"Minggou is burning food... Minggou is burning food... Minggou is burning food..."
Suddenly, a burst of exclamation came.
Mandahai, who was worried about not being able to rob the grain stored by the Ming army on Bijia Mountain, also turned around and looked closely, and saw a sky-wide fire on Bijia Mountain, as if the grain stored on the mountain had been set ablaze.
He felt a little at ease, and he rushed all the way. After all, his efforts were not in vain, and the warriors in the flag did not die in vain.
Thinking of this, he waved his hand gently and said calmly: "Retreat, the whole army will go east along the coast, three miles away, then turn north, and run to Xingshan to meet Prince Yu."
As a burst of croaking sound was heard and melodious, the Tatar soldiers also quickly retreated from the overpass. They still organized resistance in each unit, alternately covering the retreat eastward along the coast.
…………
Looking at the carnage and carnage scattered all over the place, especially the corpses that were burnt like charcoal, with wisps of green smoke rising from them, it seems that they have not been completely burned, and the pungent smell makes people sick.
Zhang Cheng was also in a very heavy mood at this moment. After pursuing this all the way, he thought he could save the food stockpiles on Bijia Mountain. How could he have thought that he would reach this level? When the victory was about to happen, the defenders on Bijia Mountain suddenly suddenly Set fire to burn food.
Now, he just wants to rush forward and behead the guard here immediately, otherwise it will be difficult to relieve the hatred in his heart.
If it were not for the purpose of preserving Bijia Mountain and hoarding grain, why would Guo Yingxian's troops engage in a fierce battle with the Tatars without taking a break, resulting in the loss of nearly one-third of their elite cavalry.
How can Zhang Cheng not feel distressed by this?
He came to a stretcher, looked at the veteran Guo Yingxian lying on it, stretched out his arm to press him down, and said: "Veteran Guo, just lie down this time. Don't be brave anymore. You must take good care of yourself." That’s it!”
Guo Yingxian opened his mouth and said: "We can't lie down, this stretcher is not as comfortable as riding on a horse."
"Ha ha……"
Zhang Cheng laughed and said, "No, you are a veteran, so you have to set a good example for the children."
It turned out that Zhang Cheng led his cavalry to rush in and kill the Tatars, only to discover that Guo Yingxian had more than ten arrow wounds all over his body. In addition to the skin on his shoulders that had been picked open by the Tatars, his right leg had also been injured by a Tatar's long knife at an unknown time. It tore through the armor and penetrated three-thirds of the flesh.
Judging from the severity of his injury, he won't be able to stand up for ten and a half months, and he won't be able to fight on horseback for three to five months. He will have to rest for a period of time.
Guo Yingxian himself knew very well that he was just being tough. At this time, he asked: "General Zhang, the grain storage on Beacon Mountain was burned?"
When Zhang Cheng heard him ask about this, his face darkened and he said: "It's burned. However, it seems that not all of them have been burned, but at least three or five piles have been burned."
"Son of a bitch. How dare that kid do this? Why don't you catch him and chop him down!"
Guo Yingxian cursed angrily, and seemed to use a little more force, which affected the wounds on his body, and his face looked a little bad.
Seeing this, Zhang Cheng hurriedly comforted him and said: "It's okay, just don't burn them all. At least my army of hundreds of thousands of soldiers will not starve for the time being."
He leaned down and said softly: "Lao Guo, you really need to take a good rest. You have plenty of supplies. You don't need this moment."
Guo Yingxian grinned and nodded, but didn't say anything else.
Zhang Cheng waved his hand, and the sergeant carried Guo Yingxian to the temporarily built wounded barracks.
…………
Just under the big rock where Manchuria Zhenghongqi Gushan Ezhenmandahai had been stationed just now, Beacon Hill Island guard Ning Yuandusi Huang Jinggong was kneeling on the ground with a look of fear.
Not far behind him, there were hundreds of Ming army soldiers in shabby clothes. They were all standing there with bare hands, waiting for Zhang Cheng's fate.
"Who is kneeling?" Zhang Cheng asked in a deep voice.
The armor on Huang Jinggong's body had all been removed, leaving only his white and black underwear exposed. He could not help but shiver under the cold sea breeze of late autumn.
He bowed his head in fear and replied: "To report back to the general, my subordinate is Ningyuan Dusi Huang Jinggong. I have been ordered to station Master Zanhua Ma, stationed at Bijia Mountain, and take care of the army's food and grass."
Zhang Cheng asked in an unfriendly tone: "Golden Gong, I would like to ask you, since you were ordered to take care of the food and grass, why did you set fire to the food?"
Huang Jinggong also heard the coldness in Zhang Cheng's tone. He was afraid that if he made a mistake, Zhang Cheng would chop off his head, and he couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat.
In fact, it is not because he is afraid of death, but if he dies inexplicably, he will take the blame for others in vain, and if he dies with the guilt on his shoulders, his family and dependents will not get any benefit at all, and may even suffer. This implication.
