Since Luo Dai was appointed by His Highness the Crown Prince and promoted to the rank of Chief Military Officer, he received a reward of five thousand taels of silver. In addition, with the public encouragement from the new commander-in-chief Hong Shaobao, Luo Dai was very active in marching in the army in order to repay his kindness. %∷八%∷八%∷Read%∷book,.≮.※o
This time, when rushing to aid Gucheng, his troops acted as the vanguard, and Luo Dai left the three thousand infantry behind and personally led a thousand horsemen to set off first, which could save a lot of time.
If the horses and infantry were to attack simultaneously, by the time they reached their destination, Gucheng might be captured by Zhang Ni's rebels. Such an arrangement would be a last resort.
But this time, without the overt and covert interference of his former immediate boss Zuo Liangyu, all the achievements he made can fall into his own pocket, but he is much stronger than before.
When working with Zuo Liangyu, Luo Dai often acted as a vanguard, but even if he killed three thousand thieves, when he finally reported it, he would only have captured one thousand heads, which was still too much.
The rest were divided up by Zuo Liangyu, the shameless commander-in-chief, his son Zuo Mengeng, and a group of idiot colleagues.
After pulling the team out from Zuo Liangyu, Luo Dai no longer had to look at his stinky face. No matter how many bandits he killed, he had the final say. This made Luo Dai very comfortable.
Moreover, Hong Shaobao values himself very much. He is more than twice as strong as before. With Hong Shaobao's support, he will not have to worry about the urgently needed weapons and food. The morale of the troops will naturally be high, and winning the battle will be a matter of course.
There are people in the court who are easy to do, and Hong Shaobao is a popular figure around the prince. This time he goes south, holding Shang Fang's sword, and has the right to kill first and then report. The salary that everyone is most concerned about has also been secured. Whether he can receive the reward depends on his ability.
Relying on this towering tree, Luo Dai no longer has any worries. If he can arrive at Gucheng before Zhang Ni, he will most likely disrupt Zhang Ni's plan. Together with the commander-in-chief Chen Hongfan, Luo Dai will attack from both inside and outside. It was caught off guard.
However, the news reported by the detective horses was not satisfactory. Zhang Nizheng led his troops to attack the city on a large scale. There were only Chen Hongfan's 5,000 soldiers and horses in Gucheng, which was far from the opponent of Zhang Ni's 30,000 troops.
What's more, Hong Shaobao also said before that Zhang Ni was well prepared this time and had bribed a large number of officials. If he had found out in advance that the counter-rebellion army had arrived in Xiangyang, he would have launched a rebellion in advance.
But no matter what, Luo Dai decided to take a look first, seeing is believing, so as not to go back in despair and be unable to report to Hong Shaobao.
Even if he was blocked by the thieves sent by Zhang Ni and was unable to rush to the rescue of Gucheng and turned back on his own, it would be justified and no one would be able to gossip.
"Who is coming ahead???"
Just as Luo Dai was thinking about what to do on his horse, a group of about five hundred people came running from the opposite side. There were horsemen carrying the flag of the Ming army and the banner with the word "horse" in it.
Seeing this, Luo Dai hurriedly reined in his horse and ordered the team to stop temporarily. He decided to observe and greet before making a decision to avoid any mistakes.
The soldiers under his command unfurled their bows and nocked arrows, aiming at the enemy. If they were rebels, they would shoot them directly without waiting until they came closer.
"Don't get me wrong! We are the defenders of Gucheng. The enemy has captured Gucheng. Chen Zongrong has already abandoned us and fled to Xiangyang alone. We are alone and unable to compete with the enemy. We have no talent. We have been defeated. Who are you? Are you going to Gucheng?"
The people and horses on the opposite side did not run over directly, and seemed to be very careful. The two sides slowly slowed down and approached, and stood about twenty steps away from each other to shout, so that they could see clearly and hear clearly. ∷八∷八∷Read ∷Book,.2∞≠
Luo Dai took a look at the horse and saw that the other party looked dusty, with black marks on his face, a lot of blood stains on his armor, and the flag was in tatters, which looked very much like after the war. look.
If these people are really the defenders of Gucheng, and that place has been occupied by Zhang Ni, then there is no need for him to continue to rush north for reinforcements. Otherwise, he will be throwing himself into a trap. With his own thousand soldiers, there is no way for them to stop them. Gap between teeth.
Luo Dai observed carefully for a long time, and generally believed that the other party had no flaws in appearance and words. Then he raised his voice and spoke: "I am Luo Dai, the commander-in-chief. I have been ordered by Hong Shaobao to rush to the rescue of Gucheng. Since the city has been lost, I will lead my army back." That's Xiangyang, who is your leader?"
Now that Gucheng is lost, Zhang Ni can occupy this place and confront the counter-rebellion army. Luo Dai doesn't know what Hong Shaobao plans next.
Before leaving, Hong Shaobao just said that if he encountered such a situation, he could turn back and join the army to avoid being ambushed by Zhang Ni's troops, which would outweigh the gain and the loss.
