Eighth year of Chongzhen

41 The Great War 5
Gao Yingxiang and others looked at the scene in front of them, and all the bandit leaders were silent.

As the retreating archers returned to the front of the formation, Zhang Xianzhong broke the silence with a cough.

He said: "King Chuang, the officers and soldiers are very good at bows and arrows. There are only a few hundred archers here, and we lost hundreds of brothers in an instant! I don't know how many archers the officers and soldiers have. This battle is difficult to fight. Next What should I do?"

Guo Tianxing, who had already fled back, said with lingering fear: "King Chuang, if you send your infantry to charge the battle again, and King Lu Yan shoots down a few rounds of arrows, I'm afraid the sons can't stand it! We only have so many archers in total, and more than half of them are lost in one fell swoop." ah!"

Gao Yingxiang pondered for a while, and said, "Didn't it just kill hundreds of people? How can anyone survive in a war? Didn't we all crawl out of the dead?

Old Han, go and settle the brother who ran back.Yidou Valley, you go to collect shields, the more the better, if you don't have enough shields, send someone back to the camp to find wooden boards.No matter how powerful the arrow is, it can't shoot through wood. When you have enough shields, choose a striker from among the boys!

Those who rush to the front are ten taels of silver per person, and 20 taels of silver are rewarded for killing an officer and soldier. I don't believe it, tens of thousands of people can't beat thousands of people!go! "

Huang Long led his own soldiers to the rear, and Gao Yingxiang's younger brother Gao Yingen led several generals to command the infantry who had rushed into the camp.

The rest of the bandit leaders, big and small, also went to greet their subordinates, and passed on the reward offered by King Chuang.

Among the tens of thousands of thieves, there are many brave ones. Stimulated by the reward of silver, many desperadoes enthusiastically signed up.In the end, more than [-] thieves were selected, acting as dare-to-death picks, ready to charge into battle.

About half an hour later, Huang Long came back from the camp with dozens of wheelbarrows.Each cart is filled with all kinds of shields, including iron shields, leather shields, wooden shields, and even the lids of the large cooking pots. There are more than two thousand shields in total.

After another round of selection, the most stalwart [-] thieves, as shield-wielding vanguards, were at the front of the team.

Many thieves held shields in one hand and all kinds of short soldiers in the other. They were naked to the waist, shouting and screaming, eager to try.

Seeing this, Gao Yingxiang was filled with arrogance, and said with a smile: "This time, I will definitely teach Lu Yanwang a big loss! Boys, move forward!"

With an order, the shield-holding thieves were in front, the rest of the thieves followed closely behind, the camp veterans came again, and the rest of the thieves followed dozens of steps behind, and the boundless crowd rushed towards the official camp.

Except for the more than [-] cavalry who were on guard, the cavalry of the official army had already dismounted and rested, and fed the horses by the way in order to maintain the physical strength of the horses.

The infantry also sat down to rest on the spot and waited for the order. Seeing that the bandit soldiers were assembled, following Yang Maogong's order, the infantry stood up and lined up in a square formation. The archers were still at the front, and the cavalry mounted their horses one after another and lined up to charge. arrow formation.

Lu Xiangsheng led Wu Dading to the cavalry formation on one side, and took the lead in the front row, ready to act as an arrow and lead the charge.

The thieves began to trot when they were more than two hundred steps away from the officers and soldiers, but the officers and soldiers remained unmoved.

As the distance got closer, the bandit soldiers in front began to run faster.About a hundred steps away, there was a short trumpet sound, and a thousand army archers drew their bows and arrows, pointing obliquely ahead.

The thieves with shields howled and ran at high speed.There was another trumpet sound, a bowstring sounded, and a thousand standard three-edged arrows flew into the sky, reaching the sky above the bandits' heads in the blink of an eye, and turned around and rushed towards the crowd on the ground in an instant.

