weaving

Chapter 1191 You Should Look Like a Thief

"Mr. Mountain, it's really high!"

Bao Jiqiang is now one of the six deputy commanders of the "Shan Camp", commanding the 800 most powerful elite cavalry in the Shan Camp. This is the foundation for Tong Shoushan's survival in the bandit army. Its backbones are almost all the more than 80 Xuanfu border cavalry who joined with him at the beginning.

Although these people were in the bandit camp, their families would receive food and rations from Yongning Earl Zhang Cheng on time, and the amount was doubled, which was equivalent to them selling themselves to Yongning Earl.

What's more, they did have a pretty good time in the bandit camp. The opponents they met were all weak ones, and it was extremely easy to fight against them. This also made the Shanzi Camp a legend among the bandit army for "every battle will be won and every attack will be conquered"!

Just this... is the result of Tong Shoushan's repeated restraint.

You have to know that what he brought with him were the most loyal, brave and combat-ready elite cavalry under Zhang Cheng, including many old Yebushou warriors. Even the warriors of the old eight teams under King Chuang could not compare with them.

Fortunately, there were already many deserters from the Ming border troops in the Chuang army, and after they entered Henan, especially after capturing Luoyang, more local officers and soldiers from Henan joined them. Two former Shaanxi governors, Fu Zonglong and Wang Qiaonian, died in Henan one after another, and more Shaanxi soldiers joined the Chuang army.

This also made Tong Shoushan and his men not so conspicuous among the rebel army, and they were able to blend in quickly!

Tong Shoushan has always insisted that he was a border soldier from Xuanfu. During the battle of Julu with the Jiannu in the eleventh year of Chongzhen, he led more than a dozen brothers in the team to break out. After that, he successively gathered a dozen defeated soldiers, plus some deserters from Nanzhi, Henan and Shanxi, and mixed between Henan and Shanxi. When he heard that King Chuang had entered Henan and broken the city of Luoyang, he led everyone to surrender.

At that time, there were many local bandits, local gangsters, and deserters from Henan who came to seek refuge with King Chuang like Tong Shoushan. King Chuang had always been unable to distinguish the genuine from the fake, so he took them all in, but registered them all and handed them over to the generals under his command for identification.

Therefore, since joining the Chuang army, Tong Shoushan has served under the command of Tian Jianxiu, Liu Fangliang, Li Guo and others, until now he is under the command of Liu Tichun. It can be said that except for a few veteran generals such as chief scout Liu Zongmin, Gao Yigong, Yuan Zongde, Tong Shoushan has come into contact with them all, and got along with them very harmoniously.

It was precisely because he was doing so well in the Chuang army that he dared to compete for the lead in the battle from the chief sentry Liu Zongmin today. The reason for this was also in line with what Zhang Cheng told him when he came to join the Chuang army.

"If you want to be a thief, then you have to be a complete thief, be the leader among the thieves, and make a name for yourself!"

After Tong Shoushan joined the Chuang army, he always regarded Zhang Cheng's original instructions as his motto and code of conduct, and implemented them resolutely and thoroughly. He strived to be the first and gave it his all in every battle. After all, there was no Zhang Cheng's power anywhere else in Henan except in northern Henan, so he was not afraid of harming his own troops.

…………

At this moment, Tong Shoushan was very proud of Bao Jiqiang's praise. He smiled and said, "Since we are thieves, we should act like thieves. It's a pity for Yang Wenyue."

Bao Jiqiang said nonchalantly: "Who is Yang Wenyue? So what if we break him up?"

Tong Shoushan looked around to see that there was no one around, and whispered, "Don't forget, Marshal Hu's base is to the east. After you break through Yang Wenyue's front camp, you must withdraw your troops immediately and don't charge again."

"What?"

"I estimate that if Yang Wenyue's front camp is lost, the rear camp will certainly not be able to be defended either. By then, I'm afraid that Tiger Marshal will also be defeated."

Tong Shoushan continued with a serious face: "If that's the case, you should turn your horse around and chase after Tiger Marshal..." "Master Shan, are you really going to chase him?"

Tong Shoushan glared at him and said, "This depends on your ability. You have to chase closely, but also keep a distance, and try to give Tiger Marshal a ride."

Bao Jiqiang looked a little embarrassed and said softly, "I'll do my best."

After he finished speaking, he whispered, "Master Shan, I heard that our commander-in-chief has arrived in the north of Zhuxian Town. I wonder if it's true or not."

"Humph. Apart from our Ye Bushou of Xuanfu, who else can cover the entire defense line in front of the Chuang Wang army?"

"Too……"

At this time, a few more riders came galloping from a distance. Bao Jiqiang immediately shut up and stopped talking about the previous topic in time.

"Master Shan, we are all ready, just waiting for your order." The person who spoke was Qi Dakan, one of the deputy commanders of the Shan Battalion's infantry.

There are currently six deputy commanders in the Shan Camp. Among them, the deputy commander of cavalry is Bao Jiqiang, and the deputy commanders of infantry are Qi Dakan, Yan Mingda, Xiao Yunshan, and Lu Zhen. They command the front, rear, left, and right camps respectively, and each camp has one thousand infantrymen.

Qi Dakan and Yan Mingda were both former cavalry captains of the Xuanfu Army who had joined the rebels with Tong Shoushan. Now, one of them commanded the front infantry camp, and the other commanded the rear infantry camp.

Xiao Yunshan is a deserter from the official army in Henan. After he surrendered to King Chuang, he was assigned to Tong Shoushan's army. Now he commands the Left Infantry Camp. Lu Zhen is the leader of a small group of bandits in Henan. After Tong Shoushan joined the Chuang army and was on a mission to collect grain outside, he was personally recruited to surrender. So he stayed in the Shanzi Camp and was responsible for commanding the Right Infantry Camp formed by his old brothers.

In addition, there was a deputy commander in charge of logistics named Yin Wutang. He was from Shamen Village, Liulin Town, Zhengzhou. He was forced to join the rebel army when they crossed the border. He had been doing the hard work of servants and menial servants, and he almost became cannon fodder.

Tong Shoushan also learned by chance that he was quite knowledgeable in mathematics and had worked as an accountant for wealthy merchants in Zhengzhou. So he asked him to come to his Shanzi Camp and help him manage all the miscellaneous matters such as eating, drinking, defecating and urinating for all the soldiers in the camp.

As time went by, he became more and more satisfied with his assessment. Tong Shoushan gradually promoted him to be the chief of the old camp and the sixth deputy commander of the Shan Camp. He had less than 500 men under his command. Although most of them were the elderly, the weak, women and children, they were the family members of the officers and generals of other camps. Therefore, his position was very important. He was one of the people that the officers and generals of the Shan Camp dared not offend.

Even the deputy commanders who led the troops, such as Qi Dakan, Yan Mingda, Xiao Yunshan, and Lu Zhen, respected Yin Wutang very much. After all, the monthly money and food had to be paid through him, and their families still needed his care in many ways!

…………

In addition to the four deputy commanders of the Shan Camp, there was also a leader named Luo Wenzhan under Liu Tichun who appeared in front of Tong Shoushan at this moment. He was ordered to lead 500 archers and 200 sword and shield soldiers to come for support.

In addition, at the request of Tong Shoushan, Zhang Nai sent 200 musketeers from the Firearms Battalion. The team was led by a small leader named Hong Taibiao, who also came to Tong Shoushan to receive orders.