In the eleventh year of Chongzhen in the Ming Dynasty, on October 13th, it was overcast, the sun was not strong, and the sky was dim.
In Xuanfu Town, on the official road, only the dead branches of the willow trees on both sides are left swaying in the cold wind of late autumn, blowing the golden willow leaves on the ground, rustling and rolling forward.
On the broad official road, there was a line of people running from east to west in the direction of the Security Guard City, marching in an orderly manner. They were driving several large carts and leading many mules and horses, dragging many large and small packages with them.
.
This human dragon of more than a thousand people, with more men and fewer women, and even fewer old and weak, stretches for more than a mile on the official road. There are more than a hundred people in a group, with carts, mules and horses in between. At a rough look,
There were as many as thirteen teams there.
Although their clothes were shabby and their faces were full of fatigue and weathered looks, they were marching in an orderly manner. The cross carts were all fully loaded, and some wheelbarrows were sandwiched in the middle of the crowd, carrying personal belongings and other items.
More than a hundred mules and horses, also carrying luggage and luggage, trudged forward.
There were three strong and capable knights riding in front of the team. They were galloping around, scattered and gathered, as if they were detecting possible dangers ahead for the team.
About three hundred steps behind them, there was a group of strong men, about sixty in number, holding a variety of long and short weapons in their hands, and their clothes were all the same shabby clothes, but the dozen or so people walking in the front were
Seems to be wearing broken armor.
"He Tou, when can we arrive at Xuanzang?" a rough and arrogant voice asked.
Just behind the sixty men is a two-horse cart. Several men are lying or sitting on the cart. Behind the cart are several war horses. The horse's reins are hung around the horses' necks, and they are kicking and kicking.
He followed behind the cart.
A steady voice came from the cart: "Sun Dashan, go and shout to everyone, be careful. When I saw the Chinese character shop just now, there was something wrong with the ones with horses."
The person who spoke was responsible for protecting the wounded soldiers and refugees returning to Xuan Town. He Shihui, the officer of the second team of the Zuo Sentinel B Corps of the Cavalry Qianqian Headquarters of the right wing battalion of the town. After days of training, his injuries have basically recovered. Not only him, but also many minor injuries.
The injured sergeants have all recovered, but they are just lying lazily on the cart.
After they separated from Zhang Guangda, the commander-in-chief of Zuo Shao Shao, they marched all the way. In order to save grain, they stopped early every day to rest, then dispersed, dug some wild vegetables back, and ate porridge to satisfy their hunger.
They hurriedly and slowly traveled 30 to 40 miles every day. Now they have passed Huailai Acropolis for more than 30 miles and are almost 30 miles away from Baoan Acropolis. There is no village in front and no store behind.
.
Two days ago, when they were resting at the Laozi Shop, more than ten riders, divided into three or four waves, passed by their team. Two waves of riders even ran to a higher place to stop and observe them.
Last night, they rested near Zhongzipu. When they set up camp today, He Shihui saw three riders wandering around the camp, so he sent twelve cavalry to guard the perimeter of the camp.
Precisely because he was worried about the situation, he did not eat lunch at noon today. He Shihui's idea was to rush through this journey as soon as possible. The closer to the security guard city, the safer it would be.
After hearing He Shihui's order, Sun Dashan, the commander of the Third Class A Team of the Zuoshao B General Team, immediately jumped up from the cart, used his strength to do a somersault, and sat on a war horse behind the cart.
He picked up the horse's reins, crossed the horse's head, clamped the horse's belly with both feet, and the horse neighed, then jumped out diagonally, galloping forward from the edge of the official road to catch up with the three sergeants who were exploring the road ahead.
go.
"I said, big stone, why don't you know how tired you are? If you don't sit in a big car, you have to grind your big feet." He Shihui teased the stone pillar half-jokingly.
"He Tou, look, what's going on over there?" came the rumbling voice from the stone pillars, and his tone was quite urgent.
When He Shihui heard that Shi Zhuli's tone was wrong, he hurriedly propped himself up and sat up, looking towards the north of the official road where Shi Zhuli was pointing.
I saw a large cloud of dust flying in the wilderness behind the official road, like a sudden sandstorm. Looking from a distance, a large cloud of smoke and dust almost covered the small mountain peak a few miles away.
Liu Quan, the captain of Zuoshao B Corps A, who was lying next to He Shihui, also sat up and looked at the smoke and dust rolling in the north. He and He Shihui shouted in unison: "Bandits, they are mountain bandits."
He Shihui and Liu Quan looked at each other, stood up suddenly, and shouted: "Send the order, everyone stop, unload the trucks, gather the mules and horses, don't panic."
There was a commotion in the refugee team that was in action. Stone Pillar was carrying a long-handled sledgehammer, opened his big mouth and shouted angrily: "You fucker, please stand still and don't fucking move."
"
From time to time, someone would jump off each cart and get on his horse, shouting back and forth on the official road: "Hold on, don't run, stay where you are..."
Changbai Shanzi, the second class A of the Zuo Shao B General Team, came galloping on his horse. When he saw a few refugees running around and screaming, he picked up his riding crop and slapped his head and face hard, shouting: "Damn you, you are just running a ball blindly.
Just squat down..."
He galloped to the cart where He Shihui was and shouted: "He Tou, what the hell are you doing?"
