There are many elms and willows outside Linzi City. They were planted by Ma Siam, the magistrate of the county in the 7th year of Zhengde's reign, when he was building the city. After more than a hundred years, they have become as thick as a bucket and their branches and leaves are lush, but it is a good place to cool down in summer.
Chang Yu and his entourage rode horses and ran eastward for several miles under the shade of trees until they reached the shore of Taigong Lake. Everyone got off their horses and found a shady spot by the lake, setting up hooks under poles and sitting down to wait for the delicious food. Not far behind them, a few soldiers dug a pit and lit a fire. While the barbecue was being prepared, Qiao Sanxiu led a group of three or five people to ride horses in the distance to patrol back and forth. After all, one should not be careless at this point, as Tatar wanderers or horse thieves might appear.
Zhu Cian held the fishing rod and sat next to Chang Yu, feeling a little nervous and a little excited. He secretly glanced at the little eunuch and saw him staring at the water with squinted eyes, seemingly absent-minded.
It turned out that he was not as relaxed as he thought, Zhu Ci'an said secretly.
There was a whistle in the distance, which was warning someone. Zhu Cian was startled, and the soldiers next to him immediately turned on their horses, drew their bows and drew their swords, but Chang Yu just turned around and glanced at the city head, and then turned to stare at the water. If there is no flag, it is not a warning signal.
More than ten cavalrymen came running wildly from the north. Just as they were about to enter the city, they saw several cavalrymen outside the woods by the river in the northeast corner of the city. They looked around and waved. After a moment's hesitation, they rode over and saw Qiao Sanxiu, who was a little surprised: "Is the factory owner here?"
Chen Ruxin came. He took people out of the city early in the morning to detect intelligence. This is what Chang Yu told him last night: "Don't worry about the east, go north to explore."
Chen Ruxin is also Chen Wangting's nephew. He is the best among the younger generation in terms of martial arts, but he is a rookie in many things in the army. Whether it is fighting in battle or lurking for investigation, he is not as good as the veterans in the army.
He was one of the leaders of Chang Yu's personal soldiers, and his subordinates were all the most capable veterans. He had learned many practical methods through his own eyes and ears, so he set off without hesitation after receiving the order.
"Can you find anything useful?" Chang Yu picked up the pole as he spoke, and a half-kilogram crucian carp came out of the water, and everyone cheered.
"The Tatar army is coming!" Chen Ruxin's eyebrows were very solemn. He led more than ten people out of the city early in the morning and ran to the north. There was no abnormality. There were no common people, not to mention Tatars.
After running for dozens of miles in one breath, we arrived at a large village named Zhutai Town, which is at the junction of Linzi County, Xincheng County (now Huantai County) and Guangrao County.
When he was about to go to the village to ask for a drink of water, he heard a villager exclaiming that it was a villager who had returned from the north who said he had encountered Tatars and narrowly escaped death...
Chen Ruxin asked for directions and rushed towards the horse. In a village a few miles away, he happened to encounter six or seven Qing soldiers killing people and setting fires. So he took advantage of their unpreparedness and surrounded and killed them. They captured two people and confessed under torture: The main force of the Qing army was in the early hours of the morning. After breaking through Guangrao, we are heading south now...
Chang Yu became expressionless after hearing what he said: "Is there any news about Li Yan that you haven't found out yet?"
Chen Ruxin shook his head: "I asked the prisoner and it turned out that there are still heavy troops to the north to break the rear. General Li must be blocked dozens of miles away."
"Didn't you meet our scouting horses?" Chang Yu asked again. Chen Ruxin shook his head: "No, I killed the two prisoners and then went north for more than ten miles. However, I saw that the Tatar hunting horses were getting more and more dense. Had to return”.
Chang Yu hummed and looked up at the sun: "Half a day of leisure, only half a day of leisure."
"What do you mean, Mr. Factory Supervisor, that the Tatars will come to Zi in half a day?" Zhu Cian couldn't help being surprised and asked sideways.
Chang Yu nodded: "The main force of the Tatars is located in the surrounding areas. The surrounding areas are twenty to thirty miles away and forty or fifty miles away. From Guangrao to Qingzhou, it is less than a hundred miles away and only fifty or sixty miles away from Linzi. Although their main force has baggage, But you can walk twenty or thirty miles in half a day. If nothing happens, Tatars will come to Zicheng to harass you in the afternoon."
"A probing horse?" Zhu Cian asked again: "If there are only a few probing horses, there is nothing to be afraid of."
Chang Yu smiled slightly: "Maybe it's a few Tanma or a small group of Tatars, but who knows."
Zhu Cian became a little nervous after hearing this: "Then let's go back to the city early after eating the fish."
Back to the city? Chang Yu chuckled: "The city is so boring, His Highness, don't you want to do something else?"
