weaving

Chapter 922

The night wind blows, and the weather in late September is already very cold. During the Little Ice Age, the cold winter in the north always came very early.

The mountain wind on Huangtu Ridge was also extremely cold. Even though Zhang Cheng, Zhang Ruoqi, and Zhang Dou were all wearing fur cloaks, they could still feel the ferocious chill of the mountain wind.

Standing on the top of the mountain and looking at the wilderness far to the north, Zhang Ruoqi seemed to be lost in thought. After a while, he actually said: "The commander-in-chief just met at the right time, but he failed to participate in this final battle. Is it a pity?"

"Hahaha……"

Zhang Cheng looked up to the sky and laughed, and he said after a long time: "Brother Tianshi was just joking. If he goes up again, he will really get a big credit. Where can Hong Du and Wu Zongbing save their faces?"

"Ha ha……"

Hearing this, Zhang Ruoqi laughed out loud with Zhang Cheng.

Although Zhang Dou has been reprimanded by Hong Chengchou many times recently for his outspokenness, he must also be the Ningqian military equipment of Liaodong. He still has to maintain the dignity of Jiliao Junzhen, and he must not make it too obvious, that is not in line with his character.

I saw Zhang Dou talking about him, and actually mentioned Wang Pulai who also belonged to Xuanda: "I really don't know how General Wang Pu is feeling at this time."

Since Zhang Ruoqi came to Liaodong to supervise the army, he was in the best mood at this moment. Although he was far away from the power center of Liao affairs, he was still out of sight and out of mind.

At this moment, he hugged Zhang Cheng's thigh tightly, first took the Huangtu Ridge, then the Changling Mountain victory, and finally even saved the Bijia Mountain to store grain, all of which he praised the painting.

So far, in terms of military achievements, he seems to have surpassed Hong Chengchou, at least Zhang Ruoqi himself understands so!

When the Liao incident is over, he will have the capital to brag when he returns to the court, and he will be worthy of the cultivation of his soldier Chen Gelao. Even if he is in front of the emperor in the future, these will also be the capital to brag about.

What's more, in addition to his military achievements, he, Zhang Ruoqi, is in charge of the distribution of grain and grass in the river mouth, and the dividends from the shares of dried fish.

Whenever he thinks of these easy gold and silver, he hates himself for not coming to Liaodong to supervise the army a few years ago!

At this moment, after laughing, he continued, "General Wang's complexion when he was about to leave is not very good."

But Zhang Dou continued: "The director doesn't know something. When General Wang first heard the military order from the governor, his face was uglier than a pig's liver."

He shook the fur cloak on his body, and continued: "I have personally seen it in my job. General Wang asked for support from the commander-in-chief. His appearance is really..."

Zhang Dou has been dealing with the generals of Xuanda these days, and the one he has the most contact with is Wang Pu, the general of Datong. Although he doesn't dare to compliment him on his ability to lead the army in battle, he still agrees with Wang Pu's ability to be a man.

Datong General Soldier Wang Pu's aid to Liao this time has been fruitful. He not only expressed his loyalty to Zhang Cheng, but also found a powerful backer for himself on the battlefield.

Moreover, through Zhang Cheng's relationship, he has become very close to several of Hong Chengchou's staff, as well as Chen Jiugao, Fu Yingchong, Wu Sangui, Zhang Ruoqi, etc., and during this period of time on Huangtuling, the battle is not considered tense, and most of his time is spent on On top of communicating with Zhang Ruoqi and Zhang Dou.

Although Li Fuming, the general soldier of Shanxi, also had the same thoughts, compared with Wang Pu, he was far behind. Not only was he not as good at attacking as Wang Pu, but his conversation was really not as good as it was.

But the two of them helped Liao this time, and they made a lot of military achievements, which far exceeded their expectations!

Of course, this all stemmed from the fact that after they moved closer to Zhang Cheng, they received Zhang Cheng's support and care, which shared a lot of their military exploits. Even the Shenji Battalion ate a lot of meat with the Xuanfu army.

In fact, their soldiers and horses are not unable to fight, but dare not fight!
Fear of the Tartars like a tiger, fear of the captives, fear of war, and discoloration when talking about slaves are the common problems of all the generals and soldiers in the border towns of the Ming Dynasty at this time, and it is not unique to Datong and Shanxi towns.

Just like the chariots and guns of the Shenji Battalion, in general, they still have a lot of advantages over the Qing army. Not only are the chariots and guns very sophisticated, but the means of firing the guns are also comparable to the Qing army. After all, it is a veteran artillery army, and it still has some foundation.

But its shortcomings are also very obvious, that is, it can only shoot guns and cannons from a distance. Once the enemy threatens to rush forward, they will immediately panic, and even collapse directly.

Of course, this is also a common problem of the Ming army. No matter whether it is a Tartar or a bandit, once they rush to the front of the formation, they don't even need to break the formation, and they will start to mess up first.

