They have an outpost of more than 200 people, and a group of sergeants are stationed at the bridge every day. A group of sergeants patrol around the stone bridge and the camp, rotating every other day, and the rest are stationed in the camp.
With such an arrangement, even if hundreds of captives break through the stone bridge and enter, it will be difficult to break into the camp for a while. Moreover, the outpost camp faces the stone bridge and the official road, and there are several No. 3 Folang machine guns and Tiger Crouching Cannons.
Arrange it there.
As long as a warning is given here, the abandoned fort can immediately provide support. Not to mention hundreds of captives, even one or two thousand captives can resist and fight for a while. When the surrounding Xuanzhen troops and horses come to help, the captives will be in danger.
Zhang Yan saw the layout of the camp and the bridge one after another. There were no major problems. After briefly asking about the recent harassment by the captives, he rode his horse towards the big stone bridge about two miles to the south.
…………
About two miles southeast of the abandoned fort where Zhang Cheng camped, there was an abandoned pier about two feet high. The person responsible for guarding the stone bridge here was the rear outpost of the Thousand Infantry Headquarters.
At this time, Zhang Cheng, General Zhang Yan and others were standing on the broken pier, looking around.
On the pier at their feet, facing the stone bridge to the east, were two No. 3 Folang machine guns, and eight muskets stood beside them, ready to be fired at any time.
The surrounding pier walls are basically intact, and the damaged parts have been repaired with earth. Outside the pier walls are adjacent to official roads and other easily attacked places, and are placed with objects such as horses and iron caltrops to block the enemy.
On the pier wall facing the official road, two squatting tiger cannons were also mounted to guard against possible captive cavalry.
About ten feet east of the pier, a stone bridge connected to the official road lies across the Liangshui River. Like the official road, the stone bridge is about three feet wide and more than ten feet long.
This bridge is also sprinkled with iron caltrops, which shines with cold light under the morning glow. At the end of the bridge where it connects to the official road, several Juma stakes are placed there. About three feet behind the Juma stakes, there is a newly built chest-high earth wall.
, forming a semicircular arc, with three carts lying sideways on the official road.
A No. 3 Fo Lang machine gun was mounted on the earth wall to the south of the official road, and a Tiger Crouching Cannon was mounted to the north, with the muzzles facing the direction of the stone bridge.
A group of sergeants were leaning against the earth wall to avoid the cold wind of early winter. In front of them, several bonfires were burning, with a large pot full of boiling water boiling on them.
Another group of sergeants went back and forth along the Liangshui River and around the pier. The three of them were divided into three directions, crisscrossing and inspecting everything around them.
Looking further east, towards Tongzhou on the other side of the Liangshui River, there are endless plains and beaches. There are occasionally a few low mounds. You can still see some villages burned by the Qing army, with billowing smoke.
The fire flickered.
Zhang Cheng turned around and looked north. The majestic figure of Beijing City was vaguely visible.
A few days ago, when King Qin's army and horses from Xuandasan Town had just moved their camp and arrived outside Yongding Gate, the commander-in-chief Gao Qiqian actually allocated a batch of grain and fodder to Lu Xiangsheng, but it was just a symbolic amount of grain and fodder. For Xuandasan
For the more than 30,000 troops and horses sent to the town for reinforcements, it was really like a drop in the bucket, and they wouldn't last much time at all.
Standing next to his uncle, Zhang Cheng couldn't help but remind him: "Uncle, when we moved the camp the day before yesterday, the food and grass allocated by the military supervisor Gao Gong was not enough. Now that the Tartars have occupied Tongzhou and water transportation is cut off, I'm afraid..."
Zhang Cheng did not say any more, because he saw his uncle Zhang Yan staring at him and heard Zhang Yan say: "The governors and military officials have to take care of the food and grass matters. We only need to guard the eastern suburbs."
In fact, Zhang Yan was also worried. The food and grass he brought from Xuanzhen was not much at all. It all depended on the supplies after the reinforcements came in. The food and grass allocated by Gao Qiqi when moving the camp a few days ago was in his hands.
There isn't much left, barely enough to last for more than half a month.
This man is like iron, and his rice is like steel. If he doesn't eat even one meal, he will be hungry.
If the food and grass are really cut off, the men and horses will not be able to bear it. No matter how strong the soldiers are, their combat effectiveness will drop sharply. If there really is such a day, all the Tatars will be killed, and all they will have to do is lie down and be killed by the Tatars.