Some of the bandit soldiers shouted hoarsely: "Hold up the shield! Lift up the shield!" The bandit soldiers in the front row raised all kinds of shields in their hands to cover their heads, and their steps slowed down a little. There was a crackling sound, and most of the arrows shot When it landed on the shield, only a small part passed through the gap in the shield and hit the bandit soldiers.

After five rounds of volleys from the officers and soldiers, the bandit soldiers had rushed to a distance of fifty paces.With the sound of the trumpet, the archers divided into two teams and turned to retreat to the sides, and the sword and shield hands stepped forward to cover.Three thousand long spearmen lined up in three teams, holding long spears more than one foot long in their hands, marching forward to meet the enemy.

Under the blow of five rounds of arrows, hundreds of bandit soldiers were either killed or injured.

Seeing the officers' archers retreating, the bandits felt that the greatest threat had been eliminated, so they put their shields in front of them and rushed towards the officers.

The gunmen of the officers and soldiers stopped after taking a few steps, the front row raised their spears horizontally, and the second row poked their guns out from the gap in the first row. The entire square formation looked like a hedgehog covered in thorns, sharp The tip of the gun gleamed coldly.

In an instant, the bandit soldiers had approached, and the officers and soldiers shouted in unison: "Protect!" Then they stabbed out with the long spear in their hands.

The force of the long spear stabbing forward and the force of the bandit soldiers colliding were superimposed, and a howl of misery resounded across the entire battlefield.

The shield-wielding thieves were all short-bladed, and they were stabbed by long spears a few meters away from the officers and soldiers.The sharp spear head can penetrate even leather armor and mail armor, not to mention most of the thieves who don't even have cotton armor.

Some thieves reacted very quickly, using their shields to fire their spears, and at the same time jumped forward suddenly, trying to fight with the officers and soldiers.But the spears in the second row stabbed immediately, and were finally stabbed.

As the spearman stabbed one round, almost all the thieves in the front row fell to the ground, or were stabbed in the lower abdomen, or in the neck, or in the face, or in the thigh, and almost all of them were shot in the vital parts. .

The spearmen retracted the spears they stabbed one after another, and returned to the ready state.

The thieves from behind continued to charge over, and many experienced old thieves reacted quickly and threw their hatchets and knives at the officers and soldiers.

Because the formation was too dense, the short knives thrown by the bandit soldiers hit one after another. Amidst the screams, hundreds of officers and soldiers fell to the ground either dead or injured, and the gaps they left were quickly filled by the officers and soldiers in the back row.

The spears in the hands of the officers and soldiers stabbed fiercely at the bandit soldiers who had no weapons on the opposite side.

After several rounds of stabbing, there were not many [-] thieves holding shields left, and the other [-] brave thieves had stopped charging.

This is no longer a fight, this is simply a massacre.

His own weapons could not reach the opponent at all, but the opponent could kill him calmly.Seeing the corpses all over the ground in front of them, and the screams of the wounded and living bandit soldiers, panicked, many people started to run backwards or to the sides.

The gunmen of the officers and soldiers shouted in unison again: "Guard!" Following the shout, they took a step forward neatly, pointing their guns dripping with blood at the bandit soldiers densely.

Many thieves who were still hesitating finally couldn't hold on anymore, they turned around and started to run away with a wild cry.Thousands of infantry from Gao Yingxiang's old battalion behind also stopped, and the fleeing bandit soldiers rushed straight at them, disrupting their formation in an instant.

Because the thieves in front blocked the line of sight, this part of the thieves did not know the situation ahead.In a panic, some people began to flee backwards with the retreating bandits, seeing that a defeat was about to happen.

With the sound of a trumpet, Lu Xiangsheng knocked on the horse's belly, raised his sword in his hand, and the horse began to gallop forward. The Liaodong cavalry behind and on the other side also began to drive forward, ready to take the opportunity to charge and kill the defeated soldiers.

The horn sounded in the bandit camp, and the cavalry on both sides of the barracks moved, and greeted the cavalry of the official army.