Something else? Zhu Ci'an was startled: "Isn't the Factory Superintendent going to go hunting in the mountains?"
Chang Yu smiled, and Qiao Sanxiu, Chen Ruxin and others next to him also laughed. Only Zhu Cian looked confused and was about to ask clearly, but saw the little eunuch turning his head to look at the water: "Li Yan must have been blocked by the Tatars in the Yellow River." The shore.”
"Then, what should we do?" Everyone frowned, and Zhu Cian even looked horrified. The Yellow River is a natural barrier that can only be blocked by one person. But if it can't get through, then Qingzhou City...he suddenly broke out in a cold sweat: " Factory, Factory Supervisor, save Qingzhou... He was about to kneel down as he spoke."
Chang Yu picked him up with one hand: "Do you know Li Yan?"
Zhu Cian shook his head: "No, but I have heard recently that he was once a military advisor in the bandit army and then surrendered to the court to be used by the factory governor."
Chang Yu knew that what he heard must have been told by Li Shiyuan, and asked again: "Do you know what the military advisor does?"
"Advice?" Zhu Cian couldn't react.
Chang Yu chuckled and said, "That's right." He raised his hand and pointed: "The good strategists are all clever in their thinking. They may not be able to charge into the formation, but they are first-rate in marching and forming. Sometimes the enemy is beaten to death. I do not know how it is".
"What the factory director means is that General Li can come over?" Zhu Cian was immediately delighted.
Chang Yu turned his attention to the water again: "As expected, he has crossed the Yellow River now!"
Now that Dorgon's main force has arrived in Guangrao, which is more than a hundred miles away from the bank of the Yellow River, Li Yanzhi could have arrived at the bank of the Yellow River last night. No one knows better than him the consequences if reinforcements fail to reach Qingzhou City, so the little eunuch It is speculated that even the attack on Li Yan has been carried out, and it is not impossible to be able to cross the river.
At this time, the Yellow River was cut off in many places, and the water of the ferry was shallow. All we had to do was divide our troops and find a few ferries to force the crossing. This was Chang Yu's idea, and Li Yan would definitely have thought of it too.
Therefore, Chang Yu believed that Li Yan would not delay for too long and would be able to cross the river.
But he still underestimated Li Yan.
Yes, Li Yan had already crossed the river, and he had indeed divided his troops to cross at various points. However, it was not as difficult as expected, and it could even be said that he crossed the river easily.
Two people played a key role in this. One was Li Muchian, a Taoist priest who was called a charlatan by the young eunuch but was also a gangster.
As for the other person, he is almost forgotten by everyone. Although he has a noble status, he is unknown in the army. He is Wu Weiying, the commander of the Shenji Battalion.
Wu Weiying was a marquis, and he had once served as the governor of the Jingying camp, but he was later sacked. A few months ago, Chang Yu went out to mobilize troops to the Shenji camp and needed a commander, so he took him there.
At first, Old Wu was very scared, and when he went to the military power outside the Pass, he was ignored. But what he didn't expect was that the Shenji Battalion had made great achievements outside the Pass. Wu Weiying was also repelled at the beginning and actually wanted to follow him. At least he could gain fame and reputation. ah.
Then he went to Baoding Prefecture and won several battles. This time, the Qing army followed him out of the capital. He assisted Huang Degong in the Camel Camp and beat up Duduo. After that, he followed the army all the way south but never returned. Taking action, Wei Changyu in Tianjin ordered all the infantry to stay and rest. However, due to the special nature of the Shenji Battalion, Shenji Battalion was not among them, so at this time, the Shenji Battalion was the only infantry that followed them (the entire Shenji Battalion was about five thousand). , three thousand infantry fully equipped with muskets, one thousand cavalry, and four hundred artillery)
Chasing all the way from Tianjin, Li Yan led the cavalry to fight and kill, while Wu Weiying led the Shenji Battalion behind, holding a gun and dragging a cannon, walking leisurely, his legs were not as good as the horse's legs, and he was very tired but fell. They had nothing to do. They left as soon as the cavalry in front left. They rested when the cavalry stopped. As time went by, they lost any sense of their presence. Li Yan even forgot about the existence of this person.
But Li Muxian remembered that because he was born in the world of martial arts and liked to talk and socialize, the army was like a different world at that time. He had close connections with all the generals he could count, and he would give fortune-telling to one person today and fortune-telling to another tomorrow. There was a huge market for people like Wu Weiying. Mr. Houye wears it on his waistband every day, trying to figure out how to make more money.
So when Li Muchian said Wu Weiying's name, Li Yan knew what he meant instantly, slapped his head and cursed him for forgetting this.
It's true that this is a tough battle, but it doesn't have to be hard.
How to fight?
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