Just when everyone was surprised, He Biao took out a letter from his arms, presented it with both hands, and said: "Commander Qi, the Madam has sent a letter, you will know it as soon as you read it!"
Zhang Chengfang stepped forward, took the letter, and sent it to the desk in front of Zhang Cheng.
Zhang Cheng was also wondering in his heart, he had only been away from Beilu for more than two months, what would happen?
He picked up the book from the desk, opened it and looked at it carefully, and burst into laughter.
All the generals were wondering why he was laughing, and then they heard Zhang Cheng say excitedly: "Hahaha. The Second Madam is happy, and even this girl Xiao Liuyan is playing games?"
All the generals in the big tent stood up and left the table, came to the empty space in the middle, and knelt down one after another: "General, congratulations to the commander-in-chief, congratulations to the commander-in-chief!"
Amidst the congratulations of the generals, Zhang Cheng was also thinking to himself: What's wrong with him? He originally only had a son, but later he wanted a daughter, but couldn't conceive for several years. Now, in the Ming Dynasty, he suddenly became fertile, and the women around him became pregnant one after another.
It seems that I have to take it easy in the future!
…………
On July 26, the 14th year of Chongzhen, the reinforcements set off one after another, marching along Liaoxi Avenue in the direction of Songshan Fort.
The vanguard officer, Liaodong Commander-in-Chief Liu Zhaoji, led his troops in front, followed by the troops of Yang Guozhu, the support commander, about ten miles behind, and behind him came the troops from the remaining towns.
Hong Chengchou, together with Commander-in-Chief Zhang Ruoqi, led a large number of civil and military officials, escorted by nearly 10,000 elite infantry and cavalry soldiers from the Supervisory Biao Battalion, and set out from Ningyuan. Wu Sangui also led a group of civil and military officials stationed in Ningyuan out of the city to see him off.
Ningyuan is a little more than a hundred miles away from Songshan Fort, and nearly sixty miles away from Tashan Fort where Ningyuan Zhongzuo is stationed. This section is relatively peaceful, and even Tatar sentries are rarely seen.
Despite this, the army was still very cautious in its march. The forward team of Liaodong Commander-in-Chief Liu Zhaoji was always within 20 miles of the corresponding Commander-in-Chief Yang Guozhu.
And the troops and horses under Yang Guozhu's command are within thirty miles of the rear formation group. In this way, the army moves slowly, and they are only within a day's journey of each other. If the cavalry moves quickly, it will only be one or two. A matter of time.
Once encountering an enemy attack, as long as it is not defeated by the chaos of the First World War, as long as it persists for more than one day, the various troops and horses can quickly support each other, and they can converge in one place within one or two days to fight against the powerful enemy.
Even if they encounter the enemy's main force, with the strength of the vanguard and supporting troops, they can at least form a formation and hold on in place, buying a day for the main army to reorganize their formation and fight against the slaves.
On Liaoxi Avenue, sergeants with various accents formed military formations and kept moving forward, like a long bright red dragon, stretching back and forth for more than a hundred miles, rolling forward.
Each army was accompanied by a lot of baggage, and behind the large army of the Chinese army, there were countless civilians and servants transporting the army's food and supplies. There were various donkey carts, horse-drawn carriages, mule carts, wheelbarrows, and even Camels, porters, etc., were so densely packed that it was impossible to see the end.
On the avenue, sentries and cavalry can be seen running back and forth from time to time. The military situation in front is reported every hour. Flag officers wearing green cotton waist-length armor, wearing Ming helmets, hanging orders and holding order flags also come and go. Ben Ce, constantly confirming the location and status of various troops and horses.
Intelligence from the front continued to be passed on. Liu Zhaoji had led the forward troops past Gaoqiao Fort and was exploring in the direction of Xingshan. Here, he also began to encounter interception and harassment by some Tartar sentries and cavalry, all of which were sent by the forward army. They were defeated and a total of seven levels of slave thieves were beheaded.
