How long can we keep flying the banner?
Wang Wu didn't think about this problem, he didn't need to think about it.
All he knew was that he had to persevere.
Because a single spark can start a prairie fire!
What's more, in nine years there will be raging fires burning from the southwest to the north and south of the Yangtze River.
That will allow all the anti-Qing martyrs who persevere to see the dawn of victory and the hope of restoration!
People were hanging dead in the sky.
Wang Wu, who had cut off his own path, was determined to move towards the unknown distance without any distractions.
Even if the road ahead is full of thorns, he will never look back.
In order to prevent Wujiayuanzi, an important stronghold, from being occupied by the Qing army, before leaving, Wang Wu asked Gou Sheng and his men to set fires everywhere in Yuanzi. All living facilities were destroyed, making this important stronghold operated by the Ming army for more than ten years a blink of an eye. reduced to ruins.
Either the walls are strong and the country is clear, or they simply don't want the Qing army to occupy this place.
In that case, for the Ming army whose territory is constantly being eroded, not only will the scope of activities be restricted, but military operations will also be greatly restricted.
Once the Qing army established a foothold in Wujiayuanzi and established a defensive line, the rope around the neck of the Ming army became tighter, making it difficult for the remaining Ming army to breathe and move even more inconveniently.
The living space will also be further compressed.
Therefore, even if he wanted to break out of the encirclement and fight mobile warfare behind the Qing army, Wang Wu could not just sit back and watch Wu Jiayuanzi fall into the hands of the Qing army so easily.
We must know that the terrain of Wushan is special, and every habitable spot has important military significance. If Wujiayuanzi is left intact to the Qing army, this place will inevitably become an important stronghold for the Qing army to further extend its anti-Qing base area.
At least, this place can control a radius of thirty miles.
What's more, Wujiayuanzi is the west gate of Laomukong. Regardless of whether Laomukong is currently occupied by the Qing army or whether Liu Tichun is killed, Wang Wu cannot let this place become a base for the Qing army to extend forward.
It's easy to give up, hard to take back.
Must be destroyed!
Everything that could be burned was burned, everything that could be demolished was demolished, everything that could be destroyed was destroyed, and not a single brick or tile was left to the Qing army.
Even if the Qing army took a fancy to this place and concentrated its operations, it would still consume a lot of manpower and material resources.
War is fought based on the mobilization ability of both sides and the transportation ability of money, food and materials.
As long as it can deplete the opponent's strength and prevent it from investing all its resources in military operations, then any method is beneficial.
Even if it is forced.
Due to the snow, Wang Wu judged that the Qing army would not be able to launch a new round of offensive in the past few days, which meant that the Qing army would not be able to conduct deep sweeps and sieges in the mountainous areas in the near future, so he was not worried that the Qing army would follow and attack on the road.
The deputy generals Wang Zhili, Lu Congyun and others who abandoned the camp and fled will definitely report what happened to Wu Jiayuanzi to the Qing army. There is no doubt about this. However, the heavy snow will make it impossible for the Qing army to take action immediately.
In ancient times, there were classic examples of surprise attacks on snowy nights. Extreme weather often became the attacker's most powerful weapon, but in these mountains, no one would be foolish enough to copy the ancient examples.
Unless, crazy.
Without the threat of the Qing army following them, it is naturally best for the Ming army. However, the biggest trouble now is not the threat from the Qing army, but the marching problem of the Ming army itself.
Although the heavy snow made it difficult for the Qing army to carry out military operations, it also made it difficult for the Ming army to conduct military operations.
Without heavy snow, it would only take three days to get from Wujiayuanzi to Laomukong.
Now, it takes at least five days.
This is still good.
Sometimes heavy snow closes the mountains, making it impossible for people in the mountains to communicate with the outside world for a month or two.
The knee-deep snow is enough to deter any warrior brave enough to explore the surrounding area.
If you are not familiar with the terrain, you may even get lost in the vast white snow and die of cold and hunger.
........
In order to reach Laomukong as soon as possible to rescue Liu Shuai, Ma Sizhong and Xu Deyi commanded Laoshun's army to clear the way in front and tried every means to clear the snow on the mountain road. This made the march of Wang Wu's team following them much less difficult, but even so their The marching speed was also unusually slow.
The reason was that my legs were broken while running up the mountain, and it was difficult to get out of the snow.
Especially after the snow, the temperature drops sharply, and thin ice accumulates in many places. It is very slippery when people walk on it, and they may fall if they are not careful.
And some steep places require the cooperation of several people to climb over. As a result, even if the Ming army is eager to rescue, they have to falter and march hard under the majesty of God.
Ma Sizhong, who was clearing the way ahead, sent someone to inform Wang Wu that they might have to camp in Suokou Cave at night.
There is a common village controlled by Liu Tichun's tribe, with seven to eight hundred defenders, but it is unknown whether these defenders are still reliable.
What Ma Sizhong meant was that he would first send people to Suokou Cave to reconnoiter the situation. If the defenders did not rebel, they would rest here and wait for dawn before setting off. If the defenders rebelled, they would have to fight with them.
