Li Dingguo was leading his troops towards here, and the sentinels sent by Zheng Pang also detected the movements of the Datong Army from a distance.
Zheng Pang urgently recalled the soldiers who had gone out to collect food to Xing'an Fucheng, and said to his son: "In half a month at most, the typhoon is coming. Even if there is no typhoon, it will be hot and rainy, and these Han soldiers will not be able to withstand it. Hold on to Xing'an City and wait until it rains before attacking. By then the Han soldiers' firearms will be useless."
Zheng Zha asked doubtfully: "Our army does not have enough food and grass. Even if we collect food, we will not be able to last for a long time. Shouldn't we fight quickly?"
"I have ordered the entire army to cut down on meals. It will last for two or three months without any problem," Zheng said. "The Han soldiers are all elites, but most of us are rural warriors. We will suffer a lot in fighting outside the city. It is more beneficial to us to defend the city." .As long as we delay, it will be hot and humid by then, and the Han soldiers coming from the north will definitely get sick."
Vietnam's territory is long and spans many latitudes, so the climate is very complex.
Like the Red River Delta, which is currently at war, the four seasons are relatively distinct, but it is hot all year round. In summer, there are more typhoons and the rainfall increases significantly. It is hot and humid and it is easy to get sick.
The rainy season in the true sense is actually in Ruan's territory, and it is in the south of Ruan's territory. There is drought for half the year and continuous rainfall for half the year.
If you fight in areas such as Nghe An, Thanh Hoa, and Ha Tinh, even if there are no typhoons in the summer, it will be particularly uncomfortable because the "Lao wind" will blow. In fact, it is a kind of Foehn effect. The reason why Chongqing is called a furnace is Because the foehn wind blows all the time in summer.
In a word, if time continues to drag on, the Chinese army will definitely experience a large number of non-combat attrition.
Zheng Zha nodded and said, "I understand."
Zheng Pang added: "Our army is holding on to Xing'an City. If the Han soldiers cannot attack for a long time, they will probably go north to attack Taiping Mansion. There are not enough defenders in Taiping City.
If you bring ten thousand people there, even if you die in the city, you must protect Taiping. You must not allow Han soldiers to cross Taiping and go to Shenglong Mansion!"
Zheng Zha immediately went to count his troops and planned to lead his troops to garrison in Taiping Mansion.
The Red River has a tributary called Taiping River. The two rivers meet near Xing'an City. You can reach Taipingfu City by following the Taiping River.
When the Ming Dynasty conquered Annan, the Annan monarchs and ministers abandoned their capital and fled along the Red River to Xing'an City, and then along the Taiping River to the sea.
During this period, the Ming army caught up and fought a battle, destroying tens of thousands of Annan troops in a land and water battle.
Before Zheng led his troops to leave Xing'an, more than ten people fled in embarrassment to report the news.
"Why are you here?" Zheng asked.
The person who came was Zheng Pang's housekeeper. He lay on the ground and cried loudly: "Your Majesty, I'm afraid Shenglong Mansion is gone! Mo's Dog Thief raised tens of thousands of troops to attack the capital.
The noble officials in the city fled overnight, but were ambushed by the dog thief. The villain... The villain jumped into the river to escape, and was lucky enough to survive.
After running for dozens of miles, I finally met the prince!"
This news shocked Zheng to the point of freezing, and then he said incompetently and furiously: "How can someone named Mo have an army of tens of thousands? He can only have thousands if he can survive!"
It takes time to gather an army to go on an expedition. As long as the confidentiality work is done well, even if there are only 500 defenders left in Taiyuan City, they can completely hold off the Mo family's army for two or three months. Who would have thought that Taiyuan would be like a sieve and the defenders would be transferred away On the same day, someone rushed to notify Mo Jingyu.
But Mo Jingyu didn't wait for his troops to gather together, so he ordered to summon a large army and led two thousand people to attack the town.
Zheng Zha also got the news in the military camp and ran back quickly: "Father, do you still want to go to maintain peace?
