Griffin Commander in the Late Ming Dynasty

The main formation of the bandits had been disrupted. Ma Shouying and others were unable to command effectively, let alone organize an effective resistance. Although the bandits' army was large in number, most of them were refugees who had never undergone any training. They just picked up weapons and started fighting. Some of them didn't even have weapons, only broken farm tools.

Faced with such a dimensionality reduction attack, the taut string that had been supported with great effort finally broke.

The vanguard of the bandits were no longer able to resist and were defeated and retreated. More hungry soldiers had already dropped their weapons and fled.

Leaders such as Ma Shouying, Liu Xiyao, and He Jin knew that the battle situation could not be reversed and the outcome was hopeless, so they had to abandon their armies and turn their horses around with their old camp soldiers and elite troops to flee in defeat.

The bandit army can't do anything else except running, which is a necessary skill for every bandit soldier. No matter whether they win or lose, they just have to run. People have a herd mentality, and many bandits, hungry people and hungry soldiers are like sheep. They will rush forward when they see people around them rushing, and will start running when they see people around them running.

The Scarecrow did not start chasing immediately, because the battle had lasted for so long that the ammunition was being consumed crazily every minute and every second. Jiang Han's system supply warehouse was in emergency and he needed to replenish his blood first. There were so many equipment and corpses of the bandits and horses on the scene that needed to be dealt with, otherwise, a plague would breed in this June day. You know, Fengyang and Yangzhou are adjacent to each other. Fortunately, he has a special way to deal with the corpses.

"Commander, the mission is now two-fifths complete. I'll take a photo of the second mission target for you to see."

While reporting the progress of the task, Scarecrow was about to take a picture of He Yilong's head for Jiang Han to see.

"No, no, no, no, no... My dear aunt, it's dinner time now, and you sent me this. Do you expect me to eat or not?"

Good fellow, others were poisoning me late at night, but you came to me in broad daylight to feed me. I was cooking some pork elbows, and you came over with a bloody head. Isn't this a bit...

"Why? I think it is necessary to report the progress of the task in a timely manner after completion..."

The Scarecrow hasn't come to his senses yet.

"Fuck, we are a very humane team here, with a flat management system and a young team. You know, we don't have the industrialized processes of a big company. We can be casual. Here, as for the task progress receipt, just tell me. There's no need to take a photo."

Just after taking a breath away from the Iron-Blooded Army, they were chased like dogs again. Now seven out of ten of the bandit army were gone, and a large number of refugees and hungry people had fled. Only some old camps and the headquarters were left. Faced with the aggressive Cao Bianjiao, Ma Shouying and others could only choose to temporarily avoid the attack.

After all, the cavalry led by Cao Bianjiao all came back from Liaodong. The quality of the war horses in Liaodong region was first-class. Compared with the ordinary horses snatched by the Gezuo Fifth Battalion, the cavalry under Cao Bianjiao had better riding skills, and the endurance and physique of the war horses were much stronger than those of the bandit troops. When the two sides chased each other, Cao Bianjiao had a great advantage.

The losses of the Gezuo Fifth Battalion were so severe that they dared not light a fire at night for fear of being discovered by Cao Bianjiao's men and Jiang Han's army.

“Buying locusts?”

Hong Chengchou looked at the battle report sent back from Fengyang with a rather unhappy expression on his face. Originally, the defeat of the Gezuo 5th Battalion and Cao Bianjiao's pursuit should have been celebrated, but this also showed how difficult the other enemy was.

Being able to confront 300,000 bandits head-on, the opponent's strength is probably comparable to his own. What's more, according to the battle report sent by Cao Bianjiao, Hong Chengchou's concern for Jiang Han, the big thief from the south of the Yangtze River, has increased to a higher level.

This person's method of buying people's hearts is definitely a huge threat to the Ming Dynasty. It can even make the surrounding states have a bad reputation. What on earth are these officials in Jiangnan doing? I must severely report them in front of the emperor!

Hong Chengchou silently wrote them down in his little notebook and began to complain to Chongzhen again.

"But what's the point of purchasing these locusts?"

