The bandit leader howled and rushed up the official road from the gap. With the cover of his shield and his flexible dodge and chop, he knocked five young men to the ground one after another.
As the gap widened, other infantry bandits also swarmed forward, and they were about to lose this place.
A sledgehammer came out of nowhere. The gangster didn't have time to react. He used his shield to block it as usual. With a "bang", the shield flew away. The gangster's left arm was broken at that time, but the sledgehammer didn't. Stop and continue hitting the gangster on the head.
Under the powerful blow, the skull was shattered and the brains were scattered in all directions. The gangster's body was smashed far away by the sledgehammer, flew directly down the official road, and fell heavily into the wilderness.
The stone pillars kept walking, and the sledgehammer swung out terrifying circles one after another, rising and falling. Regardless of whether it was a sword, spear or stick, as long as it was carried by the sledgehammer, it would be knocked away, let alone human flesh and blood.
The bandits who had just rushed up were immediately driven off the official road.
Suddenly, an unknown bandit shouted: "Boss Hu has escaped, run quickly..."
A group of bandits whimpered and turned around to run away. Some of them tripped and fell to the ground without knowing what happened when they turned around. They rolled a few times before getting up again and running away.
Liu Quan shouted loudly: "Stone, chase!"
Shi Zhuzhu shouted angrily: "Min Yong, charge me."
Carrying a big hammer and a pair of long legs, he chased away.
Liu Quan sat firmly on the cart, looking at a green shadow looming in the distance among a puff of smoke. Not far away, there was also a puff of smoke, with red figures in between, running in the same direction.
Then, another stream of smoke and dust was seen rising from the wilderness to the north of Guandao, and gradually spreading towards the mountains and fields to the north.
"Hiss, you ran away really fast."
As soon as Liu Quan finished speaking, he saw a group of cavalry galloping towards the east of the official road, intercepting the more than 300 foot bandits who were escaping northward from a distance.
I saw that they were one team from a distance, but when they came closer, they split into two teams. One team was still rushing straight to the west, while the other team changed its direction slightly and ran towards the mountains and fields to the north.
They drew a circle, which happened to trap the bandits on the north side of the official road. No matter how hard they ran, they couldn't run as fast as He Shihui and his horses.
…………
On October 14, the 11th year of Chongzhen reign in the Ming Dynasty, in the north of Beijing, outside Yongding Gate.
Stationed in the area from Yongding Gate to Zuo'anmen are several generals and guerrillas from the Third Battalion of the Fifth Army, the Fourth Battalion of Shenshu, the Fifth Battalion of Shenshu, and the Fourth Battalion of Shenji from the Beijing Camp.
More than a thousand cavalry from Zhang Cheng's department set out from Changping with King Qin's army in Xuan Town and arrived outside Yongding Gate at noon yesterday.
At this time, tens of thousands of Qing troops were stationed in Tongzhou, dozens of miles away, with constant sentries and cavalry every day. Although their various units in the Beijing camp were equipped with a large number of chariots, horses, artillery and other defensive objects, they were not able to protect themselves. The soldiers were still in panic all day long, and many soldiers deserted every day.
It wasn't until yesterday, when Lu Xiangsheng arrived with more than 30,000 King Qin's troops from Xuanda San Town that their moods stabilized slightly.
As soon as King Qin's troops from the three towns of Xuanda and Shanxi arrived, their generals and guerrillas from the Beijing camp came to see the governor Lu Xiangsheng, and strongly requested the brave and invincible elites of Xuanda border town to stand in front of them.
The governor Lu Xiangsheng did not refuse and readily agreed, which attracted great gratitude from the generals and guerrillas.
In this way, more than 30,000 troops and horses from Xuanda and Shanxi towns to assist King Qin were deployed sequentially along the area from Yongding Gate to Zuo'anmen, and to the eastern suburbs about ten miles away from the city.
Zhang Cheng's cavalry headquarters was stationed in one place along with his uncle, General Zhang Yan. Their garrison area was designated to be located about thirty miles southeast of Yongding Gate and outside the west gate of the royal hunting ground Nanhaizi, which is now Beijing. Yizhuang Town area.