This requires the cooperation of Wang Wu. After all, there are only about 400 people in Laoshun Army, and the manpower is not enough to deal with the defenders of Suokou Cave alone.
Wang Wu readily agreed and asked the messenger to go back and tell Ma Sizhong that regardless of whether the defenders of Suokou Cave had rebelled or not, they should not go there immediately, let alone take risks alone. They had to wait for him to take others with him.
After the people sent by Ma Sizhong left, Wang Wu asked the soldiers to help each other and speed up the march as much as possible.
Saving people is like putting out fire.
"Follow me. When the person in front passes by, use the rope to pull the person behind!"
In a steep place called Shuanglong Slope, although the snow here has been cleared by the Shun army in front, it is very unsafe for people to walk on it as if it were walking on ice, and the drop is more than ten meters. Just in case , Wang Wu personally stood on the slope to cheer up the officers and soldiers who followed him.
"One, two, three, pull!"
Blind Man Wansi and more than a dozen soldiers wrapped a thick rope around a big tree on the slope and kept pulling up the people below one by one.
Because it was too slippery, a soldier slipped and fell down the slope. When everyone was stunned, Wang Wu jumped down from the slope almost instantly, and rushed to the soldier's side while rolling and crawling. He held him tightly, and then with the help of his own soldiers, he pulled the soldier up again.
Everyone saw this scene.
When the soldier who had rolled down the slope climbed up the slope with both joy and fear, the soldiers waiting below looked at the panting Wang Wu with an inexplicable warmth in their eyes, and their thoughts became more determined.
Wang Wu didn't do this deliberately. He just jumped out of instinct. At this time, he didn't have time to observe the reaction of the soldiers. He just shouted to the soldiers who were looking at him: "Brothers, work harder. We will cross this Shuanglong slope." It’s much easier to walk!”
After saying that, he walked to the front of the queue, stretched out his hand to the child who refused to let anyone else carry the flag for him, and said with a smile: "Child, you are young and have no strength, I will carry you up!"
"Sir, I can come!"
The twelve- or thirteen-year-old Song child did not accept Wang Wu's kindness. He had an unconvinced character and carried the flag alone to the bottom of the slope. He stretched out his hand to grab the rope and climbed up.
But the child's strength was ultimately limited, and he had to hold the flagpole tightly with his other hand. As a result, he couldn't get up even after two attempts.
This made the child very angry, but he still did not ask for help from the adult in his eyes. Instead, he looked towards his companion Liu Yuan who stayed with him.
"Kid, let me help you!"
Liu Yuan felt very sorry for this little brother and stepped forward to ask the child to give him the flag, but the child refused to give the flag to Liu Yuan no matter what. It seemed that the flag was the whole meaning of his life.
"I will return the flag to you after you go up. Everyone is waiting to go up, so don't delay everyone."
Liu Yuan was worried that the child's dawdling here would affect other people, so he persuaded him in a low voice.
But the child was determined and said with a puffed-up mouth: "No, the flag is there and the person is there, my father said so!"
After hearing this, Liu Yuan thought of something, and subconsciously pulled back the hand he was holding on the flagpole, looking at the child with indescribable affection.
Upon seeing this, Wang Wu stepped forward and forcibly snatched away the flag that the child was carrying, then grabbed the child's buttocks and pushed him upwards.
Wan Si and others above saw this and worked together to pull the child up smoothly.
"Then, the flag is there and the people are there!"
Just when the child stood firm, Wang Wu at the bottom of the slope thrust the big flag hard into the snow on the slope.
The big flag stuck straight into the snow like a javelin.
"Kid, the flag is yours, no one can take it away!"
Wang Wu raised his head and looked at the child who was more than ten meters high, with eyes like an elder brother looking at his younger brother.
.........
Laomukong, Liu Tichun's most important stronghold and the location of his command camp, is less than a hundred miles away from Wujiayuanzi.
Last year, after Hao Yaoqi and Yuan Zongdi were severely attacked by the Qing army, they took refuge with Liu Tichun with a few soldiers, but Liu Tichun's life was not easy at this time.
The Qing army regarded it as a key target and continuously sent troops to capture Liu's strongholds, squeezing Liu's living space and shrinking the scope of Liu's activities from three counties to one. Now it is mobilizing the Western Front. Tens of thousands of Qing troops pressed hard against Liu Tichun.
The reason why the Qing army clung to Liu Tichun was because of Liu Tichun's reputation and because Liu Tichun was the leader recommended by the Ming army in Kuidong.
In the official documents between the Qing government and local governments, Liu Tichun was called "Two Tigers at the Head of the Thief", and he was paid more attention to than Li Laiheng, the Duke of Linguo who persisted in resisting the Qing in the Xingshan area.
He is the leader of old thieves.
In terms of military deployment, the key to encircling and suppressing Liu Tichun's troops was the Qing Dynasty Governor-General of Sichuan Li Guoying's troops.
