When the two armies met, Zuo Liangyu's rebel army was in a dark state, with a large number of people, probably more than 10,000 troops; while on the Jingying side, there were only 2,000 men and horses, and except for about 500 cavalry, the rest were all It's the infantry.
From the perspective of a bystander, Zuo Liangyu's rebels looked very diverse, wearing red military uniforms, coarse linen shirts, topless, etc. They all wore everything.
If you look closely, you will see that in the hands of these rebels, there are also a variety of weapons, from the standard weapons of the Ming Dynasty official army to hoes, hammers, etc., there is no shortage of them, and the most is a wooden stick.
What's more important is that there are some of these rebel soldiers ranging from young men in their 14s and 15s to white-haired old men in their 50s and 60s. More people, at first glance, are skinny and don't have much strength at all.
On the Beijing Camp side, everyone is wearing military uniforms. At a glance, they look very spectacular and imposing.
Not only that, all the soldiers are tall and strong men, and the weapons in their hands are all uniform and neat.
The two armies suddenly met, and many officers in the Beijing camp were shouting to prepare for battle. At the same time, a dozen or so knights flew out from the rebel army, and came to the rebels' side within a stone's throw of the "horse" sign. The rebels shouted loudly: "Those who kneel down and throw away their weapons under the orders of the Duke will avoid death, otherwise they will be shot without mercy!"
The dozen or so horsemen not only shouted loudly at the rebel leader, but also dispersed on horseback, running along the outer edge of the loose formation of the rebels, shouting loudly while galloping.
When Ma Jinzhong saw it, he cursed, and then quickly shouted to his subordinates: "Go, kill those croakers!"
The subordinates around him heard this and rode out. Dozens of them separated and pounced on the official cavalry who were shouting loudly.
However, these officers and cavalry did not engage in the battle, but went back after shouting.
When Ma Jinzhong saw this, he cursed again, and then saw that the officers and soldiers on the opposite side seemed to be finishing their formation. He turned around and looked at his side, and found that there was no formation at all, and many people were even sitting on the ground. .
Seeing this, he quickly waved his riding crop and shouted: "Quick, drive them all away and rush to the front of the formation!"
As soon as he finished speaking, before his men had time to respond, they suddenly heard a huge roar: "According to the military order of the Duke, those who kneel down and throw away their weapons will avoid death, otherwise they will be killed without mercy..."
When Ma Jinzhong heard this, he quickly looked up and saw that the officers and soldiers on the opposite side, protected by cavalry on both sides, had begun to advance. They took ten steps, paused, and then roared.
Such a uniform roar and the two thousand men and horses advancing and retreating together gave people a feeling of invincibility.
"Damn it!" Ma Jinzhong saw it and cursed in envy, and then immediately ordered, "Quick, where are the archers and musketeers? Where did they die? Array, form..."
Although he was very anxious, the people on his side were still scattered in a mess. Some men in military uniforms brandished knives and guns to drive away others, driving them up and towards the official army formation. But the speed is not fast, it is grinding.
Although the imperial officers and soldiers took ten steps and stopped, their speed was much faster than that of the rebels, and the distance between the two sides was getting closer and closer.
With a scream of "Ah", the rebel soldiers in military uniforms began to kill people. Those who were left behind were immediately stimulated and swarmed forward without any formation at all.
However, at this moment, suddenly, the imperial officers and soldiers suddenly broke out "Kill, kill, kill..."
Every time he took a step, the word "kill" was shouted out. Perhaps because only one word was shouted, the sound was more uniform, and the explosion was louder and deafening.
Hearing this roar, looking at the uniform steps on the other side, it was like a wall of people advancing forward, with murderous intent rushing towards their faces, which frightened the rebel soldiers and immediately gave up, and no one dared to rush forward.
However, there was a team of supervising troops behind them. Those who dared to run back were chopped down to the ground by those supervising the team without hesitation. And instead of hacking them to death, they just let them wail in pain on the ground to intimidate others.
Finally, on the rebel side, archers and gunmen were driven forward. These rebel soldiers didn't care about anything, they quickly released arrows and fired.
It hasn't reached the effective shooting range yet, and the lead bullets have no idea where they are flying. The bows and arrows are visible to the naked eye. It can be clearly seen that most of them fall in front of the imperial army's formation. The few arrows that shoot far reach the Ming Dynasty. In the military formation, they were also blocked by the shields in the front row.
