After all, Jiannu failed to catch up with the Ming army.
Three days later, the Ming army successfully returned to Xia Town.
The first thing I did after coming back was to talk about my achievements and pay my salary at the same time.
After reading the account books, Chongzhen was inevitably a little heartbroken.
Just this wave will cost nearly 200,000 taels.
Among them, 23,000 taels are reward money, 24,000 taels are war pay for Huang Shi'an Town, 90,000 taels are salary for the remaining nine towns, and there are also pensions for more than 500 fallen soldiers.
Each fallen soldier shall be paid a one-time payment of 50 taels of silver.
This number is indeed a bit low, but there is nothing we can do about it.
Who made the Ming Dynasty's state resources expensive and scarce now? All we can do is lower the standards.
Therefore, this money is really not enough to spend, so I have already spent 160,000 taels.
In addition to the military pay for Yiding and the fifth military camp, another 30,000 taels will be needed.
Because the standards for Yiding and Wujunying are double, the total amount is almost 200,000 taels.
But the effect of having enough food and pay is also great. The morale of the Ming army has been significantly improved. The victory in Anshan Town gave the Ming army a lot of room for imagination. It turns out that the Jian slaves can also be defeated in the field?
After receiving the military order, the Ming army from the ten towns, together with a thousand Yiding and Jin Xuan's more than 2,600 servants, gathered at the large gun platform in the center, waiting to receive their pay.
Salaries are supposed to be paid out on the 15th of every month.
Because Chongzhen was out of town, it was postponed to the 21st.
This time the people at the front of the queue were no longer Qian Yiding.
It was the border army officers and soldiers from Huang Shian's town. This was specially arranged by Chongzhen.
I saw more than 4,000 people, all with their chests and bellies protruding, looking extremely proud.
"Ma Laoqi, I heard that your boy killed a real slave?"
"It's funny, if the spearhead hadn't broken off at that time, I could have stabbed them both to death."
"Skinny dog, you are going to get rich this time. The war salary plus reward money is a full 56 taels of silver. When you go home, you can buy a few acres of land and marry a wife. You just want to be a father."
"Marry one wife? Who do you look down on? I want to marry two!"
"Let's see what you can do. You still want to marry two people? Are you busy enough to come over tonight?"
"You don't need to worry about it, old man. Anyway, our village king and his widow are very interested in me and say that I am as strong as a calf."
The surrounding soldiers laughed loudly, and they were all very happy. As soldiers, they all like such dirty jokes, otherwise this life would not be too miserable and difficult.
Under the envious gaze of everyone, the first sentry guard stood in front of the camp gate.
Yang Manpi, who was first in line, almost raised his chin to the sky. I have to say that it felt really good to be in the spotlight, even better than lying on Widow Wang's body.
"Whose soldier are you serving as?" a eunuch asked as usual.
This time Yang Manpi was familiar with him: "I will be a soldier of the Ming Dynasty."
"Whose food do you eat?" the eunuch asked again.
"Eat the food of Long Live Lord." Yang Manpi replied loudly.
Yang Lepi's voice was full of pride and honor.
"Yang Lepi, if you kill a real slave, you will be rewarded 50 taels of silver and 6 taels of war pay, totaling 56 taels."
Chongzhen personally handed a 50-tael silver ingot and two silver ingots to Yang Manpi.
"Young man Yang Lepi, thank you for the reward!" Yang Lepi first knelt down and kowtowed three times, then stood up and took the silver in flattery, put it in his pocket and hid it carefully.
"Yang Lepi, who gave you your name?"
"My mother named me because she has a cheap name so I can make a living."
"But now that you have grown up, you don't care about this anymore. I will give you a big name. From now on, you will change your name to Yang Ponu. I hope you can kill more Jiannu on the battlefield in the future."
"Thank you, Lord Long Live, and Yang Ponu, the villain, thanks Lord Long Live for the name!"
When he walked out of the palace, Yang Ponu's face was really glowing and he looked proud.
Not only did I receive a huge sum of 56 taels of silver today, but I also have a plan to marry a wife.
Moreover, Long live the Lord also gave him the nickname "Yang Ponu", which is a great blessing!
Looking up and seeing the old acquaintance who had just made fun of him, Yang Ponu snorted coldly and said: "Old Niu, Long live the Lord just gave me a big name. From now on, I will be called Yang Ponu. Stop barking like a mangy dog.
"
The soldier nicknamed Lao Niu was immediately stunned. Long live the Lord's name? Is it true or false?
However, the payment was stopped halfway through because there were scattered nights without warnings.
First, three cannon blasts were fired in a row, and then a swan sound filled the military camp. The border troops who were queuing up to receive their pay rushed back to the gun platform where their main post was located without hesitation.
The commander-in-chief and deputy commander-in-chief of each town came to Huang Degong's camp immediately.
More than a dozen generals and deputy generals entered the camp one after another and found that a screen had already been set up in the hall, but what was displayed on the screen was not a landscape painting, but a map of Xia Town.
"Everyone is here? Uncle Jingnan, let's start."
Chongzhen did not overwhelm the guest, but gave up the commanding position to Huang Degong.
Huang Degong took a step forward and stood in front of the screen and said: "Yiding's Ye Bushou has just sent flying cavalry to report back. A group of about 10,000 Jian slaves has crossed the Nanliang River and is heading towards Xia Town along the east bank of the canal.
Approaching, if nothing happens, Jiannu will arrive at Xia Town after noon today."
"Time is tight, so I won't say more."
