The morning fog on the seaside in summer slowly ripples on the Bohai Sea northeast of Yulinpu, shrouding the beach leading to the Qinghe estuary in haze.
Everything around him was quiet, except for the roaring sound of the rising tide.
Li Laiheng had been lying in the dewy grass on the beach for a long time, looking around with a straw stick he picked up from somewhere in his mouth.
This young man who was the Dashun Emperor in his previous life is now also a relative of Zhu Yuanzhang... Of course he is the great loyal man of the Ming Dynasty! He also calls himself "Three Generations of Loyalty". His Ada Li Jin was Zhongliang, his uncle Li Zicheng was Zhongliang, and of course he was also unspeakably loyal.
In his opinion, is there anyone in the Ming Dynasty who is more loyal than Li Zicheng, Li Jin, and Li Laiheng? There should be none!
Li Laiheng and Li Dazhongliang joined the army with their hair tied up at the age of eleven, joined the Youth Guard Corps, and then rose all the way to the Guard Corps. They "graduated" from the Guard Corps to the barracks and became a Ming Dynasty officer with a professional background. Now the cavalry captain under the cavalry division of the Zhangqian Army and Li Dingguo are on a shoulder-to-shoulder level - in fact, he and Li Dingguo, who was born as a commoner, grew up together in the Young Guards Corps.
Although he was a very noble nobleman with a castle, retainers, and private soldiers at home, he had always been approachable and had never looked down upon civilian guards like Li Dingguo. After leaving the army, he was able to get along well with the cavalry in front of the tent who were former young soldiers. He didn't have the airs of the earl prince at all, and he could also endure hardships.
At this moment, he was dressed like an ordinary soldier. He was wearing lath armor and a yellow-green hood over the lath armor. (Colored hood), helmet lifted behind. A young and tanned face is full of vigor and loyalty - Da Ming is protected by him, it is foolproof!
At this time, he climbed up from the grass. The men around him thought that he was going to move forward and lead everyone to kill a few Eight Banners soldiers - everyone had the lives of the Qing Dynasty in their hands! Since Lushun sent troops, they have been the vanguard of the army. They have fought seven or eight battles with the Eight Banners cavalry. They have won every battle and gained more than a hundred. But starting three days ago, the Eight Banners Cavalry seemed to have disappeared out of thin air, without a trace.
Li Laiheng still wanted to continue killing people, so he led his men to push forward as much as possible. Now they were almost at the mouth of Qinghe, but still found nothing.
Seeing that Li Laiheng seemed to want to move forward, the cavalrymen in front of the tent stood up and pressed the handles of their swords at their waists, preparing to turn around and pull their horses in a nearby forest.
However, Li Laiheng waved his hand to stop him: "Don't go forward...if you go further, you will reach Qinghe River. You might run into a group of slave thieves."
His men didn't care, and spoke in low voices.
"What are you afraid of? Well, your horses are fast. If you encounter a large group, just run away!"
"Yes, we can't compare with you. We are all young soldiers. Not to mention the ancestral title, we don't even have a knight yet. We need to earn more slaves and thieves!"
"How good an opportunity is there now? There are so many slaves and thieves that are easy to kill. If you miss it, you may never have this opportunity in your life..."
"Yes, Your Majesty, you are already 26 years old this year. If you don't kill a few more slaves and thieves, nothing will be accomplished!"
Li Laiheng understood very well the thoughts of these young cavalrymen... They all wanted to make meritorious deeds! This group of young soldiers all joined the Youth Army when they were ten or eleven years old. In the Youth Army, they practiced martial arts and learned literacy. They were considered to be knowledgeable in both civil and military affairs. Naturally, they became high-spirited. They all dreamed of the beautiful thing of finding a feudal lord from thousands of miles away. The fighting enthusiasm is not unusually high!
Therefore, as their captain, you cannot blindly seek battle and rush forward. You must be cautious when it is time to be cautious.
Thinking of this, Li Laiheng grimaced and wanted to scold him, but he heard the sound of horse hooves coming from behind. Now everyone became nervous, and they all spontaneously closed their helmets, then opened their bows, drew their swords, and set up firecrackers. Under the command of Li Laiheng's gesture, two more people ducked into the nearby woods - there were two platoons there guarding all the horses and luggage.
