weaving

On May 21st, at 9:00 p.m., Zhang Nai, a young general of the rebel army, arrived at Liu Zongmin's camp.

"How long will it take for all the firearms battalion to arrive?" Liu Zongmin didn't hesitate at all. His first question was to ask Zhang Nai directly.

"My Lord, half of the cannons have been delivered, and all of them will be delivered by noon tomorrow."

Zhang Nai then asked Liu Zongmin, "Master, how should we divide the firearms battalion?"

Liu Zongmin did not answer his question, but stood up and walked out of the tent with his hands behind his back. Zhang Nai had no choice but to follow Liu Tichun out in silence.

It was no cooler outside the tent than inside the tent, because the scorching sun was hanging obliquely in the eastern sky, and it felt even hotter under the scorching sun.

Liu Zongmin slowly climbed onto a wooden platform outside the central army tent, looked at the Xuanfu military camp in the north, and said to Zhang Nai: "Deploy six cannons here, and then deploy six cannons in the north of Baiminghe and Xie Junyou, and deploy the remaining cannons in the west."

He pointed to the battlefield in the north and said to Zhang Nai: "You see, the government troops on the opposite side are not simple. Their method of setting up camps and arranging battle formations is better than that of Fu Zonglong, Wang Qiaonian and others, and also better than Lao Zuo who was driven away by us.

The camp walls are high, surrounded by trenches and separated by flower hedges. It is indeed easy to defend but difficult to attack. If we forcefully attack, I am afraid that many soldiers will be injured. Now we are waiting for your firearms battalion and cannons to lead the way. I don't believe that we can't blast open this turtle formation in front of us."

Liu Zongmin no longer looked at Zhang Nai, but shouted loudly: "Li You, pass on my military order. Today, no camp is allowed to go out to fight. Each camp must send out 4,000 servants and 2,000 infantrymen to pull the cannon for me."

"Yes, sir."

"Li You, tell them that they are not allowed to sleep tonight. They must move all the cannons to the West Camp before dawn tomorrow. If anyone lags behind, don't blame me for bringing him to justice!"

"Yes."

"Zhang Nai..."

"The end will be here."

"Just make some arrangements here, and then go back and transport the cannons to me. I've assigned the people to you. If the cannons don't arrive by noon tomorrow, I'll hold you responsible!"

Zhang Nai's heart tightened when he heard this, and he quickly responded with a loud voice: "Please rest assured, Master. Even if I die, I will first deliver the cannon to you."

"Okay. Go ahead and get busy."

Zhang Nai saluted Liu Zongmin, said goodbye to Liu Tichun, and quickly left to arrange the artillery setup here.

He knew that this General Liu was not only harsh in his words, but was even more ruthless in enforcing military law and discipline, so Zhang Nai did not dare to delay any longer.

…………

"General, why don't the bandits come to attack us?" Zheng Youjin, the captain of the left infantry of Weiyuan Camp, asked with a puzzled look on his face.

Wei Zhice put down the telescope in his hand and said calmly, "Humph. I think... they are just waiting for their cannons."

During this most of the day, Wei Zhice hardly ever left the high platform in front of the central military tent. He had been observing the changes in the opposing army camp, but found that it was very peaceful the entire morning.

Only at noon was there a commotion in front of their camp. Through the telescope, it could be clearly seen that they were deploying cannons. Wei Zhice's heart sank and he felt something was wrong.

Although he had promptly sent orders to the North Camp and the West Camp, asking them to immediately check the anti-gun holes and loosen the soil in key places such as the edges of the trenches and in front of the positions, he was still a little worried when he saw the cannons being set up on the opposite side.

It was just as Liu Tichun said, there was no shortage of artillery or gunpowder shells in the Tengshe Camp, but the only drawback was that the firing range was not far, and it was completely incomparable with the cannons that the bandits were setting up.

"General, do you want us to rush out and kill him?" Ji Donglai, the commander of the rear cavalry, suddenly asked.

Wei Zhice didn't even look at him, but asked him calmly: "What did the commander-in-chief tell us before we left?"

Ji Donglai was shocked. He clearly remembered the warning of Yongning Earl Zhang Cheng: "If you go deep into the enemy's territory alone, you will most likely be divided and surrounded by the bandits Li. Remember to defend and not attack. With our army's strong camps and the advantage of guns and cannons, we can weaken their strength, wear down their spirit, and consume their morale.

Do not be greedy for a small victory for the time being and take risks in attacking. Killing the enemy is not enough to make them retreat, but if there is any damage, it will reduce our morale and increase the enemy's fighting spirit. What's worse, there is a possibility that they will never come back. Isn't it more costly than gain?

If the bandits find an opportunity to break into the camp again, all our efforts will be wasted and we will be punished by military law!"