The cavalry of the two sides were separated by hundreds of steps, and the horses accelerated up just enough to collide with each other.So before the cavalry of the official army rushed into the middle of the bandits and infantry, the cavalry of both sides had already collided head-on.

Lu Xiangsheng let go of the reins, and swung the knife horizontally with both hands. The head of a bandit rider holding a mace in front of him was cut off with a knife.

Lu Xiangsheng then raised his knife and slashed down. With a scream, the arm of a bandit rider was chopped off.

In the blink of an eye, the two horses passed by each other, Wu Dading cut off the bandit soldier's head with a saber, a large stream of blood sprayed into the sky, and the bandit soldier's body fell off the horse.

Lu Xiangsheng's horse sped forward, swinging the sword in his hand non-stop. Wu Dading and other soldiers were slightly behind by half a horse, protecting his sides, and kept blocking and slashing with the blade in their hands.

In a few tens of breaths, the cavalry from both sides rushed past, leaving behind a lot of corpses and many horses that lost their owners.

In this cavalry confrontation, there were more than [-] cavalry on Lu Xiangsheng's side, with more than [-] casualties, and more than [-] cavalry casualties on the side of the camp, and the other side was similar.

The cavalry of the official army no longer cared about chasing and killing the bandits.When the enemy still has a large cavalry team, chasing and killing infantry means that the formation will be dispersed, which is purely courting death.

Lu Xiangsheng gathered the cavalry and wanted to charge again. The Liaodong guerrilla Zu Qianjun quit. He shouted: "Supervisor! You can't charge again! The idea is difficult, the brothers have suffered too many casualties, and I can't explain it when the general is back. Ah!" The rest of the Liaodong cavalry also shouted and echoed.

Lu Xiangsheng was furious in his heart, but he knew that the Liaodong cavalry had always been like this, and they didn't care about military orders at all. If he insisted on fighting again, these guys might not be able to stab him from behind.

Seeing the cavalry marching in a circle and stopping far away, Lu Xiangsheng had no choice but to order back to the camp. The officers and troops transported back to the camp, and brought back some ownerless horses by the way.

Seeing that the formation of the officers and soldiers was not chaotic, there was no intention of chasing after the camp, so the officers and soldiers were allowed to return to the camp.What made Lu Xiangsheng even more depressed was that the agreed-upon combined attacks did not happen, and Zu Kuan and Li Chongjin, who had detoured to the rear of the bandit flank, did not move at all.

After returning to the camp, Lu Xiangsheng changed his bloody armor, wiped the blood on his face briefly, ignored his tiredness, changed into a blue plain robe, and came to the camp for wounded soldiers.

This time the pikemen killed more than 120 people and injured more than [-] people. Those killed were hit by the knives and axes thrown by the bandits and hit the vital parts such as the face, neck, and the wounded were all hit by knives and axes on the chest, abdomen and arms.

In the camp of the wounded soldiers, several army doctors were busy, boiling herbs in several pots, and many soldiers helped to take care of the wounded under the command of the doctor, and the camp was full of groans and screams.

After Lu Xiangsheng comforted the wounded, he left the camp and returned to the big tent. He sat down after the big case. Lu Xiangtong strode in and said loudly, "Brother, these Liaodong barbarians don't listen to orders! Do they still have eyes? Court! Brother, didn’t the emperor give you the Shang Fang sword? Simply, cut off the leader’s head and see who will not obey the general’s order in the future!”

Lu Xiangsheng glared at him, and shouted: "Shut up! What do you know? The important place of the military camp, don't talk nonsense!"

Lu Xiangtong turned his head to the side unconvinced, and snorted.

Lu Xiang got up and walked slowly to his side, looked at him with his hands behind his back, and said, "Third brother, the bandits are powerful, as you saw just now, if only our Tianxiong army is in this battle, the outcome is uncertain, even if Victory is also a miserable victory, and there is no power to continue to pursue.

