A small soldier of the frontier army in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 237 Chasing Lu Xiangsheng
In early November of the 11th year of Chongzhen.

Near Zhuozhou, on the vast North China Plain, a group of people and horses were walking.The cold wind is bitter, entering this November of the lunar calendar, the weather in the north of Ming Dynasty is getting colder and colder.However, this group of people and horses are still full of energy and striding forward.

They marched in a line formation that is rare in this world, left and right, front and back, were scattered dozens of miles away, screaming and passing by the night.Behind it is the banner of the Chinese army, followed by the cavalry of the brigade.Behind them were sergeants marching neatly. They were all in a row of ten people, and the bright red flags of the officers and captains in front of each team were flying.Everyone strode forward with proud expressions on their faces, as if no one in this world could stop their progress.

Wang Dou rode on his maroon horse, looked around the desolate fields, left the land of the capital, and the Qing soldiers invaded and plundered.There are no people around, even if you see some village forts, they are either emitting light smoke, or the residents have abandoned and fled.

In these areas, apart from some fields around the cities and villages, the rest is an endless dry and flat yellow land. The rivers that can be seen are almost dry, and when the wind blows, dust will be rolled up all over the sky.

In such a place, of course, there is no need to talk about raising food and grass. Fortunately, my army brought a lot of food, rice, and horse meat during this trip. At least for more than a month, thousands of soldiers will not have to worry about food and drink.

He looked at the densely packed luggage carts and artillery carts behind the Central Military Headquarters, with a satisfied expression on his face. These luggage are the lifeline of his army.Of course, due to the large number of horses and chariots in the army, it was inevitable that the march of the army would be dragged down.

Joining is no longer an internal march, it can be said to be deep into the enemy's territory, so after Wang Dou's army left the capital, they only walked sixty miles a day, and then set up camp to rest.The result was that on the 120-mile road from the capital to Zhuozhou, my army walked for two full days.

The main forces of the Qing army crossed the capital in late October, captured Zhuozhou, and then besieged Baoding in three routes. military.Occasionally, I encountered some small groups of Qing cavalry or sentry scouts, and they were immediately besieged by the Shun Township Army's Yeburei and cavalry, and the journey went smoothly.

Wang Dou calculated that he had passed through Zhuozhou, and estimated that after walking for two or three days, he would be able to reach Baoding and join Lu Xiangsheng.

Suddenly, an idea flashed in Wang Dou's mind, November, it's November, he thought of something in a daze, and asked Xie Yike beside him, "Yike, when is November today?"

Xie Yike looked at Wang Dou with an expression of "Brother-in-law, are you stupid?" and said, "General, today is the first day of November in the 11th year of Chongzhen, what's wrong?"

Wang Dou shook his head and said nothing.

At noon, the army rested for a short time beside a small river near Songlindian, Wang Dou summoned Wen Daxing, the chief executive of Baiyebu, and said, "Boss Wen, there is a matter for you to send a few subordinates to do. You choose some brave and reliable ones." People, hurry up and go to Gaoyang immediately, and wait for the opportunity to protect the elder Sun Ge in the city."

Without further ado, Wen Daxing immediately chose four nights to be in front of Wang Dou.

Wang Dou was satisfied when he saw it. The four Ye Bu Sui were Long Er, who made great contributions in scouting when the Qing soldiers entered the bandits in early October, and the thick Ye Bu Sui sergeant nicknamed "The Bench", and Ye Bu Sui, who was arrested in Ye Bu Sui. The two honored as Lord Tiger and Master Qiang.After these people made great contributions, he personally met them, especially that Yang Hu, who was in the Qing army, still kept his expression unchanged and completed his appointment brilliantly, which left a deep impression on him.

After accepting Wang Dou's assignment, the four of them patted their chests and promised to complete the task, only the "bench" was a little confused: "Which one is Mr. Sun Ge?"

There was a flash of light in Master Hu's eyes, and he asked, "General, is that the former emperor's teacher, a great scholar, and the former supervisor of Liaodong's Sun Ge?"