At this time, a general on the opposite side spoke to him, and he said very politely: "It turns out that this is Mr. Luo. I am not a talented man, but he is Ma Tingbao, the Xie Rong under Mr. Chen. Our troops have been killed and exhausted, so it is best not to leave." Stay here for a long time to prevent the enemy from taking advantage of the situation and chasing us, and we will be outnumbered!"
Ma Yuanli also has the surname Ma, so he can pretend to be Ma Tingbao. Anyway, he is "General Ma". This time he came to deceive the officers and soldiers. He didn't even need to change the general's flag. He and his officers were even wearing the same attire as the officers and soldiers. He couldn't help but not believe it. .
Luo Dai nodded when he heard this, and immediately clasped his fists in greeting: "Oh~! It turns out to be Ma Xierong, nice to meet you, nice to meet you! May I ask how many soldiers and horses Zhang Ni has this time? I'll go back and explain to Hong Shaobao next time!"
After speaking to the other party, Luo Dai whispered to the soldiers around him to aim at the guy known as Ma Tingbao. After a while, he followed his orders and fired thousands of arrows to kill this idiot.
It seems that the other party does not know that he and Ma Tingbao have met. Although they are not familiar with each other, they have met once. They are both generals in the Huguang area. They have been around this area for a long time, and of course they will not forget the appearance of the other party immediately.
This person was obviously waiting for an opportunity to sneak attack on him, but he didn't know that he had figured out their identity, and he deliberately chatted with them lively. What a trick of fate!
Hong Shaobao had said before that he should be especially careful about traitors dressing up in disguise and pretending to be officers and soldiers to fish in troubled waters. He should especially pay attention to and prevent things like Soochow's attack on Jingzhou from happening.
Unexpectedly, he would catch up with such a thing before Zhang Ni could send troops to attack Xiangyang City. It was just right. Since Gucheng could not be reached, he could dedicate these reckless thieves to Hong Shaobao as their military exploits.
The fact that they can appear here means that Gucheng has indeed been captured. First, take off their heads, and then return to the general to report to Minghong Shaobao.
Since the other party asked, Ma Yuanli had no choice but to respond concisely: "I'm afraid it's no less than thirty or forty thousand, with a huge momentum and arrogance. It only took less than an hour to take down Gucheng. Alas! Chief Rong, why don't we elaborate on it on the road?" ?”
The other party didn't see any flaws and kept talking to him. Ma Yuanli concluded that Luo Dai had not seen Ma Tingbao, and his slightly frightened mood finally calmed down.
His answer was logical. At least Luo Dai wouldn't see through it right away. It would be easy to deal with him temporarily, and then he would become his target in a short while.
Luo Dai pretended to be accommodating, nodded in agreement and said, "That's very good. You and I can join forces so that we can take care of each other!"
The soldiers and horses of the officers and soldiers did not turn around, but stayed on the spot waiting for their own troops to pass by. However, the soldiers' bows and arrows had been lowered and they did not assume an attacking posture.
The danger was temporarily lifted, but Zhang Dingguo always felt that something was not right, but he could not detect any seemingly strange clues, so he could only adapt to circumstances.
"Fire the arrow!"
Just as the opponent slowly approached, Luo Dai suddenly shouted and ordered everyone to launch a surprise attack. The soldiers around him immediately took action after receiving the order. They opened their bows, nocked arrows, and fired in one go. It only took less than three seconds to shoot the spike arrow at the opponent.
These soldiers do not recognize any of their relatives. They only recognize one thing, which is their superior. They do whatever their superiors tell them to do without hesitation. It is precisely because of these more than a hundred brave and skilled soldiers that Luo Dai can kill every time. Out of the siege.
After receiving Luo Dai's secret message just now, the surrounding soldiers were prepared. Although they did not lift their bows, they kept them in their hands and did not put the arrows back into the quiver in order to react quickly.
Luo Dai also understood that he could only shoot once. If he shot twice, the opponent's horsemen would rush over and chop his own men. At this distance, the soldiers could just pull out their swords and chop the thieves after shooting once.
More than a dozen sharp arrows suddenly shot at Ma Yuanli. At such a close distance, he didn't even have the space or time to dodge. In an instant, he was shot into a hedgehog and was killed on the spot without even uttering a cry for help. He died and fell from his horse.
"Hit them all on the forehead! Hack the officers and soldiers to death!"
Zhang Dingguo immediately realized that he had fallen into a trap. Luo Dai must have noticed it before and acted like this. There are two possibilities, one is that there is something wrong with his own clothing, and the other is that Luo Dai has met Ma Tingbao.
But now it was too late to think deeply about the root cause. If Luo Dai could not be killed, all the previous efforts would be wasted. Now that Ma Yuanli was dead, he had to lead his men to risk their lives.
Fortunately, Zhang Dingguo didn't say much just now, nor did he reveal his disguised identity, otherwise he would have been shot into a hedgehog by Luo Dai's soldiers at this time. Not to mention commanding the battle, he wouldn't even have a chance to breathe.
The officers and soldiers led the attack with their own soldiers. Most of the horsemen under Luo Dai were veterans who had been fighting for many years. Naturally, they were not stupid. They all understood that the opponent was a bandit in disguise, and they reacted instinctively.
