On the fourth day of March in the first year of Chongzhen, the Si hour began.
The sky was bright, flags were flying behind the city wall of Ningyuan, and swords and halberds were like a forest. Teams of elite cavalry and border troops from western Liaoning were gathering in Chunhemen Wengcheng.
The auxiliary soldiers wearing mandarin duck battle coats carried down the four Fran machine guns and Shenhuo Yaya installed in Ningyuan and transported them on oxen horses, preparing to follow the soldiers out of the city.
In addition to the Shaanxi Town and Jingying troops stationed at the four gates of Yongning, Weiyuan, Yanhui, and Chunhe for external defense, the rest of the border troops and Liao Town troops have been assembled at Chunhe Gate, ready to pursue the enemy at any time.
As Kaiyuan retreated, the gloom and depression of the past few days were swept away by the Ningyuan defenders. The whole army, from the military commanders to the small soldiers, everyone was smiling and laughing from ear to ear.
Several generals and generals were even more arrogant and full of expectations for the next pursuit. Judging from the expressions of Wang Zaijin and You Shiwei, they looked like they were about to leave the city for a Manchu-Han banquet.
Of course, in this era, there was no Man-Han banquet.
But they can eat at other tables.
After eating the red umbrella and the white umbrella, we lay down together
Lying on the couch, all the relatives and friends came to have a meal
The next year will be full of red umbrellas
Nursery rhymes came from Chunhemen Street, and a group of Ningyuan children followed the border troops in Shaanxi Town, chasing the soldiers for sweets.
The border troops aiding the Liao Dynasty had just replenished their food and wages, and the soldiers had some spare money, so they squandered it in the city.
In just a few days, tens of thousands of people drove up prices in Ningyuan, and the price of rice rose to three taels of silver per stone.
In the eyes of the people in the city, these guest soldiers who used to be beggars suddenly turned into wealthy people.
~~~~
The nursery rhymes reached the walls of Chunhe Gate and reached Zu Dashou's ears. He turned his face and looked at the general in front of him.
Although Zu Zongbing looked kind and friendly, there was an expression of disgust between his brows.
The scar on Zu Dashou's forehead turned purple.
You Shiwei and others were surrounding Wang Jinglue and the eunuchs in charge of the army to praise them.
The generals have always compared Wang Zaijin and the eunuch named Liu to Wei Xiaokuan and Ma Yun of this dynasty (the eunuch who commanded the army during the Yongle period). The preservation of Ningyuan City was all due to the contribution of these two superior officials.
Zu Dashou stood nearby, feeling nauseated.
"Without Wang Jinglue, western Liaoning will not be protected, and the people in western Liaoning will have to keep money in their pigtails from now on! They will be used as a covering for Liu Zhaosun."
"Liu Jianjun prepared food and fodder for the army and won the battle thousands of miles away. Zhang Liang and Xiao He's reincarnation was nothing more than this."
Wang Zaijin, who was dressed in military uniform, gently stroked his beard and accepted all the clumsy flattery of these warriors.
Supervisor Liu Yingkun pointed at the other side of the river where people had left the camp, as if Ma Yun was possessed.
At this time, a thick fog was shrouding the outside of Ningyuan's moat, and it was impossible to see anything clearly half a mile away.
After Wang Zaijin and others finished their compliments, he touched the city wall with his hands and said with emotion:
"Liu Thief is also well versed in astronomy and geography, as good as Zhuge Kongming! It's a pity that evil cannot suppress good, and there is reincarnation in the way of heaven. Today is the day of their death!"
Just now, the servants sent by Zu Dashou came back to report that the Kaiyuan Army was escaping eastward. On the official road east of Ningyuan City to Shahu Fort, the road was full of weapons, food and grass abandoned by the Kaiyuan Army, and even artillery was thrown down. .
Then, Wang Jinglue and the two soldiers sent by the supervisory army to serve as sentinels also returned one after another. They brought back the same information. The Kaiyuan army fled in the fog. The cavalry had already disappeared, and a large number of Liao civilians were left behind.
At this point, Wang Zaijin and others can finally confirm: Liu Zhaosun is dead.
Hundreds of thousands of troops besieged Ningyuan for several days. They saw that they had cut off the food routes and water sources in the city, defeated the Shanhaiguan reinforcements, and were about to break the city. Under such a good situation, they suddenly withdrew their troops, and fled away abandoning their armor. The only reasonable explanation It was a sudden change within Liu Thief.
Thinking of the thief's head that was hit by a fire cannon last night, everyone unanimously concluded that Liu Zhaosun was really dead this time.