When He Shihui saw Sun Dashan running back, he shouted loudly: "Bai Shanzi, direct the refugees to move the cart to the north edge of the official road, make a half circle against the willow trees, and gather the horses and mules at the back.
Sun Dashan, call all the brothers who are capable of fighting, put on their armor, and wait for my orders. Where is Mr. Shi? Oh, Mr. Shi, you call all the refugees behind the cart and tell everyone to hide. Don’t panic.
Don’t be afraid.”
After a moment of chaos, ten carts were set up along the north edge of the official road, with willow trees sandwiched between them. There was still a two-step wide gap between each cart. Some wheelbarrows were also pushed over and stood on top of each cart.
In the meantime, some boxes and packages from the carts were also moved down and used as roadblocks, forming a semicircle to protect the east, north and west directions.
To the south of the official road are several large ponds, with weeds and shrubs growing across them. It is very muddy and difficult to walk on. He Shihui estimates that the bandits will not attack from this direction, so he does not plan to set up defenses here. The focus is on the three directions of northeast and west.
.
The young and strong among the refugees already had wooden sticks in their hands before setting off. At this time, they were arranged to stand on the outside and formed six long square formations, each with a hundred people.
Originally, when we set out from Changping, there were less than 900 wounded soldiers plus refugees. However, after passing Juyong Pass, refugees who had escaped earlier joined us, and the number gradually gathered to around 1,500 people.
The women, the old and the weak among the refugees were all concentrated in the middle of the official road, as were the mules and horses. Each of them also held a wooden stick, which they usually used to lean on and rest on when walking, but now they all held it tightly in their hands.
inside.
There were one hundred and twenty strong men, holding various weapons in their hands, standing neatly behind the cart. They were separated on the left and right sides, with sixty people on each side. They were the ones Zhang Cheng selected from the refugees.
A strong man with a family.
In the past few days, He Shihui has been practicing continuously while marching, beating them, and he has already got some skills. He Shihui is very satisfied with this calm posture in the face of danger.
Sun Dashan and Bai Shanzi also galloped back. Behind them were thirty-six elite Xuanzang cavalry, but most of them had just recovered from minor injuries, and some had not even fully recovered yet and insisted on going out to fight.
He Shihui supported Liu Quan and stood on the cart, looking at the smoke and dust getting closer and closer to the north of the official road.
"Looking at the situation, there can be seven or eight hundred people. It's a bit difficult for Lao He." Liu Quan was a little worried.
He Shihui saw two knights galloping from the north and said: "It's not a big deal. We can kill all the Tatars and bandits, just like chopping vegetables."
In the blink of an eye, two knights galloped over, riding through the gap in the large workshop onto the official road. When they got closer, they saw a person lying on the horseback of one of the knights.
They galloped to the cart where He Shihui was, leaving behind a man dressed as a bandit. He had disheveled hair and a beard, his hands and feet were tied, and his mouth was stuffed tightly with rags.
Lying on the ground, he screamed "Woooooo".
A knight rode on his horse and reported: "He Tou, Liu Tou, are some mountain bandits. They seem to be mixed together in several groups, with about seventy or eighty riders. There are about 800 foot bandits left. Let's catch them."
He is alive and has no time to interrogate him."
After hearing the report from the Sentinel Cavalry, He Shihui couldn't help but turn his head and look at Liu Quan. Liu Quan naturally understood what he meant and said readily: "Old He, give the order."
He Shihui didn't do any ink at the moment. He nodded to Liu Quan and ordered in a deep voice: "Shi Zhuzhu, you lead the Minyong Left Team of 60 people, plus a young and strong hundred-man team to guard the official road to the west; Ma Huijun, you
Lead the Minyong right team of 60 people, plus a young and strong team of 100 people to guard the official road to the east;
Wang Sanhu, you lead two young and strong centurions to guard the left side of the north; Du Chun, you lead two young and strong centurions to guard the right side of the north. You two follow Captain Liu's orders;
Sun Dashan, you pick twenty elite cavalry and prepare to charge into the formation to capture the thieves and capture the king first; Bai Shanzi, you lead the remaining elite cavalry to support all parties at any time."
Everyone whose name was called received the order loudly, and for a while, the sound of orders and footsteps were heard together.
He Shihui was still standing on the cart, looking at the smoke and dust on the north side of the official road. It was now much closer and larger, and the smoke and dust on the north was gradually extending towards the east side of the official road.
Gradually, the sound of horse hooves trampling on the ground could be heard. Based on the sound alone, it was estimated that there must be nearly a hundred bandits on horseback.
In a short time, these horse bandits rushed to the official road. Some of them were skilled in equestrian skills. They galloped, screamed loudly, and rolled around on their horses, showing off their riding skills.
technique.
The smoke was billowing, and the rumbling sound of horse hooves was getting closer and closer, and the horse bandits on the opposite side could be faintly seen. Most of them had armor on their bodies, but almost everyone had a cloak or cloak, which was blowing in the wind.
In addition to these horse bandits who have rushed to the official road, in the wilderness to the north of the official road, the dark crowd more than 300 steps away seems to be foot bandits, and there are also some ragged and skinny people who look like they have been beaten.
Threatened people.
These infantry bandits stopped more than 200 steps away. They lined up in a scattered row. They seemed to be more than 800 people. Only more than 300 people could be seen faintly, holding various long and short weapons in their hands.
The others are all agricultural tools such as spades, picks, rakes and sickles, and some people even hold a thick wooden stick in their hands like the refugees here.