Although he always kept the teachings of Earl Yongning in mind, he still felt a little itchy in his heart, and couldn't help but said with a smile: "I dare not forget Earl Yongning's teachings. However, seeing that the enemy army is not attacking and the defense seems to be lax, I am a little itchy."

Wei Zhice also laughed and said, "At this moment, the cavalry suddenly rushed out and killed some bandits, but a few casualties are of no help. We should hold on to the camp and wait for the enemy to attack."

"Yes. General."

Wei Zhice ignored him and turned to the middle officer Yu Deshui and said, "Send another order to Jin Yong and Tang Xiancheng, focus on checking the area around the artillery carts and baggage carts. Make sure to turn the soil loose and gather the soil baskets and bags around the artillery carts. Make sure to protect our artillery."

"Here."

Looking at Yu Deshui's back, Wei Zhice said to Zheng Youjin and Ji Dongli, "Let's go and take a look around."

…………

Starting from the Jialu River in the west, to Liujiahe in the east, to Xinchengji in the north and Zhuxian Town in the south, on this battle line which is about 50 miles long from east to west and 30 miles wide from north to south, there are more than 200,000 troops.

If viewed from one place, it seemed that the Chuang-Cao coalition forces had divided and surrounded the Xuanfu Army led by the Earl of Yongning. However, if viewed from the air, it seemed as if the Xuanfu Army had surrounded the bandits.

  Throughout the battlefield, the troops of both sides were like jagged teeth in a crisscross pattern, truly embodying the essence of the phrase “I am in you and you are in me”!

The three Xuanfu military camps at Liuzhuang, Xianggongmiao and Daguantou have a total of nearly 20,000 troops, which is almost half of the strength of the Yongyi Army. Now they are surrounded by nearly 100,000 Chuang troops. From the surface, they are almost "fish on the chopping board", and seem to be at the mercy of others.

Moreover, there were two bandit armies with tens of thousands of troops each between the Liuzhuang and Daguantou Xuanfu military camps and the Xinchengji in the rear, which almost completely cut off the connection between them.

At this moment, only a few elite troops were guarding Zhuxian Town and Shuipoji Old Camp. Although there were still tens of thousands of others, they were all newly recruited soldiers who had never been trained or experienced combat. At best, they could be considered able-bodied men, but not soldiers. In this battle, the Chuang-Cao coalition army had almost exhausted all its elite troops.

Judging from the battlefield situation, everyone would think that the Chuang-Cao coalition forces currently have the upper hand, whether in terms of military strength, geographical advantages, or the offensive and defensive posture of both sides, the bandits have the upper hand!

…………

On the other hand, the three reorganized battalions of the Yongyi Army were already tightly surrounded by the enemy troops.

As the rear base, Xinchengji only had a few elite cavalry from Weiyuan Camp, as well as a small number of soldiers from Yanhe Camp, Chende Camp and other places, totaling only about 10,000 people.

Even Wang Pu and Li Fuming were sent to garrison in Chenliu in the east. The more than 2,000 elite infantry and cavalry brought back by Hu Dawei had not yet recovered their strength and morale, and Zhang Cheng would never let them go to the battlefield.

  There is another troop, that is Li Jiyu's Xuanwu Camp, but they are far away in Wu'an County, Zhangde Prefecture in northern Henan Province, and are helping Xiaoyuan Camp to complete its reorganization. Even if an order is issued now, it will be difficult for them to reach the battlefield in a short while!

So now it seems that the only reinforcements that Yongning Earl Zhang Cheng can mobilize are probably Zhang Guangda's Qinglong Camp cavalry stationed outside Kaifeng City.

Although there are the Baoding troops brought by Zhang Fuzhen and the defenders in Kaifeng City, they may be able to be asked for help in an emergency, but Earl Yongning will never do so.

This is because if the Baoding Army brought by Zhang Fuzhen could fight a favorable battle, they might still be of some use, but if they were asked to fight an unfavorable battle, they would probably only cause more trouble.

After all, they have not experienced any real wars over the years. Even when the Jianzhou Tartars invaded and plundered the southern part of Jinxi several times before, they hid in the mountains and forests, and no one dared to come out to fight the Tartars.

With such a team, if they don't dare to kill the Tartars, will they definitely dare to kill the bandits?

Anyway, Yongning Earl Zhang Cheng will definitely not believe them!

Now let's talk about the defenders in Kaifeng City. In fact, Henan General Chen Yongfu has already sent out the elite troops that could be sent out, namely the more than 1,000 elite cavalry who followed Chen De to Xinchengji.

…………

Although, from all aspects, Yongning Earl Zhang Cheng's side was not in an advantageous position on the entire battlefield, he was not worried about it at all, and still met with important figures one after another with laughter and conversation.