Wang Dou nodded. In history, on November 19th, when the Qing soldiers attacked Gaoyang City, Sun Chengzong led the gentry's family to fight to the death. In the end, the city was destroyed and died. He died at the age of [-], and all [-] descendants fought hard.Because of this incident, Emperor Chongzhen issued an order to severely reprimand Lu Xiangsheng for fearing the enemy and avoiding battles, so that Lu Xiangsheng would be more determined to die on the battlefield, and he must try his best to see if he can avoid all this.

Long Er and four men, one man and three horses, rushed away with the necessary food, grass and luggage.

Seeing the figures of the four going away, Wang Dou hoped that their trip would go well, and maybe he would meet them at Gaoyang City soon.

……

Smoke and dust billowed from the northwest again, and he rushed to Wen Daxing to report a few words all night long, Wen Daxing showed joy on his face, and said to Wang Dou: "General, Shen Shiqi, the officer of the B Division A Division A who stayed behind at Liujingzhai in Yizhou, is here. "

A smile appeared on Wang Dou's face. Liujingzhai was the first stronghold from Bao'an Prefecture to the North China Great Plains. Wang Dou attached great importance to it and left behind a team of people to take care of it.In the battles in the past few days, more than 40 people in our own army were killed and more than 110 people were injured. More than 30 wounded with serious injuries have been arranged to go to the capital to recuperate, and the rest of the wounded are still with the army.

Even if these people were not seriously injured, it would be dangerous to go down with the army if some of them became seriously injured due to severe cold weather and several days of turbulence.Just about to enter the boundary of Laishui, the sergeants who stayed behind in Liujingzhai were exchanged, and these wounded were transferred to Liujingzhai for recuperation, and the ashes of the dead sergeants were brought back by the way.

Soon, more than 100 people from two teams came, and they lined up neatly outside the main army.Team officer Shen Shiqi, who successfully snatched away Wu Zhengchun's woman, left the team and strode towards Wang Dou. He was accompanied by Qian Zong Han Zhong, Zong Zhong Xiancai and others.

Shen Shiqi was wearing iron armor, with the team officer's flag on his back. He was a tall man with a vicious look and a face full of flesh. He was not a kind person at first glance.But when his fierce eyes saw Wang Dou, he immediately turned to be submissive, and respectfully stepped forward to meet Wang Dou.

Wang Dou was very happy, since he led the army into the capital, he lost about two teams of soldiers, but with the supplement of these troops, his [-]-hundred-thousand troops were restored to integrity.

Wang Dou asked him to get up with a smile, and asked about the recent affairs of Liujing Village.

Shen Shiqi respectfully replied: "General, I stayed behind in Liujing Village. Since the end of last month, the Tartar army has plundered Zhuozhou, Yizhou, Laishui and other places, and a large number of people have fled into the village every day. A rough estimate , In the past half a month, Liujing Village has taken in nearly ten thousand victims, and all of them have been sent to the territory of Baoan Prefecture."

"The Tazi Liuqi also attacked Liujingzhai, and was repulsed by the brothers who stayed behind, beheading more than [-] levels. After receiving the general's order to accept the night, the villain immediately reported it to Mr. Han Qian in Zhoucheng. Before the villain When he came, Mr. Han Qian transferred another team of old troops from Zhoucheng to defend Liujingzhai, and two new teams joined in the defense. Another team of new troops came with the villain."

"Mr. Han Qian said that he trained soldiers day and night with Lord Lin in Baoan Prefecture. Five thousand new troops will soon be completed. There are also old ladies, big ladies, and young ladies in the state city, who are also looking forward to the return of the general in victory day and night. For the news, the wives also entrusted the younger one to bring a letter to the general."

As he spoke, he respectfully handed several letters to Wang Dou.

The affairs in Baoan Prefecture were closely related to Wang Dou who did not report at night, but Wang Dou was still very happy to learn about the Han Dynasty and the new army from Shen Shiqi.When the new army is trained, together with Han Chao and others who stayed in the city, there will be 3000 troops in Baoan Prefecture, and there are more than 8000 people around, and a total of more than [-] people can be used. There is a lot to do in the world.

