijie smiled and said: "If I don't care about it, who cares about this matter? If no one cares about it, how can we let hundreds of thousands of Mongolian troops go south smoothly? Kill them like rivers of blood?"
Gao Qiqian patted his thigh and said, "General Cheng, you are in big trouble this time!"
Before Gao Qiqian finished speaking, Cheng Shijie said: "The eunuch of the Xuanfu Town Supervisory Army is called..."
"Lu Weining is Lu Jiuzheng's godson!"
"Is this person reliable?"
"It's hard to say. Whether it's reliable or not depends on the situation!"
Cheng Shijie smiled and said: "Xuanfu Commander-in-Chief Lu Baozhong, Governor Chen Xinjia, and Army Supervisor Lu Weining, these three people, please help me keep an eye on them, Eunuch Gao!"
"Is it useful to keep an eye on them?"
Gao Qiqian sighed and said: "There are some clean butts of those officials. As long as they catch the handle, they are really obsessed with dough, and they can squeeze it as much as they want!"
At first, Cheng Shijie was just thinking about who had been bribed and won over. After Gao Qiqian's reminder, Cheng Shijie realized that Qiao Zhaolin might not have been bribed but threatened.
In any case, this matter is not easy to solve.
Gao Qiqian picked up the tea cup and found that the water inside had already frozen with thin ice.
Cheng Shijie said: "Come here, serve hot pot!"
He and Gao Qiqian were eating hot pot while thinking about countermeasures.
The news Cheng Shijie received was not all bad news. At least there was news from Liaodong. Huang Taiji accepted Cheng Shijie's suggestion and had returned more than 200,000 Ming and Ming troops to Liaodong, but these more than 200,000 people survived. They were delivered in time, and most of them were already skinny and hungry. If this continued, they would only die.
As more than 200,000 soldiers and civilians were sent to Liaonan for resettlement, Ning Haijun began to open a mutual market with Jian slaves in Liaoyang. The skins of Jian slaves, including frozen cattle and sheep, draft horses, and camels, were exchanged with Ning Haijun for food, including Some Mongolian heads.
In fact, Cheng Shijie did not expect Huang Taiji to act as a mercenary for Ning Haijun and kill these Mongolian armies for them. The most important thing was to stabilize millions of slaves with food. This was the greatest victory.
After all, dealing with the more than 400,000 Mobei Mongolian army is already a headache for Cheng Shijie. If there is also a million-strong Jiannu army, Cheng Shijie will have difficulty dealing with so many Jiannu and Mongol coalition forces, even if no one retreats.
As the weather gets colder and colder, Cheng Shijie's biggest difficulty is to rescue the people of the Ming Dynasty in the north and the Mongolian army. In fact, in Cheng Shijie's view, the easiest way to solve these problems is the Mongolian army, followed by rescuing the victims.
Under this situation, Cheng Shijie decided to divide his troops into two groups. On the one hand, the members of the Liaoning Management Committee were responsible for relieving the victims, and the Ninghai Navy's follow-up reinforcements continued to support the Great Wall defense line.
Relatively speaking, Wu Zongda, who was sitting on the soft couch in the cabinet, was very happy. He was drinking tea easily. He turned a blind eye to the refugees flocking to Miyun and Changping. Since the second year of Chongzhen, the Great Wall defense line had once again been invaded by Mongolia. After breaking through, the Mongol army could attack the capital at any time and turn a blind eye to the matter.
Wu Zongda smiled lightly and said: "Thanks to His Majesty's wisdom in appointing that sycophant as the Prime Minister of the Nine Borders, otherwise it would be really difficult to deal with him!"
Cheng Shijie was originally just the governor of Liaodong, and the defense area was only Liaodong, but Cheng Shijie frightened Jiannu. No matter how they tried to win over him, Jiannu just refused to accept their demands and did not dare to attack Liaodong.
Well now, the prime minister has nine sides with an army of 500,000 to 600,000 people, and there will always be generals who will be won over by them. Now Jingan Fort garrison Qiao Zhaolin accepted his invitation and withdrew more than 800 soldiers under his command from Jingan Fort.
