In the afternoon, the wind and snow continued, and Chang Yu and his party slowly returned home. A few miles in front were Zu Zerun's more than a thousand troops, and a few miles behind were Ji Jike's 300 horses. He was originally traveling with Zu Zerun. , but on a whim, I went to Xingshan Fort for a walk and ended up a few miles away.
"There is really no need to repair this Xingshan Fort." Chang Yu looked back and said calmly.
"But I think it is very necessary." Li Muchian squinted: "In the border area, the regulations of one city and several forts are all the experience gained by our ancestors with their own blood. They may not be effective on weekdays, and may even be a burden. It will be of great use in wartime, but whether it is useful or not is another matter."
Chang Yu glanced at him: "Smiled, what the Taoist said..."
Before he could finish speaking, there was a sound of piercing the air, and with a whoosh, a sharp arrow struck, and it went straight to the front of Li Muchian. Everyone shouted, but the sound of the sharp arrow was covered by the sound of wind and snow, waiting for surprise Jue Shi was so close that he couldn't save him in time. Even Chang Yu, who was at the side, couldn't draw his sword in time. Just as Li Muxian was about to shoot an arrow through his throat, he suddenly disappeared.
Yes, Li Muxian, who was sitting upright on the horse, suddenly disappeared.
Chang Yu was horrified, what the hell has happened? Or is this guy going to make a big difference?
Taking a closer look, Li Muxian was actually hiding under the horse's belly!
"The Taoist Master actually has such a skill." Chang Yu was amazed. As soon as he finished speaking, another arrow was shot. But this time everyone was prepared. Wang Zhengnan raised his hand and knocked down the sharp arrow with a knife. Kuang Ren shouted: "In Xibian." As he said that, he led his troops to rush over, while the remaining guards protected Chang Yu.
"Wu Liang, why are you coming after Taoist Master?" Li Muchian turned around from the horse's belly and couldn't help being frightened. He looked around and cursed. Chang Yu squinted and looked around. In this windy and snowy weather, he couldn't see clearly even ten steps away. Man, that cold arrow was obviously not directed at him, but was shot at random. Li Muxian deserved his misfortune, but it also brought out the potential of this Taoist priest. He had avoided the life-and-death moment just now. It must be said that this Taoist priest The water is very deep.
Kuang Liang rode a few horses to the foot of Xingshan Mountain in the west and searched around to no avail before returning. There are woods there and it's easy to hide in troubled and snowy days. You can find a hole in the snow and crawl into it for a long time.
"I guess the Tatar spies were hiding somewhere. They discovered us and fired cold arrows." Wang Zhengnan guessed. Everyone felt that they were inseparable. Although they were not afraid, they did not want to take such an arrow in vain and left in a hurry.
In the evening, there was almost no one in the trench ten miles away from Tashan Fort. The trench digging army had moved elsewhere. The trench did not run in a single east-west direction. There were also several small branches dug at the nearby Tashan Fort.
Thousands of Ming troops took turns working hard day and night to complete nearly half of the main east-west construction of the trench. They were dug from the river in the west to the seaside in the east, with a depth of nearly twenty miles. The excavated mud was piled up on the south side of the trench, forming a circle. If there is a slope with more than 1 meter, if there is a war, the Ming army can use this earth wall as a fortification, which can be defended or attacked.
If this amount of work was used in normal times, it would take three to five days to finish it, but at this time, the Ming army completed most of it in one night. Li Muxian couldn't help but sigh. Human potential is unlimited. If you don't push it, you don't know where the limit is. And Chang Yu couldn't help but say that classic saying, he's the one who forced everyone out of here!
Li Muxian and others believed it, but they always felt something was strange.
Chang Yu watched in the trench for a while, and a spy from the fort sent a message saying that reinforcements had arrived at Lianshan Fort.
"We have guests, we have to pick them up." Chang Yu sighed, and Li Muchian smiled: "We are the guests."
Chang Yu was startled, then nodded with a wry smile: "That's true, it's been a bit of a distraction these days."
It was windy and snowy, and in the vast white wilderness, a group of soldiers and horses marched hard through the snow and facing the biting cold wind with their necks hunched. There were more than 5,000 soldiers and horses, including more than a thousand cavalry, and there were baggage behind the team. Dozens of vehicles were the Ming army heading from Ningyuan to Tashan to support them.
A middle-aged man with a heavy back and a strong waist in the team looked at the ruins not far to the west, his eyes flickering again and again. That was the old site of Lianshan Fort, one of the important forts in the Ningjin Defense Line. It was the site of the Songjin Battle three years ago. Destroyed by the war, the ruins and walls were usually covered with devastation. At this time, it was covered by snow, and only its outline could be seen from a distance.