Hong Chengchou was a little confused. It was June in the world and locusts were beginning to wreak havoc everywhere. At this time, the locusts had basically all grown into adults. In addition, they had eaten everything indiscriminately and had accumulated a lot of poison in their bodies. Eating too much of this stuff would cause problems, so no one ate it. Otherwise, so many people would have starved long ago, so how could it become a disaster?

What use would it be for the other party to acquire this?

He really couldn't figure out what the other party's intention was in spending so much money and grain to buy such a bunch of completely inedible things. As for the idea that the rebel leader could be kind and treat the people well, Hong Chengchou would simply laugh to death. If that were the case, this person's purpose was very obvious, but his brain was not working well.

How long can you last like this? You can't have unlimited money, right? Spending money to buy a bunch of useless things, how to deal with them later is another problem. Such an enemy is not a big deal, because he will destroy himself, but it is obvious that Jiang Han is not such a character, so every step he takes must have a deep meaning. What is the use of it?......

"You little dog slave, why is this flour so yellow?"

In Liaodong, in the Qing army tent, the quartermaster was inspecting the grain bought from a Han merchant. This merchant got the position of selling grain to the Qing army by using his connections and gifts. Of course, as a quartermaster, he also knew very well that eggs should not be put in one basket. If he accepted the gift, would he not accept the gifts from others? Of course not, so several major Shanxi merchants were also on the quartermaster's supplier list.

The reason for buying from this store is that the flour it delivers is slightly yellow in color, but tastes very good, especially for war horses. This has become a necessity for the Qing army that relies heavily on cavalry. You know, for the cavalry, war horses are much more important than themselves. Even if they have to eat dry biscuits, they have to feed the war horses with eggs and dried tofu and serve these ancestors well.

One of the main reasons for choosing the other party as the grain supplier is because the other party's flour can be eaten by both humans and horses, and has a very high cost-effectiveness. At the same time, the price is relatively cheaper, which also gives himself the opportunity to get kickbacks. Whether in public or private, it is a very good choice.

Of course, if the other party didn’t offer me a generous gift, I wouldn’t even have the chance to look at him straight in the eye.

His current behavior is nothing more than taking advantage of the situation to gain more benefits.

"Sir, this noodle is made of corn and wheat, it's just a little yellowish."

"How dare you talk back, you dog-like slave!"

The quartermaster was a lucrative job, as he was in charge of the food, clothing, housing and transportation of the entire Qing army, and was naturally one of the Eight Banners. In their eyes, all Han people in the world were slaves, and the slaves had to obey whatever their masters said.

The merchant was slapped again, and he covered his face with a grievance. Of course, he knew what the other party was thinking. He just wanted more benefits. He was also sorry for the money, so he argued with him. Now it seems that there is nothing you can do to argue with such a barbarian? Well, spend money to buy peace.

Thinking of this, the merchant put on a smiling face again: "You are right, you are right. I am sorry that you have helped us to check the goods. The amount of corn flour in this batch of goods is a little too much. In order to thank you for your good supervision, I am going to hold a banquet at home to thank you. What do you think..."

It's called a banquet, but in fact it's just face-to-face bribery. After three rounds of wine and five kinds of dishes, silver and treasures are served. At that time, it's convenient to say anything. Why do you have to face each other? First of all, the current payment system belongs to the war era, and silver bills have to be exchanged at the bank. How can these Eight Banners masters have the time? Bringing out a large box of silver in front of you, this is an official occasion, you are obviously not clear, you can only give it in person during the banquet in secret. After opening the box of jewelry and silver, the visual impact is increased. Those greedy people often want the golden light of opening the box, but when they really get it, they will be left at home.

"Well, you are a sensible servant. If you want to hide from your grandfather's sharp eyes, you are still far from it. You must correct your mistakes, don't you understand?"

The quartermaster nodded with satisfaction, neither saying he would go nor not go, which actually meant he agreed. The merchant also wisely retreated.

After leaving the military camp, he secretly said in his heart: "Eat, eat, you dogs, I will eat you to death."

"how's it going?"

Back at the mansion, the merchant's companions asked about the transaction.

