About four miles north of Mafang Village, there is a section of road that runs through a willow forest.
Now the place is in a mess, the ground is full of wailing injured people, and corpses are scattered everywhere. A tragic ambush has just ended.
Zhang Guangda, the commander of the left sentry post of the Thousand Cavalry Headquarters under General Zhang Yan in Xuanzhen of the Ming Dynasty, stood next to a corpse of a Qing army and said to his guards: "Hurry up and treat the wounded soldiers and make statistics on the battle situation. Everyone, take a rest first, and after a cup of tea , set off again.”
Not a moment later, the guard came to report: "Our B Sentry Team A was ambushed in Liulin. They killed eight slaves and captured two. They were seriously injured and could not survive. Thirteen war horses were captured. Weapons and armor were not counted. We searched them. I got more than two hundred and seventy taels of silver."
"Hmm. What are the casualties of our unit?" Zhang Guangda asked.
"Liu Quan, the officer of the B sentry team A of our unit, and two guards were all wounded. One person in the first A was wounded, Chang Du Chun, the commander of the first class. Four people in the second class were killed and four were injured. Bai Shanzi, the commander of the first class, was injured, and two sergeants were seriously injured. "Four people from the Third Army were killed and four wounded, and one sergeant was seriously injured. A total of eight people from our unit were killed and eleven wounded, three of whom are critically injured," the guard replied.
"Damn it, there were only ten Tatars, and they almost destroyed my whole team."
Zhang Guangda cursed in a deep voice, turned around and said to the guard: "You take a detour and quickly go to the official road southeast of Mafang. Report to the young master. On the way, our troops encountered ten Tatar vests and killed eight and captured two."
"Yes" the guard agreed, turned around and ran out of the willow forest. After a while, he heard the sound of horse hooves gradually disappearing.
"Cut off the head and bury the body on the spot." Zhang Guangda turned around and glanced at the two Qing army corpses, turned around and said, and then turned and walked towards the road outside Liulin.
The autumn wind is bleak, the willow leaves are rippling, the willow branches on both sides of the road are swaying in the wind, and the sounds of "wow...wow...wow..." are heard. Other than that, it is silent, even if the road is filled with rows of people with helmets and armors. The knights, however, were as quiet as virgins, without making a sound.
Beside the road, the corpses of eight Xuanzhen sergeants who died in the battle were placed. Their cloaks had been taken off and were covering their bodies. Zhang Guangda stepped forward and waved his hand, and the sergeant took them. The red cloak was lifted up, and after Zhang Guangda walked away, he covered it with the fallen soldier.
Zhang Guangda would sigh every time he saw the corpse of a sergeant. They were all good sons and daughters of his parents, and they were heroic Xuanzang cavalry.
"Damn Tatars." Zhang Guangda muttered and came to the team officer Liu Shen.
Liu Quan was lying on a simple stretcher at this time. The arrow on his right leg had been pulled out, and there were blood stains on the cloth bandaging the wound. Du Chun, the first-level officer, and the second-level officer Changbai boy were lying next to him in turn. .
Dashan, the eldest son of the Third Class A, was guarding Liu Shen's side. Seeing Zhang Guangda approaching, he stood up hurriedly and said with a choked voice: "Zhang Shao, Captain Liu..."
Zhang Guangda waved his hand to stop him from continuing. He knelt down and looked at Liu Quan. Liu Quan said with tears in his eyes: "Zhang Shao, my brother in the team..."
Zhang Guangda also waved his hand to prevent him from continuing. Wen Yan said to him: "You have killed ten Tatar vests. It is a great achievement, and the boss will definitely reward you!"
"Recuperate well, brothers are all doing well!" Zhang Guangda finally comforted him.
Zhang Guangda stood up and said to Sun Dashan, the eldest son of the Third Class A team: "The whole team of Team A will stay here. You will be in command for the time being. Take good care of the injured brothers and collect the bones of the brothers who died in the battle."
"By the way, keep those two Tatars under your watch and don't let them get into trouble." Zhang Guangda had already walked away, then turned around and ordered.
After saying that, he continued to walk forward, and saw the injured sergeants holding back the pain in front of him. His heart felt like a knife, which made him heartbroken.
A sad autumn wind blew by, and I couldn't help but shudder. There were tears in Zhang Guangda's eyes. The young man who was so energetic just now is now lying here. Although everyone's injuries are different, they are all strong. Patiently, they tried their best not to scream.
Zhang Guangda came to the end of the wounded soldiers. They were all seriously injured. One of the sergeants had an arrow stuck in his shoulder and a flying ax stuck in his face. He was lying there, no longer aware of the pain, but his eyes were still wide open. , full of unwillingness and ardent expectations.
Zhang Guangda knelt down and said to him slightly choked with sobs: "What is your name?"
The sergeant's lips moved slightly, but he couldn't say anything.
Dashan, the eldest grandson of the Third Class A next to him, called back and forth: "Zhang Shao, his name is Cheng Long. He also has an old mother and a pair of younger siblings at home."
Zhang Guangda nodded silently and said softly to Cheng Long: "Brother, feel free to go. Don't worry about family matters. We will raise you up for you..."
Cheng Long's eyes full of ardent expectations were always staring at Zhang Guangda, flashing with a trace of happiness and satisfaction. Before Zhang Guangda could finish speaking, he left with a hint of smile on the corner of his mouth, relieved.
…………
On the official road about two miles west of Mafang Village, more than 400 people were scattered under the willow trees on both sides. They all wore helmets and armor, and each of them was holding a war horse, as if they were waiting for something.
About two miles northeast of Guandao is Mafang Village. A road goes down from Guandao and goes straight into Mafang Village.
There are thick smoke billowing from many places in Mafang Village. On the west side, where the village entrance connects to the road, there are several large trees. About a dozen people can be seen patrolling back and forth. To the north, a house collapsed, leaving only broken walls. There was a burning bonfire, and several armored Qing soldiers were sitting around, seemingly eating and drinking.
About a hundred meters to the southwest of the village, there is a simple stable surrounded by a wooden fence. Now there are nearly a thousand poor people in ragged clothes being imprisoned inside.
They huddled together to resist the cold wind of late autumn. Most of them were old people, children and middle-aged men. There were very few women. They were probably imprisoned elsewhere.
There are some wooden piles around the stables, and some horses and mules are tied to them. There are almost more than a hundred horses. People are patrolling in small and five groups. None of them are wearing armor. They should be those of the Qing army wearing armor. Ha, they were holding knives or guns, and from time to time they were laughing and cursing at the people inside the fence.
There are no defensive measures such as city walls outside Mafang Village, but there is a shallow ditch about 200 meters west of the village, about five paces wide, winding south to the official road. Both sides of the ditch are covered with weeds and shrubs, and there is only one road that can be entered directly. In the village, the road is not wide and can only accommodate two large vehicles.
About four hundred meters to the west of the shallow ditch, there is a depression, which is also covered with weeds and shrubs. It is believed to be a land that has been left uncultivated for a long time.
The cold wind was blowing, blowing the weeds and shrubs, and the waves of grass came and went. The sound of wind mixed with the sound of swaying weeds, several figures flashed among the weeds and shrubs as high as a person, looking and gesticulating in the direction of Mafang Village from time to time.
They were Zhang Cheng and others who had just killed ten Qing army cavalrymen on the official road. They left the cavalry brigade on the official road to rest and wait. He only took two sentries and some guards and sneaked into the depression. Observe the Qing army's defensive arrangements at close range in order to determine the attack strategy.