"What a fool!" Zheng was so angry that he wanted to vomit blood.
To their south is Li Dingguo's army, and to the north is Shenglong Mansion, which was captured by the Mo family. If they continue to hold on, they will be attacked from both sides.
But if you don't hold on, where can you escape?
Are you taking a boat along the Taiping River to go to sea? A typhoon is approaching. If you escape to the sea at this time, your whole family may capsize and feed the fish. Even if you don't encounter a typhoon, you may encounter the Datong Navy!
There was only one choice left for them. Zheng Zha asked: "Go to Ailao Mountain?"
Zheng Pang clenched his fist and said: "When the Mo family usurped power, Emperor Li also patrolled Ailao, and only then did I, the Zheng family, revive the Li Dynasty. The whole army immediately set off and marched westward into the Ailao Mountains, and then they will fight back to Thang Long Palace!"
The Ailao Mountain here is not the Ailao Mountain in Yunnan, but generally refers to the large mountainous area at the junction of Laos, Vietnam, and China.
There once was an Ailao Kingdom, which arose in the Lancang River and the middle and upper reaches of the Nu River. It was a country established by the Dai tribe. The Ailao Kingdom was also called the Mengzhang Kingdom and the Chengxiang Kingdom. The word Ailao is a transliteration and roughly means "
"Big brother" is the honorific title given to the leader of the country by the leaders of various ministries.
A hundred years ago, Mo Dengyong usurped the government of Annan. The ancestors of the Zheng family and the Ruan family fled into the Ailao Mountains with a bunch of old officials, but they did not know where to find a clan to support them. Only then did they survive the most difficult years.
, to buy time for the later restoration of the country.
Now that Zheng Pang was in a desperate situation, he immediately thought of his ancestors and decided to flee into the mountains to hide for a few years.
In the afternoon of that day, Zheng Pang led tens of thousands of troops, carrying only food and gold and silver, and evacuated towards the western mountainous area as quickly as possible.
These guys left on the front foot, Datong in the city made careful preparations, and then rushed downstream to report the news.
"stop!"
Xi Zuo encountered Li Dingguo's vanguard troops on the way. He said in Chinese: "I am one of you, act cautiously and don't bring a belt. Tell General Li immediately that Zheng Pang fled westward, probably to enter the mountains. Shenglong Mansion
There are also people who have fled, and the Mo family is besieging Shenglong Mansion!"
Li Dingguo quickly learned the news and ordered: "Pursue at full speed and do not allow the enemy to escape into the mountains!"
The ships carried armor, artillery and food, and the soldiers only held weapons in their hands. They ran along the river under the scorching sun in a weather of nearly 3 degrees Celsius. Fortunately, an official road was built along the river, and the cavalry could run along the official road. Otherwise, they would be everywhere.
It's a paddy field, so the cavalry will probably have to abandon their horses to pursue it.
When they rushed to Xing'an City, Li Dingguo successfully took over the city, leaving only a few hundred men to guard the city, while the rest of the soldiers crossed the river and continued to pursue westward.
Moreover, there is no river for the rest of the journey, so the soldiers have to carry food, armor, and weapons themselves.
I saw thousands of Datong soldiers jogging shirtless on the field ridge in the countryside. Their cotton-padded armor was packed on their backs, and their spears, muskets, and waist knives were laid horizontally and bundled on the cotton-padded armor. They were all sweating under the hot sun.
It's like it was just fished out of the water.
All the cavalry horses were left in Xing'an City, and they were temporarily converted to an infantry march - there was no official road, the land was paddy fields, and the horses moved very slowly.
As for food, each soldier only brought three days' worth of dry food, and a kettle with cold boiled water around his waist.
It was also very hot after nightfall. Zheng's soldiers complained one after another, and the civilian men carrying the baggage were even more hot and tired.
Zheng was very old and couldn't bear it anymore. He ordered: "The whole army rests where it is, and is not allowed to wander around. We will continue on our way after dawn!"
