It turned out that after Zhu Yijun learned that Zhu Yizhu and others were heading north, he accepted Qi Jiguang's request and asked Liu Wei to lead some of his troops to immediately go north to catch up with Zhu Yizhu.
And because Zhu Yizhen's team already had Jin Yiwei's spies, the emperor's own army also caught up with the rebels.
But now, the officers and soldiers who beat Zhu Yizuo to tears were the emperor's personal guards.
at this time.
Not only was Zhu Yizhu unable to cry, but the officials and gentry who followed him in the rebellion and became his ministers were also extremely afraid.
Therefore, not long after, these people followed Zhu Yifan and chose to kneel down. As a result, they were captured by the emperor's army and became prisoners.
As the saying goes, if the Ming army is not satisfied with its pay, it will be invincible if it is fully paid.
The emperor's own soldiers and guards dared to sacrifice their lives to serve the country because Zhu Yijun regarded them as human beings.
Once Han soldiers are treated as human beings, they will not only work very hard to quell internal rebellions, but will also recreate the old scene of one Han serving as the five barbarians.
after all.
The Ming Dynasty was an empire with more advanced civilization and scientific and technological level. As long as the Han soldiers were not regarded as human beings because they were defending the inside and the outside, the Han soldiers could actually crush the Hu barbarians with their technological advantages.
For example, in the Helan Mountain area at this time.
A Ming army led by Tong Yiyuan and Ji Jin encountered more than 8,000 Huoluo Chibu cavalry who were withdrawing from Ningxia Town, and more than 20,000 infantry led by Kuai Bai's adopted son Kuai Hongda. Fierce fighting broke out in this area.
Huo Luo Chibu had often offended the Ming Dynasty over the years and owed a lot of blood debt to the Ming Dynasty.
For example, in the seventeenth year of Wanli, the Huoluo Chi tribe looted Qutan Temple, the Ledu of the Ming Dynasty.
Then, in June of the 18th year of Wanli, Huo Luochi and other troops invaded Taozhou and killed three thousand Ming Dynasty border troops including Deputy Commander-in-Chief Li Lianfang.
In July of the same year, the Huoluo Chi tribe went deep into Hezhou, killing guerrilla Li Fang, and plundered the border residents and fled.
Now, this Huoluochi tribe has also participated in the rebellion of Ningxia Deputy Commander Kuai Bai, and even took the initiative to be a vanguard. Together with Kuai Bai's adopted son Kuai Hongda, they first came to Helan Mountain to station at Pingqiang Fort, and became the main force of the rebels for Kuai Bai and Cao Zideng. Coerce the Han people in Ningxia to prepare for the evacuation of Ningxia.
However, what Huo Luochi and Chi Hongda did not expect was that a Ming army led by Tong Yiyuan and Ji Jin was already waiting for work at Pingqiang Fort in Helan Mountain.
So the two sides started a fierce battle.
The Ming infantry led by Ji Jin were well-trained and fearless. They used hooks and sickles to directly cut the legs of Huo Luochi's cavalry when they were raiding the formation. At the same time, they used spears and firearms to harass Huo Luochi from behind. A large number of cavalrymen were thrown to the ground, vomiting blood.
Tong Yiyuan's cavalry charged directly at Kuai Hong's infantry. After approaching Kuai Bai's infantry, they suddenly dismounted and advanced with blunderbuss and spears. Amidst the sound of drums, they were not afraid of the fire blunderbuss fired by his infantry. When the blunderbuss came, he used fire blunderbuss to defeat the opponent's firearms camp, and then stabbed them with spears, causing the entire powerful infantry to collapse.
In the end, Huo Luochi and most of Yihong's troops were almost wiped out. Huo Luochi himself was even captured alive, while Yihong only fled back to Ningxia Town with more than a thousand remaining soldiers.
In short, since the Han soldiers were treated as human beings by the court, these barbarians were no match for the Ming army.
Kuaibai himself never expected that the Ming army would prepare troops and horses in Helan Mountain as early as possible.
In fact.
In the past, there were rumors that officials impeached Ma Gui because he was leading an army that was too slow to move forward and was suspected of collaborating with the rebels. Zhu Yijun said that regardless of whether Ma Gui had such a thing, the court did not care and could rely on the Ming Dynasty's strong national power and investment. After the soldiers' ability improved and they could send an additional army to recapture the Hetao, the Privy Council in charge of Qi Jiguang asked Tong Yiyuan and Ji Jin to lead a Ming army directly to Helan Mountain to wait for work.
Because Qi Jiguang knew that the location of Helan Mountain was important, instead of worrying about whether Ma Gui would secretly communicate with the rebels, it was better to lock the retreat route of Ningxia to suppress the rebels. This could be regarded as the embodiment of the combat thinking of "you fight yours, I'll fight mine".
Therefore, at this time, a large number of Ming troops appeared in the Helan Mountain area to defeat Huo Luochi and other rebels, leaving the place covered with Hu corpses and rivers of blood.
Ningxia Town.
Although it is already spring, it is still snowy and windy here.
At this time, in the Yiming Hall here, the charcoal fire was almost exhausted, and the room began to become cold, but no one dared to say a word, and the servants below did not dare to add charcoal.
After Kuaibai learned that his troops going to Helan Mountain were defeated miserably and that there was already an elite Ming army in Helan Mountain, he became panicked. He spoke first in the Ming Hall, then looked at Cao Zideng and said:
"So, our retreat has been cut off."
"I know!"
Cao Zideng replied angrily.
"what do you know!"
