Li Chengdong sent his cavalry to move troops to the camp before sunset. If they could arrive on time and report to Yang Wenyue, the forward reinforcements should be able to arrive at Zhenqiang Fort at midnight.
However, it was only a mere fifty miles away, and the infantry responsible for attacking the city might advance slowly, but as long as they traveled under starry night, they would be able to arrive before the next morning, making it impossible for Wang Pu to escape.
But the battle is to break into the fort and capture Wang Pu. Since the cavalry besieging this place already has an absolute advantage in strength, the governor may not send any more cavalry, but will let a large group of infantry come to help.
There is a huge difference in marching time between the two. If there are no infantrymen carrying muskets to assist, it is obviously a waste of money to let the elite cavalry abandon their horses and attack the city.
Li Chengdong had no choice but to wait patiently. No matter what, if the weather conditions were good and there was no strong wind or heavy rain, the infantry would arrive here at the latest in the early morning of the next day. By then, the dog thief Wang Pu and his son would die!
But after noticing an unusual movement, Li Chengdong suddenly thought: It's broken!
Wang Pu must have realized that his death was imminent and decided to jump over the wall tonight.
Although the surrounding officers and cavalry woke up from their sleep when they heard the exclamation of "enemy attack", they hurriedly got up and grabbed their weapons to fight. Their reaction was already very fast.
But Wang Pu's troops were well prepared and had not exposed their whereabouts before. They waited until the distance was shortened to a minimum before launching the charge.
In order to ensure that he could break out of the encirclement, the wily Wang Pu deliberately chose the junction where He Cheng and Liu Guangzuo were resting as a breakthrough point.
The strength of Liu Guangzuo's troops was not inferior to that of Li Chengdong, but the combat effectiveness was the lowest among the three groups, and he was the slowest to respond. The battle was rushed, and the front line was in a mess, without any structure at all, just running around like a headless fly.
Before Liu Guangzuo could call his own soldiers to come over and rescue him, Wang Pu led his remaining 200 men and horses to rush through his defense line, shooting dozens of people during the breakout.
"...What a fool!"
By the time Li Chengdong led his soldiers to the scene of the incident, Wang Pu had already run out nearly two hundred steps away. If he hadn't lent him three thousand arrows at night, Li Chengdong would have pointed at Liu Guangzuo's nose and yelled.
The thing is obvious, as long as he waits for a few more hours, Wang Pu's end will be at dawn, but in just this moment, the cooked duck will fly away.
Li Chengdong chased Wang Pu for fifty miles, but was blocked by Wang Qi halfway. The wound was still hurting, so he applied some herbal medicine, but he could only hold on, hoping to capture Wang Pu and his son so that he could vent his anger.
In the end, Liu Guangzuo stared at the incompetent Liu Guangzuo and let the pair of thieves run away. This was so angry that the veins on Li Chengdong's forehead burst with anger.
As for whether there was a suspected soldier, Li Chengdong did not doubt that he was there. Wang Pu only had a few men in hand. If he divided his troops to break out, the chance of winning would be even lower.
The four generals temporarily left a total of 400 cavalry to guard Zhenqiang Fort. The remaining people were chasing after Wang Pu. Even if Wang Pu ran outside the pass, he would be captured.
If there is no support from Monan outside the customs, the result of Wang Pu's leaving the customs will be the same, and there will be no change.
Although Wang Pu's men and horses were familiar with the terrain and had the cover of night, the distance between the two sides was not widened to the point where it was difficult to catch up.
There were too many pursuers behind them. Even if they split up and fled, each group of troops would still have to face at least five or six times as many pursuers as their own, giving them almost no chance of winning.
Wang Pu did not dare to divide his troops rashly. The fewer troops he had to protect him, the slimmer his chances of escaping successfully.
Fortunately, the city gate was right in front of them. Under the faint moonlight, a gray-black giant rammed earth wall stretched across the crowd like a giant dragon.
As the commander-in-chief of Datong who defended against the invasion of Monan Menggu cavalry, Wang Pu knew very well where the weak links of the Great Wall defense line in his defense zone were, so it was easy for him to get out.
When they deceived the city pass, the pursuers behind them were able to kill them, but they were just one step away, and they could only watch helplessly as Wang Pu escaped from the pass.
Moreover, the two groups of people at the front and back also confused the dozens of defenders on the city. To them, these two groups seemed to be rebels, and they seemed to have good reasons.
The ones who came over earlier were Datong general soldiers and rebels, and then came the emperor's own army and rebels. It seemed that there were no good people among them...
In order not to offend either party, the defenders simply let the two groups of people pass, letting them love and kill each other outside the fortress. They kept quiet and pretended that nothing happened.
The defenders were also very realistic in their thinking. The group at the back was obviously much larger than the group in front. As long as they could kill all the people in the front, there was no need to worry about offending them.
This coincides with the thoughts of Li Chengdong and other generals. If Switch catches up with the dog thief Wang Pu, then forget about the defenders at Chengguan, otherwise they will have to pay the price!
