When Niu Wancheng had the courage to follow and "pursue" the Ming army, Wang Wu had already led people into Daping.
This place is less than fifty miles away from Laomukong.
The Ming army set up a transfer point similar to a post station here. After Tian Heng and Wanhe rebelled, the military post was set on fire by the Qing army.
Wang Wu still led the "braided soldiers" and the personal troops in front, flying the green flag and pretending to be the Qing army;
Ma Sizhong, Zhang Tianwang and others led other soldiers and their families to follow behind.
The distance between the two teams was less than five miles.
In addition to protecting women, children and their families and carrying necessary food, the rear team also undertakes the task of breaking up the rear.
That is to say, if the Qing army comes from the rear, Ma Sizhong and Zhang Tianwang will have to lead their soldiers to block it.
The Qing army must not be allowed to rush across the rear team and threaten the front team, otherwise the Ming army's eastward rescue plan will be "stillborn."
The so-called blocking means probably fighting to the death.
Even though Wang Wu commanded this small Ming army to achieve several victories, which greatly improved the morale of the officers and soldiers, he still could not change the overall situation of the Qing Dynasty being strong and Ming Dynasty weak.
Not to mention the Western and Eastern Fronts, the more than 30,000 Shaanxi Green Camp soldiers on the Northern Front can easily crush them to death.
Just like an ant, even if it has wings, it is still a flying ant and cannot bite an elephant.
If this ant wants to survive, it must keep moving and use every means to save itself and attack its enemies.
But once the enemy discovers their presence and bites them, it will be difficult for the ant to escape.
After all, they are too small.
Wang Wu knew this, and Ma Sizhong and Zhang Tianwang also knew it.
Everyone is now just determined to fight for that slim or even negligible chance!
Therefore, everyone in the team is ready to make sacrifices.
Zhang Tianwang even "mobilized" the family members. If nothing could be done, women and children would die for the country and must not fall into the hands of the Qing army.
The family members in the Ming army were basically members of the Zhang clan and the wives and children of the villagers who initially joined the army with Zhang Tianwang. Most of the men died in the battle, and the remaining old and weak women and children followed Zhang Tianwang from Hubei to Hunan, and finally moved here. In the Kuidong Mountain area at the junction of three provinces, we have endured so many hardships and suffered so many crimes.
Suffering has made these women and children determined and less weak. Some women can even go to the battlefield to kill enemies like men.
Just like the female soldiers led by Mrs. Gao when the Loyalty Camp was first established.
When the Qing general Niu Wancheng was lured into an ambush, it was Zhang Tianwang who suggested sending some running women to hold their children to confuse the Qing army. As expected, the Qing army fell into the trap.
Fortunately, the Shaanxi Green Camp on the northern front did not send troops to Huachanggou. It may be that the thousands of Ming army intelligence brought back by Ta'abai and Li Juqing affected the judgment of Bao Zhao, the commander-in-chief of Hebei Town, and made him afraid to send troops easily. .
In this way, the Ming army was able to advance eastward smoothly.
Wang Wu's tactic was to fake the Qing army to the end. He would deceive if he could, and fight if he couldn't.
In order to speed up the march, they had to march in the dark at night. In any case, they had to reach Laomukong within two days.
Because the situation is already urgent.
More than an hour ago, Xu Lin, who was leading the expedition at the front of the team, captured several people alive.
They were Qing troops returning to Zhushan City from Laomukong to report the news.
One true Manchurian, three Aha.
According to the Eight Banners system, banner personnel are divided into three classes when outside the customs.
The first class is Qiding, that is, true Manchuria.
They were mainly the Jurchens who were the first to rely on Nurhachi when he established his business outside the customs.
The second class are the armored men, mostly other Jurchen tribes who fought for Manchuria after the Jin Dynasty surrendered, including Koreans, Japanese, and Mongols.
The third class is Aha, that is, slaves, mostly Han Chinese.
After the Qing army entered the customs, due to frequent wars, Zhenman suffered too much losses, so the armored men gradually became full-time soldiers, and over time they became Zhenman.
