go ahead! go ahead!
In the darkness, the officers and soldiers of the brigade held torches and formed large columns at the rank of commander. On the great plain on the north bank of Hong Lake, there was a sound of people shouting and horses neighing as they rolled forward.
The terrain around Hong Lake is as flat as a tabletop, but it is densely covered with water nets and rice fields, which is very unfavorable for cavalry operations and movements. Even the infantry forming a wide column found it inconvenient to move forward on this muddy and wet plain. Because they had to give up the few roads they had to cavalry and artillery, and they also had to form broad columns that could go into battle at any time. Therefore, they can only walk through the muddy rice fields, and their boots will be soaked with mud and water after a short walk.
However, the main force of the Qing army that was marching south to aid the Zhou Dynasty quickly completed its concentration after seeing the fire in Chibi, and opened the camp when night fell that day. Then they split into three groups, running forward in a mighty manner under the starry sky of Huguang's autumn sky. Moreover, the morale is high. Everyone just wants to finish the more than 40 miles as quickly as possible, and then defeat the Ming Army's Wulin Camp in one fell swoop!
The commander of the Qing army in the Southern Expedition, General Ningyuan and Prince An Yue Le, was riding on a horse. Together with his staff and palace guards, they advanced by the dim light of the torches. . The rice fields on both sides of the official road where he was were filled with large groups of infantrymen marching silently.
These infantrymen all came from Gushan, the Zhenglan Banner Army led by Yue Le himself. Because the Zhenglan Banner was not one of the top three banners personally led by the Qing emperor, it has always been a bit like the "second-class eight banners". It was okay when the Qing Dynasty was prosperous, but the brave and talented people in the banners did not have a wide path to climb up. When they climbed up, they could not compare with those who came from the Three Banners.
But now that the Qing Dynasty is in crisis and the Eight Banners edifice is about to collapse, the life of the Zhenglan Banner is quite difficult. This is not so difficult in terms of money and food - Emperor Kangxi has been trying to ensure that his Eight Banners disciples have enough money in recent years. He ate and drank, and tried his best, using all kinds of methods to quench his thirst. But he couldn't create enough Eight Banners disciples...Kangxi couldn't open up and stuff Han people into the Eight Banners' new army!
This Eight Banners New Army must always ensure a certain "full content", otherwise this "Eight Banners New Army" will become a "New Army"...
In order to maintain the "full content" of the twenty solid mountains of the New Eight Banners, Kangxi had to lower the standards of the bannermen. The first is to relax the standards for identity recognition. In the past, only those born in a regular household could be considered a "true Manchu". Now, it has been changed to include those who open another household or open an account to be considered a "true Manchu".
The second is to relax age and height restrictions. According to the Eight Banners military system, banner men between the ages of fifteen and sixty, as long as they are tall enough, are considered bannermen and can be recruited as soldiers. But in the years when the population of the Eight Banners was relatively prosperous, a group of fifteen-year-old boys and sixty-year-old men would not really be recruited to fight on the battlefield. But now, due to years of war consumption and the damn Burni Rebellion, the number of strong men in the Eight Banners has been greatly reduced. In order to maintain the "full capacity" of the Eight Banners New Army, Kangxi had to relax restrictions, and height was not a big concern... Now is the era of lining up to be shot. The shorter you are, the smaller the target will be, and it will be harder to be hit. , and it can also be placed in the front row - it will not block the view of the back row. As for age, thirteen or fourteen years old is about the same as fifteen years old, so Kangxi set the lower age limit for the Eight Banners' elite men to twelve years old! As for the upper limit...as long as you are in good health, wouldn't it be nice to work for a few more years? Being idle at home is also idle, so there is no cap!
While relaxing the standards for identification, height, and age, Emperor Kangxi did not forget to resort to the method of "raising the flag" and selected a group of strong and true Manchus from the afternoon flag to join the upper three flags.
So now there are a lot of white-haired men and young men among the twelve people who are marching to Wulin with Yue Le, all from Gushan under the Five Banners...
However, the morale of these old people and children is still very high. From time to time, Yue Le can hear the loud and optimistic discussions made by these old people and children.
