Chapter 66: Can a scholar be killed but not humiliated?
On October 20, the eleventh year of Chongzhen in the Ming Dynasty, it was the middle of the year.
There is a stone bridge on the Liangshui River about 25 miles southeast of Yongding Gate in Beijing, and a group of Ming troops are busy working nervously.
More than a dozen Ming soldiers wearing red mandarin duck jackets ran towards the bridge and quickly moved away the horses standing there. Four sergeants rushed onto the stone bridge, each holding a long-handled broom in their hands.
Sweep violently and sweep the caltrops on the stone bridge from the middle to both sides.
About ten steps to the west of the stone bridge, there is a half-circle of chest-high earthen wall, which runs along the official road connecting the stone bridge to the banks of the Liangshui River on both sides. There are two carts on both sides of the official road, leaving a gap in the middle.
There is a passage of more than ten feet.
In front of the earth wall, there is a shallow ditch one step wide, almost reaching the waist. In front of the ditch, there are several Juma stakes scattered in disorder. Behind the earth wall, fifteen firecrackers are propped up on the earth wall, aiming at the stone bridge.
direction.
To the east of the stone bridge, there was a cloud of smoke and dust, accompanied by the rumble of horse hooves on the ground, gradually approaching, running toward the stone bridge.
They were the cavalrymen of the Right Sentinel A Corps under Zhang Cheng who were sent out today. Under the leadership of Zuo Qinghe, the officer of the A Corps, they were galloping toward the stone bridge against the dazzling sunset.
A group of more than thirty cavalrymen did not cross the bridge, but when they were a hundred steps away from the stone bridge, they began to slow down their horses, stopped about twenty steps in front of the stone bridge, and began to change horses.
The war horse that had just galloped stopped at the same place, snoring non-stop, and the sounds of "chhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh" came one after another. After the knights changed horses, they slapped the butt of the war horse they had just ridden, and kept blowing.
When the whistle was blown or the order was given, the war horses were seen running up the stone bridge and running towards the west, screaming "咴咴".
"Assemble the team, check the muskets, and prepare the bows and arrows."
Team officer Zuo Qinghe shouted orders.
The knights quickly formed three rows and stood on the north side of the official road east of the stone bridge. About three hundred steps east of them, smoke and dust rolled forward, and the rumble of the horses' hooves on the ground was louder than before.
Just as Zuo Qinghe ordered to "organize the team", two messengers with command flags on their backs galloped across the stone bridge. Behind the cart to the west of the stone bridge, they met the team officer Cao Li'an who was stationed at the stone bridge.
He hurriedly shouted: "Captain Cao, there are about 500 Tatars on horseback, report to your sentry commander immediately."
After saying that, he hit his horse and hurried away along the official road, turned back in the distance, and ran towards the abandoned fort where Zhang Cheng and others were camping.
…………
Ma Yuan led Team C to gallop back, waving and shouting from afar: "Left head, cross the bridge, cross the bridge..."
A group of thirty-three cavalrymen galloped towards them. Some of them seemed to be covered in paint, with patches of blood red on their bodies. They did not stop at the Zuoqing River, but shouted, "Cross the bridge, cross the bridge quickly..."
, and rushed past, leaving nothing but smoke and dust on the official road.
Zuo Qinghe saw Ma Yuan and the others behind him from a distance. About three hundred steps away, a red cloak could be seen flashing through a puff of smoke. Farther away, the sky was almost filled with smoke, which was rolling towards his position in a fan shape.
He hurriedly shouted, and the thirty-three riders followed Ma Yuan and the others, galloping across the stone bridge until they were behind the cart, and then stopped.
We met Liu Changliang, the commander-in-chief of the rear sentry A of the Infantry Thousand Headquarters. He hurriedly stepped forward and said hello: "Commander Liu, there are more than 500 Tatars chasing Tongtou..."
Liu Changliang waved his hand, and more than a hundred general sergeants who had followed him spread out in a fan shape behind the earth wall. They also had more than forty muskets mounted on the earth wall, aiming in the direction of the stone bridge.
"Listen up, don't panic. I'll be sure to hold you steady. The brothers in the cavalry killed more than a hundred Tatars in Mafang. Let's show off our skills today." Liu Changliang shouted loudly, and his words made people laugh.
The sergeant behind the earth wall was refreshed.