Because we are all infantry, but the thieves have capable cavalry, so we still have to rely on the Liaodong guest army.

Since Lord Wanli, the imperial court has spent untold amounts of silver in Liaodong. The relationship between the generals in Liaodong is intricate and has become an unstoppable trend. The Holy Majesty and the court officials are well aware of it.

But the world is in chaos, and Daming still needs a relatively stable Liaodong to fight against Jianzhou Jurchen, so that we can wipe out the bandits. After all, bandits are my confidant's big trouble! "

Lu Xiangsheng let out a long sigh. Years of fighting made him feel deeply tired in his heart, and sometimes he really wanted to resign and return to his hometown.But now the Holy Majesty has favored him, and he really can't bear to abandon it. What was the original intention of studying?Self-cultivation, family governance, country peace and world peace!
Thinking of this, he suddenly lifted his spirits, and said in a firm tone: "Third brother, after this battle, the robbers and thieves should retreat. After Zu and Li return with their troops, we will go to Ruzhou.

Now you immediately arrange scouts to search for the news of the cavalry led by Zu and Li, and report to me at any time, go! "

Although Lu Xiangtong was still depressed, he still took the order and left. After a while, with the sound of horseshoes, he left the camp without closing the night.

After the officers and soldiers withdrew to the camp, Gao Yingxiang ordered the soldiers who had not participated in the battle to clean up the battlefield, treat the wounded, and bury the dead soldiers.

He rode on the horse, staring at the camp of the officers and soldiers in the distance, and remained silent for a long time.

Zhang Xianzhong approached with a horse and said, "Chuang Wang's cavalry team is really well-deserved. This time, I dare to confront the Liaodong barbarians. I admire it!"

Gao Yingxiang came back to his senses, forced a smile, and said, "That's my darling. I lost six or seven hundred horses this time, but it's worth the weight of the officers and soldiers. The Liaodong barbarians insist on it! Brother Zhang, What do you think we should do next?"

Zhang Xianzhong hesitated for a moment, then said with a smile, "King Chuang must have something to say, and I, Old Zhang, will follow orders!"

Gao Yingxiang pondered for a while, and said: "Just now, Tan Ma Bao told me that there were cavalry troops from the left, right and behind us. King Lu Yan planned to drive the defeated soldiers to our formation after defeating us head-on, and then Surround me on all sides.

If that's the case, I don't know how many officers and soldiers have come, and we're defeated head-on, and we're going to charge from all sides. We will be defeated in the end. Maybe many of you and me will confess here! "

Zhang Xianzhong was startled, and hurriedly asked: "Then why only the officers and soldiers in the front want to charge in front, and there is no other movement?"

"Hahaha! I, Gao Yingxiang, have been fighting for so many years, and I am not a vegetarian. I have already defended against King Lu Yan!
Regardless of the fact that I only brought three thousand cavalry before the battle, my ten thousand cavalry in the big camp were also divided into three places, and the officers and soldiers must have seen that I outnumbered them in every place, so they didn't dare to do anything. Otherwise we would suffer a big loss today! "

When Zhang Xianzhong and other leaders heard this, they were surprised and admired, and they all praised loudly.

"King Chuang is really clever, no wonder his surname is Gao!"

"If I didn't have the trick of King Chuang, I might die here today!"

"Did I just say that the number of cavalry of the officers and soldiers is wrong, so they were ambushing us!"

"King Chuang is the number one figure in our volunteer army under heaven. I, Lao Luo, admire him!"

Zhang Xianzhong also raised his thumb and praised: "King Chuang is far-sighted and considerate, my old Zhang admires it! Admire it!"

When Gao Yingxiang saw such a scene, the haze brought about by the defeat just now was swept away.

He laughed loudly and said: "Haha, thank you brothers for your compliments! After this battle, I expected that the officers and soldiers would not dare to chase us anymore, but we will not fight in Ruyang City, after all, the officers and soldiers are nearby.

