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

Chapter 806
Li Chuang is no stranger to Tongguan. In the battle of Nanyuan, Li Zicheng was defeated here by Sun Chuanting, and only Shibaqi fled to Shangluo Mountain.

The terrain of Tongguan is full of ravines and ravines. It is easy to set up an ambush, especially from Jindouguan to Dongchengmen. It's not working.

Li Chuang was originally an expert in setting up ambushes, so he was of course cautious about this. Beforehand, he set off with the main force first, searching the ravines and ravines on the front of Tongguan.

The return of the sentry horses was that they were strongly driven away by the sentry cavalry of the Ming army at Niutouyuan. Li Zicheng judged that Sun Chuanting must have set up ambushes in the area of ​​Niutouyuan, and Jindouguan could not leave.

Therefore, in the afternoon, after passing through the ancient Donggou stone bridge in the Xiyu Valley at the junction of Henan and Shaanxi, his horse-buying army camped on Pingchuan, five miles away from Jindouguan, north and east of Niutouyuan.

This Sichuan borders the Yellow River in the north, and although there are terraced plateaus, the drop is generally not large, and it is almost a flat plateau, which is suitable for camping.Originally there were quite a few villages in Sichuan, but at this time, of course, there were no people there.In addition, the hilly land along the river was also controlled to ensure drinking water for the army.

Not only that, Li Zicheng also ordered a bridge to be built on the Donggou, a mere stone bridge, which could not meet the needs of the army's transportation.

Li Zicheng's old camp was set up in an abandoned village called Shapo, which was located between two gentle plateaus in the north and south.After setting up camp, Li Zicheng took a group of generals and staff to observe the terrain. They first looked at Jindou Pass and frowned in unison.

"Donkey ball, in such a dangerous place, our rebel army will die as many times as we go in, we must not leave."

A thunderous voice sounded, but it was Liu Zongmin. Like Li Zicheng, he was wearing a white felt hat, a blue arrow jacket, his bloodstained cloak, and two knives pinned to his waist. .

As Li Zicheng's right-hand man, Liu Zongmin naturally knew at a glance what terrain could fight and what terrain could not fight.

"Master Liu is right, not to mention that it is easy to fall from Jindouguan to the east gate of Tongguan, even if you go in, the area around the east gate and north gate is narrow and steep. Siege."

Liu Xiyao, the general of the right battalion, also said that as the former general of the fifth Zuoge battalion, after joining the Chuangying camp, he was entrusted with important positions and served as a general of the right battalion. Liu Xiyao also tried to express himself on many occasions.

Yang Shaofan also had a dignified expression. In such a terrain, his gun battalion could not perform at the same level.

"It's just that this is the only official road to the west. If you don't go here, you may have trouble transporting your luggage elsewhere."

Tian Jianxiu said that his responsibilities are also responsible for the logistics of the entire army, and of course he must consider the issue of the passage of luggage.

This official road controls east-west traffic. Although there are roads elsewhere, such as the village-level roads of later generations, they can only communicate with each village.Even if it is feasible to take the small road, it is often difficult to know how many detours will be made, and many roads are not suitable for the passage of large groups of luggage.

Transporting luggage has high requirements on the road surface. If you want to drag artillery, you need better roads, just like tanks cannot travel on the field ridges.

Of course everyone in the camp understood the importance of roads to supplies. Gao Yigong murmured: "If our rebel army captures Niutouyuan and deploys soldiers and horses along the slope of the loess alley, then we won't be afraid of officers and soldiers setting up an ambush."

Gao Yigong is now the military post of Shuai Biaozheng Mighty General. He is in charge of the main old battalion soldiers and horses. kill.

Everyone looked towards Niutouyuan, looking up from the bottom, the plateau was like continuous mountains.This plateau is located in the south of Pingchuan. After crossing the Xiyu Gudonggou at the junction of Henan and Shaanxi, it spreads from east to west and extends to the side of Yuanwanggou.

There are still many trails in Shangyuan, and it is easy for horse infantry to go up, which is also a countermeasure.

However, Li Guo said: "The southeast of Tongguan is Qilin Mountain. The mountain plateau is the city wall, and the city wall is the mountain plateau. There is a deep ditch at the foot, and the layout is strict. Even if you pass the official road for five miles, no matter whether it is soldiers, horses or luggage, it will be very difficult. It is difficult to go around the city wall and go to the south of Tongguan. The soldiers and horses cannot be deployed, and the attack on the city is still useless."

Everyone in the camp knows Tongguan very well, and they have a steady stream of sentry horses to report back, and they know Tongguan's terrain layout by heart, so no matter how you look at it, this road will not work.

Liu Zongmin frowned and said: "It seems that we can only go to the plateau. We can rush through the Yuanwanggou and reach the southern plateau. Only then can our rebel army be able to get away with it."