Li Chengdong has made up his mind not to mention the crossroads and pursue him. Even if he goes deep into Monan, he will capture these thieves. In order to avenge this arrow, he will fight to the death!
In Li Chengdong's view, Wang Qi, a dandy who was promoted by his father, was not even considered his defeated general, but he was severely manipulated by him.
And Wang Pu is a mediocre person with great ambitions but little talent. He dreams of one day ascending to the throne and being able to escape outside the Great Wall after being besieged by a large army. This is a result that Li Chengdong absolutely cannot accept.
If such a pair of thieves and his son could not be captured, Li Chengdong would not forgive himself, not to mention being criticized by others and suffering such a big loss without taking any advantage.
"Dog thief! Where to escape!"
Soldiers all have a hunting instinct, especially when the prey is trying to escape, this instinct is stimulated even more. The more the opponent runs away, the more they want to chase it.
Counting this time, Li Chengdong had already caught up with Wang Pu for the third time in less than twelve hours, and he also felt that this might be his last chance.
If he really made him flee into the depths of Monan and join up with the Menggu Rangers entrenched here, then even if he had thousands of fine riders, he wouldn't be able to get close so easily.
It's just that Li Chengdong was blinded by anger. He didn't expect to deploy a group of troops in the Chengguan area to intercept Wang Pu who was coming out of the gate. This was a mistake in the game.
While Wang Pu was busy running away, he forgot to cross the Yu River that ran through the Great Wall during the day. When he wanted to cross the river in the middle of the night, he was worried that the river would be too deep and he would drown.
Although Yuhe is not wide, it just separates Maoerzhuang. After crossing Yuhe, Maoerzhuang is thirty miles east.
Wang Pu knew that he could not go to Maoerzhuang for the time being, so he could only go to Tucheng west of Yuhe.
It was one of Menggu's three strongholds in Monan, especially north of Chengguan in Datong Prefecture. The other two were Mao'erzhuang and Hangma Terrace.
Since the Ming army had lost the ability to go out to conquer Monan Menggu and was forced to conduct passive defense with the Great Wall as the boundary, the stronghold operated by Menggu near the Great Wall was relatively safe.
These strongholds were developed by relying on Shanxi merchants who traveled out of customs to transport furniture and supplies. They were trade distribution centers. Although they were controlled by Monan Menggu and had many spies sent by the Qing Dynasty, most of the people responsible for their operations were merchants from the Ming Dynasty. .
Merchants were responsible for transporting salt, grain, tea, iron and other materials from the customs for sale. Menggu would exchange silver or horses for the needed materials. Naturally, the money needed was also stolen from the customs, and then transferred to Liaodong. .
Although the imperial court explicitly prohibited such trade activities that were suspected of capitalizing on the enemy, for Shanxi merchants, as long as they bribed the generals at Chengguan, they could completely ignore the imperial court's prohibition. Even the emperor's imperial decree could be disregarded. .
If they really want to obey an emperor, Shanxi merchants will also obey Huang Taiji. The Khan gives them millions of taels of business every year, and Shanxi merchants like it very much.
In contrast, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty was much stingy, so the majority of Shanxi merchants not only chose to seek refuge with Huang Taiji and help him greatly, but also did not want to pay taxes on the money they earned that was stained with the blood of the Ming Dynasty.
According to Wang Pu's understanding, there are at least hundreds of menggu cavalry stationed in Tucheng for a long time. If they can serve as foreign aid, it must not be difficult to repel the pursuers behind them.
Even if they couldn't repel the enemy, they could still escort him deep into the desert. These pursuers probably didn't have the guts to risk being surrounded by Menggu's cavalry at any time and follow him all the way north.
However, after breaking out of the siege and being shot on the road, Wang Pu only had about a hundred men left. If this continued, the entire army would be annihilated before they could even escape to Tucheng.
The cavalry under He Zan and Li Chengdong were all elites in the Ming army. Since the enemy army was weak, their combat effectiveness was not inferior to that of Guan Ning's cavalry, which was famous both in the government and in the public.
The army was huge and their morale was high. They chased and shot at the same time, and made many gains along the way. Wang Pu's soldiers were shot to the ground one after another, screaming in agony, but they were soon trampled to pieces by the ensuing army. .
When Li Chengdong saw that Wang Pu did not cross the river after leaving the customs, but fled all the way to the west, he understood that he was definitely going to Tucheng and must intercept and kill him before he reached his destination.
"Don't let the dog thief escape to Tucheng and join forces with Meng Gu!"
After many years of fighting, Li Chengdong had never fought against the Menggu people, but he also knew that there would be bad luck. Wang Pu rushed towards Tucheng, knowing that there were Menggu cavalry there who could rely on him.
"Okay! Chase after me!"
He Zan also understood. None of them knew how many Menggu cavalry there were in Tucheng. In order to avoid unnecessary mistakes, Wang Pu must be killed as soon as possible.
"Shoot the thieves down for me, general!"