In the blink of an eye, everyone was already in the zone.
After all, these people are elite soldiers who have been trained since childhood, and their reactions are quite quick.
Seeing that his men had finished setting up, Li Laiheng took out a suona, puffed up his cheeks and blew three short notes. Then I heard the cavalry approaching in the morning mist also blowing the suona and responded with three long sounds.
After meeting the code, Li Laiheng breathed a sigh of relief, but he still did not dare to let down his guard. He just waved his hand to the person next to him, and the person ran towards the place where the sound of horse hoofbeats came with a shield on his head. Every moment a voice came: "They are our own people...all from Beijing."
"They are all from Beijing" is the secret code. If you match the code, you can't go wrong!
Li Laiheng slowly returned the sword to its sheath and murmured to himself: "He's from Beijing... He's a Shangguan, I don't know who he is?"
At this time, he saw the fog in front of him was disturbed, and more than a hundred cavalry rushed up without any flags. However, looking at the plate armor and hoods on their bodies, he knew that the people coming were the cavalry in front of the Ming army's tent.
The cavalry suddenly stopped, and then they saw two riders coming out heavier and heavier. They were actually Zhu Youjian and Wu Sangui!
"Wan, long live my Lord!" Li Laiheng said blankly.
The soldiers around him also stood up and stared blankly at their Emperor.
Li Laiheng stayed for a moment and then rushed to Zhu You's horse inspection. Zhu Youjian and Wu Sangui, the deputy general of the army and cavalry in front of the tent, reined in their horses and just looked at Li Jin's good son. Zhu Youjian recognized Li Laiheng at a glance and said with a smile, "Laiheng...it turns out to be you. How are you going?"
Li Laiheng bowed and saluted: "Long live Lord, why are you so close to the front? What if you encounter the Eight Banners soldiers who are slaves and thieves? I'll leave it to you to explore the enemy's situation... This place is close to Qinghe River No one knows when the slave bandits’ cavalry will appear!”
Wu Sangui, who was next to Zhu Youjian, also looked livid, and he also tried to persuade Zhu Youjian. However, Zhu Youjian had to go straight to the front of Qinghe this time to observe the terrain of the battlefield in person. No one advised him not to move! Since he couldn't be persuaded, of course he wouldn't do it. Everyone knew that Zhu Youjian liked to face battles, and he had extremely rich battlefield experience and good luck. He had been wandering on the battlefield for so many years without suffering any injuries. He is the son of destiny, how could he be injured?
It makes sense for Zhu Youjian to come to the mouth of Qinghe River, because this is the battlefield he chose for the decisive battle!
The large fighting area in Gaizhou was chosen by the Queen Mother Taisong - Zhu Youjian was "asked" by Taisong! But the specific battlefield had to be chosen by Zhu Youjian, who took the initiative.
Zhu Youjian's choice was the area around the mouth of Qinghe River.
It was chosen near the estuary, firstly, because the terrain in this area is flat, which is conducive to the deployment and movement of the army; secondly, because Zhu Youjian's army already marched along the coast, it is most convenient to deploy at the estuary of Qinghe River; thirdly, the Bohai Sea The control of the sea lies with the Ming Army. Although there are no ports near the entrance of Qinghe River, the sand boat navy of the Ji Liao Army and Ping Liao Army can still move in the waters near the beach and support the battle on land.
For the above three reasons, once the Qinghe River enters the sea, it is of course the best battlefield for a decisive battle.
"Long live my lord, there seems to be no sign of the slave cavalry on the south bank of the Qinghe River," Li Laiheng began to report, "but on the north bank of the Qinghe River, there are Qing troops building camp barriers... There is also a place close to the south bank of the Qinghe River. A little fortress.”
"What's the water level of the Qinghe River?" Zhu You asked, "Can it be forded?"
"I don't know," Li Laiheng said. "There is a drought this year. Maybe it can be done in shallow water."
Zhu Youjian turned back to Wu Sangui and said, "Uncle Chang, what do you think? Let's put the camp here!"
"Long live my lord," Wu Sangui said, "This is a good place to use cavalry. I wonder if the slave thieves are willing to cross the river to fight?"
"I'm sure!" Zhu Youjian said with a smile, "As long as our navy is wandering on the nearby sea."
(End of chapter)