Tian Jianxiu frowned deeply. He couldn't imagine how much difficulty this would cause logistical difficulties, especially when the artillery arrived.
The generals were discussing here, and the literati around them didn't speak. This kind of tactical layout is not their forte. They are better than them if they come out casually. Their advantage lies in strategy, so they didn't speak, so as not to suffer People despise.

"Look around first."

Li Zicheng made a decision, and a thousand brave riders escorted them to gallop under the plateau, and finally chose an abandoned village called Northwest Village as the place to go up the plateau.

Although there are many trails, only here is a little slower and the road is easier to walk.

Everyone walked along the road. The Shangyuan Trail was not steep, but it was also winding and winding.

The steep plateau walls on one or both sides extend, full of weeds and vines intertwined, uneven, occasionally dotted with a few low jujube trees and dogwoods, the bare earth wall seems to be like that for thousands of years, with a The indescribable feeling of desolation seems to be immersed in the vicissitudes of history for thousands of years, and that kind of weight is deeply pressed in people's hearts.

The road surface is very dry. Occasionally, when a gust of wind passes, yellow dust will rise up, revealing a sense of dryness and heat. The road is not wide, and many places are so narrow that a wheelbarrow cannot pass through it. There are also some broken gullies across the road, making the road Even more uneven.

This is the case here in Tongguan. The long-term erosion of running water, coupled with the strong water permeability of the loess and its subsidence, has led to a lack of vegetation protection for thousands of years. It is like a plateau slope that has been divided into fragments, interlaced with gullies, and increased the difficulty of passage.

Tian Jianxiu frowned, thinking that unless the road was opened up or filled up, the baggage would be carried on the plateau, and he had to carry it on his shoulders, especially since the artillery could not be pulled up.

Finally, the party went up to the front of the plateau, and the vast plateau in front of them gave people a kind of spiritual shock.

This Niutouyuan is also called Dongyuan locally. Its area is larger than that of Nanyuan. Although there are some forts in the village, soldiers and civilians have been worrying about water for generations. There is a saying in the local area that "if a woman does not marry Niutou Yuan, it is more difficult to eat water than to eat oil".

Tian Jianxiu was worried again in his heart. He knew a lot about Tongguan, and he knew the situation of Niutou Yuan because of the reports from sentry cavalry. , a clear stream of water used by local residents for people and animals flows down Haochayu Road.

With the current drought, the water in the valley has been decreasing day by day. If hundreds of thousands of troops are stationed, how can it be supplied?We only got deep and steep iron trenches, and even went to the Yellow River to carry and carry water, and the logistics supply was even more difficult.

Not to mention Tian Jianxiu's thoughts, Li Zicheng rode his horse to the edge of the plateau, just looking out.

The mighty soldiers and horses have filled the plateau and plains, and countless servants are sweating like rain, busy digging trenches to set up camp, and all kinds of tents have spread to the north of the Yellow River.

Going east to the official road of Yan Township, there are still a steady stream of troops coming, especially the flood of carts, wheelbarrows, mules, horses and donkeys, and the team of horses and soldiers galloping and communicating, creating a scene like a rainbow.

The voices of the generals beside him sounded tsk-tsk, and Li Zicheng was also full of ambition. The field of vision on this plateau is vast, not to mention the Yellow River, even the Wei River, and the confluence of the two rivers can be seen faintly. Li Zicheng thought that the old camp should stand on the plateau, condescending , to control the overall situation, the river under the plateau can be used as a gathering place for luggage.

The eastern plateau is generally flat and wide, except for the two ends of the plateau, especially near the iron ditch at the southern end, there are many gullies everywhere, such as steep deep ditches, or two opposite and steep cliffs. The ramps on both sides are straight and less curved, which is why Shaanxi people call it “崾崄”.

When Li Zicheng and his entourage went to inspect the iron ditch, they passed a slope beside it. The slope was not only steep, but also quite long, and the deep ditch below became a thin line.

The group also passed by some beams and hills, which took a lot of time.

The scouring of the river turns the plain into "plateaus", and many ditches divide the "plateau" into many "beams". You can sing to each other, but when you meet, you have to go down the ditch and then up the beam for a long time.

The "beam" was eroded again and there were ditches. These ditches cut the beam into several sections, and each section was surrounded by ditches, leaving only a high mound standing alone. These beams and mounds are not a simple matter, but there are ravines on the side of the iron ditch, otherwise it would be impossible to reach the edge of the ditch.

All the fortresses on the Eastern Plateau were emptied, leaving only empty earthen walls, and even the wheat that was not yet ready for harvest was harvested, leaving empty wheat fields with bare orange stalks.

