On the seventh day of August in the second year of Taichang, Weihai Weixi Fengtai Port.
Weihaiwei Commander Qianshi Dong Yushi and Wu Mengqi, a Qianhu of Baichi Station, were accompanied by two Kaiyuan soldiers at night, looking eagerly at the rising tide of the sea at Yingzui Port.
A group of foraging seagulls passed over the head of the military household guarded by Bai Chi, and flew quickly towards the distant sea.
Wu Qianhu looked back at the group of beggar-like guardsmen and couldn't help but sigh in a low voice.
The eagerly awaited Kaiyuan Army did not know when it would arrive. Yesterday, the Wenxiang Sect began to attack Wendeng County again.
The number of tens of thousands of believers snowballed, from the initial two thousand to fifty or sixty thousand.
After entering the territory of Wendeng, the Wenxiang Sect burned, killed, looted, and massacred Banqiao and Chigou. Their atrocities were comparable to the Japanese pirates who harmed Dengzhou during the Jiajing period.
"Mr. Dong, when will the fortune ship arrive? Is there any news from Governor Yuan?"
The elegant-looking Dong Qianshi was stroking his long, delicate beard. People who didn't know better thought he was a civil servant.
In fact, he is a dignified fourth-grade military attache. In Weihaiwei, his status is second only to Commander Yang and Li Tongzhi.
The two adults retreated to the guard city, preparing to hold on for a long time. In fact, they wanted to avoid encountering the Wenxiang Cult.
Governor Yuan and the commander sent Dong Qianshi to Yingzui Port to greet Kaiyuan's army.
"The army will arrive soon, Wu Qianhu, don't worry, the Kaiyuan Army can defeat even Jiannu, let alone the Wenxiang Demon."
Dong Qianshi said this, but he was not sure at all.
The two Ye Bushou nodded and once again assured the two adults that reinforcements would arrive soon.
Ten days ago, they set out from Fushun, passed through Shanhaiguan in Fuzhou, traveled day and night, entered the customs by land, and rushed to Weihai.
Seeing that the Weihai guards were in panic, they stayed for two nights and had no choice but to stay and help defend themselves, stabilizing Dong Qianshi and Wu Qianhu so that they would not follow others and escape.
In mid-to-late July, Yuan Keli's model battalion and Jizhen reinforcements were defeated one after another in Yishui. Xu Hongru led 80,000 Wenxiang sect members to approach Dengzhou, planning to outflank Jinan Prefecture from the southeastern flanks.
After the Wenxiang Rebellion broke out, two groups of troops sent by the imperial court to aid Lu were defeated one after another.
Qiu Ba in Liao Town only knew how to rob things. After a battle in Jizhen, he fled back to Tianjin.
Weihaiwei fell into chaos, and many wealthy families moved with their families and fled towards Jinan Prefecture.
With Governor Zhao in charge, Jinan Prefecture should be safe.
Yuan Keli, the governor of Dengzhou, knew that the more than two thousand beggar military households in Weihaiwei were no match for the Wenxiang Sect.
So he placed all his hopes on Ping Liaohou.
In order to cooperate with the Kaiyuan Army's landing at Weihaiwei, Dengzhou City spent a lot of money.
Merchants shared their contributions and private households contributed. In just one month, they managed to scrape together 200 ships and 3,000 stones of grain and fodder for Kaiyuan's army to cross the sea.
Under the coercion of Governor Yuan, Dong Qianshi stood like a lighthouse in Yingzui Port under the stone pavilion on a hundred-foot cliff, waiting hard for the arrival of the lucky ship.
The guardsmen under Weihaiwei were also gathered on the beach, standing staggering around like skinny water ghosts.
Dong Qianshi didn't expect these people to be able to resist the Wenxiang Sect, so he let them come here just to prevent the guards from defecting to Xu Hongru, which would eventually harm him.
A sound of exclamation suddenly sounded from Baichi Cliff.
Dong Qianshi shuddered, subconsciously lifted up his robe and prepared to mount his horse and escape.
"The lucky ship is coming! The Kaiyuan Army is coming!"
On the sea east of Eagle's Mouth Port, hundreds of blessing ships lined up in a line, cutting through the waves and heading towards Eagle's Mouth Port with a suffocating and threatening force.
