Prince Chongzhen

Chapter 424 How could it be?
“Someone ran away!”

Suddenly, a loud shout was heard from the open field, and then a figure emerged from the long team and ran towards the nearby forest.

Seeing this situation, the escorting knights drew their bows and arrows, but just as they were about to take action, a voice came from the other side.

"Keep him alive!"

Perhaps the owner of the voice had power, for as soon as the voice was heard the knights put away their bows and arrows, and then several of them rode out on horseback. In just half an incense stick of time, the man who dared to escape was dragged back with a rope.

"Be careful. We didn't catch many people alive this time. If we kill too many, we will have to suffer the consequences."

"Qian Hu, it's not a good idea to keep spoiling him like this."

It’s not a big deal. The Mongolian general who was called a thousand households naturally knew that it was not a big deal.

But no one knew how badly the area of ​​Hanzhong had suffered. They had searched for several days with great effort but only managed to capture 2,000 people alive. There were really not many left for the soldiers to waste.

He was also quite disappointed when talking about this matter. The older generation said that the Han people's territory was full of gold and silver, and a rope thrown out casually could catch three or four slaves.

But this time, following Taiji, we couldn't find much gold, silver, and ironware, and we only captured a few alive.

If the crops grown by the Han people had not yet fully matured, it would not have taken much effort to graze the animals. In his opinion, this trip was a huge loss.

"Pick out the disobedient ones and sell them to the Dzungars."

"it is good."

As soon as he finished speaking, the soldier fell off his horse, drew a scimitar from his waist, and cut off the survivor's right ear without waiting for others to react.

"You're crazy! How can you survive in this heat?!"

As the captain's scolding came, the soldier immediately realized the inappropriateness of his behavior, but his ear had already been cut off and there was no way to glue it back. He could only hold the bloody and sticky thing and smile at the captain in embarrassment.

"If it weren't for your aunt, I would really want to dig out your brains and rinse them with urine!!"

"Captain, once we get back to the camp, these prisoners will be out of our hands."

"How dare you be so stubborn!?"

Before the soldier could finish his timid explanation, a stern rebuke was heard. Then the captain seemed to have lost interest in scolding him, and after a moment's thought, he slashed the neck of the criminal with the scimitar in his hand.

In fact, he didn't want to lose such a prisoner in vain, but the captain in the camp who was responsible for collecting prisoners was not on good terms with him. If he took this prisoner back, he would inevitably have some arguments.

Instead of getting upset over such a small matter, it would be better to just kill the creature directly.

The little incident ended with the sudden move of the thousand-householder's sword. Afterwards, the thousand-householder team under his command escorted the survivors straight to the camp near the mountain pass. After a while, they saw tents appearing in their sight.

The Mongolian camp was different from that of the Han. In the huge camp, there were no defensive facilities except for the fences for the cattle and sheep.

This is not surprising. Due to the large number of horses, the Mongolian cavalry's vigilance range has always been very large. If there is really an enemy attack, they can organize the team to fight against it.

To put it bluntly, the Mongols are mostly cavalrymen, and they do not have many defensive attributes by nature. Instead of going to great lengths to do those fancy things, it is better to focus all their energy on what they are good at.

After a while, the captain finally handed over all the captured people to the camp manager. However, who would have thought that his face suddenly darkened when he saw the delivery document.

"I clearly brought 2,142 people with me. Why did you only count 1,800?!" Seeing that the fruits of his labor had been wiped out, the captain's anger exploded in an instant: "Come on, come with me to see the Taiji and see if he can tolerate your outrageous behavior!"

But this can’t be blamed on Qianhu’s bad temper.

Both Shaanxi and Sichuan wanted to take control of Hanzhong, and after the chaos in the country, it has suffered countless wars.

All these things he brought with him were obtained through hard searching despite the high mountains and dense forests, but he did not expect that the other party would wipe out 20% of his credit with a stroke of a pen.

You must know that although all these prisoners were gathered in one place, the amount submitted by each department directly determined the subsequent distribution of the spoils.

People like him who had only surrendered their lives could only be allocated scarce items such as tea and iron through documents. He could not remain indifferent to the actions of the camp manager.