Including the civilians and local braves, the army of tens of thousands stopped just like this in the fields. Not to mention the formation, it stretched for several miles in a mess.
It takes a long time to convey military orders.
Zheng Pang felt that he was very safe. The Han soldiers were still far away and could not fly over to attack him.
Officers from various ministries ordered their soldiers to collect weeds and burn them to fumigate away mosquitoes. Weeds such as mugwort and moxa could be found everywhere in the wild, and farmers relied on these to repel mosquitoes.
For a while, the fields were filled with thick smoke, and the smell of rice could be heard from time to time.
Just as the meal was being served, there was a strange movement from behind the troops, followed by another cry of killing.
Zheng, covered in blood, came to report: "Father, some gentry and local warriors have escaped, but the child has been suppressed! Elite guards have been arranged everywhere.
Whoever dares to be a deserter will never see the sun tomorrow!"
It is normal for deserters to appear.
More than 70% of these tens of thousands of troops are civilians and rural warriors. The generals of the rural warrior troops are all diligent gentry from various places.
It is okay to ask the gentry to recruit soldiers to serve the king, but to ask them to abandon their family property and go into the mountains and hide for who knows how many years, it is simply more uncomfortable than killing them. Zheng Pang expressed his appreciation for his son's quick reaction. After praising him for a few words, he ordered
"The army is all men. I don't know how long we will stay in the mountains.
No woman is going to do bad things. Before entering the mountains, we raided the villages outside the mountains, captured all the women who were with the army, and assigned them to the soldiers as wives."
Zheng thought for a while and said: "To prevent the soldiers from escaping, I will send an order now. Tell them that they can plunder along the way tomorrow, but each person is only allowed to rob one woman. Taking too many is not conducive to a fast march."
With this approach, the Datong Army did not have to march in a hurry and could catch up at normal speed.
Zheng Zha immediately sent an order to the entire army. Hearing that they could plunder along the way, their morale recovered a little. Especially the bachelors in the army were even excited. They would soon rob their wives. They even made up their minds one by one to steal their wives.
I don’t want any ugly girls who want to rob a landlord’s house!
Zheng Pang said to his son: "When the Mo family usurped power, our ancestors led tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians into the mountains. After thirteen years of hard work, we finally achieved great success! Don't be discouraged. Our ancestors were able to lie in wait in the mountains for thirteen years, and we can come again."
Thirteen years. As long as we seize the opportunity, we will be able to restore our country!"
"Kid, remember this!" Zheng Zhui was inspired by a few words.
In fact, it was Ruan Gan, the ancestor of the Ruan family, who led the soldiers and civilians into the mountains at that time. Zheng Jian, the ancestor of the Zheng family, came to join him on the way and made a living by being Ruan Gan's son-in-law.
They didn't work hard in the mountains for thirteen years, but they were idle for thirteen years.
In the end, the country was restored because Mo Dengyong angered Emperor Jiajing, and the officers and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty had already arrived at Zhennanguan. Mo Dengyong was so frightened that he wet his pants, and personally led his ministers to Zhennanguan to plead guilty to the Ming army and ask for surrender.
The Nguyen family, the ancestor of the Zheng family, seized the opportunity to send troops and took advantage of the opportunity to recapture Nghe An and Thanh Hoa. With the help of the gentry in Ngee An and Thanh Hoa, they recruited peasant troops for the northern expedition and finally recaptured Thang Long Province.
After the restoration of the country, the Ruan family and the Zheng family had a falling out. The Zheng family also tried to usurp power, and the Ruan family fled to the south to establish a separatist regime.
Of course, in the Zheng family's propaganda, the Ruan family is the traitor, and the restoration of the country depends entirely on the Zheng family.
At night, Zheng didn't sleep well and was worried about the future development.
Suddenly there was a cry of killing, and Zheng woke up suddenly.
Zheng Zha came over with his own soldiers and said anxiously: "Father, leave quickly, Han soldiers are coming to kill you!"
Zheng was surprised and said: "Why so fast? Can Han soldiers fly?"
******
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