At that moment, Huang Jinggong hurriedly leaned over and kowtowed, shouting urgently: "General, I have been wronged by you."
"I would like to ask you why you set fire to the food?" Zhang Cheng continued to ask.
The golden gong was dismissed like garlic, and he replied hastily: "General, please calm down, I am wronged by my subordinates."
"Why are you wronged? The stocking of grain in Bijia Mountain is the lifeblood of my army to aid the King of Liao. How can you, a small captain, make such a decision? Who gave you the courage to set fire to the grain?" Zhang Cheng's words became more and more intense. Heavy.
Huang Jinggong was already sweating profusely from anxiety, feeling that the current situation was even more dangerous than when he had just defended the overpass and fought against the Tatar thieves.
Although he felt extremely wronged in his heart, he had no choice but to continue to cut his head and said: "General, how could I not know the importance of hoarding food here? Even if I were given ten heads, I would not dare to make the decision without permission." grain."
Huang Jinggong did not wait for Zhang Cheng to ask, and continued to reply: "Please forgive me, General. I will praise Master Hua Ma to station in Beacon Hill. There are less than a thousand soldiers, and they have to guard various warehouses. It is really stretched, and they can be used for defense." Tianqiao's troops were less than five hundred.
In this case, the subordinates did not dare to be careless and led the sergeants in a desperate fight. They did not dare to leave the front line even half a step without permission. They even collected the few fuel materials on the mountain and gathered them between the stone walls to stop the enemy with fire.
Mr. Zan Hua Ma, however, has already given orders, asking us to obey and burn food according to Master Ma's orders, so as not to lose Bijia Mountain and be guilty of subsidizing the enemy. "
When Huang Jinggong said this, he quietly raised his head and glanced at Zhang Cheng, and then said hurriedly: "The general knew clearly that his subordinates also knew the importance of the food store here, so they did not follow Master Ma's order and burned the store immediately. grain.
However, seeing the fierce attack of the Tatars and not knowing that the general was coming to help, he was afraid that the overpass would be lost and it would be difficult to store grains to ignite. So he sent an order to burn four warehouses first, in order to avoid that if the overpass was lost, the grain stored here would be destroyed by slave thieves. Robbery.
General, please take a closer look! "
Zhang Cheng looked at Huang Jingong and understood in his heart, so he asked him: "Ma Zanhua, where are you now?"
Huang Jinggong bowed his head again and replied: "General, Mr. Ma left Bijia Mountain a long time ago and went to the island to command and dispatch. I don't know where he is now. I only know that he was at Xiao Bijia half an hour ago." The mountain watchtower sent a signal with smoke, ordering us to burn food."
Zhang Cheng sighed secretly in his heart when he heard this. He was not very familiar with Ma Shaoyu, but he had met him a few times at Zhang Ruoqi's house when he was stationed outside Ningyuan City.
Ma Shaoyu seemed to be quite polite to him, presumably because of the current emperor and his own soldier Chen Xinjia.
Since there was no big relationship, Zhang Cheng naturally did not need to protect Ma Shaoyu, but considering that he was selected by his own soldier Chen Xinjia and personally recommended to the emperor, Chen Xinjia still had to take Chen Xinjia's face into consideration.
Zhang Cheng thought about this and said gently: "Golden Gong, please get up."
Seeing Huang Jinggong stand up, Zhang Cheng said to him again: "You can be loyal to the king, stick to Bijia Mountain, and even use the fire attack strategy at the overpass. It shows that you really put your heart into it. This is rare."
At this point, he changed the subject and continued: "Huang Jin Gong, you go and assemble the team first to guard Bijia Mountain and protect the army's food and fodder. There will be people guarding the overpass.
When things here are over, when we return to Songshan, I will also show off your achievements today in front of Governor Hong. Although there is a slight loss of food and grass, it is also to resist the attack of slaves and bandits, so it has to be used as a kind of fire starter.
It is really a last resort and it is not your fault! "
Although Huang Jinggong was a military officer, he was not ignorant of the world. Although he did not know why Zhang Cheng protected Ma Shaoyu, he listened to the meaning of Zhang Cheng's words and was very satisfied with his loyalty to his duty.
Moreover, he didn't care about burning food, and would try to help him get through this situation, and he was very grateful in his heart.
Although he was ordered by Ma Shaoyu to burn grain, almost everyone knew that Ma Shaoyu was a civil servant sent by Beijing after all. If he did not admit that he had given such an order, what could he do?
No matter how hard you argue, a few people will listen to what you say and offend the ministers from Beijing, especially if they are officials from the Ministry of War!
Now, Zhang Cheng has promised to put in a good word for himself in front of Governor Hong and cover up the matter of burning food today. Isn't this a good thing falling from the sky?
Huang Jinggong thanked Zhang Cheng a few more times, then turned around and led his sergeants to Bijia Mountain Island.