"General, I think this mountain fortress still needs to be rebuilt. At least in this kind of weather, we can escape the wind and snow and have a rest." The words of a soldier beside him brought the middle-aged man's eyes and mind back. .
This man is none other than Zu Dabi, Zu Dashou's younger brother.
That's right, it's the Zu Er who is brave and good at fighting and is known as Zu Er Madman!
The reason why he is called a madman is because he yells and curses during battle, and screams like a madman. Moreover, his combat power is quite powerful, and his military exploits are also quite impressive. For example, in the seventh year of Chongzhen's reign, the Later Jin Army Turush, the former commander of the battalion, went to Xuan Mansion for investigation and encountered Zu Dabi who was leading the inspection at that time. The two sides fought fiercely. Zu Dabi only led fifteen people at that time. After a fight, two of his men were killed and thirteen were left. was captured, but Turush was also seriously wounded and died!
In the fourteenth year of Chongzhen, when the Qing army besieged Jinzhou, Zu Dabi furiously beheaded Baturumuktan at the Daling River. This guy was one of the founding generals of the Qing Dynasty and a major general under Huang Taiji.
Ordinarily, with Zu Dabi's military exploits, his official position would not be too low. However, in fact, he was only a low-level general. The main reason was that in the eleventh year of Chongzhen's reign, he was dismissed due to his inability to suppress the bandits and overdue, and then went to Jinzhou to defect. His brother Zu Dashou helped defend Jinzhou, so until Jinzhou was defeated and he and Zu Dashou surrendered, he had no official position or military rank in the Ming court.
Later, after Chang Yu exchanged them back, Zu Dashouguan was restored to his post, and Zu Dabi was given the title of Staff Officer. Although he was not high, he had a serious military position, but the army was still accustomed to calling him a general.
However, the crazy second son of the ancestors in the past rarely had a smile on his face when he came back two years after being surrendered to the Qing Dynasty, and he became much more stable and reserved.
"It is necessary to build the Mountain Fort, but it is not the top priority." Zu Dabi squinted his eyes: "I would have built the Mountain Fort after Tashan was stabilized, but..." Zu Dabi sighed: "The war It’s starting again, I don’t know how long it will take to repair it.”
The subordinates glanced at him and then looked at the mountain castle in the distance: "I originally heard that there would be no war before the year, but when the big eunuch came... he is really a troublemaker."
Zu Dabi glared at him: "Don't let out all the farts."
"Yes, General" the subordinate said quickly: "I just think..."
"That's just what you think, and what you think is right? Do you think it will be useful?" Zu Dabi snorted: "The eunuch is a capable person. Although I am not ashamed of his other actions, but in the march I still admire him very much in terms of fighting. If it weren't for him, Ming Dynasty would only be afraid... Humph, who can bring Ming Dynasty back to life, I dare to ask how many people were there at that time, can you or I?. As for starting the war in advance, it must be It was forced by the situation.”
"Of course I don't have that ability anymore." The subordinates smiled and said, "Actually, my brothers and I also admire the eunuch, but we just feel that... he is a little too eager to do meritorious deeds and does not care about the soldiers... Ahem, actually we also understand. , One general’s success can lead to thousands of bones drying up.”
"Bah, from what sentence did you take it to be an imperial edict? You only have such a little vision and a little pattern." Zu Dabi couldn't help but scolded: "He is just an eunuch, no matter how many achievements he makes, he will have nothing." Yes, do you think everything he does is for meritorious service? He has done very little merit... He puts his family and country first. Well, if I tell you why he does this, your pig head won't understand it." .
"Hehe, I don't understand very well, but I feel that the general is very different from before..."
Zu Dabi rolled his eyes after hearing this: "Have you ever heard that you are treated with admiration after three days of separation? I am different from before! Now I not only practice martial arts but also study every day!"
"Oh, it turns out that the general wants to be a scholar and become a high official in the court..."
"Fart, I study for the sake of understanding, not to be a scholar, let alone to be a civil servant. What kind of pickles are civil servants? They only use their tongues to gossip and are full of bad things. I am a military general, and I enjoy charging into battle to kill the enemy. Show off your power!" The more Zu Dabi said, the more excited he became, and even a little energetic. The men around him couldn't help but flatter him. They missed seeing the second master in such a long time.
"Hey, this time, I'm going to twist off Dorgon's head with my own hands and bring shame on our ancestors!" Zu Dabi raised his hand and pointed due north, and heavy snow fell in the sky.