"Helan Mountain's retreat route was cut off, Pinglu's camp was recaptured by Ma Gui, and Li Rusong's army captured Song Castle, Heng Castle, and Leifu Castle, cutting off our retreat routes to the south, west, and east. Now we can only Sit and guard the lonely city."
"But seeing that food and grass are becoming increasingly scarce, how can we still sit tight?"
Kuai Bai didn't say it angrily either.
After hearing this, Cao Zideng said solemnly: "Then tie all the Han people to the chariot, and then push the chariot to flee north. Now the court pays attention to new etiquette and talks about the friendship between compatriots. If you have the ability, the Ming army in the north really dares to treat these The Han people took action and disobeyed the new etiquette advocated by their emperor Zhu Yijun and killed their own compatriots, otherwise, they should let us go!"
"This is a good idea."
Kuai Bai said something, and then gave his son Kuai Chengen a wink.
Kuai Chengen understood, and then he walked towards Cao Zideng's back silently, and suddenly drew his sword and stabbed Cao Zideng directly.
Phew!
Cao Zideng trembled suddenly, then looked back and saw that Kuai Chengen had appeared behind him. When he turned back due to pain, he saw a blade had appeared in his abdomen.
For a moment, Cao Zideng couldn't help being shocked and looked at Kuaibai: "Why is this?"
"Do you still have to ask why?"
"One word!"
"I can't trust you Han officials and soldiers!"
"What's more, Li Rusong has repeatedly sent letters to the city to recruit you. Maybe at this time, you will kill us generals and soldiers in order to survive, and are not willing to follow us outside the wall."
"Instead of doing this, why don't I strike first, so that no matter whether I escape or surrender, I can put the blame on you people first."
As he spoke, Kuai Bai cupped his hands and clasped his fists at Cao Zideng: "I'm sorry, my friend."
"you!"
Cao Zideng wanted to say something, but then he didn't say anything. He just closed his eyes helplessly, and then said: "I really shouldn't have teamed up with you to do that for Prince Qing. What retribution!"
After Cao Zideng said that, his body shook again.
Because Kuai Chengen gave him another knife and twisted the knife.
Cao Zideng suddenly had a painful expression on his face.
Cao Zideng then fell to the ground, and died soon after.
Then, Kuai Chengen pulled out the knife and asked Kuai Bai: "Father, what should we do now?"
Kuai Bai then lowered his face and ordered Kuai Chengen: "You lead Tu Wenxiu and kill all the Han generals and soldiers who rebelled with Cao Zideng under Cao Zideng's bid!"
"yes!"
Half a day later, Kuai Cheng'en came back to Kuai Bai's house, covered in blood, and said to Kuai Bai: "Father, we used Cao Zideng's governor's seal to deceive all Han officials and soldiers into killing them."
When Kuai Bing saw that Kuai Cheng'en was covered in blood, he didn't even change his clothes first, so he asked, "Did something happen again?"
Yi Chengen nodded: "Father's prediction is correct. According to reports from our people, the troops of Li Rusong, Ma Gui, Tong Yiyuan, Xie Gui, and Dong Yikui have all arrived outside the city. It is impossible for us to flee north again!"
"What?!"
"So fast?"
After hearing this, Kuai stood up immediately, his face pale and solemn.
Kuai Chengen replied: "Yes, their marching speed is terrifying!"
"After hearing this, my son also went to the city to take a look, and then he saw that there were many civilians recruited by the government and the army. Almost every soldier was followed by a dozen civilians and an ox cart. With such equipment, the march would naturally be easy. soon."
As Yi Chengen said, because a large number of civilians assisted the army in fighting, the officers and soldiers who suppressed the rebellion could march day and night.
After all, this way, if the soldiers are marching, they don’t have to carry a lot of weight. If they are injured, they can be taken care of by civilians and just lie down on the oxcart to rest. When they are tired and rest, there are civilians who can immediately provide water and food, and there are even people who are responsible for decoction. Folks, once someone catches wind and cold, they can immediately take medicine to drive away the cold.
"This Zhu Yijun is really willing to spend money! Not only did he send several troops, but even the civilian husbands also allocated so many. Does he have too much money and no place to spend it, or does he really have no intention of leaving any savings for his descendants?"
Kuaibai spoke with a trembling voice.
"What my father said is that with so many civilians, we will definitely not be able to recruit them by force. We have to give them enough money, and Zhu Yijun must have spent a lot of money this time."
Yi Chengen echoed.
"Since there is no way to escape, let's hang the heads of Han officials like Cao Zideng and Tu Wenxiu outside the city to ask for their surrender. We will say that this rebellion was planned by Cao Zideng, and we are forced to have no choice."
Kuaibai gave an order at this time, then fell down on the chair, looked out the window blankly, and cursed: "If I had known this would be like this, I should have accepted Chineseization honestly."
Boom boom!
Boom boom!
"What's going on? Where did the gunfire come from?"
At this time, when Hebein heard a thunderous sound coming from outside, he stood up again and asked.
After a while, Tu Wenxiu ran in and said: "General, the Ming army has attacked the city. They have concentrated hundreds of heavy artillery to bombard the city."
"Hundreds of doors?"
Kuai Bai was shocked after hearing this and asked: "Why did they bring so many cannons?!"
"They used the river to transport it. Our sentry came back and reported that the river was full of boats transporting artillery, and each boat had three shifts of civilians taking turns to transport it."
"I heard that Duke Ji Guo issued a decree to show off the majesty of the emperor's personal conquest, so he decided to cover Ningxia Town with firepower and not stain the city walls with the blood of officers and soldiers."
Tu Wenxiu replied at this time.
(End of chapter)