As the entrance to Jingan Fort was opened, a hole appeared in the defense line of Xuanfu East Road, and the Mongolian army followed this hole to move south. Now the trouble is all Cheng Shijie's. If Cheng Shijie can't expel Mongolia, regain what he lost, and let the people of Gyeonggi suffer massacre, then he will definitely be held accountable.
If guilty, Cheng Shijie, who was given high hopes by Emperor Chongzhen, would naturally bear the brunt.
Wen Tiren said calmly: "Sir, don't be too happy too soon!"
"Too early? Is there any possibility for Cheng Shijie to make a comeback?"
Wu Zongda smiled and said: "Now God is on our side. Now that the Bohai Sea is frozen, his navy cannot transport troops down, and the road is blocked by heavy snow. Can the Ning Navy from Liaodong still fly over?"
"That sycophant is so insane that he can do anything!"
"No matter how crazy you are, you still have to deal with it!"
Wu Zongda said angrily: "Thanks to that man surnamed Cheng, the original simple folk customs in Liaodong have been completely ruined, rituals and music have collapsed, everyone is proud of pursuing profit, and ashamed of studying. The most abominable thing is that the man surnamed Cheng is like a man possessed. He destroyed forests and springs, built factories, and destroyed many beautiful and historic sites! Today in Liaodong, we can no longer see the beautiful scenery of spring flowers, and all we can see are chimneys with thick smoke! If we don’t stop him, I’m afraid that The Ming Dynasty’s splendid country is about to be destroyed in his hands, how can I have the face to face future generations!”
"Sir, be careful, please note that there are many people here with mixed opinions. If they are exposed, it will be extremely detrimental to us."
Wen Tiren motioned to the officials outside the door with his eyes.
Wu Zongda snorted and said disapprovingly: "Now that he has become a clay Buddha crossing the river, he cannot save himself. If he still dares to touch me, I can't wait!"
"It's better to be careful than a ship that sails for thousands of years."
Wen Tiren said: "The most urgent thing now is, isn't that sycophant going to spread his fallacies soon? I'll be patient for the time being and sneak in when the time comes to refute his fallacies in person and expose his ugly face. Wouldn't it be better than just showing off my words here? Faster is better?"
Wu Zongda smiled and said: "In your opinion, Lord Chief Assistant, let's do it like this! Then I will want to see how that thief can get off the stage!"
It is not known how Cheng Shijie stepped down, but some people will definitely be unlucky, such as Qiao Zhaolin, who finally escaped to the capital. He was placed in a three-in house in Wanping County by Wu Zongda.
In fact, Qiao Zhaolin didn't dare to go out. He was afraid that Cheng Shijie's people would come and kill him. However, he could hide from the first grade of junior high school, but he could not hide from the fifteenth grade. It was much easier for the Jin Yiwei to investigate a person than in later generations.
Because the population mobility in this era was very small, sometimes in a county, very few people left or entered the city in a day, especially the people who were responsible for guarding the city gates. They got some money from the people entering or leaving the city. This is one of their ways of making money. Of course, another aspect is to record the appearance and age of everyone who comes into the city. This is important information, and they can make a lot of money by selling it.
Cheng Shijie asked Huazi for one thousand taels of silver for Qiao Zhaolin's information, two thousand taels of silver to buy Qiao Zhaolin's body, and three thousand taels of silver to buy his living body. For the sake of the money, Jin Yiwei was naturally very attentive.
As the largest intelligence agency in the Ming Dynasty, it was very easy for them to investigate a person who was not a prince or noble. In just two days, they found information about Qiao Zhaolin.
"Bang bang..."
For 3,000 taels of silver, the Jin Yiwei actually dispatched a hundred households from the Thousand Households in Dongcheng. More than a hundred members of the Jin Yiwei came to this humble house. In order to prevent Qiao Zhaolin from escaping, they blocked the front and rear doors respectively.
Qiao Zhaolin didn't dare to open the door. Jin Yiwei Xiaoqi stepped forward and kicked the door open. It took only a dozen times to kick the door open.
Jin Yiwei pulled out Qiao Zhaolin from under the bed: "Master Qiao Zhaolin"
"Yes, my officer!"
"Come with us!"
(End of chapter)