Armored Man also evolved into the real Manchu name.
Aha still retained it.
Its nature is the same as that of Baoyi. The difference is that Aha is a slave of an ordinary Manchu banner family, while Baoyi is a slave of a noble family of the royal family.
As a slave, in addition to working for his master's family, Aha also had to go on military expeditions with his master.
The general combat effectiveness is not low.
After accumulating enough military merit, one can gain a future, and can even be promoted to the True Manchuria and become a member of the glorious bannermen. Then the wife and daughter will no longer have to serve the master and gain true freedom.
This made the Han people Aha eager to go to war with their masters, and they were very active on the battlefield. They could be said to be the right-hand man of the Manchu soldiers.
In this siege of Laomukong, the Manchu Eight Banners soldiers commanded by Xi'an Deputy Commander Du Min had only three assistants and less than 800 people. However, there were more than 1,200 Aha accompanying the army, which was equivalent to one Manchurian soldier with one and a half Aha.
Since he had no idea that the Ming army was holding the rear, Amida, a Manchurian who was ordered to go to Zhushan County to report to General Xi'an, had no suspicion that there was anything wrong with the dozen or so Green Camp soldiers who came ahead.
When they realized something was wrong, three or four of the Green Camp soldiers tackled one person. Some covered their mouths and strangled their necks, while others pressed their hands and feet. They restrained them in the blink of an eye.
Knowing that the Eight Banners were captured alive earlier, Wang Wu quickly brought people over for interrogation.
Not surprisingly, the Manchu didn't speak at all, but Wang Wu ordered his head to be chopped off and kicked off the cliff.
The other two Aha also refused to reveal any information and were also killed.
The last Aha broke down mentally and confessed in tears.
According to Aha's account, the Qing army had captured the main stronghold of Laomukong. Liu Tichun, the Duke of Ming and Anhui, was escorted by the remaining troops and moved to the Beilizhuang area with thousands of Ming army family members.
Beili Village is where Wang Wu stayed at the Children's Camp when he was a boy.
There are canyons on three sides, and it is a desperate place.
Unless absolutely necessary, Liu Tichun would not have been able to retreat to the desperate situation with his family!
Wang Wu's heart immediately felt heavy, but what Aha said next made him feel like he was being hammered even more.
Shaanxi Gongdang Shousu and Yidu Houta Tianbao surrendered to the Qing army at Fengling Cave in the southeast of Laomukong two days ago!
Dang Shousu and Ta Tianbao were both veterans of the Shun Army who fought with Li Zicheng in his early years. Like Ma Tengyun, they were great heroes in the eyes of the Shun Army soldiers. They were both knighted by the Ming Dynasty, but they were both demoted to the Qing Dynasty when Laomukong was besieged. , once this matter spreads, it will undoubtedly cause irreparable consequences.
"team leader,"
Tian Wen looked at Wang Wu with a bitter look on his face. Although there was no follow-up, Wang Wu knew that the other party must have been disturbed by the news, lost his fighting spirit, and even lost the confidence to rescue Liu Tichun.
"Fifth brother!"
Gou Sheng also looked blankly at his fifth brother, who he considered to be the best to him. His eyes seemed to be asking: Do we still want to fight?
The mute Zhu San, the blind Wan Si, Zhao Jinzhong, Cao Diwei, Xu Lin, Zhushan Jiang Tiancheng, Yunyang Dong Da, etc. were all looking at Wang Wu.
Everyone has different eyes.
Wang Wu didn't say anything, but just walked up to the Aha. Looking at the extremely frightened Aha, he took dozens of breaths and suddenly raised the knife in his hand.
The head fell to the ground and rolled down the cliff.
"I said, if you are willing to die with me, you can die with me, and if you are not willing, just turn back!"
After saying that, Wang Wu passed directly in front of everyone.
The crowd started to move after a moment of silence.
A pair of feet stepped over the pool of blood on the ground without hesitation.