"We are here where Wulin has raided the Zhu Thief's camp! Did you see the fire? That was the fire in Chibi! The Zhu Thief's navy has been burned out, and all the Zhu soldiers in Wulin have become alone!"
"How can those Han people fight? They don't even know how to use their strength in one place. They always like to disperse their troops. Now it's better. Once Chibi is burned, their troops in Jiangbei will be a piece of food for us!"
"Yes! This was how Saarhu was back then. Old man, I was too young to kill the Ming army with Emperor Taizu, but I can catch up this time! Ahem, cough, cough..."
Yue Le felt really bad when he heard the old man coughing! Sarhuna happened sixty years ago. Sixty years ago we were too young, so that’s what happened! Then he is at least over sixty this year... Even at this age, he is still carrying a gun to defend the Qing Dynasty. He is so loyal.
Thinking of this, Yue Le pulled the reins and galloped down the official road. When he arrived at the team where the old man was, he shouted: "The one who didn't catch up with Sarhu, come out!"
Then he heard a loud voice shouting: "Zhang Zhongqi, the prince is calling you!"
"Your Majesty? Where are you?"
"Look left!"
"Ouch...come here, come here!"
A little old man wearing a pure blue flag cloth mask and a gun helmet on his head emerged from the team carrying a crudely made flintlock gun. He ran to Yue Lema and gave a salute: "Slave Zhang Zhongqi." See you, Your Majesty, good luck to you, Your Majesty!"
"Your surname is Zhang?" Yue Le looked at the old man in front of him and couldn't laugh or cry, "Are you a Han soldier?"
"If I tell you, the prince, the slave has been transferred to Zhenglan Banner as a Manchurian, and is now a Manchurian!"
"Oh, oh..." Yue Le nodded, "When did you carry the Han military flag? Before..."
"Replying to the prince, the slave was the one who threw the flag as a coat during the Tianming period. During the Tiancong period, he was greatly favored by his master and carried the Han military flag."
"You are so old, why are you still carrying a gun?" Yue Le asked again, "Is there anyone else in your family?"
"Returning to the prince, I feel that I have been deeply favored by the emperor in my life and have nothing to repay. Now that I know that the Qing Dynasty is in trouble, it is worth it to sacrifice my old bones to serve the Qing Dynasty. As for the servant, there are three sons in the family, five A grandson. The sons all have errands. The grandson is still young and is led by the daughters-in-law. In addition, the slave married a new wife the year before last. She is only eighteen years old this year. Hehehe..."
"You are indeed worth it!" Yue Le nodded and said, "Zhang Zhongqi, for your grandson and for your little wife, fight hard! Go!"
"嗻!"
Zhang Zhongqi responded, then stood up and chased his team with a flintlock gun on his shoulder. Yue Le looked at his back and sighed softly, and the corners of his eyes were actually a little moist...
...
The scene of hundreds of thousands of people holding torches and marching in large formations in the vast darkness of night was of course something that could not be concealed from the sharp eyes of Fang Shiyu, who was in a high position!
The life trajectory of Fang Shiyu, whose family owns a silk and satin shop, has certainly changed in this great era. He is a talented student who graduated from Guangfu No. 3 Academy. He was also admitted to the Nanjing Army Military Academy and is a graduate of the "Xiaoling Guards Phase I" reconnaissance department.
After graduating from the military academy, Fang Shiyu did not leave the army to lead troops. Instead, he was sent to the "Air and Space Army" directly under the Military Advisor's Office as a "celestial soldier". He was a real heavenly soldier, a soldier who could go to heaven!
At this moment, Fang Shiyu is floating in the sky! But he didn't grow wings and fly up, but he sat in a hot air balloon and soared into the sky - for Zhu Heji, a hot air balloon was nothing difficult, it was nothing more than a large bag sewn with rubber cloth. Then use a kerosene stove to blow hot air into it.
Of course, this is the theory... If you really want to do it, it will take a lot of money and time. However, for the Ming army, which lacks light cavalry, it is also a good choice to form an "air and space army" from a high perspective. So after Zhu Heji settled down in Nanjing, he started working on this thing. After doing it dozens of times, he had the balloon that Fang Shiyu is using now.
