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

Chapter 303
On the 12th day of the first month of the 26th year of Chongzhen, early in the morning.

After the grand expedition ceremony, there were more than 3 Xuanda troops, 5 Guanning troops, and 10 reinforcements from Shaanxi. soldier.The Ming army, with nearly [-] people, marched to Tongzhou in mighty force.

This is only the number on the army roll, and there are also a large number of civilians accompanying them to transport food, grass and luggage, forming a vast number of troops that cannot be seen.

The emperor is eagerly looking forward to it, hoping to take advantage of the great victory in Zhuozhou to defeat the invaders. Hong Chengchou and Chen Xinjia, the leader of the army, are equally full of ambition, hoping to make great achievements and comfort the high hopes of the Holy Grace.Although the officers and soldiers on the expedition were united together, they were led by two divisions. Chen Xinjia led the Xuanda Army and Guan Ning Army, and Hong Chengchou and Sun Chuanting led Qin Wang's Shanxi Qin Army.The specific battle will be coordinated and discussed by the two.

Before the expedition, everyone had already received the enemy's battle report. The remnant of Zhenghongqi in Tongzhou, with the assistance of nearly Wan Jingqi from Shandong, had already taken the captured wealth and population, and quickly headed for Pinggu.

It can be confirmed that the reinforcements of the Qing soldiers from Shandong were led by Rao Yubeile Abatai of Manchuria with the white flag inlaid. They seemed to set off from Jinan on the 22th and arrived at the enemy camp in Tongzhou on the [-]nd. Retreat to Pinggu.After a few days of rushing, they have arrived outside Pinggu City with their population and money.

Hearing the speed of Abatai's reinforcements, the Ming army couldn't help but be shocked. Jinan is a thousand miles away from Tongzhou, and they will arrive in six days?It's appalling.

Wang Dou is not surprised. The mobility of the Qing army was outstanding at the end of the Ming Dynasty. There was a saying in "Jiashen Remembrance": "The Eight Banners Army is like an arrow that leaves the string, piercing Shanhaiguan at a speed of [-] miles per day. Because of the speed with which the Red Army rushed to cross the Dadu River. Li Zicheng was slow after leaving Beijing. Beijing is more than [-] miles away from Shanhaiguan, and the Dashun Army actually walked for eight days, averaging [-] to [-] miles a day. Arrived at Shanhaiguan. If Li Zicheng had arrived one day earlier, the battle at Shanhaiguan would not have ended as it did later.”

Two hundred miles per day has already exceeded the marching speed of the US military in Iraq. Although this is at the cost of exhausting a large number of horses, it is undeniable that the Qing soldiers have the ability to march quickly.

According to the enemy's situation, there is also the main force of Dorgon in Shandong. They have almost arrived in Tianjin with the captured people and money.It is more than [-] miles from Jinan to Tianjin. Even if they set off on the [-]th, they can reach Tianjin in [-] days, and travel [-] to [-] miles a day, but it is because of the help of the canal.

The two enemy armies, which one to fight, Chen Xinjia and Hong Chengchou both tend to attack the enemy in Pinggu first, deal with the captive people there, and then wait for work to find a way to deal with the coming main force of Dorgon.To be on the safe side, they also consulted Yang Guozhu, Hu Dawei, and Wang Dou of Xuan Dajun, and they also had the same idea.

The strategy has been decided, and the army set off in a mighty manner. It is nearly a hundred miles from the capital to Tongzhou. There are many fields and canals, which are not suitable for cavalry operations.Although the Qing cavalry also encountered harassment on the road, attacked some grain transporters, burned and looted some luggage, which caused the army to panic, but it went smoothly.

After marching for two days, the army continued to reach Tongzhou and successfully recovered the empty city. Chen Xinjia hurriedly reported his victory to the capital.In order to show their determination to fight, Chen Xinjia and Hong Chengchou did not camp in Tongzhou City, but on the east bank of the Chaobai River. In front of them was the open land more than 100 miles from Tongzhou to Pinggu.

On the evening of the 28th, Chen Xinjia and Hong Chengchou summoned their generals to discuss matters.

When Wang Dou arrived at Chen Xinjia's tent of the Chinese army, it was already full of town generals in helmets and armor, but the atmosphere inside the tent was not very good.Guan Ning's generals all squinted at General Xuan, with envy and envy in their expressions, and a hint of resentment.

It is obvious that Yang Guozhu, Hu Dawei, Wang Dou and others did not help after their giant deer was defeated, and at the same time they were extremely jealous of Wang Dou and others' victory in Zhuozhou.

Even the Xuanda generals, who split up with Lu Xiangsheng in the eastern outskirts of the capital and belonged to the Xuanda guerrillas under Chen Xinjia's command, were also very jealous of Wang Dou.In particular, the guerrilla generals Li Jianming and Wen Hui in Xuanfu Town were extremely unconvinced.

