On September 12, the 14th year of the Chongzhen reign of the Ming Dynasty, tens of thousands of infantry and cavalry horses of the Ming Dynasty were waiting in formation on the plains at the foot of Rufeng Mountain to the north of Songshan Fort. Under the sunlight at noon, the bright armor shone with dazzling light, and a bright red cloak flew in the air. , like an ocean composed of flames.
In front of the military formation, a high platform was erected, which was two feet high, nearly ten feet long, and more than five feet wide. There were a group of large golden chairs arranged on the platform, with more than ten seats.
More than a dozen large flags were erected behind the high platform, fluttering in the wind and making a sound. Among them, the flags in the middle were placed in the middle. The flags of Hong Chengchou, Governor of Jiliao, were the tallest, while the flags of General Zhang Ruoqi and Governor Qiu Minyang of Liaodong were slightly smaller. Shorter.
In front of the military formation outside the high platform, there were also large flags flying, echoing the dozens of large flags behind the high platform. They were Hong Chengchou's Dubiao Camp, Qiu Minyang's Fubiao Camp, and the commanders-in-chief of the various towns. The officers and soldiers of the Biao camp lined up here.
Among them, Zhang Ruoqi, the commander-in-chief of the Biaoying camp, was the most unusual. When he left Beijing to take up his post in the Liao Dynasty, he mobilized 300 knights in the Beijing camp as his personal soldiers.
However, after arriving in Liaodong, he discovered that these three hundred soldiers were completely useless. However, he did not need to go to war and did not form his own standard battalion.
But when they arrived at Songshan, Zhang Ruoqi asked himself to go to the mouth of Xiaoling River to supervise the transportation of grain and grass. Hong Chengchou allocated him 500 men and horses from his own camp, and also transferred 500 sergeants from the garrison of Songxing forts to his command.
From then on, Zhang Ruoqi finally had his own troops. After that, due to the surprise attack on the mouth of the river by Prince Hauge of the Tartars, Zhang Ruoqi also had a premonition that the 1,300 men and horses he had put together temporarily would not be able to meet the Tatars. Zibing was afraid of being embarrassed in a fight.
Therefore, he successively borrowed 500 troops and horses from Wang Pu, the commander-in-chief of Datong, and Zhang Cheng, the commander-in-chief of Xuanfu, so that he could make up the current 2,300 troops.
Because it is a standard battalion formed by drawing soldiers and horses from each battalion, the armor and clothing of each sergeant are also somewhat different. Now they are lined up with other battalions, but they have become the most eye-catching battalion.
Suddenly, a "boom" sound from the trumpet sounded!
Then, on the left side of the tall podium, a group of brightly armored sergeants came out with swords and guns raised. They walked to the steps of the podium, then stopped and lined up neatly on both sides.
Hong Chengchou, the governor of Jiliao, was the first to appear in the eyes of the officers and men, followed naturally by the commander-in-chief Zhang Ruoqi and the governor Qiu Minyang, followed by Zhang Dou of Ningqian Bingbei Road, Yao Gong, deputy envoy of inspection, Zhu Tingxie of grain road and others. A civil servant.
And the military commander who appeared immediately after the civil officials was Zhang Cheng, the chief military officer of Xuanfu Town!
Although Zhang Cheng had already been ranked first among the military commanders in previous military meetings, this was the first time that he had made a public appearance in front of the military officers and soldiers and walked in front of all the generals.
Among the soldiers arrayed in front of the commander's platform, many had never seen Zhang Cheng before. Now they saw him wearing bright armor. It was the same armor given by the emperor when he first achieved military exploits, including the sword hanging on his waist. It is also an imperial gift.
In fact, the armor and swords given by the emperor are naturally of the best quality, both in terms of workmanship and style. However, their only shortcoming is also obvious, that is, they are not very practical.
Everything in the world is like this. What looks good may not be useful, but what is useful will definitely not look too good!
What's more, who dares to wear a gift from the emperor all the time, especially when going into battle, how can it be worthy of the emperor's grace if it is slightly damaged.
Therefore, Zhang Cheng rarely wore this set of armor and sword on weekdays, and would only wear it when attending grand ceremonies and meeting the emperor.
And today is a grand ceremony - reporting victory to Governor Jiliao!
As the commanders-in-chief ascended to the high platform one after another, the sound of war drums was heard. After a while, two trumpet blasts of "Boom...Boom..." were heard, and the officers and soldiers of the three armies were all shaken up.
On the right side of the commander's platform, a group of cavalry with bright red armor appeared. Two hundred of them were divided into two columns and rode forward, followed by ten carts.
On both sides of each cart were ten Ming soldiers dressed in red, escorting them slowly toward the commander's platform.
On the first cart, a large wooden stake was erected, and on it was a Tatar general, who was surprisingly dressed in gilt armor. It can be seen that among the Tatars, he must be a prince or Baylor.
