"There are 200,000 soldiers in Annan. Even if Zheng and Ruan are facing each other now, one side will have at least 100,000 troops. Our Ming Dynasty has been battered and riddled with holes by the rebels and invaders. There is no spare force to assist the southwest. Here We can only rely on ourselves. There are many chieftains in Guangxi and the people are not united. There are not many soldiers that the local guards can fight. Except for the border passes, there is no extra force. Let's say that in Pingxiangzhou, the total force is only two thousand. Even if it is all Even if they gather in the direction of Zhennanguan, it will be difficult to compete with the enemy. This time Annan dispatched 3,000 men to attack the city at once. Who knows if there are more troops behind, our army takes the initiative to attack, I'm afraid it will be an egg against a stone."
After listening to Huang Kun's speech and looking at the stones on the table, Gao Heng understood. No wonder they laughed. It turned out that they felt that what he said was all fantasy. It is true that it is understandable. On the one hand, the current Ming army has been with two hundred years. The former Ming army was not of the same grade. Although Pingxiangzhou was a border pass, the so-called elite border army refers to the Ming Dynasty's nine-border army, all of which were on the northern border. The combat effectiveness of the Ming army in the south was very poor.
Gao Heng knew that even in the Jiangnan region, at this time in the late Ming Dynasty, starvation was very serious, let alone the southwest region. The only people in the entire southwest region who could and dared to fight were probably Qin Liangyu's troops. Although Guangxi had wolf soldiers , But that was in the middle of the Ming Dynasty. After Wanli, the Ming court was seriously short of funds, its armaments were depleted, and the wolf soldiers basically existed in name only, so Huang Kun and a group of officers felt that what Gao Heng said was a bit ridiculous.
Gao Heng pondered for a moment and said: "Sir, although this is the case, it is not that there is no way to defeat the enemy. I need twenty good soldiers to join me. Capture the thieves first and capture the king. Your Majesty said that the Annan Army was stationed in Yuan County. From the map, it looks like Yuan County is a small county. Excluding the residents, there are not many soldiers and horses that can be stationed. The enemy's large forces should camp outside the city. The enemy generals must be in the city. If they can find the location, capture or kill the enemy generals, when the time comes, , our army attacks from Zhennanguan, the enemy army will be defeated, no matter what happens next time, the siege will be solved this time."
"Nonsense! Twenty people want to go deep into a camp of 3,000 people to get the general's head. It's simply a fool's errand!" Huang Kun said with a change of expression. He really admired this Gao Heng. After all, he had strong kung fu and was very skilled. However, it was not very reliable for him to praise Haikou like this. Gao Heng knew that it would be useless to explain to him too much. How could people at this time know what special operations were.
In fact, when he came here, Gao Heng had already made a plan. If he wanted to stand out, he had to make contributions. Starting a business also requires capital. Now his task is to find ways to establish prestige, get money, and recruit a group of people. , establish your own clique.
In the fifteenth year of Chongzhen, there were only two years left before the fall of the Ming Dynasty. In the following ten years, the situation changed, and the southwest region was also in troubled times, with constant wars. Now that it is here, just fight it once. People who have died once are still afraid What. If you want to save China and save hundreds of millions of people, you must have your own world.
"Sir, the Ming Dynasty's army records merit by heads. I don't need to worry, sir. I just killed four enemy soldiers. I dare to ask, sir, how much silver reward should be?" Gao Heng said with cupped fists.
Huang Kun thought for a while, and according to the current standards, the frontier army would be rewarded fifty taels of silver for killing an ordinary Qing army, and the reward for killing an ordinary bandit would be fifty taels of silver. The combat effectiveness of this Annan soldier is definitely higher than that of the bandits. If according to the rules of the state government, and the opponent is a Beijing soldier, there is no problem with at least ten liang. However, the Shangguan has the final say. If they all rewarded according to the standard, the army would have long ago When you are poor, you have to live on empty wages, and there is not much money. However, Huang Kun was not that kind of inhumane Shangguan. Besides, Gao Heng had indeed killed four enemies. Everyone saw it and there was no way he could fake it.
Huang Kun said: "Forty taels!"
"Okay, I have just one request. Please allow me to advance these forty taels of silver. I will use these forty taels to recruit twenty soldiers. I will not act as an officer or soldier. If I die, I will not receive any pension from the court. I am confident that I can complete this task." This mission. I just ask you to report to Zuo Qianhu, send people to monitor the movements of Yuan County, and prepare the army. Once the villain succeeds, the enemy army will be in chaos. That will be the best time for our army to go to war. Mr. Zuo Qian and your Excellency have decided You can make great achievements!" Gao Heng said firmly.