Zhang Cheng looked at the back of Huang Jin Gong and shook his head slightly. In his opinion, this Golden Gong was indeed good. Not only was he loyal to his duties, but he was also good at using tricks, which was indeed rare.
But after knowing that he was Wu Sangui's subordinate, I couldn't help but sigh that Liaodong was not without talents, so out of love for talents, I planned to praise him in front of Governor Hong. As for his future fortune, it all depends on the individual.
Zhang Cheng waved his hand and called Zhang Chengfang again, and said to him: "Go and find Ma Shaoyu, the military frontline painter sent by the imperial court."
After Zhang Chengfang accepted the order, he took two steps, but suddenly stopped again, turned around and asked earnestly: "Father, where can I go to find Ma Zan's paintings?"
Zhang Cheng looked at him, waved the riding crop in his hand, pointed at the sea and said, "Didn't Huang Jin Gong say that we Ma Zanhua should go to Xiaobijia Mountain?
To cross the sea, we need a boat. I guess our Ma Zhanhua is somewhere in the sea at this moment, observing the situation here. If he fails, he will escape from the sea. If he wins, he should come back to take credit. "
Zhang Cheng smiled and said, "Just bring some soldiers and search for them along the coast."
"Here."
…………
Xingshan Fort City is actually where Xingshan Posthouse is located. The city has twenty steps per square mile and five gates on three sides. Only one gate is opened in the east of the city to facilitate entry and exit.
Like Gaoqiao, Xingshan City was surrounded by bricks due to frequent wars in Liaodong, making the city walls quite strong and easy to defend but difficult to attack.
Because Xingshan Fort is located at the strategic point of Liaodong Avenue, the city wall has been repaired and expanded several times. Now there are Nanguan and Dongguan outside Xingshan Fort, which are the most prosperous.
But now, the place is full of ruins, and there are traces of being burned everywhere, showing the brutality of the fighting.
Just outside the Dongguan of Xingshan City, three more Ming army camps suddenly appeared in front of everyone. Outside the camps were rows of Juma, and inside the Juma, chariots were also arranged in a staggered manner.
Fires were lit between every two tanks for the sergeants to keep warm. From time to time, groups of sergeants could be seen patrolling back and forth.
There were also groups of cavalry outside the camp, galloping back from time to time, apparently returning from a night out on sentry duty.
The three camps were all built outside Dongguan, side by side, with the cavalry and vehicle camps in the middle, the infantry camp on the left, and the cavalry camp on the right next to a small river.
In the Chinese military tent in the middle camp, more than ten Ming army generals gathered. The first person sitting in the middle was Zhang Cheng, the general of the Xuanfu.
It turned out that after defeating the Manchurian Zhenghongqi Tatars at the seaside of Bijia Mountain, they pursued them all the way to Xingshan Castle, but the Tatars had already retreated.
Even the surrounding small forts that were originally captured by the Tatars were burned down and the troops retreated. There was no longer a Tatar garrison, and even the trenches dug earlier were not garrisoned.
It seems that the Tatar thieves who were wreaking havoc among the Apricot Towers yesterday disappeared without a trace overnight. This is really strange and completely inconsistent with the past behavior of the Tatar thieves.
In particular, the supervisor Wang Zhizhen, the general judge Yuan Guodong, and the Liaodong patrol officer Meng Dao stationed at Xingshan Fort were the most puzzled. In their view, what the Tatars did was completely illogical, and there must be a major conspiracy. .
Now, Zhang Cheng is no longer the first time he arrived in Liaodong. At that time, he was still the deputy general of Xuanfu. merit.
In this meeting, he demonstrated the arrogance and domineeringness of a warrior to the fullest. He was not allowed to sit side by side with Zhang Cheng despite his status as a supervisor and judge.
Not only that, when the supervisor Wang Zhizhen and the general judge Yuan Guodong left Xingshan Fort and entered the Xuanfu army camp, Zhang Cheng did not personally come to greet them, but only sent Zhang Guangda, a guerrilla general from his army, to greet them on their behalf.
Wang Zhizhen and Yuan Guodong were also very dissatisfied with this. However, in their opinion, the sudden retreat of the Tatars must have some conspiracy, so they had to hug Zhang Cheng, a ready-made tree.
For this reason, they suppressed the hatred in their hearts and did not let it show out, lest Zhang Cheng would be dissatisfied and lead his army away. Xingshan was also afraid that the Tatar thieves would really leave and come back, so who could resist them?
Thinking of this, Wang Zhizhen couldn't help but turn his head and glance at Meng Dao, and said to himself: "They are all general soldiers, why is there such a gap?"
However, Yuan Guodong was more concerned about the rumors in recent days. He put down the tea cup in his hand and asked with some doubts hidden in his smile: "General Zhang, did you really kill the slave thief Prince Yu Duduo in front of the battle?"
(End of chapter)