The flags cover the sky, and the masts and masts are like forests.
The sound of drums rang out from the sea, like thunder in the clear sky. The golden drummers stood shirtless on tall observation poles and beat the marching drums.
The fleet slowly sailed into the Eagle's Mouth Port. The black gold-woven banner of Ping Liaohou and the red flag of the Liaodong General Army fluttered in the wind, which was particularly dazzling on the blue sea.
A squat cannon and a field cannon were fixed on the deck. The artillerymen stood around the cannon, looking rebelliously at the guardsmen on the hundred-foot cliff.
In the bilge of the fortune ship, the soldiers' armors and flintlock guns glowed with cold light, eye-catchingly bright.
"Marquis Pingliao is here!"
Dong Qianshi clenched his hands tightly and looked excited. He made two gestures with his big, fat hands. He quickly called a servant and said loudly to the servant:
"Hurry to the Acropolis and ask Governor Yuan to come over quickly to greet Marquis Ping Liao!"
Eighteen thousand Kaiyuan troops arrived at Yingzui Port in batches.
Ping Liaohou, the governor of Dengzhou and the commander of Weihaiwei discussed matters such as the garrisoning of the army and food and fodder.
After a few words of greeting, Liu Zhaosun hurriedly left, turned around and summoned his subordinate Qian Zong and the officers of the cavalry battalion and artillery battalion to arrange the garrison of the Kaiyuan Army and formulate a battle plan for the next two days.
August was the windy season in the Liaohai Sea. Many soldiers suffered from seasickness and vomiting and had to rest immediately.
On that day, the 2nd, 3rd, and 4,000 headquarters were resting at Dengjiasai, Samagou, and Shangmatai near Yingzui Port respectively.
There are 4,000 soldiers in the 1,000 total, stationed at Wu Menglin's Baichi Guard Station. Most of the 4,000 soldiers in the 1,000 headquarters are veterans of the bloody battle in Hunhe. They are under the direct command of Liu Zhaosun and are the main force of the 4,000 headquarters.
That night, Ping Liaohou personally led a cavalry battalion of 4,000 cavalry to the Weihai Guard City, twenty miles away, and rested in the Wengcheng.
Each battalion sent out overnight sentries, and the captains of each Yebu team compiled the information on the Wenxiang Cult in the surrounding area, and then reported it to the three Qian Generals.
Early the next morning, Marquis Pingliao left a thousand cavalry to guard the Weihai Acropolis, and personally led the main force of the cavalry battalion to quickly march towards Yangting Town.
Yangting Town is located 20 miles southeast of Acropolis, 60 miles away from Wendeng County, between Weihaiwei and Wendeng.
According to Ye Bu's latest report, members of the Wenxiang Sect are heading north, slaughtering villages, holding people hostage, and are approaching Yangting Town.
The day before the Kaiyuan Army landed, the Yanzhou Wenxiang Sect attacked Wendeng County, captured General Chen Shen of Wendeng Camp alive, beheaded the Wendeng County Magistrate, robbed all the big households in the city, and robbed thousands of women.
On August 7, the Wenxiang Sect coerced the surrounding believers and gathered with the ringing horses from Yaoyao Mountain, Mazi Mountain, Xieshan, Moer Mountain, Qiaozibu and other places. There were more than 100,000 people, and their arrogance covered the sky.
On August 8, Xu Hongru, Emperor Fu of Zhongxing, ordered the vanguard general Wang Haoxian to lead 100,000 followers to annihilate Dengzhou.
On that day, General Wang raised troops from Wendeng County, divided into two groups, marched along Caomiaozi Town and Gushan Town respectively, and launched an attack on Dengzhou from the east and south.
Five miles south of Yangting Town.
Xiaobeishan Village.
Liu Zhaosun reined in his horse and stood upright, his angry eyes reflecting the monstrous flames.
This quiet village had just been ravaged by followers of the Wenxiang Sect. The thatched roofs were ignited with raging fires, thick smoke billowing into the sky, some bodies covered in mud were lying on the ground, and the cries of babies could be vaguely heard.
Two miles away, several sentry horses wearing red scarves were holding torches to burn crops.
