Two days ago.

On the day when Guo Qinglin discovered that the auxiliary soldiers had not returned, Zhao Ergou was training new recruits on the Yellow River beach on the outskirts of Yanchang County. From a distance, he saw a carriage coming from the north in the direction of Yanchuan, followed by several people on horseback.

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There were several government officials in Yanchang County who were close confidants of the county magistrate Liao Xingxiang, and they were sent here to "learn" combat skills. Due to human feelings, Zhao Ergou could not recruit them into the team. With an honest excuse, he could "borrow" or "borrow" them.

They all found their own mounts, and all day long they just rode around and watched the excitement. Occasionally, they would whip the cheap ones for fun. After a few days, everyone was tired of seeing the new recruits being whipped.

Chatting under the shade of the trees, when they saw a carriage approaching, they all became energetic. They stood up in unison, raised their whips and beat the horses over, shouting and shouting all the way:

"stop!"

"Who is it? How dare you spy on military affairs!"

In ancient times, being a yamen servant was a despicable job, and three generations of descendants could not take the imperial examination. However, among ordinary people, there was a lot of money to be made in this profession. After wearing this clothes for a long time, it is easy to give birth to a sense of pride and the illusion of supreme authority. How about now?

The psychological activities of the generals are exactly the same: first put on the label of "spying on the military situation", and there is a high probability that some benefits will be squeezed out. If it doesn't work, it will be a very bad feeling to curse a few words, open the car curtain and watch the female family members rummaging through the boxes and cages.

Okay - it was customary for people to travel at that time, and women's families were often seated in carriages.

This business is definitely not officials. Because there is no gong to clear the way, no supporting horses (carrying flags to lead the way), official title plaques and other ceremonial guards - if there were any, these guys would escape into the woods!

In ancient times, officials should "avoid the road" when traveling. When officials meet, the lower-ranking ones not only give way, but also show respect in various ways. Different levels have different postures for giving way. One is to separate.

And Xing means that those with the same level but with less power have to change paths. For example, if the Minister of Industry meets the Minister of Personnel, stop talking nonsense and turn around and go another way. One way is to give way, which is to get out of the way.

Take the auxiliary road on the main road, stand upright beside the reining road, rein in the horse sideways, dismount immediately, etc. If there is a big difference in rank, the junior official will have to "evacuate", that is, find a small alley nearby or something to dive in.

Just wait until the adult has passed and then come out. The so-called "majesty" and "dignity" are for the subordinates! For the superiors, you must always show your enthusiasm and smile - even though both of you know that you are.

Pretending, this is the rule of this land. These are the most despicable government servants. If you encounter an official here and now, you must stay far away in the woods to avoid it. Otherwise, you will definitely be beaten!

However, since you are not an official, how can you miss such a great opportunity to show off your prestige in front of ordinary people? If you don't get along with those who are lower than you, you won't do everything you can within the scope of your small and temporary power.

Making things difficult for the weak is not a fine tradition of our Ming Dynasty!

Zhao Ergou felt moved and asked others to take over the training. He walked to the side and watched coldly from a distance.

I saw the yamen servants galloping past in a majestic manner. The man on the horse took out something to show them, and then they came back listlessly. Then, the carriage stopped briefly, turned to the west, and disappeared among the trees.

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After a few people came back, Zhao Ergou asked intentionally or unintentionally: "I was just thinking about having a glass of wine, but I think I swallowed my saliva in vain. What is the origin of your master, who even the local policemen can't afford to offend?"

A government official spat unwillingly: "It's bad luck! Who doesn't know this? They are the road guides set out by the Dusi Mansion in Xi'an, so they must not be provoked. I am sweating all over for nothing in the middle of the day. Sorry!"

Hearing this, Zhao Ergou looked up at the sky, wiped his forehead, and smiled: "It's really hot. Can you lend me your horse? I'll go find some water and wine to quench everyone's thirst."

He rode a horse and ran towards the county town.

The carriage stopped in the woods some distance away from Yanchuan County. The curtains of the carriage had been raised, and several riders dressed as ordinary people were surrounding them. However, they all had swords hung on the saddles.

Zhao Ergou galloped forward and rolled his saddle and dismounted. He looked back and saw that no one was following him. He looked into the car and saw clearly the appearance of the person in the car. He knelt down on one knee and said, "See Zhao Ergou from one hundred households in Rong Qianhu Station, Guyuan Guard Town, Pingliang Prefecture."

Your Majesty."

The man in the car said: "It's not good for others to see you. Let's get up."

Zhao Ergou stood up and lowered his hands and said, "Thank you, Sir."