The rapid sound of horse hoofbeats came, and more than thirty cavalrymen galloped across the stone bridge. They looked a little tired. Some of them still had arrows hanging on their armors. The tails of the arrows were shaking constantly, and blood came from the places where the arrows were hit.
Keep flowing out slowly.
Tong Shoushan also had several arrows stuck in his body, and his left shoulder was oozing bright red.
As soon as he crossed the stone bridge, he turned over and dismounted, and said to Liu Changliang: "Tatars, hundreds of Tatars, have chased me for more than 20 miles."
After saying this, he gasped for breath, and without waiting for Liu Changliang to answer, he continued: "I have ruined several of my brothers. They are very fierce, but we are not at a loss. If we catch them alive, we will allocate a lot of money to the treasury, and we will also cut off
Got a dozen Tatar heads.”
After saying that, he turned around and shouted to Bao Jiqiang, the officer of Team B: "Baozi, hang the corpses of the three Tatars on the big tree for me to show to the other side."
It was only then that Liu Changliang intervened and said: "General Tong will take a breath for a moment. The brothers in the cavalry have also worked hard. The warning message has been sent back to the camp. Our Chen Shao is also on the way. We will never
Let the Tatars cross the bridge."
As soon as Tong Shoushan and the others crossed the bridge, the sergeants guarding the bridge hurriedly swept it twice with big brooms, then turned and ran back. As soon as the horse-repelling stakes were set up, the Tatar cavalry chased them to the stone bridge, and after more than a hundred steps, they
The place began to slow down and did not stop until it was more than thirty steps away from the stone bridge.
They hurried back behind the earthen wall, quickly set up their carts again, and blocked the official road.
Chen Dakuan, the outpost commander of the Infantry Thousand Headquarters of Zhenbiao's right-wing battalion, galloped over on horseback. Behind him, the sergeants of Team B and Team C followed him. Team A of Team B of Team B had been guarding the stone bridge, while Team C stayed behind to guard the remaining pier, so Team B was the only one left.
Thirty-three sergeants came to support.
There was an earthen platform beside the official road behind the earthen wall. Chen Dakuan, Liu Changliang, and Tong Shoushan were standing on it, looking across the stone bridge.
…………
The smoke and dust on the east bank of the Liangshui River gradually dispersed. Chen Dakuan saw a pure white flag appearing in front of him, and then a large white flag came into view, flying in the cold wind.
Under the densely packed flags, there were knights wearing pure white iron-lined cotton armor, with white tassels fluttering in the wind on top of the black and high-pointed helmets.
"It seems that the Tatar from Zhengbai Banner is Niulu Zhangjing." Tong Shoushan said in a deep voice.
"Chen Shao, we also caught a living Fende Bashiku."
After saying that, without waiting for Chen Dakuan to speak, he turned around and shouted to Zuo Qinghe: "Wake up that Fende Bashiku and hang him on the tree for the other side to watch."
Chen Dakuan turned around and saw that his feet were tied with hemp ropes to the big tree on the river bank and hung upside down on the fork of the big tree. The heads of the three Tatar corpses had been chopped off, and they were hanging down from the neck.
The blood flowed along the river bank and into the Liangshui River, and the river water was dyed red.
The Tatar Fende Pashiku had been woken up at this moment, and he was covered in dust, speaking feebly and screaming in Tatar language.
Chen Dakuan asked: "Damn, what do these Tatars call you?"
Ma Yuan was born in Ye Bu Su and had learned Tatar dialect. At this time, when he heard the question from the sentry commander Chen Dakuan, he stepped forward and said: "Return to Chen Seno, Tongtou, what this Tatar said is 'Shi Ke Kill'"
It means 'not to be insulted'."
Chen Dakuan stared at his big eyes and cursed angrily: "You damn dog Tatar, you can't kill me anymore. You go and pull off all the clothes off my mother's skin, slap him in the balls with the whole tree stick, and call the other Tatar."
Guys, take a look."
Ma Yuan left in response. Here, Tong Shoushan looked at the Tatars on the opposite side who were still forming a team. There were still scattered Tatar cavalry galloping towards them. They should be Yu Ding from some banners serving as auxiliary troops, and there were also
Those coats of armor carried by the horsemen.
Although these people also had horses, most of them had mules and horses at home. How could they compare with the horses of the horsemen and infantrymen? They were naturally left far behind, and only then did they catch up one after another.