"Master, Master, please do me a favor and tell your superior. The villain's family is imprisoned in Tuo County in the north, which is only twenty or thirty miles away from here. You have all attacked this place. We can rescue our family just a little further north. Sir, I beg you, I still have some money left, I will give it all to you, give it all to you."
"Yes, Master Jun, come on. We civilians are all tortured to pieces and not even fed. If I have the strength, I would like to go back and save people, but I don't have the ability."
"For the sake of all our compatriots, please, woo woo woo."
In the camp of the Annan soldiers, a group of men knelt in front of the Ming soldiers, kowtowing like garlic, and some even broke their foreheads. After the camp was breached, it became a temporary gathering place. The Ming army gathered all the rescued civilians in this open space. Counting the number of people, there were about three or four hundred people. Among these three or four hundred people, not only It only includes a large number of Ming Dynasty expatriates, but also many people from other ethnic groups in Annan.
As we all know, the main ethnic group in Annan is the Jing ethnic group. The expatriates from the Ming Dynasty are called the Hua ethnic group here. In addition, there are also ethnic groups such as the Dai ethnic group and the Nong ethnic group. For example, the Nong ethnic group is actually a Zhuang ethnic group and is called the Nong ethnic group here. , the Annan court with the Jing ethnic group as its theme had an oppressive policy towards these border ethnic groups. Once the war started, these border ethnic groups were often the unlucky ones.
The more than 10,000 people in Tuo County include not only the Chinese, but also people from other ethnic groups. Most of them are old, weak, women and children, who were gathered together and brutally enslaved. The young and middle-aged among them were selected by Annan soldiers to serve as slaves. Coolies, these three to four hundred people are part of the young people.
Because Annan's army was afraid that these young men would cause trouble, they deliberately deprived them of food and forced them to do heavy physical labor. Over the past few months, many people died, and the remaining people were all injured and severely exhausted. , losing their threatening nature, and some people are even so thin that the ribs on their chests can be seen.
I thought I would die such a tragic death, but I didn't expect that the Ming Army's magical soldiers descended from the sky and captured Yuan County, defeated the Annan Army, killed Zheng Guang, and rescued them. But it's useless to rescue them. Their families are still concentrated in Tuo County. If they can't be rescued, what's the difference between them being here and dead? Then a scene happened in the camp. The young men knelt on the ground and begged the Ming army to send troops to leave the county.
Some soldiers of the Ming Army have already gone to report Zuo Bin. Zuo Bin did not comment on this. Apart from anything else, he must not take the thousands of brothers under his command to take risks. He finally won the victory. If the risk failed, he would suffer heavy losses. All the credit goes to him. It’s okay if you get into trouble, you’ll still be punished and executed. It just so happens that Gao Heng wants to take another risk, so let him meet these civilians.
"Everyone, everyone, please be quiet, please be quiet." Gao Heng brought twenty brothers to the camp. Wu Rong and Lu Tao pushed a cart. Gao Heng jumped on the cart, straightened up and faced the kneeling The crowd said.
When everyone looked up, they found a man dressed as a Ming army, and a glimmer of hope seemed to ignite in their hearts. It seemed that these military masters had heard their pleas, otherwise how could they send someone to talk to them.
Everyone stopped talking immediately, and the whole place was silent. Gao Heng said: "I understand your situation. Let me introduce myself. I am a small flag officer of the Ming Army. My name is Gao Heng. Many of our brothers and sisters in Tuo County have fallen into the clutches of the Annan people. I am also very sad. Like all of you, If you don’t give up, I am willing to go to Tuo County to rescue the people.”
"This!" A man who looked to be in his thirties was surprised, and then said: "Gao Xiaoqi, forgive me for being blunt, I often travel around the border, and I am relatively familiar with the military positions of the imperial court. You, Xiaoqi, don't you?" He is the lowest officer in the army. No matter how bad Tuoxian is, there are still hundreds of Annan local soldiers guarding it. You, a small flag officer, are going to save people, isn't it? I see that the Ming army has no less than a thousand people, why should you only send a small flag officer? ?"
Gao Heng glanced at him. This man indeed had some knowledge, but his answer might disappoint him. He said: "Yes, I volunteered to rescue people. Enemy reinforcements are coming. Most of our troops cannot act rashly. After discussion, the Shangguan decided that if we want to save people, we can only send out a small number of troops. If you think our flag has few soldiers, besides me, these twenty brothers behind me are all willing to go."