Liu Guangzuo urgently ordered his men to fire arrows faster. After a fierce battle during the day, the arrows carried by Li Chengdong and the He brothers were almost exhausted. They also borrowed 3,000 arrows from each of them. Now Liu Guangzuo's men carry the most. .
It's just that Wang Pu and his son seemed to have extremely outstanding talents in escaping. They could run faster than wild horses in the wilderness. With only a few dozen steps away, everyone just stared and couldn't catch up.
Almost all the soldiers who fell at the end of the team were shot dead by the army, but it was meaningless just to shoot these small fish and shrimps. The biggest fish was still running for its life.
The reason why this is so certain is that it is vaguely visible that the prey at the front is surrounded by more than ten people, and it can be regarded as a dark mass. If Wang Pu was dead, there would definitely not be such a gathering, and the formation would have been scattered and disorganized.
Although there was already a roar around him and many arrows missed him, Wang Pu understood that the closer he got to Tucheng, the safer he would be.
"Soldiers! The earth city is right in front of you! Follow me to this place, and we can escape and ascend to heaven!"
It would be great if we could alert the Menggu cavalry stationed in Tucheng and make them come to check, and then intercept these pursuers.
There are only about fifty horses left around, which is very miserable, but as long as you can save your own life, it is enough.
It is said that there are many Han people in Liaodong, and they can make a comeback by borrowing 5,000 troops from Huang Taiji.
The soldiers who followed Wang Pu neither dared to turn around and surrender, nor dared to stay where they were. The result of both was a dead end.
At this critical moment, it is idle to talk about anything else. Only finding ways to save your own life is the most practical measure.
The pursuers behind them didn't need to shoot, they could just trample them with horse hooves. Thousands of people would ride over and trample them to death alive.
At the moment, Wang Pu is their only hope. Wherever the "Emperor Taizu" goes, they will follow him.
But the gap between the two sides was shrinking step by step, and the forward of the counter-rebellion army was less than thirty steps away from the rear of the prey.
"Bang~! Bang~! Bang..."
Seeing that the effective range of the firearm had been reached, many of the pursuers took out their long-hidden three-eyed guns.
"ah……"
Although visibility was extremely poor, as many as hundreds of bullets were fired, seven or eight unlucky guys were still hit and fell from their horses.
It is almost impossible to reload ammunition on a horse, and the firearms are only used once, and then it has to be solved by hand-to-hand combat.
However, the bandit soldiers have become increasingly scarce. After repeated attacks, only about forty cavalry are left in front of them. The army has an absolute advantage in strength.
"Aim at the guy at the front! Shoot hard!"
He Zan realized that it was no longer important to chase after the thieves' tail. If he could kill Wang Pu with one arrow at such a close distance, he would be done.
"yes!"
The soldiers immediately understood that although they were blind and blind, they could not aim at the target at all and could only aim at the approximate position of the black shadow, but if they were blinded, they would be in luck.
"ah……"
Wang Qi suddenly felt an arrow hit his back, and then he screamed, lost his balance, and soon fell off the horse.
"Qi'er~!"
Wang Pu on the side couldn't help but exclaimed. When he turned to look, he only saw Wang Qi falling. In the blink of an eye, only his mount was still running wildly with the cavalry.
Wang Pu then realized that he had no time to feel the pain of losing his son. If he could not reach Tucheng as soon as possible, both his father and son would die at the hands of the pursuers.
But in the panic, Wang Pu and others ran the wrong path, went straight up a hill, and then came down again, while the pursuers had already appeared on their flanks.
The two sides were galloping in parallel, and the pursuers were rapidly approaching them from both wings. Before Wang Pu and others could react, they fired arrows at random.
"Uh~!"
A soldier from an unknown unit shot Wang Pu in the throat with an arrow, preventing the "former Emperor Taizu of the Jin Dynasty" from even screaming.
After barely holding on for a while, he couldn't continue running and finally fell to the ground and died.
When the soldiers saw that their master was dead, they immediately dispersed and fled in all directions.
"You will continue to chase for five miles and then return!"
Seeing the abnormal situation ahead, Li Chengdong believed that he had most likely shot Wang Pu and asked his men to continue chasing the traitors to prevent any more fish from slipping through the net. He then led the rest of his troops to check whether the person who fell from the horse was indeed Wang Pu himself.
The soldiers carried all the corpses around them. Under the care of torches, the generals took out the portraits they carried and began to compare the dead bodies on the ground one by one.
One of them was a middle-aged man with bright armor. Fortunately, his head had not been trampled on. Judging from the portrait, all the generals believed that this man was the dog thief Wang Pu. After there was no objection, they put the body in a bag. , escorted into customs.
Wang Qi, who was trampled to a pulp by horse hooves, was also recognized. After a arduous pursuit, the three groups of people were finally able to return in triumph.
Li Chengdong asked his soldiers to fire off signal flares. The soldiers who went to pursue him knew they could withdraw when they saw the fireworks rising in the sky.
