weaving

How many thousands is Chapter 1416?
A government army was quietly stationed to the southwest of Xiangong Temple. It was the Qinglong Battalion of the Yongyi Army under Zhang Guodong.

Zhang Guodong led most of the Qinglong Battalion soldiers on a journey through the night, finally arriving at their encampment before dawn. After resting for only an hour, they launched a fierce offensive against the bandit army stationed south of Xiangong Temple.

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Liu Zongmin, the chief commander of the rebel army, led Bai Minghe, Xie Junyou, Gu Ying and several others, with tens of thousands of rebel troops stationed at Xiangong Temple, waiting for an opportunity to attack the Ming army at Xiangong Temple or to provide support to allied forces.

The Bai Minghe bandit troops, due to the Chuang King's last-minute decision to launch a full-scale attack on the Xincheng camp, had been transferred to the front lines before the battle began, while the remaining troops remained stationed around Xiangong Temple.

In Jiajiagang, southwest of Xiangong Temple, only Ding Guobao led two thousand foot bandits, along with more than three thousand starving people, to be stationed there.

To the north of Jiajiagang was the Ming army's garrison at Xiangongmiao, and to the south was Zhuxian Town, the main base of the rebel army. There were originally more than 10,000 rebel troops stationed here to prevent the Ming army at Xiangongmiao from launching a surprise attack on Zhuxian Town.

However, since the starving people were driven to dig three long trenches around the Xiangong Temple, completely surrounding it, this place was no longer as important as before. Therefore, only Ding Guobao's two thousand infantrymen were left to guard this place.

After all, there were still over 10,000 rebel soldiers stationed in Zhuxian Town. Even if the Ming army in Xiangong Temple could break through the three trench defense lines, they would inevitably suffer heavy losses. Moreover, the rebel army stationed elsewhere would have time to come and provide support. The Ming army would probably not even be able to reach Zhuxian Town before being completely wiped out.

However, they did not expect that Jiajiagang, located deep within their own territory, would be threatened by the Ming army outside Xiangong Temple, which was something they had not anticipated.

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Zhang Guodong did not take the bandit army of Jiajiagang seriously, but sent Qianzong Qian Mushi to lead the soldiers of the rear of the Qinglong Camp to attack.

At the same time, he also dispatched Deputy General Kuang Yongzhong to lead Kong Shouchang's right wing and Chen Shi's left wing soldiers to advance towards Zhuxian Town, occupy advantageous terrain, and both block the Zhuxian Town bandits from coming to their aid and launch an attack on the Zhuxian Town bandit headquarters.

Zhang Guodong himself led the Qinglong Camp's central cavalry and artillery divisions, as well as Huang Daguang's central soldiers, as a reserve force to support Qian Mushi or Kuang Yongzhong at any time.

Ding Guobao was greatly surprised by the sudden appearance of Kong Shouchang's troops, as he had not expected the troops to launch an attack from outside Xiangong Temple, which caught him completely off guard.

Upon first hearing the alarm, he immediately redeployed troops from the defensive line facing Xiangong Temple, but it was too late...

The Marquis of Yongning, Zhang Cheng, gave a death order to all the battalions of the Yongyi Army. This battle was a life-or-death struggle for the Yongyi Army, and generals like Zhang Guodong naturally dared not be negligent in the slightest.

Kong Shouchang's side came out with a killer move right from the start, focusing on simplicity and brutality...

He didn't play any fancy tricks at all. He concentrated the small artillery pieces from the headquarters, such as the Tiger Crouching Cannon and the Mortar, and opened fire with a barrage of bombardments.

Taking advantage of the chaos caused by the sudden attack on the enemy army, the strong infantrymen rushed forward and threw dozens of grenades, and then the musketeers attacked. After only two rounds of musket fire, the enemy army was completely defeated.

The rest was much simpler. The gunners dispersed in units of armor and chased after the fleeing bandits. As soon as they dared to stop, a volley of gunfire would be fired, forcing them to keep running until they were exhausted.