There was a buzz from the crowd, obviously they were extremely skeptical about only twenty people going to Tuoxian. What could these twenty people accomplish? The man who just spoke opened his mouth, not knowing what to say.
Gao Heng raised his voice and said: "Don't think that our twenty people are small. In fact, we have hundreds of people who can fight." "Hundreds of people?" Everyone exclaimed.
"Yes, you, you are these hundreds of people." Gao Heng nodded.
"Us?" the peasants asked in surprise.
Gao Heng said: "Those who are trapped in the county are all your family members and your closest relatives. The one who should do the most to save your close relatives is you. Don't you want to go back to rescue your family members? Don't you want to go back and help the Annan people?" Do you want to take revenge for the relatives and friends you killed?”
"We want to!" came a voice, it was that man.
"We want to, of course we want to, but, but us. Gao Xiaoqi, look at us, we are all skinny and half-clothed. After several months of torture, we, hey!" The man stamped his feet and sighed heavily. .
Gao Heng cupped his fists and said to everyone: "Everyone, since ancient times, it is better to ask for others than to ask for yourself. As long as you have this heart, I will naturally have a way. If I didn't come prepared, why would I have to be here with you all?" Word?"
The man's eyes lit up, he raised his head and said, "What does Gao Xiaoqi mean?"
Gao Heng said: "I have reported this matter to Mr. Qian, and Mr. Qian has agreed to provide us with food and equipment. I know that you will not regain your strength so quickly, but time waits for no one, we can only rest. Twelve hours, we will leave for Tuoxian in twelve hours. According to the prisoners’ confessions, Annan reinforcements will arrive one after another in three days, leaving us little time."
The people below wanted to ask again, but Gao Heng waved his hand and said: "I only want to ask you one question. Do you all want to go back to save your family? If you don't want to go back or dare not go back, raise your hands and stand up now. Tell me in advance Everyone, please make it clear that this kind of action is very dangerous. Although the local army has poor combat effectiveness, it is still considered a part of the regular army. Compared with you, it is very powerful. There will definitely be casualties in the battle. You must be prepared. Don't be afraid. You can exit now."
The man asked: "Gao Xiaoqi, I want to ask, if the people who leave the county are our family members, it is our duty to do so. Why do you, Gao Xiaoqi, come forward and put yourself in danger?"
Gao Heng's eyes were firm and he said: "Because I can't bear the suffering of my compatriots, and because I have the ideal of my family and country in my heart. Everyone is responsible for the rise and fall of the world. Things are happening in front of my eyes, which cost tens of thousands of lives. I, Gao Heng, cannot sit idly by and ignore it. I can only do my best." Give it your best shot."
"Everyone is responsible for the rise and fall of the world. I, Jing Zhao, was the first one to sign up. As the head of the Jing family, I have the duty to do so!" the man said, cupping his fists.
It seems that this man named Jing Zhao or this Jing family is quite influential among the expats. When Jing Zhao said this, dozens of people immediately raised their hands and said: "Count me in, count me in, we are willing to follow you." Save your family." The crowd became more and more excited, and finally merged into a loud voice, "I will go there! I will go there!"
Gao Heng said: "You are all bloody men, I admire you! Since you all want to go to Tuo County together, we have to make a three-law agreement. I am now issuing three orders. If you want to save your family, you must obey these three orders completely. Otherwise, we will never succeed."
Jing Zhao cupped his fists and said, "Gao Xiaoqi, please clarify."
"First, from now on, you have to eat to regain your strength. However, if you eat for the first time, don't eat too much to avoid bursting your stomach. Eat smaller meals more often. After twelve hours, you should be able to regain a lot of strength. , but it is impossible to succeed at one time, and recovering the body is a long-term process.”
"Second, I see there are two to three hundred of you. Excluding those who are seriously injured and unable to participate in the operation, I will select two hundred people. The twenty brothers behind me have all been through life and death with me and put them into your team. , serve as the captain. You must obey your orders absolutely. War is not a joke, it must be paid for with human lives. I dare not speak big words, so that everyone can go back intact. I can only tell you that I will do my best. We can do our best to reduce casualties, but the premise is to follow orders and prohibitions. We have no eyesight on the battlefield. Anyone who disobeys orders or affects the overall situation will be killed without mercy. Don't blame me, Gao Heng, for not saying hello."