He Renlong, the commander-in-chief who came to aid from three sides in Shaanxi, and others were also cursing.

There are many officers and soldiers going to battle, and the astronomical amount of food and grass is needed, but the capital is broken, and the supply of food and grass is extremely difficult.Tongzhou was originally the place where the capital’s grain was collected and distributed. However, after the city was breached, the grain warehouses everywhere were captured by the Qing army, or were simply destroyed, and there was little grain to supply. Eating and drinking becomes a problem.

There were too many monks and too little porridge. Chen Xinjia gave priority to the limited food and grass provided by the household department to the Xuanda army. This caused widespread dissatisfaction among the rest of the army.He Renlong and others' Shaanxi trilateral troops received only a small amount of food and grass, and all of them cursed and complained.

Wang Dou has always insisted on not asking for food and grass, so after he arrived in the capital from Yizhou, he carried a month's food and grass with the army.However, seeing the atmosphere in the tent, he was worried. This time, there were many soldiers and generals who were not in the same mood. I am afraid the situation would not be so optimistic.

Wang Dou seemed to be left out in the cold in the tent, the generals in the tent were divided into three divisions, each of the three commanders stood in one division, and after greeting each other, they didn't speak much.

Although Yang Guozhu and Hu Dawei on the side of General Xuan are kind to Wang Dou, the participating guerrillas in the two towns only pay polite greetings to Wang Dou, or express admiration for making a fuss, but keep their distance intentionally or unintentionally in their expressions and behaviors. .

It is mediocrity not to attract envy, Wang Dou let them do whatever they want.

Fortunately, Yang Guozhu's Chinese army general Guo Yingxian and Hu Dawei's Chinese army general Hu Zichen were very affectionate to Wang Dou, which made Wang Dou feel a little warm in his heart.He and the two generals can be regarded as dependent on each other for life and death, and they forged a comrade-in-arms friendship after the bloody battle side by side.

While Wang Dou was watching with cold eyes, General Guan Ning's Yutian General Soldier Cao Bianjiao and the former Garrison General Wang Tingchen came over, and behind them were some generals in armor.

Although the two were general soldiers, they didn't have seals and titles, and they were all superior officials who paid homage to Yang Guozhu and Hu Dawei.In particular, Yang Guozhu, General Zhenshuo of Xuanfu, has the highest and most revered status among the general soldiers with full accounts.

After Cao Bianjiao saluted Wang Tingchen, he greeted Yang Guozhu and Hu Dawei with a smile on his face, especially on Cao Bianjiao's face, there was a faint expression of shame, obviously he felt guilty and ashamed for being helpless in Julu.

Yang Guozhu and Hu Dawei were able to climb to the positions of the chief soldiers, they are both old and mature characters, so naturally they will not show any abnormalities, chatting and laughing with Cao Bianjiao.After exchanging pleasantries for a while, Cao Bianjiao suddenly turned his eyes to Wang Dou, and he said with a smile: "General Wang won the three armies bravely, followed Yang. Junmen, Hujunmen's great victory in Zhuozhou, this armymen really admires it."

Wang Tingchen also shouted from the side: "General Wang, you are a good soldier. You have time to teach my ineffective subordinates."

Everyone's ears in the tent were pricked up, Yang Guozhu felt that his face was bright, and he also laughed.

Wang Dou smiled and said: "The two military schools are too famous, it should be the last general who asked the two military schools for advice."

Seeing that Wang Dou was not arrogant or impetuous, Cao Bianjiao admired him even more, and introduced a group of cadres to him, and followed Cao Bianjiao into the guard, a Chinese general and two guerrilla generals.One of the guerrillas, Yang Shaofan, caught Wang Dou's attention. He was not very old, only 24 or [-] years old, as young as Wang Dou.

When he spoke with a Liaodong accent, he was dressed in a well-fitting iron armor. He was slender and covered with a cloak and cloak, which further made his face like a crown jade and his appearance was dignified.When he saluted Wang Dou with a peaceful smile, he made people feel good at first sight.

However, Wang Dou always felt that this person was not simple, he seemed to be a person who was hiding something and had a lot of power.Cao Bianjiao was very fond of Yang Shaofan, and he briefly introduced to Wang Dou that this Yang Shaofan was once a subordinate of his uncle Cao Wenzhao, who had accumulated meritorious service and was promoted to guerrilla warfare, and later followed Cao Bianjiao.

After Yang Shaofan saluted Wang Dou, he quietly retreated behind Cao Bianjiao, only looking at Wang Dou from time to time.

