On December 13, the eleventh year of Chongzhen in the Ming Dynasty, at Mao hour, the sun was still hidden under the horizon, and the sky was gray and filled with fog.
To the northwest of Julu and about fifteen miles west of the Haoshui River, there is a large dense forest that is several miles wide. To the west of the forest is the Fuyang River, which is now frozen.
White snow covers the entire land, from the thin ice of the Fuyang River to the woods, and then looking around, everything is silvery white.
Deep in the dense forest, flaming red cloaks were connected one after another, enclosed between the big trees, forming slightly narrow spaces.
Among the fiery reds, there were occasional pieces of felt cloth, and from time to time in the space surrounded by them, the sound of the snorting of war horses could be heard.
If you listen carefully, you can hear the faint sound of snoring. If you look carefully, there are some slightly raised snowdrifts dozens of steps outside the cloaks and felts, as if someone deliberately
for it.
These snowdrifts are connected to the thick trees. It seems that there is something hidden behind the snowdrifts, and it seems to be the willful work of the howling cold wind. In short, it is unpredictable.
Yesterday's heavy snowfall lasted all night, but fortunately, the howling cold wind began to weaken since Unity Time, especially in the depths of this dense forest, the cold wind seemed to have lost its power.
Zhang Cheng was leaning against a tree trunk. The surrounding snow had been swept away and piled up in a semicircular row outside. A piece of felt cloth was exposed on the ground, and he sat on it.
A war horse was leaning in front of Zhang Cheng, lying motionless. Zhang Cheng hugged it last night and survived the cold winter snowy night.
He was also covered with his own woolen cloak, and was surrounded by felt cloth. Above his head, there was also a piece of felt cloth that built a roof with the help of tree trunks and branches to prevent snowflakes from falling around him.
In this large dense forest, apart from Zhang Cheng, only Zhang Guangda, Wu Zhizhong and other seriously injured generals were treated like this.
…………
Zhang Cheng leaned lazily against the tree trunk. He was already awake, but he didn't want to move. It felt like cold wind would penetrate into his body whenever he moved. Now he just wanted to just lie here quietly and do nothing.
.
"General, wake up!"
A gentle greeting came from beside Zhang Cheng. He recognized that it was Chen Zhong's voice and replied: "Zhongzi, how are everyone?"
After a burst of noise around Zhang Cheng, Chen Zhong walked over. He ducked into Zhang Cheng's small tent, handed over a piece of horse meat jerky, and then handed over a water bag, saying: "Master Jiang
, this is just this bag of wine, please take a few sips to warm your body and bones."
Zhang Cheng took it casually, took a sip of wine first, then bit off a piece of dried meat, and said softly: "Go and see, how are Hu Hu and Lao Wu doing?"
Chen Zhong responded, turned around and left. Zhang Cheng was still leaning on the tree trunk, eating dried meat and drinking a few sips of wine. He felt very tired and really didn't want to move, so he just stayed here.
After a while, Chen Zhong and Chen Zheng came back together. Chen Zheng squatted in front of Zhang Cheng and said softly: "General, I just checked, my beard is fine, and I am sleeping. Old Wu is bleeding a lot and is very weak."
.”
Zhang Cheng nodded and asked again: "How many brothers have broken out? Are the Tatars not chasing us?"
"More than 470 people came out of our camp, and only about a hundred people followed from the infantry camp. But Liang Qianzong didn't follow, and I'm afraid it's more serious than bad.
There are still more than a dozen seriously injured people who did not make it last night. In addition, Zhang Qian, who is supervising the Biao Camp, and his group have less than 200 brothers who have come out and are hiding in the woods with us.
The Tatars chased us for a while yesterday, but after I led Wang Tieren to retreat, they stopped chasing us. It snowed heavily that night, and if they want to find us now, they have no direction."
Zhang Cheng secretly said "What a pity!" in his heart, and then said to Chen Zhong: "Give me a hand!"
Chen Zhong quickly stood up and stretched out his hand, pulled Zhang Cheng to stand up, and stretched his hands and feet. Zhang Cheng said again: "Tell the soldiers to light a bonfire. With these cloaks and felt cloths to cover it, the sky is bright.
It's hard to find him, so we can burn some snow water on the spot to drive away the cold for the brothers."
Chen Zheng took the order and left to make arrangements. Zhang Cheng said to Chen Zhong: "Let's go see Hu Hu and Lao Wu."
…………
Zhang Guodong had already gotten up. He stood next to a tree and looked at a snowdrift more than ten steps away. In front of the snowdrift, Lu Xiangsheng's supervisor Liu Jinhai and Chen Huzi, as well as a few other people, were kneeling there.
Standing in front of a snowdrift, he seemed to be muttering something silently.
The Supervisory Biao Battalion broke out this time with less than 200 men. Among them, Liu Jinhai, Chen Huzi and other servants usually respected Lu Xiangsheng the most, but when it came to military positions, Chief Qian Zhang Guodong was the most respected.
After a while, Liu Jinhai and the others came to Zhang Guodong. Each of them took out a small piece of dried meat, grabbed a ball of snow, and started to chew on it.
"Haizi, what are your plans for the future?"
Zhang Guodong hasn't eaten yet, and he has been thinking about what to do in the future.
When Liu Jinhai heard Zhang Guodong's question, he did not answer directly. He glanced at Chen Huzi and other remaining servants, took another big mouthful of snowball, swallowed it, and then said: "What are your plans? Serve as a soldier and eat food."
Just kill the Tatars, we bastards have no other way of making a living except here."
"Mr. Qian, what do you think of this guerrilla General Zhang?" Chen Huzi asked in a calm and cold tone.
Zhang Guodong did not answer in a hurry. He stood up and walked to a tree not far away. He stood there for a long time before turning around and walking back. He seemed to have made up his mind and said in a deep voice:
"Just follow General Zhang. I think he also attaches great importance to friendship and cherishes his subordinates. Moreover, the governor in Japan also admires General Zhang very much and has high expectations!"
Upon hearing this, Liu Jinhai glanced at Chen Huzi and the others, and when he saw that everyone nodded in agreement, he said to Zhang Guodong: "We are all rough people, and we should follow Zhang Qianzong's lead."
Chen Huzi on the side also interjected: "Hehe... we are really at odds with the brothers in General Zhang's camp."
"Well, I have decided to follow General Zhang Cheng and continue to kill the Tatars. However, before that, I must take care of the future generations of the governor. You can first settle down under General Zhang. When I come back, we will still be together.
"
After Zhang Guodong finished speaking, he turned his head and looked towards the edge of the woods, but still could not see a ray of light. He had followed Lu Xiangsheng in the war for many years. Now, the governor has also died for the country, and there are only a hundred men and horses left around him, but this
But the world has not seen any improvement at all.
The Tartars are still raging in the capital, taking people captive, burning their homes, and leaving no one to control them.
What is even more hateful is that the commander-in-chief's army retreated, backed up tens of thousands of troops, and stood firm in Jize. Even though it was dozens of miles away, it refused to come to the rescue. If it brought tens of thousands of Guan Ning's troops to come, they would form an antagonism with each other.
, how dare the Qing army let go and gather troops to attack fiercely!