However, just in case, Wang Jinglue decided to let the Zu family army take the lead. Liao Zhen, as the vanguard of the army, went out of the city with the elites of Jiubian to pursue the Kaiyuan army.
After hearing this, the generals and generals of the border army rushed to call for battle. At the same time, they vowed to tell General Zu that Liao Zhen could fight with peace of mind in the front, and the brothers would hold up from behind.
Zu Dashou naturally didn't believe these nonsense. In the battle to defend the city a few days ago, the Zu's army was at the front and suffered thousands of casualties. Now they were asked to be used as cannon fodder. He really regarded Liao Zhen as the enemy.
Although the sentry horse was sure that Kaiyuan's army had escaped, the sudden heavy fog made Zu Dashou feel a little uneasy.
Based on his understanding of Liu Zhaosun, this man was cunning and cunning. Even if he was really hit by a fire blunderbuss, he would definitely leave a back-up plan before he died, waiting for the defenders to leave the city to pursue him.
If he rashly chases him out now, he will most likely be ambushed by the Kaiyuan Army.
When the time comes, Liao Town will be under siege, and guest troops like You Shiwei will never send reinforcements.
The conflict between Liao Town and the guest army has not lasted for a day or two. Everyone is well aware of it, but they have not torn the window paper.
"The heavy fog is not conducive to close combat. The general's servants suffered heavy casualties. Xuanfu and Yansui Town have excellent firearms, and they can serve as the vanguard of the army..."
As soon as Zu Dashou's words came out, he was immediately refuted by Wang Zhenyuan, the counselor of Xuanfu Town, and Wu Zimian, the counselor of Yansui Town:
"General Zu's words are wrong. You guys don't know that your army in Liao Town is strong, your annual salary is millions, and your firearms and weapons are the best in the nine countries. How can we compare?"
"Wu Shen is right! When he wiped out the Jiannu and captured Hetuala, Western Liaoning also made great efforts. The general remembers that at that time, the ancestral army sent a report to the court saying that Huang Taiji was beaten in Liao Town and the rats ran away with their heads in their arms. He also killed more than 500 levels of Mongolian Duoyan. Everyone knows the combat power of Liao Town, how can we still be afraid of a group of defeated troops?"
Zu Dashou glared at You Shiwei and was about to retort when Wang Zaijin waved his hand and interrupted the quarrel between the two:
"Okay, I came to Liaoxi to fight, not to listen to you talk about those old things. Now I only talk about the war."
After Wang Zaijin finished speaking, he looked up at Liu Yingkun.
The eunuch overseeing the army said calmly:
"The Holy One was thinking about Liaoxi, so he took out two million grains and wages from the inner palace, which was barely enough to feed the army. Since everyone has eaten the imperial grains, we have to fight. We are working for the emperor. Let's put the ugly words first. Ningyuan is in danger, and the emperor does not feed the soldiers who do not fight..."
After hearing this, the generals of the guest army agreed one after another and rushed to express their loyalty to the eunuchs.
When Zu Dashou saw this situation and looked at the expressions of everyone around him, his heart sank, and he already understood what was going on.
The grain and grass stored in the ancestral home on Juehua Island have been robbed by Liu Zhaosun.
All the grain and grass in Ningyuan City were supplied to the imperial court and were brought from Shanhaiguan to be eaten by the defenders in the city. In theory, they also had a share of the ancestral army.
Of course, that's just in theory.
According to the current situation, as long as the dead eunuch persuades the king to stay in Jin, as long as the two of them reach an agreement with these military leaders, not a single grain of food in Ningyuan City will fall into the mouth of Liao Town.
Zu Dashou never expected that the new emperor would fall out so quickly. Before the Liu thief was calmed down, the court was eager to attack Liaoxi.
Could it be that what the Guangdong officer across the street shouted the day before yesterday that Liu Zhaosun had made peace with the court was all true?
Is the imperial court really going to sacrifice Liao Town in exchange for peace in the pass?
Zu Dashou glanced at the people around him and looked at the faces of Wang Zaijin and others. He might not be aware of Liu Zhaosun's scheme.
For these guest troops, if Liao Town is in the front, even if there is an ambush, Liao Town will be used as cannon fodder. If Liu Zhaosun is really dead, when Liaodong is restored, the guest troops will get the military glory.
In addition to grief and anger, Zu Dashou actually felt that the scene in front of him was somewhat familiar, as if he had seen it before.
He suddenly remembered that in Sarhu, he followed Li Rubai to besiege Hetuala. Soon after leaving Shenyang, he encountered tigers blocking the road. Tens of thousands of troops stood still until the guest army was defeated by Jiannu one by one.