He first met with Wu Youxing, a famous doctor in the Ming Dynasty who was known as "the most beautiful retrograde in the late Ming Dynasty."

Although Wu Youxing wanted to travel to the major plague-ridden areas in the Central Plains, he hoped to find a way to cure the difficult and complicated disease of "plague" so as to relieve the people and save all the people in the world from suffering.

Before this, Shen Shichun, a famous medical officer of the Yongyi Army in Xuanfu Town, and Liu Jinhai, one of the confidants of Yongning Earl and the founder of the Henan secret organization, had repeatedly persuaded him and tried their best to invite him to visit Xuanfu Town, but he politely declined every time.

  But Earl Yongning is Earl Yongning after all, as the saying goes, "When Earl Yongning takes action, he is worth two men!"

As a person who has experienced this from later generations, Zhang Cheng actually doesn’t know how to cure a disease like plague, but “people who have lived once” are different from others.

Zhang Cheng at least knew that the name of this disease was "plague" and that its transmission routes included flea and mosquito bites, direct contact, droplet airborne transmission, etc., as well as protective measures such as burning dead bodies, maintaining ventilation, isolation, wearing masks, etc.

After all, this knowledge was not yet known to people in the turbulent era of the late Ming Dynasty, but in the real future where Zhang Cheng originally lived, it had already become basic survival skills known to everyone.

When he met Wu Youxing, it was natural that they had to exchange pleasantries after introducing each other, but Zhang Cheng didn't want to waste time on him.

He started off by talking about the basic knowledge of "infectious diseases", which actually frightened Wu Youxing, a famous doctor in the Ming Dynasty. In no time, he made Zhang Cheng his close friend.

In the end, although Wu Youxing agreed to stay in the Yongyi Army temporarily, Earl Yongning still gave him many special conditions.

  First, they did not restrict Wu Youxing's research on "plague" and provided him with personnel and financial support;

Secondly, when the army returns to Xuanfu in the future, he will not be forced to accompany them back to Xuanfu;

Third, Wu Youxing could come and go freely in the Yongyi Army. He only needed to inform the Earl of Yongning in advance and he could leave at any time.

For Wu Youxing, these three conditions were like "pie in the sky". From then on, he had people, money and food. He would not be forced to do anything, and his freedom would not be restricted. He could leave at any time.

And, the most important thing is that he can find Zhang Cheng at any time and discuss with him the prevention and treatment of "plague".

Of course, Wu Youxing actually didn’t know that Zhang Cheng’s treatment of the “plague” was limited to the concept of using a large amount of “streptomycin”. After all, he had never had the plague, let alone been a doctor.

But how to treat the plague in ancient times? Zhang Cheng was at a loss and had no idea at all. However, Wu Youxing didn't know these, so it did not affect the tall and glorious image of Earl Yongning in his mind at all.

After persuading Wu Youxing, Earl Yongning received a more important guest.

…………

Zheng Zhibao, whose courtesy name was Wen, nicknamed Mang'er and alias was Ruotang, was a native of Shijing Town, Nan'an, Fujian. He was the younger brother of Zheng Zhilong, the biggest pirate on the southeast coast in the late Ming Dynasty.

In his early years, he followed his brother Zheng Zhilong as a pirate, assisted Zheng Zhilong in dominating the sea, and almost monopolized the maritime trade around the Ming Dynasty.

After that, in the first year of Chongzhen, the former governor and general of Fujian were dismissed for their failure to suppress pirates. Xiong Wencan, as the right assistant censor-in-chief and governor of Fujian, pacified the largest pirate group at that time, Zheng Zhilong's troops.

At that time, Zheng Zhilong expressed to the court his responsibility of "eliminating the barbarians and suppressing the bandits". The court appointed him as a coastal defense guerrilla and appointed him as one of the "Five Tiger Guerrillas Generals". As a result, he left Taiwan, the maritime base he had run for many years, and began to rule the Min Sea.

At this time, Zheng Zhilong had more than 3 followers and more than a thousand ships. He later defeated pirates such as Liu Xiang for the Ming Dynasty and was promoted to the commander-in-chief of the Fujian Navy. Zheng Zhibao was also promoted to the deputy commander-in-chief of the Fujian Navy because of his repeated military exploits in the process of suppressing other pirates.

…………

In order to show respect for Zheng Zhilong's forces, Yongning Earl Zhang Cheng personally went out of the gate to welcome Zheng Zhibao.

From afar, I could see a group of more than a hundred people in front. The three people in front were dressed extremely gorgeously, and behind them were all strong men in armor, reflecting dazzling rays of light under the sun.

"Marshal, these pirates look quite impressive, but I don't know if they will still be as ferocious once they get ashore."

Zhang Cheng glanced at Chen Zhong and said softly, "You are our guest now, so you must not be rude!" (End of this chapter)