Suddenly, there was a "pop" sound, and the matchlock gun in the hand of a rebel soldier exploded. The still smoking gun was thrown in front, and the soldier himself was rolling on the ground holding his head.
When the rebel soldiers around him saw it, no one went to check the situation. Instead, they stayed away one by one, as if they were avoiding the plague. The remaining arquebusiers who had not fired their weapons stretched out their gun-holding hands as much as possible. , keeping the matchlock gun away from him, turning his head, not looking at the target at all, and pulling the trigger one after another, just thinking about shooting out the lead bullets as quickly as possible. :
Smoke began to fill the rebel side, blocking part of the view. However, the rhythmic "killing" sounds did not stop or weaken at all, and even got closer and closer.
Suddenly, some rebel soldiers saw the cavalry on the opposite side moving and rushed towards them from the left and right sides. In just a moment, the horse's speed picked up, and the rumble of the horse's hooves seemed to be like that of thousands of troops.
"Puff puff……"
"Ahhhh..."
But they saw that the arrows shot by the cavalry landed among the rebels, causing the sound.
The soldiers at the front of the rebel army either avoided the direction of the cavalry's attack, or simply fled back.
"Kill..." Suddenly, the imperial infantry no longer shouted "kill", but just roared and began to charge.
Seeing this scene, the rebel soldiers at the front all began to run away subconsciously.
"Damn it, how are we going to fight this battle?" When Ma Jinzhong saw this, he couldn't help but cursed again. Very wisely, he turned the horse's head and ran away.
During the early and middle periods of Chongzhen, those who mobilized troops from Guan Ning's army to suppress bandits were all cavalry, often one or two thousand cavalry, chasing tens of thousands or even tens of thousands of bandits to kill them. . Representative figures include Cao Wenzhao, Zu Kuan and other generals.
It's not that they are powerful, but that the composition of the rogue thieves is too bad and they are simply vulnerable.
By the end of Chongzhen's reign, the strength of the bandits had been greatly enhanced. There were more and more old thieves who had transitioned from the frontier army in the past few years, thus forming the core force of the bandits. There are ordinary troops that consume the strength of the official army and are using their core strength to deliver a fatal blow to the official army.
Even if they can't be defeated, the core force among the bandits is mostly cavalry, and they will use ordinary troops as a cover to escape. Then they plundered and coerced ordinary people, and repeated this method of fighting.
Just like this, the bandits became stronger and stronger, while the imperial officers and soldiers became weaker and weaker. People were in ruins, taxes could not be paid, and the court became increasingly weak.
This trick can be used by the bandits, and Zuo Liangyu, who has just become a rebel, can also use it. Because of this, Ma Jinzhong ran away without any burden.
The forwards on the Dingzhou side are fighting. The imperial army has 2,000 troops versus tens of thousands of rebels. There is almost no difficulty and it will be decided in one battle. He captured more than 5,000 rebels and suffered basically no losses.
When Zhang Mingwei led the Chinese army to Dingzhou, it was already noon the next day.
Because the forwards had to guard more than 5,000 prisoners, they could not pursue them at all. The corpses of about 3,000 rebels killed in the war also had to be buried, instead of being ignored like the bandits.
Zhang Mingwei, accompanied by the generals, couldn't help but sigh in his heart when he looked at the so-called more than 5,000 rebel prisoners. These are basically the people who are being held hostage!
Suddenly, in the group of prisoners, a gray man pulled a fifteen or sixteen-year-old boy and knelt down to Zhang Mingwei. He kowtowed repeatedly with a look of fear and worry on his face, while still mumbling.
Seeing the two of them like this, the other rebel prisoners who were originally dull and numb all imitated the two of them, kowtowing and talking at the same time. Many of them even showed off their skinny bodies, as if they were very strong. That kind of display.
Zhang Mingwei couldn't understand their dialect, but he could probably guess what they meant from their demeanor and behavior.
"What are they talking about?" Zhu Yuyao couldn't help but ask, frowning. Obviously, she couldn't understand the heavily accented Mandarin either.
After Zhou Yuji heard this, he relayed: "They are afraid that we will kill them!"
He had seen this kind of thing many times when he led troops to suppress thieves.
After hearing this, Zhang Mingwei said loudly to these prisoners: "Don't worry, the court will properly accommodate you!"