The person in the car continued to ask: "Does Magistrate Yu know that you are from Dusi Prefecture?"

Zhao Ergou replied respectfully: "Your Excellency. I don't know, sir. A few days ago, Li Shaobing took the villain with him to attack Yan'an Mansion. The villain guessed that if such a big thing happened, the Dusi Mansion would look for the villain.

When asked, he said that he had Sha syndrome and was staying here to wait for the Lord."

The person in the car praised: "You are very smart. Tell me what happened recently."

Zhao Ergou then recounted the story from when Yu San, Li Shaobing and others put Yu Shengliang on board the ship, to how Yu Shengliang actively prepared for war, trained new soldiers, sent Li Shaobing to attack behind enemy lines, etc., and finally added:

"Li Shaobing refused to go after hearing the villain's words, and he was secretly proud that no one would share the merit of his head."

The man in the car laughed and scolded: "You little monkey boy, you don't have to ask for credit in any way. A few old and weak heads are nothing. When this matter is over, at least one deputy Qianhu will always be yours, and maybe, the main Qianhu will be yours."

Maybe!"

Zhao Ergou was overjoyed and thanked him: "Ergou thanks you for your support!"

The person in the car hummed and said, "Tell me about the city defense of Yanchuan."

Zhao Ergou seemed a little hesitant when he heard the words. He hesitated for a moment and said evasively: "This... Sir, in your eyes, I am just a personal guard. After Li Shaobing left, I have been training the new recruits, fortification."

Little people don’t know much about things.”

The people in the car were startled, then burst out laughing after a moment: "Hahaha, okay! No wonder the commander praised you for your cleverness! Don't worry, I was going to Yulin Mansion first, and then went south to find you. Don't you?

There are too many things you need to know, and I can only tell you: First, I am not a thief, so you don’t need to worry about leaking any military information - you can also see that the city has been lost, and there is a shortage of soldiers and generals.

You idiots, can you defend this poor county? Even if I become a thief, why would I need to ask you for military intelligence? Secondly, I can tell you the truth: after a while, you should leave.

You are so old."

Zhao Ergou became thoughtful.

The person in the car replied: "There are some things that you should know, and I will tell you. The rest, you have to think about it yourself and you will figure it out. Now let's get down to business."

Zhao Ergou made it clear: Mr. Qianshi is right. What kind of general can lead the army in Yanchang County? The so-called city defense plan was originally thought up by Yu Shengliang, Liao Xingxiang and a few of their guards who had seen the battlefield.

came out. So I didn’t dare to prevaricate anymore and told Yu Shengliang’s plan exactly...

After a long time, the man in the car whispered softly: "Oh, it is indeed unfair to blame the master for the loss of the house. It is hard for the old man to work so hard in such a field. But, should he be blamed for this matter?

Unfortunately, I can only wrong him..."

After finishing speaking, he lightly struck with his palms, and the driver stepped forward to lower the curtain. The driver shook the reins and said, "Drive." The carriage started slowly.

Zhao Ergoufu knelt down on one knee: "I'm sorry to see you off, sir. Could you please arrange for me to arrange an inn for you to rest?"

"I won't enter the city anymore. Just take care of yourself."

The carriage left a stone's throw away. Zhao Ergou, who was standing on the spot, suddenly understood what he was doing. He galloped after him and threw himself down by the roadside: "Sir, please stay. I have guessed a bit. I beg you to give me some more clear instructions."

!”

The person in the car sighed: "Your guess is not bad. When the thief comes, you can try to return to Dusi Mansion."

The carriage did not stop any longer and rumbled toward the northwest against the east wall of Yanchang County.

Yanshui has a corner in the southwest of Yanchang County, turns to the southeast against the city wall, and finally merges into the Yellow River. Guan Shengyun's plan is to dispatch a thousand combat troops and 500 auxiliary troops, and capture Yanchang by water to solve his worries: let Gu Baihua's strength

The Feng Battalion carried a boat as a vanguard, rushed over, and then landed in the southeast of the county town and launched an attack from behind. After the attack was successful and the threat was eliminated, the auxiliary battalion of 500 people in Guoqinglin used rafts to carry supplies and landed five miles northeast of the landing site of the Gangfeng Battalion.

An advance base was established around six miles away. Behind them, Gong Derun's Zhenyong Battalion served as the rear team, loaded with boats and rafts, to take over from Gu Baihua and clear out the remaining enemies. After winning Yancheng, the two battalions joined forces to advance northward and stormed Yanchuan County. Qingjian

Two rivers, the Tuyanchuan River and the Tuyanchuan River, block the east and north directions of Yanchuan. There are no regular troops in these two counties. If we take them in one go, there will be no suspense about the outcome of the war.