How many commanders-in-chief and governors and governors were defeated and died because of this!
However, in the battle to aid Liao this time, both Wang Pu and Chen Jiugao had the same idea, that is, to fight closely behind Zhang Cheng, and if Zhang Cheng's Xuanfu army was there, it would be good to drink some soup by themselves.

In fact, they not only drank the soup, but even gnawed on the bones together.

Even Li Fuming, the Shanxi commander-in-chief who had redeemed himself for his sins, was initially indifferent to Zhang Cheng, but after the First Battle of Xishimen, he completely turned to Zhang Cheng's side.

Of course, making the right choice will naturally bring many benefits. In the battle of Huangtuling this time, as well as the battle of Changling Mountain and Bijia Mountain that returned to Xingta Liangdao, Shenjiying, Datong Town and The general soldiers of Shanxi Town have made a lot of military merits.

At this time, Zhang Dou suddenly felt that he shouldn't have said such things about Wang Pu behind his back, and hurriedly sighed, and said, "Oh, I won't talk about it, I won't talk about it. I'm sorry, General Wang, for gossip behind my back."

"Hahaha"

Everyone burst into laughter again.

It turned out that in accordance with Governor Xingyuan's military strategy deployment, the troops of Datong Town were sent northward to enter the corner of the Xiaoling River from west to south, pretending to cross the north and advance, threatening the Qing army not to stop Wu Sangui with all its strength.

When Wang Puchu heard the governor's order to adjust his military order to go north, his whole body froze, as if the whole world froze at this moment.

Wang Pu didn't want to lead his troops from Datong Town into battle without Zhang Chengxuan's army, and face the fierce and brutal Tartars alone.

Don't look at the Datong army following Zhang Cheng's Xuanfu army, they can go down the mountain like a tiger, but without the Xuanfu army, they are still a group of cowardly lambs.

This is like a wolf leading a group of sheep can defeat a group of wolves led by a sheep!

When the Xuanfu army is there, the Datong army is like a flock of sheep led by a wolf. They dare to face all enemies, because they firmly believe in their hearts that with the Xuanfu army present, they will definitely be able to defeat the enemy.

And once the Xuanfu army is gone, they will quickly turn into a pack of wolves led by a sheep.

The reason is that the Datong Army lacked self-confidence on the battlefield, and they never dared or believed that they could defeat the enemy with their own abilities.

As the saying goes, "a raging soldier, a raging general", and Wang Pu, the general soldier of Datong, is exactly the "general bear".

Therefore, after he received the transfer order from Governor Xingyuan, he did not rush to prepare for the departure, but tormented Zhang Cheng for two consecutive days, asking him to send the Xuanfu army to support him in the battle.

According to Zhang Cheng's original intention, he didn't want to send a single soldier from the Xuan Mansion to him. After all, he sent troops without the order of the Governor Xingyuan.

But in order to get the help of the Xuanfu Army, Wang Pu claimed that he was a member of the Xuanfu Army. Although in the eyes of outsiders, he was the commander-in-chief of Datong Town, in his heart he had already regarded himself as a member of Zhang Cheng's Xuanfu Town. Lieutenant General.

Everyone's posture is here, so what can Zhang Cheng do?
What's more, it's not a day or two for Zhang Cheng to be in Datong Town. Even if Wang Pu is transferred from Datong Town in the future to serve as the commander-in-chief elsewhere, his contacts in Datong in the past few years can't be transferred.

For this reason, Zhang Cheng finally readily accepted Wang Pu and made him a member of Xuanfu Town.

Since everyone is already a family, it is natural that Wang Pu's safety cannot be ignored. Therefore, Zhang Cheng sent Zhang Guangda to lead the cavalry battalion to help in the battle, and for the sake of safety, he specially transferred the remaining chariot battalion back to accompany Zhang Guangda. Go north to support Wang Pu.

Of course, in the eyes of outsiders, it was Zhang Cheng who sent his chariots and cavalry to help in the battle because of his affection. As for Wang Pu's complete defection, it should not be publicized.

What's more, Zhang Guangda's battle is still in the identity of Datong Town, even if he has made military exploits, it will not be counted on the head of the Xuanfu army. On the surface, it seems that Zhang Cheng has suffered a big loss.

However, it also earned him a good reputation for emphasizing love and righteousness!
Seeing that the night wind on the mountain was getting stronger and stronger, the few people didn't want to watch the situation of the Ming army company camp in the north any more.

…………

There is a small hill at the northern foot of Shimen Mountain, which is the place where Governor Hong Chengchou of Jiliao watched the situation on the other side the night before yesterday. This is where his temporary Governor Xingyuan is located.

Today, a high platform has been built on the highest point of the hill, and a large military tent has been erected on it, where Hong Chengchou commands and dispatches the various armies to fight.