These prisoners were all doubtful after hearing this. Not only have they heard about the imperial court killing prisoners, but of course the rebels will not hear good things about the imperial court.
Just at this time, the magistrate of Dingzhou hurried over with local officials.
Even if the chief assistant comes, they may not come to greet him. However, Duke Xingguo came and was so powerful that even Tianqi Chao, who was nine thousand years old, was willing to be defeated.
Anyone who offends and impeaches Duke Xingguo will have their homes confiscated and executed!
If anyone hugs Duke Xingguo's lap and is recommended by Duke Xingguo, it will be a smooth career!
In this case, who dares to neglect Duke Xingguo?
When Zhang Mingwei saw this, he thought he had arrived just in time, so he immediately ordered the magistrate of Dingzhou to send someone to register the prisoners and send them all north.
"My lord, it is your unshirkable duty to settle them down." After hearing this, the magistrate of Dingzhou immediately accepted the order, but as soon as the conversation changed, he added, "But these five thousand mouths consume a lot of food every day. This is terrible. What should I do?”
This is the crux! If a large amount of grain had not been seized from Shanxi merchants, it would have been impossible to quell the rebellion!
These are obviously common people who have been kidnapped by thieves. Kill them? Sorry for my conscience, it is difficult for ordinary people to issue this military order!
But if we don't kill them, placing them will tie up the energy of the army, just like being held back by a forward; they can't bring their own dry food, and they will consume the food brought by the army, becoming a big burden.
Even if the local government can help the army accept prisoners, if there is no food, it is impossible for the local government to store much food in these years.
What if we ignore them and let them go? As a result, they will have nothing to eat and will eventually become thieves.
Therefore, it is really difficult at this time in the late Ming Dynasty!
The difficulty in fighting the bandits is not to defeat them, but to eliminate the core strength of the bandits and properly resettle the trapped people!
"You don't have to worry about the food issue. I have already made arrangements in advance. Food is prepared all the way from the capital." Zhang Mingwei told the Dingzhou magistrate, "The most important thing for you is to register them. Form them into groups and send them to Beijing for convenience!"
When the magistrate of Dingzhou heard this, he was immediately overjoyed. The most difficult problem was solved, which was to enthrone and register. As long as the Duke's army was nearby, he would not worry about city defense problems and could organize the people of Dingzhou to watch and register.
Those prisoners who were close to each other cried with joy when they heard their conversations and realized that they could survive. After inquiring, Zhang Mingwei's reputation spread among these prisoners.
When Zhang Mingwei continued to lead his troops south to fight the main force of the rebel army led by Zuo Liangyu, news of the victory also reached the capital.
"In the first battle of the Duke, he defeated the enemy effortlessly, killing three thousand and capturing five thousand. Our side suffered almost no losses. It was a great victory!"
When Emperor Chongzhen listened to Wang Chengen, the eunuch in charge of the ceremony and eunuch, read the good news, he couldn't help but feel very happy. He immediately shouted loudly: "Okay, okay, sir, you have lived up to my expectations. Yes, yes!"
After he finished speaking, he saw that none of the ministers below looked happy, so he called them out a little strangely and asked, "Do you think this good news is false?"
When Du Yinxi, the assistant minister of the cabinet, heard this, he quickly denied it and said, "Wei minister thinks that the good news is true!"
"Then why do I seem unhappy when I look at you?" Emperor Chongzhen asked immediately after hearing this.
When Du Yinxi heard this, he turned to look at his other colleagues, and then replied: "Your Majesty, with the strength of the Duke, we won the first battle, which is expected. The next battle with the main force of Zuo Liangyu's rebel army will be It is very important. I am a little worried that it is too easy to win the first battle. I wonder if the Duke will underestimate the enemy?"
"Yes, when the imperial court suppresses thieves, many battles are won in the early stages, but in the end..." Zuo Maodi also followed suit.
The words were not finished, but the meaning was clear.
At this time, Emperor Chongzhen immediately understood why they were not very happy after hearing the good news. In response to this, he frowned and said quickly: "In this case, please write to me immediately and tell me to be careful!"
Hearing this, Du Yinxi said with a wry smile: "I didn't expect the war to happen so quickly. According to this victory report, the Duke's side should have already started fighting with Zuo Liangyu's main rebel force. It’s a decisive battle!”
"..." As soon as Emperor Chongzhen heard this, his heart suddenly lifted again.
Sir, you are so smart that you won’t underestimate the enemy, right?
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