But here, he can only say this. No matter how anxious he is, he can't show it on his face. The military spirit is the most important thing!
Seeing that Zhang Cheng was no longer talking, he said warmly: "Cheng'er, after your hard work as king, you will definitely be able to rank as a general. When you speak and do things, you must think more and don't talk too much when things happen."
, just causing trouble."
Zhang Cheng looked at his uncle, lowered his head and said in a deep voice: "Uncle's teachings are true, Cheng'er has remembered them."
…………
The wind was biting and cold on the pier. It was almost November, the north wind was picking up, and it was getting colder. Zhang Cheng wrapped his clothes tightly and stood beside his uncle, motionless and continued to look in the direction of Beijing.
I heard Liang Song, the infantry commander, saying to Lin Zhiyi: "With this pier and the stone bridge, I think we can stop hundreds of Tatar troops."
Then Lin Zhiyi's voice came: "The village forts in the capital are built thickly. As for the abandoned fort where we are stationed, if there is enough food and medicine, even if thousands of Tatars come to attack, we can still defend it."
Liang Song teased him with a smile: "What if it's food and grass, but there's not enough medicine?"
Lin Zhiyi hesitated for a moment, then bravely said: "With the Governor and Yang Junmen here, Eunuch Gao will definitely allocate enough food and grass for us. Right, General?"
Zhang Yan smiled bitterly and said in his heart: "Food and grass are so difficult!"
As his nephew Zhang Cheng said: Tongzhou was occupied by cavalry and water transportation was cut off, making it difficult for the capital to supply food and grass, not to mention the border troops who came to help.
If the troops had not been divided, perhaps the food and grass issue would still have some guarantees, but now that the troops have been divided, it seems that Gao Qiqian and Yang Sichang will definitely be constrained by Lu Xiangsheng at every turn. In the future, it may be possible that Lu Xiangsheng's neck will be tied to the food and grass issue.
At this time, Zhang Cheng interjected in a deep voice: "In our opinion, we can't expect the Gao Guild to allocate too much food and grass."
He shook his head, turned his eyes in the direction of Tongzhou, and continued to sneer: "I was really desperate, so I had to grab the Tatars."
Everyone looked sideways at Zhang Cheng with astonishment on their faces, even Zhang Yan.
"It's not like we haven't robbed them before. We have to kill the Tatars anyway, so why not plan carefully and grab some grains as well? Wouldn't it be easier?"
Zhang Cheng looked firmly towards Tongzhou in the distance, with a stern face and a cold tone as he spoke.
A biting cold wind blew by, and Zhang Cheng shivered.
Suddenly, he remembered an extremely important thing and couldn't help but turn his head to look north, at the bank of Xiaolong River where Governor Lu Xiangsheng's Governor's Battalion was stationed.
…………
On October 20, the 11th year of Chongzhen's reign in the Ming Dynasty, the sky was clear and the sun was shining slantingly in the eastern sky, shining on the earth.
More than 20 miles south of Yongding Gate in Beijing, where the Xiaolong River merges into the Liangshui River, a military camp spans both banks of the Xiaolong River, with a camp gate in the north and south.
Governor Lu Xiangsheng did not occupy the surrounding villages and forts, but camped along both sides of the Xiaolong River, guarding the three bridges. Both sides of the river were densely packed with trenches and walls, and were covered with horses and iron caltrops. It was indeed a fortress with tight walls, easy to defend and difficult to attack.
Today, the governor Lu Xiangsheng summoned all the generals, big and small, from Xuanda and the three towns of Shanxi who came to the capital to listen to his instructions.
In the camp, Lu Xiangsheng carefully asked the generals in the third town of Xuanda about the situation of the raiders' sentries in the eastern suburbs these days, as well as the strategies of each department to deal with the raiders' harassment.
When he heard that all the generals in the towns had achieved more or less gains, he also seemed very high-spirited and loudly encouraged the generals to be loyal to the emperor, serve the country, and defeat the enemy with all their strength.
When a general mentioned the increasing shortage of food and fodder for the army, Supervisor Lu Xiangsheng was helpless. He did not say anything more, but only told everyone to serve the country with loyalty and not to be discouraged because of the small number of soldiers.
Just at this time, the soldiers came in and announced: "The cabinet minister Yang Sichang has arrived at the camp."