The two carts behind him were also carrying Tatar generals. They were also wearing gilt armor, but they were not as luxurious as the previous one.
However, the seven carts behind did not have wooden stakes, and they did not help the Tatar generals. Instead, they were carts full of Tatar heads. They all looked hideous and terrifying. They had obviously been soaked with sulfur and salt. Made.
The officers and soldiers of the various armies who were waiting in formation saw the first three carts for the first time. Because they did not know who was helping them, although they were surprised by the gilt armor they wore, they were not shocked at all.
But now when they saw the heads of the carloads of Tatar thieves being pulled out, everyone was so excited that they all shouted loudly without anyone reminding them: "... Mighty... Ming Dynasty Mighty... Mighty..."
Ten large carts were escorted to the commander's platform and lined up side by side. The shouts of the soldiers gradually weakened. At this time, the sound of war drums was heard again. A moment later, "Boom...Boom...Boom" ..." Three trumpet blasts.
Then I saw a flag officer of the Chinese Army. He strode to the edge of the commander's platform and stopped. He held up the governor's sign and shouted: "The slaves are thieves and the fake Prince Duduo of Henan, the Zhenghuang flag is Gushan Ezhen Ashan, and the white flag is Baya La." The corpse of E Shuo in the capital of the imperial court was brought to the commander's station and asked to be identified by Governor Hong, Qiu Futai, General Zhang and other officers."
As soon as he finished speaking, the infantrymen in front of the commander's platform formed a group of ten, lifted the big wooden stake from the vehicle, and slowly walked to the right side of the commander's platform. Although ten of them lifted a large wooden stake, it seemed that It was very strenuous and I walked carefully and slowly.
At this moment, the soldiers in formation also faintly heard that this was the body of the Tatar Prince, and all of them were shocked. Although there were some rumors in the army before, everyone just treated it as a joke.
No one dared to believe that Zhang Cheng's Xuanfu Army soldiers actually killed the Tatar Prince. Looking at the hundreds of thousands of Tatars in Liaodong, how many of them could be named princes?
And which prince is not hidden deep in the Tatar army?
With the more than 10,000 troops and horses in his Xuanfu town, no matter how brave they are, they can only draw a tie with the same number of Tatars.
Even so, these generals who had lived in Liaodong for a long time felt that they looked down upon the Xuanfu soldiers. They could not believe it anyway, and they refused to believe that these Xuanfu soldiers could really kill the Tatar prince.
But now they have seen it with their own eyes, not to mention the gilt armor, but the seven carts of Tatar heads behind them, which is enough to shock them. They have been fighting the Tatars for more than ten years in Liaodong, even if they have fought for more than ten years. If all the gains were added together, I'm afraid they wouldn't be what they are today.
Some of them were well-informed and even whispered various gossips.
"I heard from my general that General Zhang of the Xuan Mansion chopped off three or four thousand Tatar heads this time."
"My darling, you cut off so many? How much money is the reward for this?"
"You are a bastard, you are full of rewards. If you have so many Tatar heads, I am afraid that if you have to upgrade to three levels in a row and become a general, you will be short of money to spend?"
In the military formation, everyone was talking about it. Almost all the soldiers were envious of the Xuanfu Army's military exploits. Of course, some people's eyes were red, and their envy turned into naked jealousy.
However, their jealousy is so harmless to the Xuanfu Army!
Among the military formations, the most calm and composed were the officers and soldiers of the Xuanfu Army. They were arrayed on the left side of Zhang Ruoqi's Supervisory Army Biao Camp, and stood far away from the Ningyuan Town officers and soldiers who were arrayed on the right side of Qiu Min Yangfu Biao Camp.
They all held their heads high and looked extremely proud. Today they can be regarded as proud and proud in the army that aided the King of Liao. What about the Liaodong Army, which was once known as the most capable army of the Ming Dynasty?
Now, they are not just looking at themselves, stealing the spotlight, but they can only look up.
Even the soldiers and horses of Datong and Shanxi who formed next to the Xuanfu army looked proud. After all, their soldiers and horses from the two towns also participated in this battle to return to Xingta.
The soldiers in the front camp of the Shenji Camp also felt that their faces were very glorious. This was naturally because they had always been very close to the Xuanfu army. Moreover, this time when they returned to Xingta to aid, Fu Yingchong, the deputy general of the Shenji Camp, also lent Zhang Cheng a lot of weapons. What about a small, lightweight artillery piece.
To be able to achieve such a great victory and gain so much, the contribution of their Shenji Battalion's artillery was naturally indispensable!
Just as the officers and soldiers in the military formation had different expressions and were whispering to each other, the flag officer beside the commander's platform shouted loudly: "It has been verified that he is the slave and traitor and the false king Duduo. The true yellow flag on Gushan's forehead is Ashan, there is no doubt that there is a corpse in Eshuo in the capital with a white flag."
"Wan Sheng... Wan Sheng... Wan Sheng..."