He also heard that Shen Shiqi mentioned his mother Zhong Shi, his wife Xie Xiuniang and others. He took a look at the letter and saw that the characters in it were beautiful and beautiful. His mother Zhong Shi and Xie Xiuniang were illiterate, so he knew it was written by Ji Junjiao.The content of the letter from Zhong and Xie Xiuniang is relatively simple.

However, what Ji Junjiao wrote in the letter is quite obsessive. Behind the letter, there is a small poem: "The other's water is here, see you on the water. Thinking about you is silent, unforgettable all day long. The other is here, see you on the water. Thinking You are leisurely, unforgettable in the end of the month. The other continent is here, see you on the continent. Thinking about you is lonely, unforgettable for a lifetime..."
Looking at the few letters in his hand, Wang Dou couldn't help feeling a little crazy.

……

On the third day of November in the 11th year of Chongzhen, Baoding Fucheng.

As the seat of Fucheng and Baoding Town, Baoding City has a circumference of more than ten miles. The city wall is very high and thick. There are four gates in the city, all of which have urn walls.Baoding City was square when it was built, but because the southwest of the city protrudes hundreds of meters outward, it is slightly curved, and it is straight to the north, shaped like a boot. Baoding City is also known as the City of Boots.

In the town, there is a governor who is the governor of Baoding and other prefectures, and the admiral of Zijing and other customs, and also in charge of the river.There are also Baoding Cheying and other battalions of tens of thousands of soldiers and horses, defending this majestic city with Gongwei Shenjing, which is known as the most important town in the world.

But at this time, under the majestic city, there are bloodstains everywhere, not far from the city, there are also destroyed chariots and long ladders.The green brick city walls are covered with scars, and many areas of the city towers have been burned.It turns out that the residents of many villages and towns around the city were also completely destroyed by the flames of war, and the residents fled.

A few miles to the south of the city, not far from Qingyuan County, there was a camp tent. Outside the camp, Lu Xiangsheng remained motionless, looking at the high Baoding city on the horizon, feeling extremely angry in his heart.He led the army to help and broke the siege of Baoding. Unexpectedly, when the Qing soldiers retreated, the governor of Baoding, Zhang Qiping, closed the city gates tightly and refused to let his army enter the city alone. He even refused to provide food and grass because there was no food in the city. He ordered people to throw thousands of taels of silver from the city, and let his army go to buy food.

It's ridiculous. After the Qing Dynasty, all the villages and towns around Baoding City were empty. Where can I buy food?I led more than 1 officers and soldiers from the three towns of Xuanda out of the capital. The food and grass were extremely insufficient. The soldiers were starving and cold.

The remaining food and grass in the army can only allow the soldiers to eat porridge for one meal a day.Today Lu Xiangsheng has ordered the soldiers to dig out the bark and grass roots. Unexpectedly, this is the result of his blood.

These days, Lu Xiangsheng shared joys and sorrows with the soldiers every day. Although the soldiers complained, none of them fled.The more he thought of this, the more Lu Xiangsheng felt his heart ache.He had already written to the Ministry of War, asking for food and grass, but there was no response.

Looking at Baoding City in the distance, Lu Xiangsheng suddenly had a poem in his mind: "I am going to Baozhou Fortress, and the Yuhe River is straight to the east. The mountains and rivers are still alive, and the beauty is so lush. Take care of me. Qiu Peng. The petals are fragrant and I want to worship, but I am melancholy facing the sky."

This is Wen Tianxiang's emotion when he was plundered by Hu Yuan to Baoding City. Although Baoding is beautiful and has the color of Jiangnan, just like Wen Tianxiang back then, Lu Xiangsheng's heart is also gloomy.

When he was in a trance, suddenly his relative Chen An came over and said in a low voice: "Duchen, Yang Zanhua is back."

Lu Xiangsheng was refreshed, and he sent Yang Tinglin to Qingyuan County to ask for food. He didn't know if there would be any good news.

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Old White Bull: The latest chapter has been subscribed to 24 within [-] hours, an auspicious number, haha.

(End of this chapter)