Liu Zhaosun took one hundred of his strongest servants and walked away in the snow. Along the way, the Ming army saw the fierce looks of the servants and quickly got out of the way.
The falling snowflakes fell on the swords and armors of the servants, giving off a cold light.
"Look at my eyes later! Don't let anyone go!"
The servants agreed with a loud voice, with bloodthirsty look in their eyes.
Liu Zongbing had 1,500 elite servants under his command. They had been with him on many years of military campaigns, including in Korea and Dingbo Prefecture. These servants all made contributions.
This time when he came to Liaodong to exterminate the slave thieves, Liu Wei only brought 700 servants.
Not only Liu Wei, but also several general soldiers who came with him were like this.
The generals of the army agreed that compared with other Mongolian tribes, slaves were no more susceptible to scabies. The army could be divided into groups and attack together. It could be easily solved in ten days with a formality, just like how it was done against Wang Zhen decades ago.
Liu Zhaosun was getting closer and closer to Dusong Tangma. Liu Zhaosun tightened his grip on the handle of the knife and glanced at the location where the arrow was inserted. He was skilled in archery and was also good at close combat.
Other servants also slowed down their horses and prepared for battle.
Liu Zhaosun winked at the servants, and everyone took advantageous positions to block the retreat of the Ming army on the opposite side.
Opposite there were more than a dozen people wearing Ming army fat coats, cotton armor and Ming helmets on their heads. Liu Zhaosun glanced at them for a few times, but could not clearly see the style of their braids.
The leader immediately stepped forward, holding the commander's arrow in his hand, and said to Liu Zhaosun:
"Who is coming? I'm going to talk to General Liu! Why isn't General Liu here yet?!"
Liu Zhaosun looked around and noticed that someone behind Tang Ma had stretched his fingers to the scabbard. Judging from the action of holding the sword, it was obviously not a Ming army.
"The General Soldier is busy with military affairs! A certain general, General Liu Zhaosun, is under the command of the General Soldier! Who are you? What crime should be committed if you block the march of the army!"
Na Tangma quickly waved his hand: "We are personally accompanied by General Du. General Du defeated Jiannu in Sarhu, killed more than 5,000 people in Xianghuang Banner and Zhengbai Banner, captured Daishan alive, killed Huangtaiji in formation, and Nurhachi was defeated. Fleeing, General Du led his elite troops to pursue Hetuala,"
"General Du has an order for you to advance immediately. You must rush to Hetuala before sunset tomorrow to attack Jiannu together, so that none of the slave thieves can escape!"
After Tang Ma said this, he stopped talking and looked around nervously, vaguely aware that something was wrong in the atmosphere.
The faces of the servants were gloomy. They were all unruly people. These people in front of them dared to yell at General Liu with just a command arrow. They were all General Soldiers. Why should General Liu be inferior to others?
Liu Zhaosun signaled everyone to calm down, urged the horses, and came to the pond horse:
"Well said, don't let a slave go! I didn't expect the slave thieves to be so vulnerable. General Du's soldiers are mighty! Our Ming army is mighty! But my soldiers from the south are not vegetarians! I will report this to my adoptive father and let him He immediately marched into the army, joined forces with General Du, conquered Hetuala, swept the holes and plowed the court! Kill Nurhaci!"
When Tang Ma heard this, he showed an expression of relief on his face. He was just about to thank Mr. Liu when he suddenly heard a voice:
"A few brothers came from Jiefan to bring military honors to our southern army. It was quite a hard trip back and forth in this icy and snowy environment. Let's go to the back to rest. I asked my servants to treat me well! To be honest, I killed a few heads yesterday. Wild boar, peel off the skin of the wild boar and grill it for you to eat! There will be enough wine, too,”
After hearing this, the Tang Ma's expression was stern, his lips twitched, and he looked very uneasy.
He was originally a captain under the Zhenghuang Banner, and his master was the famous Fushun Prince Consort Li Yongfang. This time he was sent to Kuandian by his master to fly under the banner of Juniper, in order to lure Liu Wei's army to advance rashly, so that Amin, the master of the Xianglan Banner, could attack him in one fell swoop. Its annihilation. The journey was quite smooth. There were only a few Ming army sentries and spies, and even those who stayed out for a few nights were killed by them. Just when he thought he was about to be done, he killed General Liu on the way.
"Mr. Liu has taken his good intentions, and I understand. It's just that the military situation is urgent. I have to rush back to Jiefan to report back to General Du! I ran into slaves and sentry horses too late, and missed the military situation of General Bing. I can't afford it!"
As he spoke, he winked at the people around him, raised his whip and urged his horse to leave.
