The sea breeze blows slowly, and the carriages and horses rumble.
Chaozhou Prefecture, located in the south of China, now has the coolest and most comfortable climate. Even when we were driving in broad daylight under the sun, we no longer felt the heat. On the flat land on both sides of the road, there are large tracts of late rice that are ripe and waiting to be harvested, as well as sugar cane fields that look like bamboo forests—all good places for ambushes!
On the official road leading from Chaozhou Fucheng to Jieyang County, a group of cavalry from nowhere was walking.
There are more than 300 cavalrymen in this team, all wearing straw hats and mandarin jackets. He was also carrying a bow and arrow and a long knife, and he was arrogant. The leading cavalryman also held a yellow regiment dragon flag with a red edge. Anyone who knows something about the military system of the Qing Dynasty will immediately know their origins when they see the costumes of this cavalry team and the yellow regiment and dragon flag - they should be the legendary Eight Banners soldiers who are invincible in heaven. Judging from the color of the flag, they should be A team of heavenly soldiers with yellow flags!
This group of Eight Banners soldiers was divided into two columns, guarding the seven carts of mules and horses in the middle, and moved slowly. Most of these carts of seventy-two mules and horses were used to pull luggage. There were piles of large and small boxes on them, all tied tightly with hemp ropes. I don’t know what they were?
But the one in the middle of the convoy was a carriage with people on it. The horses pulling the carriage were all fat and strong, and smooth with oil and water. The coachman sitting on the shaft of the carriage was also dressed as a flag soldier. He sat upright and waved his whip proudly. At first glance, you can tell that he is a well-established coachman. Someone hired casually on the street cannot be so arrogant!
The knights traveling on the left and right of these two carriages looked very energetic. The most eye-catching one was a tall man riding a long-legged horse with a particularly impressive steed. This man also wore a dress that was bright enough to blind people here in Guangdong. Eye-catching yellow mantle!
In the Qing Dynasty, not just anyone could wear a yellow mantle. It could only be worn by the imperial guards or the ministers and servants who were ordered to wear it by the emperor.
And this sturdy man wearing a yellow mandarin jacket is neither an imperial guard nor a servant of the Qing Emperor who ordered to be rewarded for wearing a yellow mandarin jacket...but Zhu San's grandson Zhu Hesheng!
Zhu Hesheng is using a plan now!
Now he is no longer the brave and foolhardy artillery Zhu, but Zhu Heji, the grandson of Zhu San, who is wiser and more talented than Zhuge. Facing the Beixi Bridge that was heavily defended by Qing Yao, of course we couldn't attack it with brute force alone. But to outwit them!
And his method of outsmarting him was a surprise makeup attack!
On October 15th, he led his masters Guo, Hu Lao Lin, and 300 elite soldiers selected from the Dananshan Rebel Army and Da Lao Hui's soldiers, boarded a fast boat, and quietly left Dahao. Then he took the sea route first, then entered the Han River, and landed in Fuyang south of Chaozhou Fucheng.
After landing, they met up with Da Bo Ling who had arrived earlier. Da Bo Ling had prepared seven mules and horses and was waiting for Zhu Hesheng and the others in an abandoned temple in Fuyang City.
After the two parties merged smoothly, Zhu Hesheng put on a yellow mandarin jacket, assumed the alias Niu Hulu Heshen, the third-class imperial guard, and rode a long-legged foreign horse borrowed from Qiu Hui. They really look like Manchurian heavenly soldiers!
And the three hundred elite soldiers who followed him also put on the straw hats and mandarin jackets of the village, rode on short Yunnan horses, and carried high imitation Manchu bows and Guandong knives, and two grenade hammers hung on their belts, which looked quite similar. It's a matter of fact.
Then the group took the pass to the Pingnan Palace given to them by Yang Qilong and headed straight for the Beixi Bridge in Jieyang County without any hindrance.
And this side of Beixi Bridge... is of course heavily guarded, no less than a tiger's den and a dragon's pond!
The person ordered to garrison here was Chinese Army Staff General Li Chenggong under the command of Liu Jinzhong, the commander-in-chief of Chaozhen.
This Li Chenggong is no ordinary pure demon, he is from Tieling!
Tieling!
That was Li Chengliang's hometown, and Li Chenggong and Li Chengliang were from the same clan. Li Chengliang is a senior citizen, and Li Chenggong is also a senior citizen. The two of them are brothers of the same clan - although Li Chengliang is the youngest of his generation, and there is almost a hundred years difference in age between him and Li Chengliang, but the seniority Still a lifetime.