The eunuch Wang Chengen also got up before dawn. As the companion of Emperor Chongzhen, he was still very concerned about the Liaodong War, but Wang Chengen knew the depth.

As long as what Hong Chengchou did was to relieve the siege of Jinzhou as soon as possible, he would not intervene, and even supported Hong Chengchou's actions. Only when he felt that Hong Chengchou was not dedicated to the king's affairs, he would strongly express his position.

Just like this time, he did not object to the strategy of crossing the north, but he still had some opinions on Hong Chengchou not using Zhang Cheng and the Xuanfu army, but he felt that it would not affect the overall situation, so he did not speak out to stop it.

The two young eunuchs who accompanied him were not as energetic as he was, but they did not dare to show the slightest sign in front of Wang Chengen. raw tears.

Hong Chengchou was also a little surprised by Wang Chengen's performance, but he admired him very much in his heart. He ordered his followers to quickly get a carbon stove for Wang Gonggong, after all, it was already very cold in the morning.

The sun has not yet risen, but the south bank of the Daughter River is already full of people. There are rows of rafts on the river bank, and many fishing boats and boats that have been launched are neatly arranged.

If you look carefully, you will find that there are small cannons installed in front of those fishing boats, and some small boats cannot withstand the recoil of the small cannons, but they are also equipped with some large and small firecrackers.

Obviously, these ships would be the first batch to cross the river, and the reason why they were equipped with cannons was entirely to cooperate with the cannons of the Shenji Battalion and completely suppress the artillery fire of the Qing army on the other side.

However, Chen Jiugao, the commander-in-chief of the Shenji Battalion, had stated in advance that the firecrackers and cannons in his battalion could be used at will, but the soldiers of the Shenji Battalion would never go on board to use them.

And there is only one reason, that is "seasickness"!
Although Wu Sangui, Bai Guangen, Ma Ke and others thought this "excuse" was ridiculous and low-level, they had nothing to do with Chen Jiugao.

In fact, Wu Sangui is lucky to say that his Ningyuan Army drills are also very strict on weekdays, and the proportion of firearms is not low, and there is no shortage of gunners.

But Bai Guangen and Ma Ke are different. Although their battalion has a high proportion of firearms, they don't pay much attention to this waste of money, and the quality of gunners is also uneven.

What's more, when they were defeated at the northern foot of Shimen Mountain last time, the few gunners in the battalion also lost some.

Therefore, it is indeed a bit difficult for them to use their own cannons, but they dared not argue with Chen Jiugao, let alone go to Governor Hong Chengchou to ask for conditions.

In the end, it was Qiu Minyang and Yao Gong, who were in charge of supervising their battles, who transferred some gunners from their own battalions to reassure them.

…………

The battle is about to start, looking at Cao Bianjiao and Wang Tingchen, they all have calm expressions, just when the mountains and rain are about to come and the wind is blowing over the building, but there is no emotion on their faces.

Even Hong Chengchou's Deputy Commander Chen Zhongcai was the same, with a calm expression on his face.

Only Chen Jiugao, the commander of the Shenji Battalion, kept rubbing his nose, seeing that there was nervousness in his expression, but more excitement.

Nervousness is inevitable, although Chen Jiugao is usually careless, but he still doesn't have enough experience in wars to be calm. His strength is actually in communication.

And the excitement comes from the artillery team in the battalion, which can start a grand performance!

Chen Jiugao personally told Wu Sangui yesterday that his Shenji Battalion would definitely support him with all his strength. For this reason, he had to count the cannonballs elsewhere, but Wu Sangui demanded that the cannon barrels turn red before they could stop.

At the same time, he even sent his deputy general Fu Yingchong to sit in the army supporting Wu Sangui to show his sincerity. Now he is looking forward to the performance of his subordinates with an excited expression.

He followed Governor Hong Chengchou closely, despite the cold wind in the morning, he did not feel the slightest chill.

Cao Bianjiao, who seldom speaks out on weekdays, couldn't help asking: "Why, is Mr. Chen very nervous?"

Chen Jiugao was taken aback for a moment, then puffed out his chest and belly, and said loudly: "We're not nervous, we're just Tartars, we can see a lot."

At this time, Hong Chengchou, governor of Jiliao, had exchanged greetings with the chief eunuch Wang Chengen, and then turned to Chen Jiugao and asked, "Chen Zongbing's artillery team is ready?"

When Chen Jiugao heard the governor's inquiry, he didn't dare to take it too seriously. He hurriedly stepped forward and replied with a serious face: "Return to the governor. The artillery team of the Shenji Battalion is ready, and only waits for the governor's order.

Where my Great Ming flag points, slaves and thieves will surely be wiped out, mere Tartars, under the artillery fire of my Shenji Battalion, they are worthless! "

(End of this chapter)