"Wait a minute! You have come from Jiefan, a hundred miles round trip, and are wearing armor all over your body. In this cold weather, it is okay for people not to eat, and the horses also need to replenish their forage. Seeing that you are all riding single horses, Mr. Du cherishes the horse power, and we It’s not that I don’t know, you guys are not afraid of being punished by the commander-in-chief’s stick when you go back?!”
While Liu Zhaosun was speaking, all the servants had already driven their horses forward to block the retreat.
The coated slave's expression changed drastically. He looked up at Liu Zhaosun and felt that he was looking directly at him, as if he was looking at a corpse.
"You! What are you going to do! You know that blocking Tang Ma is a serious crime!"
Around Baoyi, everyone pulled out their knives and pointed them at the servants who were surrounding them, but no one spoke.
Liu Zhaosun waved his hand, and the servants opened their bows, pointing the black arrows at the pond horse. The latter's face was pale and he stood there without daring to move.
"You fools, one man and one horse, came from Jie Fan, running for hundreds of miles, the horses were not breathing, the armor was bright, and they were unscathed, and you acted like this! Do you think your master is a fool or do you think I, Liu Zhaosun, am a fool?"
"Tell me! Which flag is it?!"
A person on the opposite side turned his horse and was about to charge this way. Just after taking a few steps, Liu Zhaosun shouted:
"die!"
The bow string buzzed and vibrated, and the heavy arrow was shot out quickly. Before everyone could react, it had already shot into the chest of the pond horse. The arrow cluster came out from the back, leaving only the arrow feathers on the cotton armor.
The servants shot heavy arrows one after another, turning the man into a hedgehog. The rider leaned to the side and fell off his horse.
"No one is allowed to move! I will kill anyone who touches me!"
The servants came up with lances in hand and surrounded the remaining dozen people in the center. Liu Zhaosun shouted:
"Surrender and avoid death!"
After saying that, he rushed forward and lifted off a Tangma's helmet, revealing a bald head and a money rattail on the back of his head.
“Tatar?!”
All the servants exclaimed, but everyone had a ferocious smile on their faces. Now they can make a fortune.
Seeing that they could not escape, Jian Nu who was surrounded by them simply raised their weapons and prepared for the last fight.
"Leave a few alive and kill the rest!"
Several sharp arrows streaked through the air, and the slaves on the outside were shot to death on the spot. The coated slave in the middle knelt on the ground, raised his hands, and gave up resistance.
"Search them! I'll give you the money and see if there are any letters! Take them down and interrogate them!"
After that, Liu Zhaosun commanded several servants around him:
"You guys, go northwest and spy carefully. If you find any traces of Jiannu, come back and report immediately!"
Several servants drove their horses, trampling on the snow, and disappeared on the mountain road ahead.
Half an hour later, Liu Zhaosun escorted the five surviving Baoyi and two Jiannu Zhenyi to his adoptive father and reported to him what had just happened.
"Father, after interrogation, I will understand that these slaves, pretending to be Juniper soldiers, came to us and pretended to pass military orders in order to lure us into rushing in and annihilate the Eastern Route Army!"
Liu Wei's gaze was like a sword, sweeping over the several Jiannu scouts kneeling on the ground. At this time, the Jiannu helmets were all taken off, revealing the slender hair whip behind them.
Juniper's command arrow was placed aside, with blood stains on it.
Liu Wei's eyes wandered between a few pig tail braids and command arrows, and the scar between his eyebrows twitched from time to time.
Suddenly, he took off the iron sword, slammed it on the ground, and said angrily:
"Crazy Du is dead! Shot to death by an arrow?"
"Marin puts the firecrackers and artillery on the outside. How can he be invincible like this!"
"How many soldiers and horses does the old slave have? Where are they stationed? Where is General Du's body? Have you asked everything clearly?"
After all, Liu Wei had to lick blood from the edge of a knife and fight for the rest of his life. He had never seen a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood. After learning that Jun Song and Ma Lin were defeated, he was shocked at first, but after a while, he regained his composure.
No need to ask him what Nurhaci, the thief, was going to do next, he knew very well. Two of the four armies were destroyed, and Li Rubai was unreliable. The next target of the slave thieves is their Eastern Route Army.
"Father, Du Song underestimated the enemy and rushed forward, leaving Gong Nian on the other side of the Hun River. He crossed the river first. After crossing the river, he divided his troops again and attacked Jiefan with 10,000 troops. He marched to Sarhu on the other side. They were all divided and surrounded by Xianghuang Banner. The whole army was wiped out in less than a day. Marin was well-defended in advance, but the firearms could not stop Jiannu, and he was defeated faster than Juniper! According to the confession of the man we caught, after these two battles, The main force of the slave establishment still exists, and the casualties are only 3,000..."
General Liu's expression was solemn and he was speechless for a long time. It was not that he had never seen defeat before, but it was just that more than 20,000 people like Jun Song were killed by slave thieves in one day, which was really frightening. If this is the case, he needs to re-evaluate Nurhachi's strength.
