Desert Eagle Suletan Khan

Chapter 431: Bloody Battle: Meiyuan is generous and generous (Part )

From a distance, it looks like a long snake, twisting and turning; from a close look, it is not a snake, but a marching army of 23,000 people. The composition of this army is very complex, including Han troops with blue flags and green battalions from various places, but the main force is the brave and capable Guan Ning cavalry. The commander-in-chief is naturally the head of the Guan Ning Cavalry, the 38-year-old Pingxi King Wu Sangui.

Shaanxi Governor Meng Qiaofang personally led the army to fight against Zhangwu King Zhu Shidong. At the same time, he ordered Pingxi King Wu Sangui to command a three-pronged army to encircle and suppress Wang Yongqiang, the big thief in northern Shaanxi. In addition to the 16,000 directly related Guan Ning troops, the left route army led by Wu Pingxi also had one Jia La and two Niu Lu led by the bodyguard Li Guohan, a total of 2,100 Xianglan Banner Han troops, as well as the general Zhang Zhang. There were 3,900 green battalion soldiers from Tianfu and Shengjiading guerrillas.

Because there were many horses in the army, the marching speed was faster. After hearing that Wang Yongqiang's army appeared in Yanzhou, Wu Sangui immediately led his troops northward from Tongguan County and arrived at Yijun County in only three days. He also ordered the 6,000 Manchu Mongolian and Han troops of Haha Mu, the Minister of Civil Affairs of the Army on the right, and the Mongolian and Han troops on the middle. Huang Erxing, the governor of Shaanxi, and his 7,000 green battalions rushed northward, vowing to eliminate the big bandit Wang Yongqiang in the Yanzhou and Luochuan areas.

"Where did the left and right wings go?" Wu Sangui asked coldly, with a pair of sword-shaped eyebrows full of heroic spirit, and the killing aura of having experienced hundreds of battles, which made the whole person very powerful and powerful without anger.

"Your Majesty, Sir Hahamu has jumped over Huanglong Mountain and will soon reach the eastern part of Luochuan; Huang Fuyuan left Chengxian and headed to the western section of Huanglong Mountain," Wu Sangui's son-in-law Xia Guoxiang reported respectfully. At this time, several famous counselors under his command, including Fang Guangchen (Fang Yizaozi, Minister of Rites of the Ming Dynasty), had not yet defected to the army, and Liu Xuanchu was still serving under Liu Wenxiu, the King of Shu in the Great Western Army. An important counselor, highly trusted.

"Good! The soldiers of the Eight Banners marched like flying as expected. I thought I was running fast, but I didn't expect Minister Haha Mu to be faster than Gu!" Wu Sangui was full of praise for the marching speed of the Manchurian Minister of Civil Affairs. Hahamu's subordinates actually only have 3,000 Manchu and Mongolian Eight Banners, and 3,000 Shaanxi Green Camp, but they are all cavalry, so they can move quickly.

"Send an order to the whole army, without taking off their armor or leaving their saddles, and gallop day and night towards Yanzhou. Send an order to Huang Fuyuan, and immediately rush to Yancheng in the south of Luochuan. The king's thieves will be compressed in the plains of Yanzhou and Luochuan. Go ahead and annihilate them. Wang Yongqiang, Wang Yongqiang, if you are alone, let’s see where you are going to escape this time.” Wu Sangui smiled faintly, full of confidence in his arrangement.

"Uncle, it's not good." Gu Shan Ezhen, the Han army of Xianglan Banner, and Li Guohan, the bodyguard of Morgan, broke into his tent. As early as the sixth year of Tianming (1621), this man had followed his father Li Jixue to a posthumous title, and was regarded as one of the "own men" whom the Qing court absolutely trusted. Dorgon sent him here with the hidden intention of monitoring Wu Sangui.

Wu Pingxi naturally understood the mystery behind this, so he was always polite to him. When he heard this, he smiled and said: "The king's thief is already a turtle in the urn, why is Guard Li worried?"

"Hey, my good prince, you don't know, right? The sentinel sent out news that the thief Wang entered Xi'an Prefecture from Malian Town and went to Baishui County seven days ago. It is estimated that he has arrived in Pucheng by now! "Li Guohan was so anxious that he stamped his feet.