On the battlefield, it is a life-and-death survival game. As long as the boss gives the order, even if the opponent is wearing official and military clothes, he will still be killed. Survive first, and the rest will come later.
Especially when someone on the opposite side yelled "hack the officers and soldiers to death", which directly revealed their identity. They were definitely a group of bandits, otherwise they would not dare to say such treasonous and cruel words to their face.
The 500 elite soldiers led by Zhang Dingguo were all fierce and aggressive. Even if the officers and soldiers on the opposite side were twice as many as their own and adopted preemptive tactics, they were not afraid.
The distance was so close that the war horse could reach them in one sprint. As long as they could avoid the arrow in front of them, they could slash the domineering officers and soldiers with their swords.
Because the distance between the two sides was too close, and Zhang Dingguo was caught off guard when he was killed, hundreds of people were quickly hit by arrows and fell from their horses. Even many of the soldiers on horseback were injured.
However, everyone knew that behind them was the 3,500-strong army led by Liu Wenxiu. As soon as the fighting started here, the reinforcements would rush over to support them, so everyone was not afraid and rushed over with their horses and whips raised to fight with the officers and soldiers. Close combat.
"I'm waiting for more people! Kill all these bandits!"
Luo Dai used both arms hard, swung the long-handled sword, and directly killed a passing bandit off his horse, and then shouted loudly to the soldiers around him.
The arrows fired just now have killed hundreds of people, and the remaining people are probably less than 400. Our side has almost tripled the strength advantage. If we can't win, how can we have the face to go back to see Hong Shaobao?
Even if we can't rush to Gucheng as scheduled, we still have to kill five hundred bandits this time as a military achievement. Since we can't go north, then use you guys who are seeking death to sacrifice the flag!
Some of Luo Dai's cavalry were Liu Zeqing's former subordinates, and they are now under his command. The combat effectiveness of these cavalry is still unknown, but if there are more and fewer, they will not turn around and run away.
In order to reduce the possibility of direct defeat, Hong Shaobao also issued a death order this time. If he abandoned his troops, he would be beheaded. If a soldier abandons his general, he will be guilty of the same crime!
If you can't even defeat rogue bandits, then what's the point of spending a lot of money on raising useless people like you?
Hong Chengchou didn't have to wait for the prince to order severe punishment. He would cut off some embarrassing things before returning to Beijing to report on his duties.
This round of encirclement and suppression of rogue bandits ranges from the commander-in-chief to the soldiers. Those who advance will be rewarded and those who retreat will be beheaded. Those who disobey military orders will be severely punished.
Hong Chengchou also specifically told Luo Dai to keep a close eye on the newly recruited soldiers of Liu Zeqing. If there is a rout, there is no need to report it. They can be killed first and reported later.
Now that the imperial court has sufficient funds and money, and a large amount of food and grass has been replenished in Xiangyang, the number of officers and soldiers ordered to encircle and suppress is almost twice that of Zhang Ni's troops. If the situation remains the same, Hong Chengchou will become ruthless.
So after Luo Dai realized that he could not go to Gucheng, he wanted to use the five or six hundred people under "Ma Tingbao" to make up for his own mistakes. After offering the heads of these bandits, at least Hong Shaobao's anger would be reduced to a certain extent. fade some.
At such a close distance, Zhang Dingguo's elite soldiers did not use their speed. The two sides approached and fought hand-to-hand, almost on the same spot. There was no chance for the horses to cross each other, and there was no chance to turn around and charge.
Since both sides were wearing official armor, in order not to leave any flaws, Zhang Dingguo did not let his soldiers mark their appearance. Therefore, it was up to everyone to identify whether he was an enemy or a friend. As long as it was someone he did not know, he would Cut it first and then talk.
Looking from a distance, this is completely a melee between the government and the army. Those who don't know better may think that there is internal strife between the government and the army.
But all the soldiers in the formation knew that the guy wearing the same clothes as themselves was trying to kill themselves.
The soldiers on both sides are of high quality. If the strength of the soldiers is almost the same, they may still be able to fight equally.
However, Luo Dai's horsemen were far more numerous than the elite soldiers brought by Zhang Dingguo. Even though these were elites from hundreds of battles, they were gradually about to be killed by the army.
Zhang Dingguo was also anxious. It was impossible to retreat calmly at this time. Once he fled, the remaining soldiers who had fled would definitely be shot dead by the opponent.
For the current plan, we can only hold on and hope that Liu Wenxiu's army will appear as soon as possible, otherwise they will really be annihilated.
This time it was a mistake. He wanted to seduce the army and was deceived, but the other party came up with a trick. Not only was there not much left of the 500 elite soldiers he brought.
For this reason, Ma Yuanli, a capable general, was lost. This battle really made Zhang Dingguo regretful. Even if he was lucky enough to win, he would not be able to explain it to his father when he returned.
I thought I could usher in a great victory, but I didn't expect to end up like this. I really regretted it. I wish I had been more careful. Even if I brought more troops, I could defeat these damn officers and soldiers. 11... Friends who read books, you can search for "Blue Chinese Network" and you will find this site as soon as possible.
