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

Chapter 802
The vast Zhongzhou Plain stretches in front of you, and as far as the eye can see, there is scorched earth all around, and only the ruins of the city remain.

Around the time of leaving Xiangyang Prefecture, the villages have been empty, and sometimes there is not a single person a hundred miles away from the city, but there are eleven or two remaining in the city, and the fields near the city are cultivated by the people in the city to make a living.Passing through Nanyangfu city and heading north, all the gates were destroyed, the city wall was flattened, and the city site was turned into a piece of wild grass.

Especially if there is no resident outside the city, the fields and fields will all become basil, which looks like a prairie for hundreds of miles.

When troubled times come, it is ordinary people who suffer first, especially those who live in Pingchuan, have no villages, and have no ability to protect themselves.Bandits and local bandits are everywhere, as well as past criminals, all threatening their lives.

Many people have become bones, and they have awakened. The survivors have fled one after another. Most of the remaining residents in the counties are looking for high mountains with flat hillocks to live in villages. There may be dozens of villages in large counties. The small county is only more than ten villages, and it is self-sufficient.

They are extremely vigilant to the outside world, no matter which side of the force is likely to be favored by them, even the people who fled to the deep mountains live alone in seclusion, from generation to generation, ignorant of the outside world, don't know that there is Jin, how can we talk about Han and Tang?
Whether there is a drought or not is not important now, because there is no social organization in Henan, and the people are thrown back into the jungle again, killing each other, and the strong prey on the weak.

Apart from a powerful stronghold with the ability to protect itself, living in Pingchuan now just attracts looting from all sides and the attention of countless bandits and rogues. No matter how fertile the land is or how vast the fields are, what's the point?
So what I saw along the way, the cities and villages were abandoned, the hares ran away, and the wormwood was overgrown. It was quite normal to walk on the road for several days and nights without seeing a single person.

Many official roads are covered with weeds that are several feet long, the fields are overgrown with weeds, and foxtails are ostentatious, sometimes stretching for hundreds of miles.

It is within the territory of Ye County, on the south bank of Kunshui River.

"There are wolves!"

A cavalry soldier beside him suddenly screamed, and Old Hu Yixi said, "Where is it?"

The horse soldier pointed, and everyone looked at the opposite bank. There were wild grasses on both sides of the bank, and the fertile fields in the past are now covered with weeds. On the grass on the other bank, there are indeed hundreds of wolves lurking, and their eyes are shining with green light. .

At this moment, everyone was in a trance, this is the Central Plains, not the grassland, and now it has become a place where wolves haunt?

Then the old Hu laughed and shouted: "There is meat to eat, brothers, kill the shore!"

Immediately, more than a hundred cavalry soldiers cheered and shouted, and under the leadership of Ba Tiao, they rode their horses and rushed to the opposite bank. The wolves ran away in fright. Watching numbly.

Kong San rode his horse and stood up, looking at the cheerful intruders, his eyes flashed, and he said silently: "Traitors!"

Near April, Li Zicheng's army marched northward in mighty force. At this time, Lao Hu and Kong San had just arrived in Huguang, and then went northward with the army.After arriving in Huguang, Chuangying also gave them the designation of a mountain patrol camp, which was under the command of the Houying camp.

The battalion is divided into teams. Each team has fifty cavalry soldiers, one hundred infantry soldiers, and thirty to fifty servants who take care of children. There are one thousand cavalry soldiers and more than 50 infantry soldiers, which are divided into about thirty teams.

As for the original hungry people, after supplementing the number of infantry and servants in the patrol camp, they were resettled by the camp.

They are also considered to be regularized now, because from the infantry onwards, everyone has a livery, just like the waistcoat of later generations. is yellow.

Li Chuang's hundreds of thousands of troops marched northward with the intention of attacking Shaanxi. Of course, they could not transport grain from Huguang thousands of miles. Except for some grain and grass at the beginning, they were all settled on the spot. This is also their logistical "advantage". Do, this is not what they considered.

So as soon as they left Huguang, the army marched, and at the same time, countless horses and infantry marched out to attack those cities and villages that did not belong to their own forces, and threatened the refugees wandering around in the wilderness.

Collecting food and grass for the army is naturally one of the tasks of foreign camps like the Xunshan Camp. This time they were ordered to go out to collect food, and they took a fancy to a small village in the northeast of Ye County.

In troubled times, the most vital people are the rural landlords and powerful families. They have a lot of food and wealth, but at the same time, they have high walls and deep villages, and they are extremely united. It is not easy to capture their villages.

A typical representative is Linfeng Village in Jiaxian County. They have stood beside Fengxi for generations since the Southern and Northern Dynasties, along the Sui, Tang, Song, Yuan, and Ming dynasties. and go.

This kind of stockade is also called Wubao. Only rich families, clan township parties, and powerful families can build it, and it is very difficult to fight.

Back then when Li Zicheng fled to Shangluo Mountain, he lived by attacking the villages, but they were all small villages. When he met the real powerful local tyrants and the villages of the gentry, he had no choice but to force them to donate some food and grass.

In addition to these large villages, there are also some small villages on Pingchuan, which were built by those who were lucky or those who were far away from the mountains.