Yang Guozhu's troops also passed through Tashan Fort. He sent more than a thousand fine cavalry to guard around the base of the forward Liu Zhao, assisting him in clearing up the attacking Tartar sentry cavalry.
…………
On this day, Liu Zhaoji, the commander-in-chief of Liaodong, suddenly received a report from the Tang Dynasty. He found that the Tatar thieves were holding red flags and mounted with red flags, with more than 10,000 people on horseback, and about thousands of armored slaves. They were preparing shield chariots and long ladders to storm Xingshan Castle.
Xia Chengde, the deputy general of the Songshan Defense Camp who was stationed in Xingshan, had sent two groups of elite cavalry to urgently ask for help from Liu Zhaoji's troops. The situation was very critical. Liu Zhaoji specifically asked the Chinese army for instructions on whether he could go to Xingshan for reinforcements. According to reports from Tang, no one was ready. I saw a red barbarian artillery car appearing in the Tatar army's siege array.
In the formation of the Chinese army, Hong Chengchou thought for a moment and then sent an order to inform Liu Zhaoji that if the Tatars' armored slaves only numbered a few thousand, they could lead the army to support them, but sentries would need to be widely deployed to prevent the Tatars from attacking in Xingshan. There are ambushes everywhere.
In addition, the commander-in-chief Yang Guozhu was ordered to speed up the advance. The cavalry of this unit was not allowed to participate in the battle, but groped forward along the road in the direction of Songshan to protect the flanks of Xingshan. Its infantry could participate in the battle to rescue Xingshan.
Liu Zhaoji had about 12,000 people under his command. He eliminated about 3,000 old, weak and handymen, leaving 3,000 cavalry among the more than 8,000 troops. Their equipment and cold weapons mostly used sabers, boring palladiums, etc. Cavalry weapons such as lances and axes and hammers were used, and nearly half of the knights used three-eyed guns.
The three-eyed blunderbuss they used had iron spikes added to the outside of the blunderbuss. After being fired, it could be used directly to attack the enemy. It was like a three-eyed mace. Facing the slave soldiers wearing heavy armor, sometimes they could It's easier to use than a knife and a stick.
There are also two infantry battalions, each with a population of about 2,500. Each battalion has eighty chariots, each with twenty soldiers, divided into two teams, Qizheng.
Almost all of these chariots are two-wheeled light vehicles. They have shield plates on the front and sides. There are several long guns protruding from under the front plates to resist collisions by war horses. Most of the vehicles are equipped with rockets, small wolf machines and other firearms. .
The infantrymen in the various armies in Liaodong mostly liked to use Baizi gun, which was like a large squatting tiger cannon or a nine-headed bird. It could hold hundreds of small lead guns, and the shooting distance was about 150 steps.
No matter how thick the hard plate or armor is, it is difficult to withstand its power. Therefore, the infantry under Liu Zhaoji are also equipped with a large number of muskets. Except for the gunners and vehicle gunners, the remaining infantry also use more rockets. Guns are rarely used in the army.
Liu Zhao was basically a veteran soldier who had been fighting on the battlefield for many years. He was skilled in fighting skills, both on and off his horse. He could also shoot left and right bows and shoot multiple arrows with one breath, which was quite brave.
Moreover, he was also a general in Liaodong, a hereditary commander, and now the commander-in-chief of Liaodong. In the past, he was mostly stationed between the Songxing Fort and Xingshan Fort. From his heart, he really wanted to rescue Xingshan Fort.
Furthermore, Liu Zhaoji was even more eager to achieve military success. Although he was the commander-in-chief of Liaodong, his headquarters only had more than 10,000 soldiers, and the number of soldiers capable of fighting was only 8,000.
Wu Sangui, the new commander-in-chief of the Ningyuan regiment, actually has 20,000 Liao soldiers under his command. Among them, there are more than 2,000 strong servants, more than twice as many as his own servants. He is even more popular with Governor Ji Liao. Hong Chengchou's respect and appreciation.
Just imagine, if I don't show off and get some military glory, I am afraid that my position as the commander-in-chief of Liaodong will not be guaranteed.