Nanhaizi was called Feifangbo in the Yuan Dynasty, because the rulers of the Yuan Dynasty trained Haidongqing to catch flying birds and small animals in this area full of rivers and lakes. During the Ming Dynasty, it was renamed Nanhaizi. During the Yongle period, earth walls were built and four gates were opened: Dahongmen in the north, Donghongmen in the east, Nandahongmen in the south, and Xihongmen in the west.
According to the "Research on Old News from Japan": "Since the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, Nanhaizi has been surrounded by a circle of 160 miles." Its vastness can be compared with Yanfangdian in the east of Jingdong. The creatures on the vast blue water are moving frequently, and the scenery is colorful. Beautiful and charming.
Therefore, there are mostly plains in this area, with occasional mountains and rivers, many rivers, lakes and ditches, and fertile land. The area around Nanhaizi was originally densely populated with villages and towns near Gyeonggi.
Just because in the ninth year of Chongzhen, the Qing army invaded the border area, the villages in this area were burned down once by the Qing army.
Two years later, the Qing army came again, and the new homes that the people had worked hard to build were once again burned down by the Qing army.
When Zhang Cheng led his troops to this place, many surrounding villages were in ruins, and some were still burning with fires, leaving light smoke rising straight into the sky.
Occasionally, I saw surviving people. They helped the elderly and young to flee towards the capital. As they walked, they looked back at their homes, with sad expressions and tears in their eyes.
Zhang Cheng rode his horse and watched all this, but was helpless. He just shook his head and said to himself: "I don't know if these poor people can still enter Beijing. I hope they can be safe in the future!"
A group of frightened people were fleeing from here. When they passed by Zhang Cheng's infantry and cavalry army, they were so scared that they stayed away. Zhang Cheng could faintly hear a few people muttering in a low voice: "These dog officers and soldiers are killing the Tatars." You have no ability, but the harm to us common people is great."
At that time, several of Zhang Cheng's soldiers were furious and rushed forward on horseback, intending to find out those talkative and arrogant people.
Zhang Chengce stood on his horse, shook his whip, stopped them and said, "When I enter the capital, I am here to protect the people, not to fight for words.
With such strength, it is better to kill more Tatars and cavalry than to compare with it. Besides, these officers and soldiers are really not what they look like now. No wonder the people are complaining. "
At this time, the Qing army invaded the Qing Dynasty and gathered troops on the banks of the Tongzhou River. They continued to frequently harass the eastern suburbs of Beijing. Many officers and soldiers in the Beijing camp broke up and fled, and they wandered around in small groups.
If they encounter the Qing army's sentries, they will flee. However, when they encounter the fleeing people, they will act like wolves and tigers, looting property, raping and humiliating women, and their methods are sometimes even more excessive than the Qing army.
The area where Zhang Cheng and the others were stationed was to the west the Nanhaizi Royal Hunting Ground, and to the east was a rather wide river. From Shuitou Village east of Marco Polo Bridge, it merged southeastward into the North Canal, which was the Liangshui River.
Liangshui River is located in the south of Beijing. It originates from Shuitouzhuang in the east of Marco Polo Bridge, and flows southeast to the North Canal in Liuzhuang, Miao County. It has a total length of 58 kilometers and includes Caoqiao River, Xiaolong River, Macao River, Macaogou and Dayangfanggou. , Xiao Taihou River and other tributaries.
Ten miles to the north of the Liangshui River in the south of Beijing is where the Xiaolong River merges into the Liangshui River. Five miles to the south of the Xiaolong River is where the guerrilla general Li Jianming of Xuanfu Town is stationed, and his defenses are deployed along the banks of the Liangshui River.
Five miles south of Li Jianming's station was the defense area of Yang Guozhu, the commander-in-chief of Xuanzhen. There was a wide stone bridge across the Liangshui River, connecting the wide official roads on both sides of the river.
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Note: There will be another update at noon!