If Liu Zhaosun hadn't seen everything clearly today, his army of ten thousand would have died like Juniper and Marin.
At this time, five days had passed since the departure from Kuandian, and it was no longer possible to return the same way. Not to mention that the lone army went deep, and morale came first. If you were not careful, the entire army would be defeated. Even if he returns safely, the thief Yang Hao will not let him go.
If we continue to march towards Hetuala, with more than 10,000 soldiers and horses, we may not be able to match Nurhaci.
"Jin Song was defeated and Marin fled. Our Eastern Route Army is the weakest among the four routes. We are in a dilemma. What do you think of Little Thirteen?"
Before Liu Wei could finish speaking, Liu Zhaosun revealed his strategy:
"Father, the art of war says, risk your life and survive! Our army should stop marching, boost morale, choose a dangerous place to camp, build forts, dig trenches, set up defensive horses, and let the army form a formation, with the Zhejiang soldiers in front, and the firecrackers In the back, use heavy arrows and send out sentries to stop the slaves and thieves from spying! The slaves and thieves broke through two armies in three days and ran for hundreds of miles. They are really strong soldiers, but they must also be sleepy. Let us wait for the work with all our strength. Attack, as long as morale is not lost, it may not be a dead end! Immediately send people to ask Li Rubai for help, and let the Liao soldiers attack the west side of Jiannu. As long as we hold on for a few days, the slave thieves will naturally be defeated!"
Liu Wei looked at Liu Zhaosun carefully. This adopted son had just killed someone, and there was still blood on his body. He was full of murderous intent. Hearing him talk about the countermeasures, he couldn't help but nod his head. He was quite pleased. This son still knew how to use soldiers.
“How to boost morale?”
Liu Zhaosun said categorically:
"For the current plan, we can only provide the soldiers with adequate food and salary first, and then show them the righteousness of loyalty to the emperor and patriotism..."
A look of embarrassment appeared on Liu Wei's face. Loyalty to the emperor and patriotism can be earned, but as for the military pay, the imperial court has been in arrears for a long time. Not only their southern soldiers, but also all the important towns on the nine sides are in arrears.
He was silent for a long time and finally said:
"The defeat of Juniper and Marin was not only due to attacks, but also had flaws in their own firearm deployment. Although Marin was good at using soldiers, he placed the artillery and blunderbuss outside the camp and did not send anyone to protect him. He wanted to defeat the slave thieves by relying solely on firearms. There is no reason to be invincible,"
Liu Wei cast his eyes towards the hills in the distance and continued:
"Little Thirteen, what you just said is quite logical, and it's not in vain that I have been with you for so many years. It's just that you don't know what Li Rubai is! I'll tell you the Tao of Liao Town in detail after I become a father. In short, , we can’t ask Li Rubai, find two reliable servants, return to Shenyang immediately, and ask Yang Jinglue for help. There are still five thousand cavalry in Shenyang, Jun Song is dead, Ma Lin has escaped, and Yang Jinglue should take out the things he packed at the bottom of the box. !”
"If the court doesn't pay, let's use some money to pay the soldiers. We won't bring this yellow and white thing with us in life or take it away with us in death. Let's pay it!"
Liu Zhaosun was overjoyed when he heard this. He did not expect that his adoptive father would give up his money, which made him respect the warriors of the late Ming Dynasty even more.
As a time traveler, he was not very clear about the relationship between Liao Zhen and Jian Nu. Hearing his adoptive father's tone, he was obviously quite dissatisfied with Li Rubai, but now was not the time to discuss this.
"Father, those Korean soldiers are not easy to use. If we don't deal with them as soon as possible, when Jiannu attacks, there will be chaos!"
Liu Wei nodded slightly, his eyes constantly changing. As an important general in Wanli's aid to Korea, he knew very well the virtues of Korean soldiers.
These Korean soldiers fought mediocrely, but they were very good at holding back on the battlefield. The reason why they marched from Kuandian this time was so slow, not only because the road was difficult and dangerous, but also because they kept delaying on the road, sometimes using the excuse of lack of food and grass, and sometimes Complaining about the cold weather.
"Then what do you think should be done?"
A chill suddenly flashed across Liu Wei's eyes, and he stroked his neck with his palm.
Liu Zhaosun shook his head quickly. There were more than 10,000 North Korean soldiers. It was of course unrealistic to kill them all.
"Father, I heard that the commander-in-chief of the Korean army, Jiang Hongli, was a scholar. He was as afraid of slaves as a tiger! He privately negotiated peace with Dai Shan. He was greedy for money and lust, drank the blood of the soldiers and withheld food and wages. He was worse than the Qiu Ba gang in Liao Town. These Korean soldiers Aren’t you clamoring for pay and cotton-padded clothes? How about this..."