"This." Huang Kun was stunned by these remarks. He had seen such cruelty, but never such a desperate one. Huang Kun didn't dare to make the decision without authorization. This was not something he could do at this level. He grabbed Gao Heng and said, "Follow me to the military office." It seemed that Huang Kun wanted to tell Mr. Zuo Qian about this in person. As soon as Huang Kun and Gao Heng left, the remaining officers immediately started talking, their words full of contempt.
"This guy wants credit and wants to go crazy. Twenty people want to touch a camp of three thousand people, crazy!"
"He doesn't know how to write the word death."
"I bet twenty taels that he can't make it."
"Why the hell do you need to bet? I know everything with my butt, who would bet on his success?" Everyone burst into laughter, obviously they had never seen such a fool.
"I think you are crazy. Fighting is child's play. You are a refugee. Huang Baihu thinks you are good. I want to get you a small flag official status. You don't appreciate it at all." A middle-aged man came out of the military office. The angry voice was none other than Mr. Qian Zuo Bin.
If it had been anyone else, Zuo Bin would have sent someone to blast him out. What method could a small flag official have to defeat the enemy? He was struggling with how to defend the city. He had no time to manage a small flag officer. However, Huang Kun came from the state city and was a reinforcement. He had to give some face, so he met them and asked what happened to Huang Kun. , I didn’t expect that the little flag officer would say something shocking as soon as he opened his mouth. Twenty people raided Yuan County. What was he dreaming about?
Just as Zuo Bin was about to drive them out, Huang Kun, a small flag officer who had not yet joined the military, only verbally agreed to be his replacement. Without any formalities, he came in front of him and made nonsense. Thousands of enemy troops outside were watching eagerly. The attacks in the past few days were just a small test. Who knew when the next large-scale attack would be, so I had no time to fight with this person.
Gao Heng saw that Zuo Bin looked wrong and knew that if he wanted to succeed, this was the best opportunity. He didn't have a golden finger, so he had to give it a try. He cupped his fists and said, "Sir! Don't you want to be promoted to a higher level? Are you willing to stay here in Zhennanguan forever?"
Gao Heng yelled, which startled Zuo Bin. What is this kid talking nonsense about? Even Huang Kun's expression changed. How decent is this guy? He brought him here to give advice, not to talk nonsense. Zuo Bin said coldly: "What do you mean by this?"
Gao Hengxin said: "Sir, I am just a commoner. Lord Huang appreciated me and gave me a small flag to report myself. However, this report has not been reported to the state government, so I am not a member of the Ming army for the time being. Then It's easy to handle. The villain just asked Master Huang for forty taels of silver reward, and used the forty taels to recruit twenty people. The villain knows a little bit about boxing in his hometown, his kung fu is good, and he is also smart, so he is willing to try Let’s try and attack Yuan County. If it succeeds, it will be a great achievement for Mr. Qian. If it fails, the villain and the twenty people who volunteered to fight are not Ming soldiers, and they have nothing to do with you, so why not take a gamble?"
"This?" Zuo Bin was stunned. What this boy said made some sense. Yes, if he really captured the opponent's general and the enemy army was disrupted, and he could kill these thousands of Nanjing soldiers, wouldn't it be a great achievement? One piece?
In this world, the Ming army was defeated one after another, and Liaodong was over. If I could achieve a great victory in the southwest, it would greatly improve the morale of the army. If Your Majesty and the court knew about it, let alone guerrillas and generals, they would be able to reach the sky in one step and become a deputy general. The position is also easy. If you go to Nanning, you will enjoy the blessing. You don't have to defend the city in this inhospitable place and have to worry about defending against enemy attacks.
"Don't you have any conditions?" Zuo Bin raised his eyebrows. Gao Heng said: "Of course."
Zuo Bin exhaled, it would be easy to handle if conditions permit, no one is a fool, and efforts cannot be in vain. "Tell me about it."
Gao Heng said: "After the deed is completed, I will be rewarded with a thousand taels of silver. All the adults will be promoted to at least one level. I will at least be a member of the Hundred Households."
"Hahaha, that's easy to say." Zuo Bin breathed a sigh of relief. He thought that this kid wanted to make a big deal. After a long time, he only had such a small condition. A reward of a thousand taels of silver was nothing. Not to mention that it was Nanning who paid for it, it was Zuo Bin himself. It can be done. He can earn thousands of taels of silver every year on his free salary. If he can succeed, he can be promoted to a few levels or give him a private reward of one thousand taels. As for hundreds of households, that is even more trivial. It can always be done.
Gao Heng cupped his fists and said, "Thank you so much, sir. In addition, for the battle, I need some equipment, twenty military crossbows, twenty pairs of enemy armors, a barrel of gunpowder, some white sugar, some yellow wax, some flour, porcelain bottles and fire Some blunderbuss and lead."