As the situation took a turn for the worse, Liu Tichun's subordinates surrendered to the Qing one after another, and several important battles with the Qing army ended in defeat, which intensified the disintegration of Liu's tribe.
It was against this background that General Tian Heng and Wan He rebelled against Lao Mukong out of despair and rebelled against the Ming Dynasty and surrendered to the Qing Dynasty. The most direct consequence of this incident was that Suo Yanlong, who was deeply trusted by Liu Tichun, had the idea of surrendering to the Qing Dynasty.
As a result, the Ming army at Wujiayuanzi on the western front collapsed, and Wang Wu had to lead the officers and soldiers who were willing to continue resisting the Qing to return to Lao Mukong with the Lao Shun army.
Despite this, Wang Wu still sincerely hoped to rescue Liu Tichun and begged God to protect Liu Tichun from death.
Because Liu Shi was a banner of the Kuidong Ming Army.
If he dies, it will undoubtedly be a major blow to the Ming army that continues to resist the Qing Dynasty, and it will also completely deprive Li Laiheng of Xingshan of any help.
Although history does not change because of individuals, some people play a decisive role in the trend of the times.
banner!
The significance of Liu Tichun in the Kuidong area is that he is a big banner.
The flag is there and the people are there.
The flag fell and people died.
After a difficult march in the snow, Wang Wu met Ma Sizhong, Xu Deyi and others in the evening.
Ma has already sent people to reconnoiter the Suokou Cave, and now everyone is anxiously waiting for news.
The place Suokou Cave is extremely important, you can tell just by hearing the name.
If you want to go to Laomukong, Suokou Cave is the only road within a hundred miles. This place is located at the junction of two mountains. It looks like a canyon but has an extremely narrow entrance, so it is named Suokou Cave.
The Ming army stationed here was Zhang Tianwang, the commander of Liu Tichun's department.
The number of people was not large, only seven or eight hundred, but these Ming troops who occupied the favorable location were able to stop ten times the enemy.
If Zhang Tianwang rebelled with Tian Heng and the others, Wang Wu and the others would have no choice but to storm the lock hole, and the casualties would be huge.
Therefore, everyone is now hoping that Zhang Tianwang will not rebel, but Zhang Tianwang is not from the Laoshun Army, but a landlord in Xiangyang, Hubei.
After the Qing army invaded Hubei in the first year of Longwu, Zhang Tianwang spent his money to recruit volunteers to fight against the Qing. Because he was defeated by the Qing army, he fled to Hunan and continued to organize people there to fight against the Qing.
But while resisting the Qing Dynasty, this man also had conflicts with the Shun Army, which had been reorganized into the Loyalty Battalion. The reason was that Zhang Tianwang believed that the Shun Army killed Emperor Chongzhen and destroyed the Ming Dynasty.
If the Qing army is a captive, the Shun army is a bandit.
Zhang Tianwang, who had a traditional scholar-bureaucrat mentality, constantly clashed with the Shun army. Finally, under the heavy pressure of the Qing army and the mediation of the Longwu court, he had to fight against the Qing with the Zhongzhen camp, and then came to the Wushan area to continue to fight against the Qing.
Nominally, Zhang Tianwang was under the command of Liu Tichun, but in fact he obeyed the instructions but not the propaganda.
Zhang Tianwang usually did not attend the military meetings convened by Liu Tichun, so Ma Sizhong and others were worried that Zhang Tianwang, who was discriminating against the Shun army, might be demoted to the Qing Dynasty.
Wang Wu also prepared for the worst and discussed with Ma Sizhong and Xu Deyi how to storm the lock hole and open the passage to Laomukong in case Zhang Tianwang rebelled.
After many discussions, the conclusions reached were not optimistic.
Even if we take it, we will probably have to pay hundreds of casualties.
But no one was discouraged by this. Some officers of the old Shun Army volunteered to lead the death squads to attack.
"If you really want to organize a death squad, I will lead people up there."
Wang Wu did not want to be an outsider. Since he had decided to resist the Qing Dynasty to the end, how could he stay on the sidelines?
It's a dead end, so it's better to give it a try.
However, Ma Sizhong refused to let Wang Wu lead a death squad, saying that they wanted to return to Laomukong to rescue Liu Shuai and had no reason to stay back when they were desperate.
While Wang Wu and Ma Sizhong were arguing about who should organize the death squad, the scouts came back and not only brought the good news that the garrison in Suokou Cave had not rebelled, but also brought an important figure.
It was Zhang Tianwang, the lock-kou cave guard who was born as a landlord!
Wang Wu thought that Zhang Tianwang was a rather cunning and stubborn old Ming Dynasty bureaucrat with a goatee or a cold face. However, he didn't expect that Zhang Tianwang was a tall warrior who looked like a butcher.
Before Ma Sizhong and the others could step forward, they heard Zhang Tianwang shouting from afar like he was killing a pig: "Damn it, I'm here in person. Either I want to have any friendship with you old thieves, or I don't want to." Lin Lao asked someone to stab me in the spine, saying that I had become a traitor and had brought shame to my ancestors!"
