Fengyang City has almost no fortifications, and most of it is surrounded by fences.
After checking the seal, Dong Ting ordered the door to be opened.
Huai'an General Xu Erji is riding on a yellow steed. He is thirty-eight years old, the golden age of a military commander. He sits on the horse with a murderous look.
He is from Taikang, Henan, and belongs to the Xiangbai Banner of the Han Army. The reason why he joined the banner is all because of his father.
His father, Xu Dingguo, was originally the commander-in-chief of Henan Province in the Ming Dynasty and was stationed in Suizhou. At that time, Gao Jie, one of the four towns in the north of the Yangtze River in the Ming Dynasty, settled in Henan and planned to restore the Central Plains. His father invited Gao Jie to a banquet with humble words, and killed him with singing girls and wine.
Because of such great achievements, he was awarded the first-class fine Qiniha title by the Qing court. Nine years ago, he died of illness and his eldest son Xu Er'an took the title.
This Xu Erji is the second son of Xu Dingguo. He joined the army with his father since he was a child. He also fought in battles and saw blood. His three thousand troops were originally stationed in Henan. After the Ming army captured Nanjing, he was transferred to Huai'an Prefecture and came under the control of Yang Fangxing, the governor of the Qinghe River.
.A while ago, news of the fall of Luzhou came. Yang Fangxing couldn't sit still and sent him to Fengyang.
When people are in despair, when they encounter a life-saving straw, they want to grab it with all their strength. Xu Erji is now Dong Ting's life-saving straw.
"General Xu Shen will help me in Fengyang. Fengyang can be saved," Dong Ting said with tears in his eyes.
"The Futai is ridiculous. This is the duty of the general." Xu Erji was very polite and asked: "How many troops and horses does Fengyang have at Dongfutai?"
"Fengyang has five hundred garrison troops. We have transferred all the garrison troops from Suzhou, Lingbi, Hongxian, Wuhe, Huaiyuan, Mengcheng, Taihe and other places to Fengyang, but there are only two thousand people. Hateful
It is Yingchuan, Yingshang, Huoqiu, Shouzhou, and Dingyuan who refuse to be transferred, and I am afraid they have the intention of surrendering to the Ming Dynasty."
Xu Erji thought for a while and said: "There is no city in Fengyang to defend. If you want to defend Fengyang, you can only defend Fengyang briefly. There are other counties, but Dingyuan is the gateway to Fengyang. There are mountains such as Luzhou and Haotang that can be defended.
, It is absolutely impossible to throw them away. Five hundred soldiers are left at the mansion to guard Fengyang, and the rest follow the general to Dingyuan."
??
Dingyuan County is the hometown of Qi Jiguang, the famous Ming Dynasty general. There are many loyal people. Emperor Guangwu's northern expedition had swans accompanying Dapeng.
Xu Yi, the county magistrate, was one of them. When he heard that the king's division had conquered Luzhou, he immediately sent people to ask for surrender from the Ming army and put the sun and moon flag on the city wall.
Xu Erji led 3,000 headquarters and 1,500 Fengyang garrison troops, traveling day and night to Dingyuan.
"County Lord, the Tatars are coming," Li Binjiang, the official historian, reported to Xu Yi, "Should we surrender first and then change to the Tatar flag?"
Xu Yi sighed: "We, as officials, have already been disloyal. If we surrender after upholding our righteousness, wouldn't we have broken our integrity twice? What we have to do today is nothing but death."
Then the government officials were organized and the people defended the city.
There were only two hundred garrison troops in Dingyuan, and even with the government officials and civilians, there were no more than a thousand soldiers. How could they defeat Xu Erji's soldiers? Three hours later, Dingyuan City was destroyed, and both Xu Yi and Li Binjiang died for their country. p>
"Second Young Master, do you want your brothers to be happy?"
Guerrilla Xu Biao asked Xu Erji for instructions. He was a domestic slave of the Xu family and was habitually called the second son.
"Well, the war is coming, and we have to keep our brothers happy. But the time is limited, so I can only give you half a day. Go ahead."
"Thank you, Second Young Master." Xu Biao left happily, and soon Dingyuan City became a hell on earth.
Xu Erji smiled as he watched his subordinates burning, killing and looting in the city. He didn't have to do anything, as his trusted followers would hand over the looted money.
??
"Mr. Qian, what a happy event! The magistrates of Shouzhou and Dingyuan have come to submit letters." In the Hefei government office, Zhang Huangyan came to see Qian Qianyi happily with a letter in his hand.