I thought about it just now. Let's go to Zhenyang and head towards Xincai. There is no main force of the army over there. Let's find a place to repair and practice the drill team.When the repairs are completed, we will go east, and the counties in the east will be much richer than Henan, which is not a shit!

At that time, we will break the state and counties, spend the money as you like, and play with the girls as you want!If the old men are playing tricks, maybe they will go to Nanjing!Hahaha! "

A group of bandit leaders were overjoyed, and surrounded Gao Yingxiang in a clamorous manner, heading towards the bandit camp.

In the official camp, in Lu Xiangsheng's big tent, Zu Kuan and Li Chongjin, who had already returned, were reporting the whole story to him.

After they each led their teams to outflank, they should have waited for the signal to attack together.Unexpectedly, before finding a good place to recuperate and wait, the big cavalry team of the thieves appeared near them.

The thieves in each direction are several times behind them. If you fight recklessly at this time, the rogue pawns in the same direction rush over after hearing the news, it will be troublesome.

So Zu, Li, and the generals from the other direction all chose to leave the battlefield and return to the camp in a big circle.

Lu Xiangsheng affirmed their decision after listening.He knew that if it was him, he would make the same choice in this situation.Because after all, it is not a decisive battle with the bandits. It is wisest to preserve strength when there is no certainty of victory.

After discussing with a few people, they felt that the officers and soldiers were in urgent need of recuperation.Lu Xiangsheng decided to lead his troops to Ruzhou according to the original plan to replenish food, grass, soldiers and weapons, and to report to the court the history of his two fights with Gao Yingxiang and the list of meritorious personnel.

Lu Xiangsheng left Lu Xiangtong and [-] of them at night to monitor and investigate the movements of the thieves, and report back in time, so as to grasp the next step of this imperial court's confidant.

After the discussion was over, everyone led the team back to the camp to rest, and at night they reported that the bandits left the camp and left Ruyang to go south. Lu Xiangsheng informed Ruyang County and led the team to Ruzhou in the northwest.

A few days later, Lu Xiangsheng led the Tianxiong Army and the Guanning Cavalry to the outside of Ruzhou Fucheng. Officials at all levels of the Fucheng who had been waiting for a long time came forward under the leadership of the prefect Liu Cunhui.

After Lu Xiangsheng got off his horse, he had a speech with a group of officials, and then went to the city to discuss the follow-up matters after the arrival of the officers and soldiers. Yang Maogong, a Chinese military officer, led a team to set up camp outside the south gate.

The more than [-] Sichuan troops previously stationed in Fancheng have received an official document from the Ministry of War and placed them under Lu Xiangsheng's command. Qin Yiming, the deputy general of the Sichuan Army, has already stationed outside the east gate of the city.

After Lu Xiangsheng returned to the camp after discussing matters in the magistrate's yamen, Qin Yiming brought his travel notes, Gao Qixun and a group of thousands of chief executives to meet him.

Liu Cunhui, the prefect of Ruzhou, tried his best to keep Lu Xiangsheng to rest in the city.After all, he is the prime minister of the five provinces, with a high position and authority, and is a very favorite minister of the emperor.What's more, in this troubled world, with heavy troops under his command, Liu Cunhui will of course try his best to curry favor.

But Lu Xiangsheng declined his offer and returned to the barracks on the grounds that he had become a habit of staying in the barracks for a long time.

At this time, in his big tent, apart from Tianxiong Army Yang Maogong, Zu Kuan, Li Chongjin, Qin Yiming and others, there were also a few strangers from the capital.

Seeing Lu Xiang ascended into the big tent, several strangers stepped forward to pay respects, a young hundred householder in brocade clothes and guards took out official documents from his arms and presented them with both hands.

Lu Xiangsheng checked it and said with a smile: "It's time to wait for many days! I found out that the intruders were besieging Ruyang, and I led the team to rescue the siege. I fought two fierce battles with the intruders. When the intruders retreated, our army ran out of food and grass. I know that my mission has been in Ruzhou for a long time, so I return to Ruzhou to rest, and I hope you will be more tolerant!"