"The goods have all been sold, but we have to treat that damned Tartar quartermaster to dinner tonight and prepare some gold, silver and treasures for him."

"Again! This Tartar is really greedy. How many times has he asked for it?"

"There is nothing we can do. We have no background now, so we can only be exploited by him. However, he can exploit us. How much can he get by himself? He can easily make it back."

"That's right... Let him be arrogant for a while. When we meet again in the future, I will make him vomit out everything he has eaten."

These merchants were actually disguised volunteers who came to sell to the Qing army. Why did they sell grain to the Qing army? Because this thing was not grain, but locust flour mixed with potato flour and flour. The proportion of potato flour and flour in it was very small, so the production cost of this thing was extremely low. The purchase of locusts in various places was eight to ten coins, plus some processing fees and transportation costs, which was less than two taels. However, such locust flour could be sold to the Qing army for a full fifteen taels, which was a highly profitable industry.

You just need to dry the locusts, grind them into powder, and then do some smell processing. Because they are high in protein, horses also love to eat them.

In the early stages of the transaction, Jiang Han traded only very safe locust nymph powder for safety reasons. The locust powder was safe and non-toxic, good for horses and filling for humans, so it was indeed a good thing.

But after that, Jiang Han slowly increased the proportion of poisonous adult locust powder. Moreover, the locust toxin did not have a sudden onset but was a chronic poison. There was no need to worry about the risk of being detected after eating it.

By the time these Tartars and their war horses had consumed locust flour for a long time like frogs in warm water and the toxicity took effect, it was already too late.

The most important step is actually to find the key decision-maker regarding the Qing army's logistics. Once he is dealt with, Jiang Han's plan of relying on the enemy to develop will have been half successful.

The locust plague, which was originally a threat to people, became a very profitable business in Jiang Han's hands. He purchased locusts from all over the place, promoted Yangzhou to attract population, and built up his reputation. He then sold the collected locusts to the Qing army, which weakened the enemy while bringing himself huge profits. With the money, Jiang Han was able to produce a large number of firearms and carry out more infrastructure construction. He was simply winning.

Of course, Hong Chengchou, who was far away in the world, had no way of knowing all this. But even so, it was enough for him to regard Jiang Han as the number one enemy in this campaign to suppress bandits and quell rebellions in the south.

I wanted to update twice a day yesterday, but there was a power outage at home. I almost died of heat. I will make up for it tonight. Group 1 溜巴2壹771⑥

Volume 290: Chapter Chapter : The Defeat of the Left Five Battalions

The old soldiers of the Zuoge Fifth Battalion suffered heavy losses in successive battles and did not dare to light a fire at night for fear of being discovered by the officers and soldiers.

In a valley, thousands of veteran soldiers from the Fifth Battalion of the Gezuo were resting.

He Jin, the Prince of Zuojin, shouted, "I have already run from Hong County to Qimei Mountain, a distance of more than 300 miles. Why are those damn soldiers still chasing me?"

Liu Xiyao, who was standing by, took a few gulps of wine and said, "Master Ma, let's fight the dog official!"

What's going on? It's fine that we can't beat Jiang Han, but how dare you, the dog officers and soldiers, bully us like this? Do you really think you and Jiang Han are evenly matched?

Ma Shouying, who had been chased for hundreds of miles, was even more furious and said, "This is really too much! Even a clay man has some temper, not to mention that I have been dominating the world for several years. If I don't teach the dog officers and soldiers a lesson, they don't know how powerful I am!"

Since the defeat, Ma Shouying and other bandits have been chased like dogs, feeling very frustrated. It's true. Jiang Han has artillery and muskets, what do you have? Why are you pretending? We are all cavalry, so why should I be afraid of you?

He decided to fight in person. He wanted to see how powerful your cavalry is and how much stronger they are than his own five battalions of old soldiers!

"Sir, it seems those bandits won't run away anymore."

The deputy general of Cao Bianjiao's army discovered the enemy's movements and hurried to report to Cao Bianjiao that the bandits' counterattack was too sudden. Several soldiers pursued them too deeply and were surrounded by the bandits, dying on the spot.