Although Qian Qianyi has never led an army, he has lived to be seventy-three years old. He is mature and knowledgeable. He has a good understanding of the geography of various places and is especially good at talking about military affairs on paper.
He immediately talked eloquently, "Although Fengyang is the central capital of our court, it has no city defenses, so it is not difficult to get it. What you can worry about is Dingyuan. If you come from Dingyuan now, you can get Fengyang at your fingertips."
"Mr. Qian, although Dingyuan has surrendered, there is fear of recurrence. We must send troops to capture it immediately."
"Well, what Cang Shui said is true. We must immediately organize our troops and go to Dingyuan."
After recruiting troops, the Ming army's strength reached 10,000, of which Lu Wenye, Zhao Qian, and Luo Lun all expanded to 2,000. However, these 6,000 troops were mostly newly recruited rebels with poor combat effectiveness. Only those who could really fight
Yan Xiaoyong's 1,000 elite troops and Wang Zhigang's 3,000 Luzhou soldiers.
Qian Qianyi left Luo Lun's 2,000 troops to guard Luzhou and took 8,000 troops to Dingyuan City.
Lu Wenye carried a sword on his shoulder, rode a tall horse, and wore a cloak sewn by Sun himself. He walked proudly at the front. He was a pioneer. In order to highlight his status, he also asked someone to make a large flag:
"The Pioneer Land of the Ming Dynasty".
Looking at Lu Wenye's big flag, Zhao Qian was unhappy. Originally, he asked Qian Qianyi to be the vanguard, but Lu Wenye wanted to fight with him. This guy was the "first righteous man in Anqing" and was so famous that even his mother-in-law was the emperor.
The one who decides to marry has no fight.
"Brother Zhao, this time I will be the vanguard first, and next time I will let my elder brother be the vanguard." Lu Wenye got an advantage and behaved well. Zhao Qian became angry when he thought of his rude attitude towards him. p>
??
"Old officer, Dingyuan City is ahead," he reported to General Pan Hu to Lu Wenye.
Lu Wenye's face sank, "How many times have I told you that we are now imperial officials and we can no longer call each other by the old religious titles."
"Yes, report to Lu Guerrilla. Dingyuan is ahead. Do you want to send someone to deliver a message to Xu Yi, the magistrate of Dingyuan, and ask him to prepare food for the army?"
"Yeah," Lu Wenye responded, a little suspicious in his heart. Normally, since Xu Yi wanted to submit, he should go out of the city to welcome him. Why has there been no movement until now?
He said to the soldier Zhang Xizhu: "Zhuzi, please take a few people to the city and let Xu Yi prepare to reward the army."
"Yes, old officer, no, general", Zhang Xizhu took the order and left.
Lu Wenye ordered his men to take a rest and wait for Xu Yi to greet them.
Xu Yi didn't come, but instead came the billowing smoke.
"No, General, the Qing troops are coming." While he was resting, Pan Hu stumbled over.
Lu Wenye looked over and saw Zhang Xizhu running desperately in front, followed by countless Qing soldiers chasing him.
"How come there are clear troops? Quick, form an array!"
Lu Wenye ordered to form a formation, but he was complaining in his heart. In order to gain credit, he ran very fast, leaving Zhao Qian, Wang Zhigang, and Yan Xiaoyong behind. Now he could not stand alone. What was even worse was that his subordinates had just formed an army.
Soon, training was insufficient.
"Quick array!"
"What are you doing standing there? Put your gun up, put your gun up."
"Where is the long player? Stand up to guard against bows and arrows"??
Leaders such as Liu Zheng, Pan Hu, Weng Changxian, etc. tried their best to restrain their subordinates from setting up formations, but they only made them indecent.
"Hahaha, this is the Ming Army's Northern Expedition?"
Xu Erji looked at the messy Ming army formation and was overjoyed.
"General, the last general is willing to lead five hundred men into the formation." Xu Biao asked for a fight.
"Xu Erji, you will lead your headquarters to charge into the battle; Wang Guerrilla, Zhao Guerrilla, and you will attack the two wings of the Ming army respectively." Xu Erji has helped suppress the rebels in these years and has some combat experience.
"The last general takes command!"
The Qing army's offensive was fierce, and Lu Wenye's troops were poorly trained and were killed in pieces. He himself was also surrounded by the Qing army.
Fortunately, most of his subordinates were Luo Jiao's brothers in life and death. They were unwilling to leave him and escape alone, so they could still hold on for a while.
Lu Wenye called Liu Zheng, "Brother Liu, break out quickly and ask for help from General Zhao Qian."