The only problem is that the attacking force will have to endure a certain amount of casualties: when they go down the river to the corner of the extended city wall, the entire vanguard fleet will be completely exposed to the firepower of the city defenders and can only be beaten without the ability to fight back.

The Gangfeng Battalion on the boat had to carry on through this section of the river for more than 100 feet before they could land on shore and gather to launch an attack from east to west. By the time they took Yanchang and attacked Yanchuan, the Gangfeng Battalion had already lost a lot of blood, so they

It’s time for Zhenyong Camp to be the main force. No matter how broken the county town is, as long as there is a wall, even if it is only about ten feet high, it will bring great advantages to the defenders, and Zhenyong Camp will also suffer certain losses. The people in these two places

Everyone should have entered the city, and there was no cannon fodder to fill the trenches. Guan Shengyun estimated that it would cost more than two to three hundred people to capture these two county towns, including dead and disabled.

Gu Baihua thought for a while and said with emotion: "It's okay, this is the only way. Give me the big boat. The outside is nailed with thick wooden boards, covered with straw mats and soaked with water. The boat is equipped with double armor, and each person is equipped with two shield soldiers to protect it.

Here. Life and death are determined by destiny, let’s see how each person transforms.”

Gong Derun clasped his fists and said, "Thank you for your hard work, Lao Gu. I will drive up as soon as possible to help you."

Luo Yonghao had nothing to say in this military discussion: he knew Yu Shengliang's character, and persuading him to surrender would not have any effect. It was very likely that Mr. Yu would chop off the envoy's head and hang it up to express his determination to resist to the death. The old man also knew that he

The most important thing is to defend blindly, and there are no "ingenious tricks" such as luring the enemy in-depth to encircle Wei and rescue Zhao, and can only attack by force. The only difference is which battalion is the most powerful, able to withstand huge casualties and launch an attack - in this regard, everyone

Everyone knew that apart from Guan Shengyun's personal camp, it was also Gu Baihua's Gangfeng camp.

Generals such as Gao Tengzu, Fukuda Zhang Ding, etc. had no other choice: if they launched a frontal attack from land, the difficulty and losses would only be greater. They could only say that Lao Gu's losses would be shared among the brothers, and after the war, men would be drawn from each battalion to kill Lao Gu.

The front camp is fully replenished. Of course, the replenishment can only be heads and equipment. The combat experience of the veterans is matched with the battlefield, and the newcomers are incomparable.

Finally, Master Xiao Luo made two suggestions: 1. The soldiers can hide in the cabin and use wooden boards to protect them. The boatmen are ordinary boatmen who were captured, and they are directly exposed. If they encounter the enemy, they are likely to take the opportunity to dive and run away.

As long as a few boats lose control and crowd the river, it will be a disaster. Therefore, ropes must be used to tie the rowing boats to the boats. 2. Soldiers do not need to wear armor. Armor and clothes are piled in the cabin before landing.

At this time, each person carries a collar and wears it on the shore. If he falls into the water, there is still hope of escape.

These two suggestions won the young master a lot of applause. Although Luo Yonghao was proud, there was a faint regret in his heart: What Ming Dynasty lacks is not talents, but the channels for talents to advance!

Guo Qinglin received new tasks, and some of them were big. The ships on Yanshui were not big, and most of them could only accommodate five or six fully armed soldiers. One battalion required more than a hundred ships. Now even the ships were built in total, a hundred

There were fifty or sixty small boats, and there were not enough rafts, so we had to make enough planks to cover these many boats, and we had to organize people to tie up straw mats... The captain of the country simply moved into the auxiliary barracks, and you could hear his voice from morning to night.

Curses and the crack of a whip.

On this day, Guan Shengyun suddenly received an urgent report from Ansai County: It was said that seven or eight people were envoys from the provincial capital Xi'an, and they were coming to "issue a declaration of war" again. The group has already arrived in Ansai County, and will arrive tomorrow

We are going straight to Yan'an Prefecture.

Knowledge points in this article:

1. Official sedan. The history of official sedan is much shorter than we think: until the time of Wuzong in the middle of the Tang Dynasty, except for the prime ministers of the third rank and above, the three ministers, the ministers, the official (retired), and the sick, the rest were "

No matter how high or low you are, you are not allowed to ride in a sedan. Even if an official of the imperial court goes out on official business and becomes ill and cannot ride a horse on the way, he must report to the Zhongshu Menxia Provincial Department and the Yushitai for approval before he can ride in a sedan, and he must bear his own expenses. The so-called sedan at that time
To be continued...