Da Kui did not comment on Lao Huo's words. If it was a business matter, he should be impartial and impartial. On ordinary days, Da Kui would like to share joys and sorrows with his subordinates and talk freely with each other.
"Brother Huo's kindness is appreciated." Dun Dakui added: "I'm new here, and I hope that I can help you with some things."
Old Huo chuckled and said: "It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter. It's all as it should be. Why should Lieutenant Zhang be so polite?" After that, Old Huo continued: "We will start at noon, we should make some preparations."
Dakui nodded and said humbly: "Brother Lao Huo will give you some advice."
"You're being polite again, Colonel Zhang, please." Although Lao Huo was a sloppy old man, he was very sophisticated and considerate in his words and deeds. Dakui not only sighed in his heart, but having such a capable person as his deputy saved him a lot of trouble.
Returning to the room, Lao Huo preached to all the veterans in the room: "Colonel Zhang is very kind to everyone, but we can't neglect it. What you have to do is as usual, get up." Although Lao Huo looks unattractive, but
All the veterans obeyed his words, and after hearing the words, they all got up and started working.
There are those holding the pots, those holding the firewood. There are also those who wash the dishes, those who wash the rice and those who make noodles. Everyone is busy performing their duties, and everything is in order. Dakui stood by the courtyard, having nothing to do.
He wanted to do something to help others, but everyone refused. Old Huo walked up to him and said with a smile: "Colonel Zhang, please go aside and have a rest. How can you stretch your hands for these menial tasks?"
Dakui felt very guilty and raised his voice to the crowd: "I, Zhang Dakui, am not here to be a freeloader in the army. We have to work together and have food to eat together." After saying that, no matter how much others refused, he just started working. There were piles on the edge of the courtyard.
He was holding some logs, and there was an old soldier chopping firewood. Da Kui went over and took the ax and said: "You go help others, I am here."
Under the surprised gaze of the old army, Dakui began to chop the firewood with his axe, and the ax fell down to separate the firewood very quickly.
When everyone saw that Dakui insisted on doing this, it was hard to say anything. Before noon, the porridge was boiled and the steamed buns were steamed. The old soldiers carried baskets and baskets and sent out the cooked meals.
Lao Huo came to Da Kui and said with a smile: "This is the case in the rear army. In addition to eating and sleeping, there are one or two hours of rest every day. If you go out with the army, you will not even have time to eat and sleep."
Dian Dakui knew that once he went out with the army, tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of soldiers in the army would have to eat, so the Tuotou Army would be faced with a very busy situation.
It was already midnight when all the veterans returned to the Huotou Army station. After everyone had a hasty meal, they started to work again. The pots and pans were washed one by one. There were still a lot of odd jobs. It was time to finish all the work.
It's time to prepare dinner. In the army, except for generals and other leaders, ordinary soldiers do not eat breakfast. Fortunately, they are in the capital now. If they are fighting with the army, they may not even have time to rest.
After three days of this, the Huotou Army received the order and rushed to Peiping with the baggage and food team. They stopped at Jeju Prefecture on the way and returned to the army. When Da Kui heard the news, he was filled with emotions. He finally had the opportunity to return to his hometown.
I wonder if my mother’s grave is now covered with weeds?
On the day the team set out, there was a lot of traffic. This was the food and grass that was to be transported to the conquest army. Now that the borders of Shandong, Shanxi and Peiping had just been recovered, and there had been wars in the north of the Yangtze River for many years, the people no longer wanted to farm, so most of the food and grass had to be transported from the south.
The Huotou Army used ten mules, horses and carts to pull the necessary items and set off north at the end of the grain and grass baggage team. Along the way, people cheered and horses neighed, and the team was huge. When they arrived at Shishi Crossing, they were carried across the river by warships.
.The entire baggage team included tens of thousands of people, and it took six days to cross the river.
The warship went down the river and reached the waters of Guazhou. Da Kui looked at the turbulent water and couldn't help but sigh in his heart. His Royal Highness Prince Xiaoming of the Later Song Dynasty fell into the water here. If everything was safe, what would the Ming Dynasty look like today?
After landing on the shore, the gang leader army and the baggage team gathered together, and the team marched north again. It took nearly three months to reach the boundary of Jeju Prefecture. It was late autumn now, and once again I saw that every tree and plant in my hometown was no longer weeds.
The miserable autumn leaves are falling.
The Huotou Army was escorted into Jeju City by a group of Ming troops and was separated from the baggage team.
On the streets of Jeju City, patrolling soldiers and horses can often be seen coming and going, but there are very few pedestrians. After the war, even the big city was much more depressed. But everything around it was still the same as before, every street and every lane was the same as before.
Da Kui has left Jeju for so many years, but everything about Jeju is still deeply engraved in his heart, but Da Kui has a deep attachment to his hometown.
Dakui and his party came to settle near the Guanyin Temple in the south of the city, because there were troops stationed here. The Ming army's military regulations strictly prohibited disturbing the people, so the Huotou Army camped in the square in front of the Guanyin Temple.
Guanyin Temple is the temple of Guanyin in the South China Sea. Although it was a year of war, it was still popular. Da Kui once heard his mother say that after marrying Da Kui's father, his stomach had not moved for a year. Later, Da Kui's mother came here.
Burning incense in a temple to pray for a son, it turned out to be true, and Dakui was born the next year.
"Why are you waiting so long? Go and set up the camp!" A school captain galloped to the front of the gang leader's convoy, reined in his horse, and shouted loudly. The veterans did not dare to delay and went about their business. Dakui was standing there
He was in a daze in front of the Guanyin Temple. Hearing this shout, he felt a little angry. When the captain on horseback saw Da Kui standing alone in front of the Guanyin Temple, he not only dismounted from his saddle but came to Da Kui and asked: "Brother, what are you doing?"