"Okay, let's go find Taiji. I can also ask what to do with these old, weak, sick and disabled people!"

"What do you mean?!"

The captain's rage obviously did not make the steward feel the slightest bit fearful. After he said this, the captain even became a little bit fierce on the outside but actually cowardly.

"What do you mean? Look at the prisoners you captured. They are either old or disabled. If we follow the rules, even eighteen hundred of them won't count!"

"You said the old one, we recognize it! But these were caught from the forest, how could there be any disabled ones?!"

"Come on, come on, I'll take you to identify them. If your creatures are all agile, I'll cut off their heads and use them as drinking bowls!"

Faced with the steward's aggressiveness, Qianhu's voice was filled with anger, but he still tried his best to explain the meaning. However, to his surprise, the steward grabbed his sleeve after he only said one sentence. If others had not stopped him, he would have been dragged away to count the survivors one by one.

Seeing this, Qianhu had to fight for his life, but before he could make any move, a rider rushed over like lightning.

"Report!!! The Ming cavalry is heading towards us!"

Ming cavalry?

Where do I come from?

Putting these two sentences together, both the steward and the captain felt that it was a little unreal.

All in all, the Ming Dynasty at that time had long lost the might and power that the older generation had talked about. Not to mention that it had swept the land and exerted its power over the world, it had even lost most of its own land.

What's more, they sent cavalry, not the powerful infantry of the Han Dynasty.

Such an enemy not only did not retreat to Yangping Pass, but also dared to take the initiative to attack. Naturally, they were a little dazed.

But then again, no matter how dazed they were, since the Nanman had come to see them off, they would not be polite. Only half a breath had passed when Qianhu's voice was heard.

"I'll lead the attack, and you'll provide support. We'll split the spoils 20-80."

"Add another ten percent, and I'll count your capture as two thousand and two."

When the captain heard the words, he began to think about it in his heart. He didn't know whether he thought it was a good deal or wanted to take this opportunity to ease the tension with the manager. After smiling at the other party, he directly mounted his warhorse.

"Alright! There are several thousand-household teams around us. Let's make a quick decision and not let others take advantage of us."

After saying this, the captain led his cavalry out of the camp, while the soldiers in charge were still scattered in the camp. It took about one or two incense sticks of time to organize a team of 1,600 people.

To be honest, the time it took to assemble the troops was not long, and it could be considered fast even among nomadic cavalry. However, the manager was a little worried that the Ming cavalry would collapse at the first touch, and if he arrived too late, he would miss the best opportunity to surround them.

Therefore, when his troops were ready to go, he did not go straight to meet the Ming cavalry like the captain did, but instead changed direction and went behind the enemy.

The Hanzhong Plain was only three or four hundred miles from east to west, and only a hundred or so miles from north to south. In addition, they had just arrived and had not yet dispersed their troops completely. They did not spend much time managing their affairs and, under the leadership of the soldiers, they went around to the rear of the Ming army.

"Are you sure this is here?"

"Sure, they were in front when I saw the Ming cavalry."

After hearing the soldier's answer, the manager squinted his eyes and looked into the distance. When he saw the traces of a large group of cavalry marching on the field, he felt relieved.

As a direct subordinate of Dayan, the manager's views on this trip southward are different from those of the captain.

In his opinion, it didn't matter how much he could gain this time. The key was whether he could securely obtain the territory of Tusi Lu.

Of course, if the Ming army could come straight at them like they did today, they would not refuse them entry.

After all, there are always Han people who are skilled in various crafts, and their value is far higher than those white slaves.

Thinking of this, the manager couldn't help but feel a surge of heat in his heart, but when he was looking forward to the defeated Ming army appearing before his eyes, he heard a faint unusual sound in his ears.

"Did you hear that?"

"I heard it. It seemed like thunder."

As the words of the general beside him came, the steward couldn't help but look up at the sky, but there were only layers of clouds but no dark cloud, so it was obviously not thunder.

Seeing this situation, the manager became more and more confused. In addition, there was no sign of the Ming army's collapse, so he finally couldn't help but give the order to send troops.

Maybe it was a thousand-household team coming over.