"You should return to your respective jurisdictions immediately and make preparations as soon as possible."
"The bottom line I give you is that the first level gun platform must last for more than an hour! The second level gun platform must last for more than two hours; the third level gun platform lasts for four hours! The fourth level is the bottom line!"
"At most, it can only allow Jiannu to break into the fourth round of the gun platform."
Here, Huang Degong has actually doubled Chongzhen's requirements.
Chongzhen's request was that the first line of defense should hold for half an hour, and that Jiannu should be allowed to advance to the eighth level at most.
Although they did a lot of work and basically had enough food and pay, the Ming army's fear of the Jiannu was not so easy to overcome, and the combat effectiveness of the Jiannu was indeed better than that of the Ming army.
Therefore, don't have any unrealistic expectations for the Ming army.
This is not a small-scale battle, but a large-scale battle involving tens of thousands of people.
However, Chongzhen would not dismantle Huang Degong in front of so many people.
After patting the map on the screen, Huang Degong said again: "If anyone can't do it, just raise your head and see me! I, Huang Degong, will also cut off my own head to apologize to the Holy One."
The commander-in-chief and deputy commander-in-chief present looked solemn.
Naturally, they could tell that Huang Degong was not joking.
Huang Degong asked Chongzhen again: "Your Majesty, do you have anything else to say?"
"I just want to say one thing." Chongzhen nodded and said, "We must strictly follow the map and distribute the troops and firearms evenly. It is stipulated that a gun platform with 2 tiger squatting cannons is equal to 2 tiger cannons."
"It is stipulated that a gun stand with 20 bird guns must be 20 guns."
"It is absolutely not allowed to concentrate the bird cannons and tiger squatting cannons on the peripheral cannon towers. Otherwise, even if you defend it, I will never give you credit and will severely punish you!"
The commander-in-chief and deputy commander-in-chief of the ten towns looked embarrassed.
Chongzhen originally wanted to equip each musket station with 3 squatting tiger cannons and 30 bird muskets.
But in the end, Liu Zongzhou only brought him more than 8,000 bird cannons and more than 600 tiger squatting cannons, so Chongzhen could only weaken the firepower.
Fortunately, this wave is just a partial force of Jiannu, so it is not a big problem.
Huang Degong said: "Have you written down what the Holy Father said? Just go back as soon as you have written it down."
The commander-in-chief and deputy commander-in-chief of the ten towns left one after another. Huang Degong advised Chongzhen again: "Your Majesty, the battle of Xia Town is imminent. You'd better take a naval warship and leave here."
"I won't leave." Chongzhen refused without hesitation.
"In this battle, I have to watch you defeat Jiannu with my own eyes!"
Huang Degong wondered: "Your Majesty, you can't do your best here."
"Then just pretend that I'm not here." Chongzhen said, "I won't interfere with your command."
After saying that, Chongzhen took Zhu Cihong, Zhu Cijiong, Yi Ding, and the eunuchs out and left. Huang Degong ignored the emperor and walked straight out of the palace with his entourage.
…
"Bang!"
Accompanied by a dull sound of vibrating strings, a three-sided heavy arrow with a length of more than three feet, like a short spear, came out of the string with violent trembling, and then turned into a shadow that resembled a lake and shot fifty steps ahead.
The Yiding outside were not collected at night.
Yi Ding felt the danger at night and instinctively hid his body on the other side of the horse's neck and hid in the stirrup.
Seeing this scene, Yabulan's mouth slowly revealed a ferocious smile, because this time he had predicted it.
Soon after, there was just a pop sound, and the heavy three-edged arrow, which was enough to penetrate the iron armor, had already penetrated the horse's neck, and then hit Yiding Yebu, who was hiding on the right side of the horse's neck.
.
The war horse neighed and fell to the ground, and Yi Dingye fell off the horse without stopping.
When Yabulan caught up with him, the other two Jiannu cavalry did not stop at night and surrounded him. He saw that Yi Ding, who had fallen off his horse, was shot through the heart. He was lying on the ground with only slight twitching, and blood spilled from his mouth.
"It was really difficult, but I finally killed one of them."
Yabulan dismounted, cut off the Yiding's head and hung it in front of the saddle.
One of the Jian slaves stayed up all night and asked: "There are two more ahead, do you still want to chase them?"
"No more chasing, there's no need." Yabulan waved his hand, "Go back and report to Gushan Ezhen."
At that moment, the three of them turned back north, and after walking less than five miles, they encountered a large group of people who established slaves.
Baiyin Tu brought over all his side troops, including 9 Niu Lu under the Xianghuang Banner (originally there were 10), 8 and a half Niu Lu from the Han Army under the Zhenghuang Banner (originally there were 10), and more than 3,000 coated slaves.
In addition to the more than 2,400 surrendered troops from Gaudi, the total number was more than 10,600. In fact, not many troops were lost.
However, the loss of equipment was still quite serious. There were only 1,500 cannons left, and only 15 Franco cannons. In addition, many long wooden plaques, spears, and waist knives were lost. There was no loss of baggage.
"Did you find that Yi Ding Ye is not taking them back?" Baiyin Tu said with a ferocious smile, "It seems that the Ming army is not far ahead."
He paused and then said: "Give me the order, the whole army should speed up. We must catch up with this group of Ming troops before Shenshi today, and we must not let them run away again!"
Baiyintu's worries are completely unnecessary.
Because the Ming army had no intention of running away.
Near the beginning of Shen Dynasty, the Jiannu army finally arrived at the outskirts of Xia Town.