Zuo Bin and Huang Kun looked at each other, a little confused. What is this kid going to do? Huang Kun said: "What do you want these for? What about sugar and flour? Do you want to make them for eating? But what do you want gunpowder for?"
Gao Heng made up a lie and said: "The villain's ancestor worked in the Ordnance Bureau and learned how to make some simple weapons. Since the villain goes to war, he will not occupy too much of the defenders' weapons. The villain made some simple firearms. Just bring it with you.”
This was the first time that Zuo Bin saw such a considerate subordinate. He didn't even ask for more weapons. He immediately said: "Take this, use this token to act, and go to the warehouse to get it. There will be no obstruction. You should get what you want." We have them all, except that sugar is a bit scarce. If you don’t want much, it should be fine." Zuo Bin said, taking out a token and handing it to Gao Heng. Gao Heng clasped his fists and said, "Thank you, sir. Please give me the order. Gather the troops together, and the villain will select people now, and give the villain five days to prepare. After five days, the villain will definitely have results."
Huang Kun took Gao Heng out. Gao Heng asked that civilians and soldiers be gathered together. He needed volunteers. This battle was extremely dangerous. He didn't want to force others to fight. He had to volunteer so that he could have combat effectiveness. In various special operations of the Republic, Gao Heng has led the team to complete difficult tasks more than once. Special operations does not mean that soldiers are all three-headed and six-armed, and one can fight a hundred, but that special tactics are used to achieve victory. When special forces are placed on the field battlefield, their combat effectiveness is no better than that of an ordinary army soldier. However, as long as the method is appropriate, an ordinary army soldier can also learn the essence of special operations.
With the Zuo Bin platform, civilians and troops gathered quickly. In broad daylight, the Annan Army will not launch a sneak attack. The terrain of Zhennanguan and Annan territory is high in the north and low in the south. Yuan County, where the Annan people are located, is only fifteen miles away from Zhennanguan and is in a low-lying area. When the weather is good, standing From the hilltop of Zhennanguan, you can see the movements of the enemy troops in Yuan County, so the defenders have sufficient warning time during the day, and the gathering of civilians and troops will not affect the city defense operations.
Gao Heng and a group of generals stood on the General Pointing Platform. Zhennan Pass is not a particularly important checkpoint. The city is small. Of course, the General Pointing Platform is also very simple. The large campus is paved with loess. Thousands of people came over to do it all at once. Got dusty. Gao Heng looked at the crooked crowd under the stage. There were nearly a thousand troops. There were seven or eight hundred soldiers who went out to defend the city and those who had been reduced from the battle. The number of civilians was almost the same. There were more than a thousand people standing in a tight formation, but there were some momentum.
Everyone looked at each other, not knowing what they were doing. They just received a notice from the superior to come over. Gao Heng stepped forward and said: "Everyone, please introduce yourselves. My name is Gao Heng. I am a small flag officer under Huang Kun Baihu. Recently, Annan invaded our border with the Ming Dynasty and attacked our city. General Zuo Qian has ordered to form a death squad. , with twenty personnel, ambushing outside the city, waiting for the next enemy attack, to surprise the enemy and kill the enemy commander."
Of course, Gao Heng cannot expose his true intentions. In the border area, there are frequent exchanges between the enemy and the people. It is not possible to leak the plan. Using this rhetoric will not reveal the purpose of the operation and also illustrates the danger of the mission.
After Gao Heng finished speaking, the people below did not react. Many civilians only had numbness in their eyes. Also, who would be willing to go on this kind of mission that basically involves death?
The morale of the army is not high either. The faces of the Zhennanguan garrison reveal their exhaustion. They have been guarding the border all year round and their treatment is poor. No one is energetic. Gao Heng knew this would be the reaction, but before he finished speaking, "If we can achieve victory, each person will be rewarded fifty taels of silver!"
Oops! There was a commotion below, and a smile appeared on the corner of Gao Heng's mouth. There must be a brave man under the heavy reward, fifty taels of silver, I don't believe that they are not tempted. You know, the Ming army now only gets one tael of silver per month. If Shangguan deducts it, he will not get ten taels of silver a year. Fifty taels is the net income for five years, and it is still a one-time payment. In troubled times, people's lives are like grass. Fifty taels How many lives are two pieces of silver worth?
"Damn it, risk it all, I'm going!" "I'm going to die!" "I'm going to sign up!" "Count me in!" Someone took the lead, and the soldiers below immediately became excited. Who knows if they will be below? If you die in a battle, you may die anyway. If you can have a chance to earn fifty taels, why not go? Especially the civilians, who were more enthusiastic than the soldiers, would ambush them outside the city and run away if they couldn't.