According to the news from sentinel cavalry, Sun Chuanting was carrying out fortified walls and clearing the wilderness in the area, and he was still overhauling the defense line at the west end of Yuanwanggou, with strict security.Originally, when He Renlong was beheaded, everyone in the camp was overjoyed, but then the news came that Sun Chuanting was training the new army in the local area, and at this time he was defending Tongguan to the death, he was not Yi Yi's generation.

The Chuangying Outpost has already occupied several military forts and fortresses abandoned by the Ming army at the eastern end, such as Liujiawa and Beitoubao on the eastern plateau, but some fire road piers along the Yuanwanggou at the western end are still in the hands of officers and soldiers.Based on Huoludun and their familiarity with the local terrain, their sentry cavalry were elusive, and they kept attacking the sentry cavalry who broke into the camp, which was quite a headache.

Li Zicheng and others have seen the Tiegou and think that although the trench is difficult, it can provide some water, and secondly, they can garrison soldiers and horses at Daizi Camp and Xiyaobao on the opposite side of the plateau, so as to echo with each other and provide cover. In an important place, when we went to the west of Yuanwanggou, we encountered a sentry battle.

However, when they were marching, there was a sound of horseshoes in the distance, and soon dozens of Ming troops appeared in everyone's sight. But not afraid at all.

Li Zicheng and others vaguely saw their attire, all shiny hats and helmets, some of them were holding long guns, and wearing excellent long armor.Most of them were wearing short armor, which seemed to be holding guns and sabers, with arms, and there were some armor plates on the horse's vital points, which could protect the horse.

When the cavalry soldiers from their own side went to drive them away, their cavalry soldiers with long guns fired their guns when they were fifty or sixty paces away, and they were all the elites of their own side.

They either hit and ran, or they were still reloading their horses, and their cavalrymen charged another thirty steps, and their cavalrymen with guns fired one after another.

Many cavalry soldiers in the camp are proficient in bows and arrows, but there are still few who are able to shoot arrows on horseback. Even if there are, the threat of riding a bow is also small. frown.

It seems that each of their pistol cavalrymen has several pistols. The firepower is fierce, and those who fall in the middle will be disabled. Their melee combat ability is not weak, and they cooperate with each other tacitly. The cavalry soldiers shot coldly from time to time.

Their horses were all fat and fast, and even when they were escaping, the pistol soldiers would turn their heads back from time to time to keep their side from chasing too closely. Only one person was injured.

If it weren't for the large number of people on our side, this expulsion battle might have caused more casualties. Seeing that everyone in the camp had a dignified expression, Gao Yigong said: "These are the troops of Sun Chuanting's battalion, some of the sentries are armed with long guns, and some of them are armed with guns. The short guns can be fired immediately, and they are quite powerful, but fortunately there are fewer people."

Gao Yigong was in charge of the sentry and arrangements in the battalion. When the cavalry in the camp sentry the Tongguan, they encountered the most people, and it was these Sun Chuanting who supervised the battalion.These people are also very strong, and they can fire both long and short guns at once, which makes the sentries in the camp fearful, so they pay attention to it.

Li Zicheng also frowned: "When did the long gun fire immediately?"

Although everyone in his handsome battalion is equipped with horses, none of the guns in the battalion can be fired on the horse. The main reason is that the recoil is too strong. Once the gun is fired, it is very likely to fall off the horse. .

He asked Yang Shaofan, the head of the blunderbuss battalion, "Brother Yang, do you know what this kind of long bludgeon is called when you shoot it on horseback?"

Yang Shaofan shook his head. He had been in the Ming army for many years, except for hand guns and three-eyed guns, he had never heard of such long guns that could be shot from horseback.However, he had a vague feeling that those might be members of the Jingbian Army.

I heard that Sun Chuanting received great assistance from Xuanfu Township when he trained in Shaanxi. Could it be that the Jingbian Army also assisted Sun Chuanting?He didn't know how many troops they sent out, which made him worried. His battalion was fine against the ordinary Ming army, but not enough for the Jingbian army.

Everyone in the camp also frowned. There are more and more new weapons among the officers and soldiers, and now there are long guns that can be fired on the horse. Only Liu Zongmin disagrees: "What are you afraid of? Our volunteers are so many and powerful, and the officers and soldiers are only a few sharp ones. Can the firearms change the overall situation?"

Li Zicheng thought about it too. The Ming army's new military camps all used sharp firearms from the East Road, but they were wiped out by their own crowds in the end?The sentry cavalry of the Ming army with the new-style long guns in front of them could only harass them. The superior cavalry of their own side rushed over, and they had no choice but to retreat. It really couldn't change the overall situation.

Anxiety flashed by, so I didn't take this matter to heart.

(End of this chapter)