And who is Li Chengliang? That is the dry amma of Nurhaci, the great ancestor of the Qing Dynasty!
So in terms of seniority, Li Chenggong should be Nurhachi's god-uncle... If we were to calculate according to this seniority, Emperor Kangxi didn't know whether to kowtow and call him "Grandpa" when he saw him?
However, Nurhaci turned his back on his father after he became rich, so Li Chenggong didn't get any glory either.
When the Hou Jin soldiers captured Tieling, his father also asked Nurhachi, his unfilial nephew, to be captured and become a slave of Zhengbai Banner.
Moreover, Father Li had been a slave for his whole life, and it was not until Li Chenggong's life that he turned around and became a martial arts scholar.
Because Li Chenggong was an old Baoyi from Tieling and a "noble relative" of the Aixinjueluo family. Therefore, his official career went smoothly after he was selected as the Wu Jinshi. He first served as a bodyguard, and later was sent to Liu Jinzhong's army in Chaozhou as a military officer... In name, he was Liu Jinzhong's subordinate, but in fact he was assigned Come and see Liu Jinzhong.
And Liu Jinzhong also knew that Li Chenggong was a "noble relative" of Emperor Kangxi, so he had been coaxing him. He had given him countless opportunities to make meritorious services in the past few years, and he was eager for him to make meritorious service and be promoted to leave as soon as possible.
But this guy's luck is not very good, and he can't always seize opportunities. Moreover, he is honest and doesn't know how to falsely report his achievements or kill good people for credit, so he can't stop being a general!
But this time Liu Jinzhong was quite confident... He led eight battalions with a total of 3,000 elite soldiers to lay an ambush in Jieyang County.
Fengmingshan, the dog official who also knew Chaozhou Prefecture, had tricked Zhu Qipao into Zhu Santai's grandson Zhu Heji, and also led as many as 1,500 people to help in the battle.
Imperial Envoy Mi Sihan also brought him four red cannons - they were all old cannons that Xiong Wencan had cast by craftsmen in Foshan when he was Prime Minister for Military Affairs of Guangdong and Guangxi and Governor of Guangdong. They are said to be durable!
In addition, the Imperial Envoy Mi Sihan also mobilized 800 flag soldiers from the Xushun Palace and placed them in Puning County, not far from Jieyang County, and also equipped them with war horses... As long as there is a fight in Jieyang County, Deng Guangming and Zhang Mengji will lead the Eight Hundred Banners to kill them immediately!
Yan Ziming and Zhang Haiyang also led 5,000 governor's model soldiers to guard near Guiyu Capital, and they would also come to help as soon as possible.
So this battle cannot be lost no matter what!
Since he could not lose, Liu Jinzhong handed over the important task of guarding Beixi Bridge to Li Chenggong. Li Chenggong was also allocated one thousand green battalion soldiers and five hundred regiment men, and also gave him two red cannons.
How can one defend it with 1,500 men and two cannons?
As long as you hold on, you can blow him away. No matter what, you can blow him away.
Li Chenggong also took it seriously this time and worked out a defensive strategy with great thought. The 1,500 men in hand were divided into three parts, and 500 green battalion soldiers set up camp on the north side of Beixi Bridge to guard the bridge head.
Five hundred Green Battalion soldiers set up camp south of Beixi Bridge and also guarded the bridge head.
There are also five hundred people and teams arranged on the bridge, and they are also managing dozens of fire ships.
The two cannons were placed one in the South Village and one in the North Village, both facing the water of the North Stream of the Rongjiang River.
As for Li Chenggong himself, he was sitting in the Beizhai camp, waiting energetically for Qiu Hui's navy to come and die, and at the same time asked his clan nephew and personal soldier to move General Li Rucai to the official road north of Beixi Bridge. Collecting money with a card—you still have to be greedy!
Although Li Chenggong is an honest man and will not falsely report his military exploits, let alone kill good people for credit, he still does corruption and bribery. Even if he doesn't know how to be greedy, his nephew Li Rucai, who is twenty years older than him and has been working as a clergyman in the Ministry of Internal Affairs for many years and is nicknamed Li Nucai, will teach him how to be greedy!
But this afternoon, Li Chenggong, who was waiting for Li Rucai to pay his bills in his Chinese army tent, never expected that his nephew, who had been a slave for most of his life and could not climb up, would actually meet him now. Heshen, a fellow from Beijing, and the great guard...