"...Wan Sheng... The Ming Dynasty will be victorious... The Ming Dynasty will be victorious..."
As Hong Chengchou, the governor of Jiliao, had expected, such a demonstration of Xuanfu's military exploits had indeed greatly boosted the morale of the entire army. All the officers and soldiers under the command were excited and excited.
Next, the flag officer shouted and asked all officials to come down to the commander's platform and inspect the Tatar heads.
The officials stepped down from the command platform in order, came to the seven carts, and grabbed the heads of the Tatars one after another. They kept checking that they were all officials and generals who had experienced border affairs for a long time. Nature is extremely familiar.
You can easily tell whether it is the head of a real barbarian, and there is no need to go through complicated inspection procedures. What's more, with Zhang Cheng's current status and the most sensitive period of the Liao War, he did not dare to pass it off as real.
Soon, the victory ceremony was completed, and the officers and soldiers of each town also drove back to their respective stations, but the general soldiers of each town were left behind.
They followed Governor Hong Chengchou all the way back to the Governor's headquarters, and had another discussion in the Chinese army's tent, which was nothing more than how to distribute the military leaders.
In fact, four people including Governor Hong Chengchou, Governor Qiu Minyang, Commander-in-Chief Zhang Ruoqi, and Xuanfu Commander-in-Chief Zhang Cheng had already reached an agreement on the general distribution of military merits.
Although Zhang Cheng beheaded thousands of Tatars in the first battle at Changling Mountain, when it came time to distribute the heads, he had to give a large portion of his profits to the other generals.
Zhang Cheng didn't seem to care much about this, but Wang Pu, Li Fuming, Chen Jiugao and others seemed to have serious opinions.
They all had their subordinates involved in returning to Xingta. The heads of thousands of Tatar thieves here naturally belong to them. Now they have to share them with others, so naturally they are unwilling to do so.
But after all, their mouths are not as big as those of Hong Chengchou, Qiu Minyang, Zhang Ruoqi and others, so they will definitely suffer the loss of being mute. The reason why they struggled is just to get more heads.
After several debates, a consensus was finally reached. Although during the debate, the generals were red-faced and refused to give in, but once a consensus was reached, they immediately reconciled, as if the dispute had never happened at all. More than average.
This is the officialdom of the Ming Dynasty. If one person performs meritorious service, his or her chickens and dogs will ascend to heaven. Even other people’s chickens and dogs can ascend to heaven with them.
Just imagine, under such a system, which general would be able to fight sincerely on the battlefield?
If you fight hard and fight hard, but in the end you gain the advantage of an unrelated person, would you feel comfortable if it were you?
Fortunately, no one came to compete for the achievement of killing Prince Duduo of Yu of the Qing Dynasty, Ezhen Ashan of Zhenghuang Banner Gushan, and Baya Lahuzhang Jing Eshuo of Xiangbai Banner. Otherwise, Zhang Cheng might have turned his back on the spot.
As for the heads of those Tartar thieves, he didn't care. In the end, he only kept 1,300 heads to keep a share of military merit for his soldiers, and gave away the others.
Although Zhang Cheng gave away more than 3,000 Tatar heads to everyone, plus the Tatar heads killed in Shimen Mountain, Huangtu Ridge, Xiaolinghekou and other places, the total number actually exceeded 4,000. So many.
But even with such a large number of Tatar leaders, the governor-general Hong Chengchou, the governor Qiu Minyang, the commander-in-chief Zhang Ruoqi, plus the military officers Zhang Dou, the procuratorate Yao Gong, the supervisory Taoist Wang Zhizhen, the general judge Yuan Guodong, the grain road Zhu Tingxie and other officials, there are also Wu Sangui, Cao Bianjiao, Wang Tingchen and other generals scored one point.
Each person only has a few hundred heads. Naturally, Zhang Cheng’s first achievement since the Liao Dynasty is none other than Zhang Cheng, and no one can shake him in the slightest!
But even so, everyone is happy. You must know that although compared with Zhang Cheng, they received too few heads, but even dozens of heads are still a great achievement for the Ming Dynasty at this moment.
If it could exceed a hundred, it would be a huge achievement. Each officer and general would now be given hundreds of Tatar heads. All of them had made great achievements. How could they not be happy and get carried away?
After the military merits were distributed, it was natural to celebrate grandly.
Even though Governor Hong Chengchou regarded the military as important, he still could not suppress the excitement of the officials and generals. Finally, a banquet was held in the Chinese army tent in the governor's camp.
For the first time, wine was served, and all the officials had a feast, and everyone was full of wine and felt very happy.
However, Wu Sangui, the commander-in-chief of Ningyuan, seemed to have something on his mind. Although he was partying like everyone else, there was always something strange in his eyes when he looked at Zhang Cheng.
Furthermore, the same is true for Shanhaiguan Commander-in-Chief Ma Ke, who has redeemed himself for his crime. He seems to have ulterior motives!
(End of chapter)