Such a thought suddenly popped up in his mind, and the warhorse under the steward's crotch also sped up a bit. After another half incense stick of time, the sound in his ears became clearer.

"Bah!"

"Bah!"

"Bah!"

Infantry?

Didn’t the Ming army only have cavalry?
At this time, he had already determined that the noise was made by a musket, and he planned to punish the soldier who reported the news.

Although the infantry of the Ming army was more difficult to deal with, as long as they did not charge head-on into the battle line, they would not be a threat. Therefore, the manager was only dissatisfied with the soldiers, but his desire for survival was not affected at all.

"Everyone is very nervous. Don't lose your sense of self when you see a stranger!"

After giving an order to the general beside him, the steward took out the bow.

According to his estimation, the battle between Qianhu and the Ming army should be about a mile away. If they make all preparations in advance, they can strike the Ming army as soon as they see it.

After all, the Han infantry formation was a nuisance to the nomadic cavalry, and if they could catch them off guard, the battle could be ended quickly.

just
"Look!"

Just when they were about to reach the expected battlefield, a soldier with very good eyesight suddenly shouted, and then the manager squinted his eyes and looked forward. When he saw the scene clearly, he was so frightened that he stopped his horse.

His prediction was correct. The battle between Qianhu and the Ming army was just a few miles in front of him. However, at that moment, in the wilderness, apart from the smoke that had not yet completely dissipated, there were only his own soldiers lying on the ground. If there were not a few who were not dead yet and continued to howl, he didn't know how long he would have been stunned.

Seeing this situation, he naturally knew that the captain had failed to stop the Ming army, but the camp where the prisoners, cattle and sheep were kept was only three or four miles away, and that place was his responsibility. After shouting to his subordinates, the entire team rushed out at the fastest speed.

At this moment, the manager was so angry that he would complain to the Taiji if the captain managed to save his life from the Ming army.

In the final analysis, whether it is the Ming army's cavalry or the Ming army's infantry, as long as they use the right tactics, they can remain invincible even if they cannot completely defeat them.

At this time, with so many of their own knights dying in the wilderness, how could there be any other possibility except that the thousand-man army launched an attack on the Ming army's infantry phalanx out of greed for merit?

With this in mind, the steward's hands that were holding the reins turned blue from exerting too much force, and the warhorse under him seemed to sense the anger in his master's heart and also used all its strength.

But to his surprise, no matter how he sped up, he still couldn't catch up with the Ming army infantry. When he calmed down, he finally noticed something unusual.

Chasing the wrong direction?
The Ming army did not attack the camp?

But there were no other traces around, where could they hide?

With this in mind, the manager's gaze inevitably turned towards the mountains not far away, but when he was speculating, a fiery red line appeared between them and the camp.

By this time he had understood the true purpose of the Ming army.

In essence, the Mongols did not need logistical supplies like the Ming army. As long as they had grass, they could get endless meat and milk wine, and this camp was the key point for the tens of thousands of cavalry.

"Prepare!"

After a loud shout, the knights under his command immediately put the arrows on the bows, but at this time the Ming army in front of them was still staying where they were, with no intention of increasing the speed of their horses.

Seeing this, the manager couldn't help but feel confused, but since the enemy chose to sit and wait for death, he would not hold back.

"Draw the bow!"

As the military order was issued, the cavalry under his command simultaneously pulled their bows into full moon shapes. As long as they moved forward another twenty or thirty steps, the arrows would continue to fly towards the Ming army line. The cavalry led by the manager would make a circle and then do the same after they had put some distance between them.

If everything goes well, the Ming army's front line will become loose after a few rounds. Then they can either continue to waste time from a distance or attack from the flank. In less than an incense stick or two, the Ming army's front line will collapse, and they can follow up and kill them, and the credit that comes for nothing will be easily obtained.

just
"Bah!"

"Bah!"

"Bah!"

Just as the Mongolian cavalry were raising their bows at an angle, a thick smoke suddenly rose from the Ming army's line, followed by a burst of intensive sounds of muskets firing which reached the ears of the steward. Before he could react, he and his horse fell to the ground.

Dragon. Dragoon?!

(End of this chapter)