While everyone was exchanging greetings, they suddenly heard the sound of the third drum, and the generals hurriedly stood up on the left and right, Xuan Da's generals were listed on the left, and at the top was Yang Guozhu, the chief soldier of Xuanfu Town.Wang Dou and other generals in the town stood behind Yang Guozhu.Then there is Hu Dawei, the commander-in-chief of Shanxi Town, and finally the generals of Guanning. As for the generals of He Renlong and other towns on the three sides of Shaanxi, they are listed on the right side of the big tent.

……

"The two governors, the last general is willing to lead the army as a vanguard, take down Pinggu, and kill all the Tartar soldiers inside."

Chen Xinjia and Hong Chengchou sat side by side in front of the huge iron desk, but Chen Xinjia sat on the left and Hong Chengchou sat on the right.Both of them have the Shangfang sword bestowed by the emperor, each in a yellow satin embroidered dragon case, hanging on the screen behind the case.

There is also Sun Chuanting, sitting on the left side of the head under the table. After he led the reinforcements to the capital, he was not allowed to enter the capital to face the saint. His expression was gloomy and his eyes were more vigorous.He sat on the seat, his eyes slowly scanning the tent.

After some discussions on military intelligence and intelligence, He Renlong, the commander-in-chief of Shaanxi, called for the battle first, and then all the generals in Shaanxi shouted for the battle, and the generals in Guanning did not show weakness, and they rushed to lead the army.There are thousands of Tazi soldiers over there, but there are a lot of gold and silver treasures. Who doesn't want to go?In the battle of Zhuozhou, Yang Guozhu and the Xuan army made a lot of money, and they were very envious.

The morale of the army is available, Hong Chengchou and Chen Xinjia looked at each other and smiled, feeling very satisfied, and Sun Chuanting couldn't help nodding.

Chen Xinjia twitched his beard and smiled, with an expression of pearls in his hands. Xuan Dajun had done enough meritorious service, and if he continued to stand up, the friendly army should be jealous.After the great victory in Zhuozhou, the Ming army's vigor was high, and there were thousands of Qing soldiers in Pinggu. Let the Qin army and Guanning army win this military exploit. Presumably, the timid Qing army was also a matter of peace.

Hong Chengchou modestly asked Chen Xinjia to speak, and Hong Chengchou's attitude made Chen Xinjia very satisfied. He asked Hong Chengchou to lecture and make decisions quite a lot.

Hong Chengchou was secretly delighted, he stood up, coughed lightly, glanced majestically at all the generals in the tent, and then said in his official dialect with a slight Fujian accent: "The slaves from the east have invaded the country, and the people have suffered. Gritting teeth and hating. Fortunately, thanks to the spirit of our ancestors, the great blessings of the sages, and the planning and planning of all the princes in the court, our army of the Ming Dynasty was able to win the victory in Zhuozhou. The slaves are frightened. There are only a few thousand slaves in Pinggu. When you are successful, report to the king and save the people, and fight here!"

After he finished his speech in a dignified way, he then arranged for the battle, with Shaanxi General He Renlong leading his headquarters as the forward, Shanhaiguan General Ma Ke to support, and the rest of the Shaanxi generals and Guan Ning's generals to slowly advance.As for the Xuanda army, they stayed in Tongzhou to lay the groundwork for the army, and at the same time guard against possible enemy reinforcements in Tianjin.

Seeing that Hong Chengchou's arrangement was orderly, Chen Xinjia also nodded. Hong Chengchou's arrangement was very steady. With so many troops on the way, and every step of the way, there was no reason why Pinggu could not be defeated by thousands of Qing soldiers.Even if they escaped, that would be even better. The officers and soldiers easily rescued the [-] people and captured the wealth and luggage captured by the enemy.

After making arrangements, Hong Chengchou saw that Chen Xinjia had no objection, so he asked Sun Chuanting with a smile what his opinion was.

Sun Chuanting stood up and said sternly: "Tomorrow, all generals need to work together. If there are those who are greedy for life and afraid of death, and weak in battle, I will never forgive them!"

The generals of the Qin army were still afraid of the governor and took orders abruptly, but the generals of Guan Ning curled their lips secretly.

He Renlong took the striker's arrow and shouted loudly: "Donkey ball, the heads of thousands of Tartars in Pinggu, I'm going to order it!"

But then he said again: "You two governors, there is a saying that the emperor does not send hungry soldiers, and brothers in the army must not be hungry."

Hong Chengchou turned to Chen Xinjia and asked tentatively, "Master Chen, what do you think?"

The food and grass in the army were drawn from the household department to the army, and they were all distributed by Chen Xinjia. At this time, he smiled and said: "The generals will kill thieves for the country. How can this governor have the heart to let the generals suffer from hunger and cold? It is the shortage of food and grass in the army. This governor We must also find ways to provide sufficient food and grass for the troops of General He and General Ma who are going to battle."

Hearing what Chen Xinjia said, Hong Chengchou was relieved, and he said: "Tomorrow, the governor will serve General He and General Ma who will go to battle in person!"

(End of this chapter)