"Hmm? I was still wondering when the thieves would choose to bite back, but you can't help it now? Tell them to line up and show them how powerful we are!"

"promise!"

Thousands of cavalrymen began to retreat rapidly following Cao Bianjiao's order. The soldiers let go of the enemies in front of them and rode back to their headquarters. Under Cao Bianjiao's command for many years, the entire cavalry army was like an arm in motion, and they completed the change from pursuit to battle formation very quickly, so that the sudden counterattack by the bandits did not achieve the expected results.

"Hmph, don't hold back."

Seeing that he didn't trick anyone, Ma Huihui felt a little unhappy, but he didn't give it too much hope. After running for so long, Ma Huihui was already tired of it. Any of you want to pee and shit on me, do you really think I have no temper?

Now the bandits are running in a very scattered manner, but the old camp and the cavalry are still intact. The gap between the more than 9,000 old camps and more than 4,000 cavalry and Cao Bianjiao's troops is still there. After they are ready, Cao Bianjiao has to deal with them with all his strength.

"The cavalry is ready to charge! Soldiers from the old camp, harass the outside and wait for orders!"

The old Huihui knew the situation of his soldiers very well. These cavalrymen had no systematic training at all, and their horsemanship could basically only complete two movements: drive and shout. It would be really difficult for them to conduct mobile cavalry warfare. It would be better to let the other side concentrate on doing only one thing, which is charging. They only needed to rely on their numerical advantage to break up the opponent's formation, and their old camp soldiers would be able to rush forward and tear this group of government troops to pieces.

Ma Huihui's decision also brought the characteristics of his own army to the extreme.

Cao Bianjiao, who was observing the other side's deployment, keenly noticed the change in the other side's formation: "You actually want to charge the formation, interesting, then you come and give it a try"

The quality of Cao Bianjiao's cavalry had all undergone quality inspection by the Qing Army. Basically, unqualified products could not survive. These bandits actually wanted to use cavalry charges, which really made him feel looked down upon.

"Prepare to change formation"

After a few orders were given, the army formation, which had originally been in the shape of a goose feather, quickly changed and shrank towards the center, forming a diamond shape as a whole, with maximum offensiveness. It was very clear that Cao Bianjiao had arranged this formation: I want to beat you through and through.

"Pass on my order. Whoever kills a soldier this time will be rewarded with 100 taels of silver. If you kill an officer, you will be rewarded with 1,000 taels of silver. The next time you enter the city, you will be given priority in dividing the property. Whoever kills the enemy's commander will be promoted to commander!"

Ma Huihui was also very ruthless this time and was determined to capture this group of government troops. Otherwise, they would never have peace and would be chased all the way to Huoshan.

"Rush me!!"

Zuo Jin King He Jin roared loudly, and thousands of cavalry began to attack Cao Bianjiao's troops quickly.

"Wei!"

Following the command, all the cavalry began to gradually accelerate, but the attacking postures of both sides were different, and the advancing speed of the bandit army was obviously much faster than that of the cavalry.

The cavalry whipped their horsewhips with all their strength from the very beginning, and all the cavalrymen went straight into a charge, while Cao Bianjiao's cavalry moved forward slowly.

When the distance between the two sides was getting closer to 300 steps, Quan Xin's military order was issued: "Hurry!"

All the Iron Cavalry began to speed up as a whole under the military order. Unlike the uneven speed of the cavalry's charge, the acceleration speed of all the Iron Cavalry was basically maintained at the same pace. This also allowed them to keep their formation intact, and the soldiers of the old camp who were harassing from the outside could not find any opportunities.

"Bow and arrow volley! Two rounds!"

According to the positions of both sides, the Iron Cavalry reduced one round of volley shooting to maintain their formation transition. After a rain of arrows, the cavalry who were only wearing outer clothes and no armor suffered heavy losses. On the contrary, the Iron Cavalry who were wearing leather and scale armor had much stronger defense against arrows. After all, the arrows in the hands of their opponents, the Tatars, were so varied that the arrowheads were like large knives. Without better armor, they could not be blocked at all. This was also the reason why Cao Bianjiao's Iron Cavalry had only 3,000 people.