Shouts of "Surrender and you won't be killed... Surrender and you won't be killed..." rose and fell, echoing throughout Jiajiagang.

Many bandits threw down their weapons, knelt on the ground, panting heavily, and said intermittently, "I surrender... I surrender... Don't kill me... Don't kill me..."

With the battle progressing so smoothly, the infantry, who were originally the main force in the battle, had a much easier time. They guarded the camp gate and key locations, while also being responsible for gathering surrendered bandits and collecting starving civilians from the bandit camp. They rarely had the opportunity to fight again.

However, some of the bandits escaped in the chaos, and their whereabouts are unknown.

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"Liu Changliang, send someone across the trench to Xiangong Temple to inform General Chen that my Qinglong Camp has opened the southern passage and is now filling the trench. Please ask General Chen to lead his troops to join us as soon as possible," Zhang Guodong said in a deep voice.

"Yes, sir." Liu Changliang loudly accepted the order and turned to make arrangements.

Over here, Huang Daguang, the centurion of the central region, leaned closer and whispered, "General, now that the thieves have escaped, will you go and inform Liu the blacksmith?" "Hmph."

Zhang Guodong said dismissively, "So what if Liu Zongmin gets the message?"

He turned to look at Huang Daguang beside him and said in a deep voice, "I really want to meet this blacksmith Liu and see for myself whether his skills are as amazing as the legends say!"

"Hehe..." Huang Daguang also laughed and said, "His ability to run rampant in the Central Plains doesn't necessarily mean he's that powerful. In my opinion, it's just that the government troops he encountered were too cowardly."

"Yes."

Zhang Guodong agreed with Huang Daguang's words, but then added, "However, the government troops of Tiger General and Zuo Ping are also quite capable, and they were both defeated by the rebels. This shows that the rebels are quite skilled, and we should not underestimate them too much."

Finally, he urged Huang Daguang: "Don't forget what the commander-in-chief often said, 'Pride comes before a fall,' and always remember the commander-in-chief's teaching that 'strategically you can underestimate the enemy, but tactically you must take the enemy seriously.'"

"Yes. Da Guang, I've got it."

"Alright. Order the entire army to move out and take up residence at Jiajiagang."

"Here!"

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When Liu Zongmin, the chief commander of the rebel army, learned of the fall of Jiajiagang, it was already 11:00 AM. He was preparing to send Xie Junyou to lead troops to retake Jiajiagang when he received another shocking message.

Near Yangquan Village, three miles northeast of Liu Zongmin's garrison in Taojiadian, a large number of government troops, numbering in the thousands, were discovered.

"How much is several thousand?"

Liu Zongmin asked with a very cold expression, "Didn't you get a definite answer?"

"Sir, the government cavalry are numerous and very brave; our scouts cannot get close at all," Gu Ying replied from the side.

Liu Zongmin was clearly angry and asked, "Then where did these thousands come from?"

"Reporting to the lord, it was a rough estimate by our spies."

"Several thousand... several thousand? How many exactly? Three thousand... five thousand? Or eight thousand?"

“Oh…” Gu Ying hesitated for a moment before replying, “Probably between three and five thousand.”

Liu Zongmin stared wide-eyed and shouted, "At most five thousand soldiers, what is there to fear?"

"Xie Junyou?" Liu Zongmin shouted.

"Your humble servant is here." Upon hearing this, Xie Junyou hurriedly stepped forward, clasped his hands in salute.

"Take Xie Yinglong and Zhang Hong with you and go to the sheepfold to meet this group of government troops and see where they come from."

"Yes, Your subordinate obeys."

Liu Zongmin didn't even look at Xie Junyou, and then shouted, "Yang Yanchang, take Liu Wenbing to Jiajiagang, fight off the government troops, take back Jiajiagang, and guard the southern pass for us."

"Yes!" Yang Yanchang and Liu Wenbing also answered loudly.