Everyone shuddered. Gao Xiaoqi had seen blood at first sight, and he spoke very powerfully. He was definitely not joking with everyone when he said this, especially since there were several men covered in blood standing behind him. They should all belong to him. Subordinates, these people are obviously people who lick blood from the edge of a knife, so it is best not to provoke them. It seems that he put these people among the civilians to supervise the war.
"Third, you will eat later. At the same time, I will divide you into groups. It will definitely be too late for training. Those of you who are good at boxing, bows and arrows or firecrackers, that is, those who have special talents, have to stand up. I I will simply organize you. You have no combat experience, so don’t run around like headless flies on the battlefield. Always remember, the more afraid of death on the battlefield, the faster you will die!"
After Gao Heng finished speaking the three orders, everyone said they understood. Immediately, Gao Heng ordered twenty brothers to immediately collect materials for making explosive packets and smoke bombs according to the method they used at Zhennanguan that day. These were the simplest and most practical materials they could find on hand, and they could come in handy for this battle.
Soon, as agreed, Zuo Bin left a lot of weapons and equipment of the Annan Army and sent a lot of food. The food habits on the northern border of Annan are similar to those on the southwestern border of the Ming Dynasty. These expats have been accustomed to the food here for many generations. It just so happens that there are many Annan residents in Yuan County. They can provide ready-made meals, and no one dares not to do so. cooperate.
After a while, there was a sound of wolfing down the food in the camp. The rice was brought in wooden barrels. There was no container to hold the rice. The peasants didn't care about boiling it. They just grabbed the rice with their hands and put it into their mouths. He was so hot that he grinned.
Annam has a suitable climate, and rice can be harvested three times, and the quality is quite good. For example, the world-famous Champa rice is a specialty of Annan. Although the environment in the north is a little worse, the quality of the rice produced is still much better than that in the Central Plains.
The peasants wolfed down the food, and Gao Heng, while patrolling the crowd, reminded everyone not to eat too much, as there would be more for them later, and he would give them five meals within twelve hours. Everyone's task is to eat, sleep and restore their strength.
Gao Heng understood in his heart that the combat effectiveness of people without any combat experience was no different from the hungry soldiers under Li Zicheng's command, and they were just cannon fodder on the battlefield. Therefore, it is necessary to integrate them to the greatest extent, without highlighting the combat skills of individual soldiers. As long as everyone can condense into a whole and follow his orders on the battlefield, they can exert at least 10% to 20% of their combat effectiveness.
Of course, enforcing orders and prohibitions is also a long process. Even the military training for middle school students in later generations will take at least a week to achieve orderly formation. If combat elements are to be added, the training time cannot be less than one month. It was obviously impossible for these civilians to train, and Gao Heng did not expect them to line up in an orderly manner. As long as they did not collapse, Gao Heng was sure to win.
The reason for this confidence is mainly due to the combat effectiveness of the Annan Army and the Beijing soldiers. The Beijing soldiers are not particularly strong. In other words, they may be ordinary troops among the Beijing soldiers. The real elite should be defending Shenglong Mansion. Zheng Guang's army of hundreds of mountain ghosts had strong combat effectiveness. After a small part of this army was annihilated, most of them fled with the defeated troops. In this way, the combat effectiveness of the local army in Tuo County will never exceed that of the Ming army. .
When he was in the army, as a non-commissioned officer, Gao Heng performed well and made many military exploits. With his first-class merit, his superiors were ready to promote him. He was also sent to the military academy for further training. If that battle hadn't temporarily transferred him back, he would have been an officer by now. Of course, when he was studying at the military academy, he also took courses related to military history. Gao Heng was most interested in the Ming Dynasty, so he had a deep understanding of the relevant knowledge of the Ming Dynasty.
From the descriptions of the prisoners, the soldiers of the Four Towns can basically be understood as the guardsmen of the Ming Army. Each of them is similar to a beggar. They served as soldiers during the war and worked as farmers on weekdays. Not only did they have very poor combat effectiveness, but they almost had no will to fight. Against such an enemy, as long as you can give them a critical hit in the early stage, the opponent will basically collapse.
This is the source of Gao Heng's confidence. With the existing weapons in his hand, there should be no problem in dealing with the soldiers of the four Annan towns.