Is he the captain of the team?"
Dakui nodded and did not answer. The captain held the horse and said, "It is a rule in the army that the leader of the army must set up camp immediately when they arrive at the camp. You are the captain, so you should know the rules." Dakui is of the same rank as the captain.
Therefore, the captain did not speak rudely to Dakui.
Dakui smiled and said: "I know this. I am from Jeju. I just came from the capital. I am a little homesick after being away for many years."
The captain smiled and said: "This is also human nature. I have said what I need to say. General Pang is very strict in running the army. You can't be careless."
Hearing this, Dakui nodded and said, "Thank you for the tip. My brother is busy with military affairs, so I won't bother you."
As they said goodbye, Dakui went to arrange for people to set up camp.
A large tent was simply set up with four tall poles. There were dozens of pots and stoves made of bluestone in the tent. Each person guarded a big pot, and then they started to light a fire and make rice. Dakui brought a bundle of firewood to the pot.
At the stove, he began to slowly add firewood to the bottom of the pot. As the fire grew stronger, Dakui's mind drifted back to Wulitun. After so many years, he no longer knew what his home was like.
When the meal was ready, there were already soldiers waiting in a long queue. The veteran soldiers distributed bowls, chopsticks, steamed buns, and porridge and water, and everything was in order. After receiving the meal, the soldiers dispersed and found an open space to squat on the ground to eat and drink. When the soldiers arrived,
After receiving the meals one by one, Dakui discovered that there were less than two thousand people coming to eat. In order to seek the truth, Dakui brought a bowl of porridge, made two steamed buns and came to a soldier.
"Brother, you are such a big man. You can't eat enough with two steamed buns. Come and eat mine." Da Kui smiled and chatted with a soldier and handed the steamed bun in his hand over. The soldier saw that Da Kui was a school captain.
He didn't dare to accept the steamed buns. He didn't bother to eat, and hurriedly refused. Dakui smiled and forced the steamed buns to him, then pretended to be fine and sat down on the floor to drink porridge.
"Thank you, big brother." The soldier held two steamed buns and looked at Da Kui with tears in his eyes.
"Why bother? Eat quickly." Da Kui put down the porridge bowl and asked, "I wonder who General Pang is?"
The soldier was devouring his food, and he hesitated when he heard the words: "General Pang's name is Pang Heihu, and he is the vanguard general under Governor Tang Hetang." He took a sip of porridge and swallowed the steamed bun in his mouth.
Dakui nodded and asked: "Even if we are the vanguard, why are there only these two thousand people?"
When the soldiers heard this, they stopped eating and drinking. Instead, they sat on the ground with their hands on their knees and began to cry.
"Little brother, why are you doing this?" Dakui asked hurriedly.
The soldier cried for a long time, then choked up and said: "A few months ago, Governor Tang received military orders to attack Longzhou (now Longxian, Shaanxi), Qinzhou (now west of Tianshui, Gansu), and Fuqiang (now Gangu, Gansu).
As the vanguard, General Pang naturally had to bear the brunt. Unexpectedly, he encountered an ambush in Fuqiang, and nearly half of the entire army was killed or wounded. In desperation, he retreated to Shanxi. Later, General Pang received an order from Governor Tang and ordered me to come to Jeju for preparations."
Hearing this, Dakui couldn't help but praise: "You are very good. You can be ashamed of being defeated. If all the soldiers under Tang Dudu are as shameful as you in defeat, why worry about failure!"
When the soldier heard this sentence, he wailed: "My brother died in the battle, wuwuwuwu!" He actually sat on the ground and cried loudly.
Not only was Dakui depressed, it turned out that this brother had something different to grieve about.
After taking the porridge bowl, Dakui stood up and wanted to persuade the soldier, but after opening his mouth several times, he was at a loss for words. Returning to the old army, Dakui took two more steamed buns and put them in the soldier's bowl.
He said: "Eat, you will feel better when you are full."
It turned out that after being forced to withdraw from the Central Plains, the remnants of the Yuan Dynasty headed by Tuohuan Tiemu'er (Yuan Huizong) still hoped to regain control of the Central Plains and recapture most of the capital. In the second year of Hongwu, Yuan Huizong ordered the prime minister to station his troops in Baihe and attack Tongzhou.
At that time, the Ming army sent troops to the Qin and Jin Dynasties, and the defense of Tongzhou was weak, with less than a thousand men. The guard general Cao Liangchen expected that although the Yuan soldiers were large, their morale was not high, so he adopted bluff tactics and quickly withdrew without knowing the true situation, thereby eliminating the Yuan army's pressure on the border.
Threat. Chang Yuchun happened to die in the Ming army. His deputy general Li Wenzhong took his place and led his troops northward to seize Shangdu. The Yuan army was unable to defeat the enemy and retreated steadily, and it never recovered.
However, there was Timur (Wang Baobao) in Gansu, Li Siqi in Shaanxi, and Zhang Liangbi in Shanxi. Each of the three Yuanting lords occupied one side. Xu Da led his army in a fierce battle with Zhang Liangbi in Shanxi, and fought all the way to seize the city.
Defeated. Finally, Zhang Liangbi surrendered to the Ming Dynasty in desperation.
As the saying goes: Kill ten thousand enemies and lose three thousand. Under Xu Da's command, Tang He's troops were like sharp knives in the army. And the vanguard army led by Tang He's vanguard Pang Heihu was also the backbone of Tang He's army.
Such an elite division suffered more than half casualties, which shows how tragic the battle was.