High quality comes with high cost, and there is nothing he can do about it.

"Feng!"

When they were at the last fifty steps, the order to charge finally came. All the cavalrymen squeezed their horses' bellies and started to sprint at full speed. On the contrary, after sprinting continuously for such a long distance, the horses of the bandits' cavalry were now exhausted, and their strength showed a tendency to become old. The impact force of both sides was not on the same level at all as one increased while the other decreased.

"One row, guns raised!"

The knights at the front raised their spears and faced the enemy, while the cavalrymen at the back drew out their sabers. The next second, like two flood peaks colliding, the two teams of cavalry quickly collided with each other.

Each of the cavalrymen was a veteran of many battles. Before they charged at the enemy with their spears, they loosened their grip slightly, allowing the spear to naturally penetrate the enemy's body with the impact force before tightening their grip again. The impact force would kill the enemy and at the same time knock him away instead of piercing him. In this way, they could continue to charge at the next enemy. The riders with sabers in the back were even more relaxed. They just placed the sabers in their hands facing the enemy and let the momentum of the horses let the blades cut through the enemy. This was the most labor-saving and efficient way for cavalry to fight, as it made full use of every advantage of the cavalry.

After a brief collision between the two sides, the vanguard of the cavalry was soon driven in by the iron cavalry.

The thickness of the camps of both sides was completely not on the same level, and coupled with the differences in various details, the bandit cavalry only posed some obstacles to the iron cavalry at the beginning of the attack, and then it was a smooth journey.

"disease!!"

Seeing the cavalry successfully break into the enemy's formation, Cao Bianjiao ordered a change of formation again. The cavalry no longer formed a shrinking formation like a prism, but spread out directly in the enemy camp like two wings, expanding the attack area in pursuit of the greatest results.

"Cavalry, shoot arrows! Watch your formation!!"

Having reached this point, it can be said that it is only a matter of time before the bandits' cavalry is completely defeated. The two sides are simply not enemies that can compete on the same stage. Perhaps there is still a glimmer of hope if Ma Huihui sends the old camp soldiers and the iron cavalry to charge each other, but these old camp soldiers are his lifeblood, how can he send them directly to the front line?

This also led to his failure.

But the soldiers in the old camp did cause some trouble for Cao Bianjiao, making it impossible for him to completely disperse the camp and expand the results of the battle. He could only continue the pursuit. However, he was very patient, because under such circumstances, the enemy's collapse was only a matter of time.

Sure enough, the cavalry suffered countless casualties in the constant clashes. The fighting spirit of the Gezuo Fifth Battalion, which had been chased for several days, had already been weakened. After suffering a heavy blow on the head, they had no intention of fighting anymore. They turned their horses around and ran away on the spot, completely ignoring the calls of Ma Shouying and other leaders.

"Wow, the one riding the big horse is going to win!"

SOP cheered loudly as he watched the images sent by the scout from a distance.

"...they all seemed to be riding horses"

Scarecrow felt a little helpless. Only when they really worked together did she realize that this once difficult enemy was actually such a child in private.

After a long journey a few days ago, SOP finally found the Scarecrow and met her. He originally wanted to have a good fight, but the Scarecrow told him: It's over!

"Oh, yes, but, but, the horse over there looks stronger."

"Those things are all good, but the question now is, if they win, what about our mission?"

The scarecrow looked at the current battle situation with a gloomy expression on his face.

"Hey? Hasn't our mission been completed?"

SOP was a little confused. Their mission was to delay the bandits' troops. Now their goal had been fully achieved? Wasn't the mission considered completed?

"...So you Griffin dolls have no consciousness of your own and are just yes-men."

The scarecrow said something quietly in his heart, of course he didn't say it directly. Before, everyone was an enemy, so naturally they could mock each other however they wanted. Now they are colleagues, and if they don't want to be 80, they still have to read "Emotional Intelligence" carefully.

The order Scarecrow gave herself was not just to delay the enemy. From her behavior of sending the task progress report to Jiang Han, it was not difficult to see that what she wanted was not to delay the enemy, but to kill the Left Fifth Battalion!