It is difficult to leave the homeland, and many places in Henan are plains. It is not easy to find deep mountains and old forests, so some local people, or some refugees, spontaneously gathered with luck, built some fortresses, and survived in troubled times. Time off.

Ye County is considered a large county. Although the county seat is not there, the remaining people in the territory, some wandering refugees, still rely on Kunshui and Zhanshui, and set up dozens of large and small villages. Some of the powerful and powerful villages cannot be built in a short period of time. arrived, but the rest...

The special sentinel learned that in the village called Liulinzhuang that was about to be attacked, there were only a few hundred people working in the village. The head of the village was a local chief surnamed Yang, who gathered scattered villagers from several nearby villages. There are also some refugees.

There are not many young and strong in this village, and the village is not big, so it should be easy to fight.

Beside Kong San and Lao Hu stood a big man on a war horse, his eyes were full of menacing colors, behind him were also some sturdy knights, all of them were wearing cotton armor and felt hats, the cotton armor was yellow, But it is the old battalion of the rear battalion.

In addition to the standard battalion, which is an old battalion, the standard battalion is an old battalion, and the generals of the five battalions also have their own old battalion soldiers. When the outer battalion goes out to collect food, the core of the fifth battalion will naturally send out old battalion personnel to supervise.

It's not like Lao Hu's mountain patrol camp. Although they are horse soldiers, many of them ride donkeys or mules, or most of them are bad horses. These old camps ride all good horses and war horses, and it is common for one person to have two horses, or even three horses .

This team supervises the back camp and the old camp, all riding good horses. Behind them, there are some servants serving them. They are generally thirteen, fourteen, fifteen or six years old. But with ferocity, seems to be full of indifference to life and death.

Chuangying likes to take orphans in the camp, and under the influence of what they see and hear, many of them become members of the backbone thieves when they grow up, and many leaders also like to recognize these people as adopted sons, just like Sun Kewang, Li Dingguo and others back then.

When he first saw the wolves, the big man was delighted, but when he saw the horsemen of the patrolling camp rushing across the bank, but didn't hit a single wolf, he frowned and said displeasedly: "Tadilong, it's getting late, it's time to I went to hunt for grain, and took down Liulin Village, and I have to fight another village today, so I'm going to be slow."

Although this person is only a military officer and he is a mighty general, but he is an old battalion soldier, Lao Hu dare not neglect, he nodded with a smile and said: "Ye Tian is right, it is indeed getting late. No."

He shouted: "Brothers, all cross the river and take down Liulinzhuang. Everyone will have enough to eat."

Immediately, the whole battalion cheered and roared, all the soldiers jumped for joy, and everyone was full of energy.

At this time, the supply of grain and grass in the camp was still egalitarian, and the grain and grass brought in by each battalion were collected in the old camp, and then distributed according to the hair of each person.If there is more grain and rice, the overall standard of living will be higher, and if there is less grain and grass, the average will be short.

The water in Kunming was not deep, and the mountain patrol battalion roared across the river. Each team had a flag, and the battalion headquarters had a big flag on it. When marching, no matter how horse or foot they walked, they all followed the flag.The other side is still a plain. Although it is covered with weeds, it is still easy to walk. A battalion of thousands of soldiers marched in separate ways, and some horses ran far away.

The military law of breaking into camp, no matter marching or setting up camp, immediately sends out horses, and four-way detectives up, down, left, and right, one mile and one mile, until [-] miles away, the police will be alerted.The powerful reconnaissance ability is also the reason why officers and soldiers have repeatedly fallen into ambush.

Thousands of starving people followed the army and broke into the camp all the way to the north. Many refugees were already trapped, and thousands of people were assigned to the mountain patrol camp.

Old Hu rode his horse with his head held high, looking back at the "mighty" army behind him, he felt quite high-spirited in his heart. In the past, he was just a small soldier, but now he has become the leader of thousands of people. The sense of accomplishment is indescribable. It wasn't that Kong San was by his side, he had long forgotten that he was a spy.

However, when he looked at the old battalion chief beside him, a look of jealousy flashed in Lao Hu's eyes. He saw that these people were all skilled in equestrianism, and they all rode good horses. Two hundred riders, I hope that after some battles, more horses and mules will be rewarded.

In order to encourage the battalions to harvest grain, there are regulations for breaking into the camps. The more grain and grass they bring in, the more grain and rice they will distribute. There are other rewards, which further motivate the enthusiasm of the battalions.

Among the military merit rewards of the battalions, horses and mules are the highest rewards, bows, lead guns are the second, and gold, silver, pearls and jade are the lowest.In troubled times, appreciating horses and mules will of course greatly increase the hard power of the leaders of each battalion. If they have strength, it is only easy to get gold, silver and treasure.

Without strength, no amount of gold and silver can be kept. Old Hu, who has been in the army, of course understands this.

They walked on the barren land, and the towns along the way were all desolate. The prosperous villages and towns in the past were all rubble and weeds everywhere.

On the way, the patrolling camp passed a large stockade, which was built by a local tyrant. At this time, the wall of the stockade was full of figures, all of them watching vigilantly at the intruders passing by outside the stockade.