Lu Xiangsheng sat down after the big case, and the young Jinyiwei Baihu stepped forward to salute and said loudly: "Lu Dushuai is dedicated to the country's peace of the thief, I admire you very much! Zhang Jin, a humble Jinyiwei Baihu, has heard of Lu Dushuai for a long time. It's an honor to meet you!
When I came here, I was summoned by the Holy Majesty, and the Holy Majesty specially told me to take care of myself, and I will go to the capital to see you after all the arrangements are made!The Holy One said that he missed the commander-in-chief after seeing him a few years ago, and he also said that he has unconditional trust in the commander-in-chief!I don't know what this means, I just pass it on! "

Hearing the words, Lu Xiangsheng stood up abruptly, with red eye circles and tears in his eyes, bowed his hands in salute to the direction of the capital, choked up a bit, and said: "What can I do for my humble servant, please worry about my emperor! My emperor's words It made Lu tearfully grateful, even if this humble minister gave up this body, it would be hard for me to repay my emperor's kindness!"

After Zhang Jin waited for Lu Xiangsheng to calm down a little, he took out a letter from his arms and handed it over.

Said: "There is a secret letter to Commander-in-Chief Lu. This time, apart from escorting food and salaries, His Majesty has sent another team of craftsmen to come with the humble officer, and he has explained everything in the letter. Please check it with Commander-in-Chief Lu! "

Lu Xiangsheng hurriedly got up and took the letter with both hands, and the familiar handwriting on the envelope came into his eyes: Jiutai kisses, he hurriedly opened the envelope and read it.

Zhu Youjian once again stated in the letter that it will take time to exterminate the thieves, and the extermination is one aspect. The important thing is to stabilize the displaced people due to natural disasters and man-made disasters.As long as the people have something to eat, they will not follow the bandits to rebel, thus reducing the source of troops for the bandits.

If you only pay attention to suppression, but don't pay attention to ensuring that the people have enough food, in the end money and food will be wasted, and more and more bandits will be suppressed.

Sun Chuanting, the governor of Shaanxi, has achieved initial results in garrisoning fields and reassuring the people.After the next year's summer harvest is bumper, we will continue to expand the area of ​​farmland, and try to fundamentally curb the growing momentum of thieves.

He asked Lu Xiangsheng to also carry out military training in Ruzhou, and the court would find a way to solve the required money, food and materials.Treat extermination of thieves as a protracted war, don't just fight for the day and night, and think about the peace of the world in one breath.

The artisans sent this time are a well-drilling team to deal with the current large-scale drought.

After reading the letter, Lu Xiangsheng was overjoyed. His anxiety and anxiety for a long time were instantly relieved. The anxiety about the current situation and the confusion about the future disappeared in a blink of an eye. He seemed to be ten years younger.

He resisted the urge to laugh out loud, and said to Zhang Jin with a smile: "Is there anything else my majesty has to tell me?"

Zhang Jin cupped his hands and said: "The Holy Majesty also said that a batch of new weapons will be delivered soon, and a special supply battalion will be sent to the commander-in-chief. The duty of the humble officer this time is to check the number of troops, pay the salaries, and send the soldiers who died in battle. For the remains, burn and bury the money and send it back to the hometown, if the existing officers and soldiers are willing to send the money back home, we will also act as an agent, please ask the commander-in-chief to arrange manpower to assist the humble staff to handle it!"

Lu Xiangsheng smiled happily, and quickly arranged for Yang Maogong to take Zhang Jin and others to the camp to handle official duties.The salaries of the people in Liaodong and the Sichuan Army were also included in the distribution, and everyone returned to the camp happily to wait. Lu Xiangsheng immediately rode his horse and took his own soldiers to Ruzhou City again to discuss with the prefect Liu Cunhui about farming.

(End of this chapter)