The sentry horses noticed the rolling Kaiyuan cavalry. When the Kaiyuan army approached, they calmly dropped their torches and retreated to the northeast.
The three thousand Jingqi looked together towards the direction where the Wenxiang Sect's sentry horses retreated. In the northeastern sky, billowing smoke and dust rose, and there was a muffled thunder-like sound, and the earth seemed to be shaking slightly.
The war horse smelled the smell of iron and blood, became a little restless, and snorted constantly. Liu Zhaosun stroked the horse's mane gently, and the hanging bell made a crisp sound, as if the god of death was shaking the death bell.
He turned to look at Jin Yuji and pointed at the burning village:
"Team Jin is taking two people to the village to rescue people. If they encounter the injured, they will bring them back to the camp."
Jin Yuji was hesitant. The cavalry battalion was about to charge into battle. She wanted to be with her husband.
At this time, the shrill cry of a baby came to her ears again. She suddenly felt her heart tremble and hurriedly rode away.
I heard Liu Zhaosun shouting from a distance:
"Don't drink the water from the well, it's poisonous."
Jin Yuji nodded slightly, and quickly disappeared behind the dense cavalry array with two guards.
Just as Liu Zhaosun turned around, a group of cavalry suddenly appeared in front of them. They all wore red scarves and held long spears and axes. The formation was slightly chaotic.
Liu Zhaosun smiled coldly, Ye Bushou had already discovered Wenxiang's cavalry tactics, which were basically dog fights with no formations to speak of.
He raised his left hand to lower his iron helmet, raised his lance, and shouted loudly, commanding the flag captains to prepare to charge into the formation.
The Ye He Rangers on both wings were the first to rush out to fight against the Wenxiang Cult cavalry who rushed to the flanks.
Under the protection of several Yehe riders, Burhanggu also fought out with the team.
After Du Du surrendered to Kaiyuan, the Jurchen Rangers under Baylor of Xicheng recruited more than a dozen elite knights with white flags. Together with the recruited Mongolian riders, the number of this foreign cavalry reached more than 500, equipped with high-end flints. Equipped with muskets and grenades, its combat power cannot be underestimated.
This cavalry is independent of the cavalry battalion and is responsible for dogfights and raids on the battlefield. It is equivalent to the role of flank cover.
This foreign cavalry suddenly appeared on the battlefield, and the cavalry on the opposite side was obviously not mentally prepared.
Seeing these Tatar cavalry roaring towards them and emitting strange screams that did not sound like human voices, the Wenxiang believers who had been accustomed to fighting smoothly all the way from Yuncheng began to feel a little timid.
Although their boss Xu Hongru is the reincarnation of ancestor Chen Zhuan, he is protected by Mother Lishan.
However, it seems that these fierce foreign Tatars in front of me are not under the control of Lishan Mother and others.
Want to worship the Immortal God.
The red scarf cavalryman who rushed at the front was killed by a wave of flying axes. A church member behind him was still hesitating when he was hit by the whizzing iron bones, followed by a dense burst of short arrows.
The foreign cavalry rushed within twenty steps, and the Wenxiang Cult believers in the front row threw throwing axes.
These believers were all Yanzhou Prefecture soldiers and servants of the lords. They were good at cavalry and dog fighting. After surrendering to Daqi, they became the vanguard of the Wenxiang Cult cavalry.
There was the sound of firecrackers exploding all around, and people on both sides fell off their horses at the same time. The Red Scarf Army did not wear armor, only magical power to protect their bodies, and the casualties were even more heavy.
Under the attack of the foreign cavalry's fire cannons, none of the Wenxiang Cult cavalry who rushed forward to fight with each other was spared, and they were all killed by flintlock rifles.
Burhanggu brandished his sword and silently prayed to the Immortal God in his heart, hoping to kill the demon Xu Hongru today.
Liu Zhaosun nodded with satisfaction. The main force of the cavalry battalion had not yet been dispatched, but the other side had collapsed. He turned around and looked behind him. A large number of soldiers were arriving one after another.
Four thousand soldiers from the headquarters rushed to the battlefield.
Black iron armor and the red cotton armor of the firearms team are intertwined all over the Dengzhou wilderness. The vanguard is unfolding. All the soldiers are wearing helmets. From the horseback, everything is dancing with red tassels.
Lewen