Chuangying hated the landlords and Lao Cai, but they were the most difficult villages to fight. Sure enough, after a rough look outside the village, the armed forces of the villagers in the village were no worse than those in some counties. They were equipped with bows, arrows, birds and blunderbuss, and even artillery. .

The persimmons were still soft, and even the old battalion chief who supervised them didn't give an order to attack the village, and the whole battalion went straight to Liulinzhuang.

Finally, when the whole camp arrived in front of Liulin Village, it looked like a miniature version of Da'an Village. The village was dilapidated, but a lot of wheat had been planted on the surrounding plains outside the village. At this moment, men and women in ragged clothes were standing on the wall , all looked terrified.

From the looks of Lao Hu and others, the guarding of this village is not very good, there are not many bows and arrows, and many people hold wooden sticks in their hands. Military units like the Mountain Patrol Battalion...

A middle-aged man who looked like a village owner was shouting, hoping that the rebels would spare them, and that they were willing to provide food and grass.

The old battalion chief sneered, funding?After laying down the stockade, everything in it is his own. The previous strong and powerful stockade was willing to fund it, so the rebels will push the boat along the way, and will send them a big flag of Chuangzi. This stockade...

He said: "Tadilong, don't talk too much, attack the stronghold immediately, the hungry people are in front, the infantry and horsemen are behind, and those who retreat, all of them will be killed. If the horsemen retreat, the old battalion will be killed. A small village, a That's right down to the drum."

As an old bandit battalion, he was already familiar with this kind of tactics, and he would come when he opened his mouth.

Lao Hu complied, and immediately arranged for the hungry people who took all kinds of weapons and short ladders to be in front, and asked the camp servants to carry a few baskets of doughnuts and put them in front of the formation, and told the hungry people, If you win a battle, these are used as rewards.

The hungry people immediately became agitated, their eyes were red, and they were hungry all the year round. The temptation of these foods was great for them.

Then the archers in the battalion were arranged, the blunderbuss soldiers followed behind, and the horsemen urged the infantry to set up their positions. After a big drum, the whole battalion shouted...

A quarter of an hour later, Liulin Village was breached, and some corpses were lying on the walls of the village. As the owner of the village, the local village head surnamed Yang was escorted in. He was forced to kneel in front of the crowd with blood all over his body and face. With great despair.

In front of the mountain patrolling camp and the people of Liulin Village who were captured, the old battalion department proudly pronounced the crimes of the head of the Yang surname, such as being rich and unkind, oppressing the people, being in the fish and meat village, resisting the rebels, etc., unforgivable crimes , must be put to death.

The head of the village surnamed Yang murmured: "Yang did not bully the people, Yang gathered the neighbors, just wanted them to live."

The old battalion chief yelled: "In front of the rebels, Anke is sophistrying, come here, cut it off."

A few old battalion soldiers walked up with grinning grinning, while drawing out their weapons, the Lieutenant Yang surnamed knelt quietly. He looked at the crowd of people in Liulinzhuang, especially in one direction, with guilt in his eyes, and then murmured: " Yang is determined and powerless... In troubled times, people's lives are like ants, when will the prosperous age come?"

Then his head fell to the ground, and Liulinzhuang was silent at first, and then there were sobs everywhere, interspersed with the frightened crying of the children, a scene of desolation, Lao Hu was originally elated, but suddenly he felt a needle prick in his heart, and fell silent.

The old battalion chief was displeased, and shouted: "You all cry, we wait for the rebels to get rid of the bullies for you, and you will have a good life, are you still crying?"

"God has no eyes..."

But hearing a desolate voice from the crowd, the old battalion chief suddenly opened his eyes wide and said sharply, "Who?"

Then she saw a young girl staggering out, and the women beside her couldn't help her. She walked up to Yang Lichang's body, and said sadly: "Why don't good people live long, my father is such a good person... "

The old battalion chief shouted: "Presumptuous, the government has no way, my rebel army is doing justice for the sky..."

The girl looked at her father's body, looked at the head of the Ministry suddenly, and screamed: "Do justice for the heavens? The government has no way, you go and kill your officials, you are in Shaanxi, and we are in Henan. Are you bullying us thousands of miles away? You? We just want to farm well, why not let us live..."

The old battalion chief yelled: "It's wrong, it's wrong, this temptress is wrong, just like her father, she must be killed."

The girl laughed wildly, and she shouted: "You are thieves, no matter how hypocritical you are, you are still thieves, look at your crimes, there are bones everywhere, everyone is dead..."

The old battalion head was furious, and several old battalion soldiers drew their weapons and slashed at the girl. The girl screamed and said sternly: "...You have harmed the people, and there will be retribution, and you will all die... "

"...retribution...not a good death..."

In the end, the girl was lying on her father's body, in a pool of blood, her eyes were wide open, and her shrill voice was still echoing in the sky.

Old Hu stared blankly, his heart twitching, Kong San turned his head away, clenched his right fist, the veins on his hand were exposed, and the soldiers and horses of the patrolling battalion were also dumbfounded.

(End of this chapter)