"what!"

Wu Sangui was horrified. He painstakingly arranged a big bag and prepared to catch all Wang Yongqiang. Unexpectedly, the man had gotten out of the bag and left for Xi'an seven days ago.

"Most of the thieves were infantry, how could they be so fast?" He didn't believe it.

"Among the thieves in Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces, King Wang is famous for his fast running. That guy defected to the Oirat Mongols in Ningxia and must have purchased a large number of horses from Xifan. Most of the soldiers and horses in Xi'an were brought out by us. "The top priority is to quickly return to defense." Li Guohan's voice trembled with anxiety. Wu Sangui regained his composure, nodded and said: "What Li Weiwei said is reasonable. According to Gu's military order, the entire army will return to Xi'an immediately to assist Xi'an."

With an official's order, the soldiers ran away and died. The wind was strong and the road was slippery, so the 23,000-strong army ran back in a hurry.

Fortunately, Guan Ning's army was quickly trained, and the Xianglan Banner Han army was also considered an elite soldier. Even unknown members of the Ming army such as Zhang Tianfu and Sheng Jiading, their combat effectiveness increased greatly after they were surrendered to the Qing Dynasty, and their marching speed increased greatly. It was actually very fast. It took only three days to return to Tongguan County, continue to the south, and it took another two days to reach Meiyuan Fort in Liuqu Town, Fuping County.

Liuqu Town was built in the third year of Hongwu (1370). It belongs to Liuquli and was named because it is located at the meander of the Shunyang River. The green fields at the meander of the Shunyang River are extremely beautiful. But before Wu Sangui had time to appreciate the beautiful scenery, his pupils dilated sharply, and his eyes were full of ants, no, like an army of countless densely packed ants. Wang Yongqiang, the big bandit in northern Shaanxi, arrived with his troops.

On the surface, the situation is not favorable for Wu Sangui. His other two armies were still near Luochuan and had not had time to return. He could only rely on the left army under his direct control. With 23,000 to 30,000 troops, he was at a disadvantage in terms of strength. But Wu Sangui was full of confidence in victory. This confidence came from the officers and soldiers' natural sense of superiority over the bandits. I remember that Guan Ning's army had fought against the bandits before, and more than a thousand cavalrymen could kill tens of thousands of people and flee. Now that our troops are only slightly smaller than the opponent's, how can we be invincible?

However, he is treacherous and insidious and is not willing to easily consume his direct army. Put the commander-in-chief Zhang Tianfu and the guerrilla Sheng Jiading's green battalion troops on the front line, with trusted generals Wu Zhimao, Zhang Guozhu, and Wang Pingfan as the second line, and his second son Wu Yingqi, Xia Guoxiang, Hu Guozhu, and Gao Dejie as the third line. Array.

As for Guard Li sent by his father and the regent to monitor him, he did not dare to offend him and arranged for him to supervise the battle by his side.

"Send orders to all armies to wait until the king's thief's men get close before shooting. The shooting must make the thief frightened by the news," Wu Sangui ordered calmly. He has great confidence in his archers and gunmen. According to experience, most of the bandits' equipment is very poor, especially the lack of medium and long-range strike weapons such as bows and arrows, so they are determined to use their own strengths to attack the enemy's weaknesses and shoot him to pieces.

That's the truth, but Wang Yongqiang's tribe is different from other bandits. The folk customs in northern Shaanxi are fierce, and many border people are good at riding and shooting. Moreover, most of the royal sergeants are from the border troops of the Ming Dynasty, and have rich experience in fighting Mongols, officers and soldiers, and other rogue bandits. When they were in Ningxia, they purchased a large number of soldiers from Weiguo. There are war horses and ordnance, so the number of archers is not less than that of the Wu army, and there are even artillery and fire guns.

"Marquis Yulin, there are Tatars ahead," Yan Yanbo Gao Youcai reported to Wang Yongqiang.

"I didn't expect that even though I was marching non-stop, I was still overtaken by the Tatars. This Wu Sangui is not an easy man!" Wang Yongqiang praised and calmly ordered, "Gather the archers from all armies. When we attack later, the sword and shield men will be in front. , the archers position themselves behind the sword and shield men, and then shoot after reaching the optimal distance."

(End of this chapter)