Is this retribution?
While he was still in a trance, Wang Zaijin had asked the flag officer to bring out Shang Fang's sword. In front of all the generals, he pulled out the sword and stroked it carefully in his hand.
Finally, Liaodong Manager patted General Zu on the shoulder and said with a serious face:
"Commander Zu, Liao Town should be the vanguard of this army. I order you to leave the city immediately! Lead your troops to pursue the Liu thief! Don't waste the opportunity! When the Liu thief is defeated and Liaodong is liberated, I will defend you in front of the emperor. You asked for credit.”
Two thousand Liao Town soldiers spent a full hour clearing out the stones and earthworks blocking Chunhe Gate.
Sixteen burly soldiers turned the gallows and struggled to reopen the lowered gate. In order to facilitate the passage of the army, You Shiwei ordered the gallows to be blocked.
Zu Dashou heard this and quickly sent his servants back to stop him.
"General You Shen, if the army retreats, the Thousand Jin Gate must be lowered and cannot be blocked."
You Shiwei was furious when he heard this. He raised his whip and beat the servant.
"You guys in Liao Town are trying to retreat before the fight even starts! Get out!"
Zu Dashou took Zu Dabi and three thousand elite servants and walked out of Chunhemen Wengcheng uneasily.
The long procession walked across the suspension bridge and headed towards the confusing fog on the east coast.
The Xuanfu, Yansui, and Shanxi frontier troops followed the Zujia army unhurriedly.
Teams of elite cavalry roared through the thick fog and appeared on the battlefield in western Liaoning.
Zu Dashou led the last more than 10,000 ancestral troops to march eastward slowly.
As soon as they crossed the moat, two assassins, You Shiwei and Wu Zimian, sent sentries to urge them to speed up and pursue Liu Thief quickly.
After hearing this, Zu Dabi became furious. He raised his whip and chased and whipped the two guest sentry horses, telling them to get out immediately.
Zu Dashou said nothing and walked straight to the earthen wall outside Chunhe Gate that had just been stopped.
He was very curious as to why Liu Zhaosun spent so much manpower and material resources to repair this wall that was destined to collapse.
Without rammed earth walls, let alone artillery, people would fall if they stood on them.
Zu Dashou and his two servants drove their horses forward and walked near the earthen wall.
The scaffolding in front of the earthen wall has not yet been removed. There are adobe bricks and bamboo poles scattered on the ground. Rows of earthen stoves are still emitting green smoke, and rice is cooking in the pots.
It seems that Liu Thief left in a hurry.
Zu Dashou walked around behind the earthen wall, and the riding whip in his hand immediately fell to the ground.
He finally saw the secret behind the earthen wall.
A huge sloping mound is hidden behind the earth wall. The mound is already two feet high. There is a platform on the sloping surface, which is enough to set up ten Hongyi cannons.
Zu Dashou suddenly realized.
"It turns out that the earthen wall is just a cover-up, and the mound of earth behind it is the killer move."
Zu Dashou looked at the fog in the distance, breathed a sigh of relief and said:
"It's a pity that you died, otherwise Ning Yuan would really..."
He immediately left his troops and began to demolish the mounds of earth, and by the way, he blew up and sealed the tunnel entrance that was half dug by the Kaiyuan Army.
Whether it is demolishing mounds of earth or destroying tunnels, the amount of work is really too large.
You Shiwei, who was following behind, stopped when he saw the dense crowd of people in Liao Town who had just left the city.
Many Liao Town soldiers became auxiliary soldiers, carrying earth and bricks under the city.
"Zu Dashou, this traitor, is very slippery!!"
"Yes, General You, this is the virtue of Liao Zhen. Every time there is a battle, he always runs behind. Damn it, just now Zu Dashou beat our people."
After hearing this, You Shiwei became even more angry.
This time Wang Zaijin and Liu Yingkun arranged for him to lead his troops out of the city to pursue them. In fact, they wanted him more to supervise the battle in Liao Town.
"Gather all the servants, I will go over and argue with them! You dare to rebel against heaven!"
Just as the soldiers were about to turn around and leave, suddenly, in the mist ahead, there were bursts of conch trumpets, followed by the sounds of a dense crowd of people shouting to kill.
This soldier had participated in the Battle of Sarhu and was so frightened that he immediately collapsed to the ground.
"Master, is Jiannu here?"
You Shiwei whipped the soldier fiercely, and he was also full of panic, but he was barely calmer than the soldier.
"What are you talking about? He's from the Kaiyuan Army. Don't panic. Keep an eye on Liao Town. Don't let Zu Dashou escape again!"
Lewen
