The lights outside Jiangpu City, twenty miles away, were bright, and the bonfires outside the west of the city extended all the way, intermittently, until more than ten miles away.
Several charcoal fires were lit in the main hall of a large courtyard outside the west gate. The hall was warm and cozy, but the group of burly men sitting around made the atmosphere a bit cold.
The person standing at the top is wearing a red arrow jacket and has two deep scars on his face. He has taken off his leather hat, revealing a neatly tied three-vertebral bun.
He grabbed a piece of mutton chop and chewed it slowly. Others were also eating their own meat, waiting for someone to speak first.
"These officers and soldiers are from Anqing?"
The big man above broke the silence in the hall and asked while eating.
"When it got dark, I came back from the bridge in the north. I caught a lost officer and soldier on the way, saying he was from the garrison camp in Anqing."
The King Sweeper, who had a meaty face, pinched the front hooves of the sheep and had already chewed most of the meat. He looked around at the other people and said, "I brought him back for questioning. He was a garrison officer with more than a thousand soldiers and horses, two cannons, and more on board.
There are hundreds of sailors."
"How can a garrison officer have the money to train hundreds of armored soldiers? The soldier always talks nonsense, so don't believe him."
The yellow-faced Eighth King sighed and turned to the big man in red above him, "Fourth Brother, have you seen that the guards are well-armed and have cannons?"
The big man in red nodded slightly, still chewing on the mutton chop. It was Gao Yingxiang, the king of Chuang in the north of the Ming Dynasty. He was nicknamed Gao Scarzi because of the two scars on his face.
He had just arrived at Jiangpu before dark today. He had originally joined the Eight Kings and others to besiege Jiangpu County. Unexpectedly, he heard about today's defeat. Not only did he lose hundreds of horsemen, but nearly 10,000 people at Yinding Bridge were killed by officers and soldiers.
After several cannon fire, several leaders fled back to Jiangpu with their old battalion and cavalry soldiers. Most of their servants fled on the road. Until this time, there were still people arriving in Jiangpu in an endless stream.
Ma Shouying's camp was near the Yinding Bridge and suffered the heaviest losses. Not only were his family members separated, but also the family members of the old camp were almost lost. Fortunately, it darkened quickly when the officers and soldiers attacked, and they did not discover the location of Ma Shouying's old camp.
Then the old camp was moved to Jiangpu overnight.
Therefore, attacking Jiangpu is no longer a priority. The most important thing is how to deal with these officers and soldiers. The first thing is to find out the origin of these officers and soldiers.
He raised his eyes and looked at Zhang Xianzhong, "I have never seen this before, but we have never been to this place in Nanjing. It is difficult to say that the officers and soldiers in the south are like this."
Zhang Xianzhong shook his head and said, "I went to Anqing'e last year, and King Sweeper and Ge Liyan also went there. I didn't see such officers and soldiers."
The Sweeping King also agreed, "When I went there last year, I defeated three county towns, but Tongcheng was the only one left. In Susong, I also defeated a group of officers and soldiers from Fucheng. It was so tight. If there was an Anqing garrison, we would have defeated it."
get.
We didn't believe it at first, but after cutting off three of his fingers, we still said they were from Anqing, which made me a little confused."
"It's from Anqing."
A voice suddenly said.
Gao Yingxiang put down the mutton chops, looked at the man on the right and said, "Does Mr. Ma recognize him?"
Ma Shouying lost the sheep bone and said angrily, "I saw that dirty trick of firing a cannon in Shucheng.
It is also to let the soldiers block it, and then move out of the way after filling it up. There is nowhere to hide. Even the soldiers coming from Tongcheng must be in this garrison camp."
Gao Yingxiang's expression remained unchanged, "That means the battalion leader was trained in a year, but who is the general?"
No one spoke below. Gao Yingxiang frowned slightly and said coldly, "I've shaken the sky and asked someone to take my head. You still don't know who took it?"
The sweeper gritted his teeth and replied, "The soldier said that the general was a squad leader in Tongcheng last year."
After he finished speaking, he looked at Zhang Xianzhong. Their eyes met and they both recalled the situation in Tongcheng last year.
They have traveled all over the world and have seen countless cities. Some big cities can be defeated in one attack, while some small cities are tough and unyielding. Speaking of Tongcheng, there is nothing special about it, but because the distance is not far away, standing on the wall of the city
The image of the yamen leader on the stack soon emerged.
Zhang Xianzhong turned to Gao Yingxiang and said, "That's it, I've seen this dog slave before."
Gao Yingxiang hummed and asked, "What's so surprising?"
"Originally, there was nothing surprising about it, but when I think about it carefully, Tongcheng had no soldiers but heavy armor. They beat down everyone who came to the city. At night, those dog soldiers dared to go out of the city to steal the stronghold..." Zheng said
At this point, there was a sound of gongs, drums and trumpets from the east, echoed from everywhere, and then there were faint shouts of killing.
The Sweeping King sighed and put a handful of the sheep bones in his hand into the brazier. "That small town of Jiangpu is also hateful. Even a bunch of country soldiers dare to bully me."
Gao Yingxiang listened carefully for a moment and suddenly said, "There are two gongs. In the north of the city is Jiangpu City. There are soldiers coming from the east."
The bandit leaders below were slightly agitated. They didn't expect that a mere thousand officers and soldiers could actually fight continuously. Not only did they fight in the afternoon, but they could also walk more than ten miles to steal the camp at night.
Liu Guoneng stood up slowly and said, "We have talked today. If the officers and soldiers steal the camp, I will lead my old camp to beat him. I will sue King Chuang and I will go there."
Gao Yingxiang waved his hand, "Of course I believe what Chuang Tuotian said, but these thousand officers and soldiers and infantry, if we can send out three hundred after the war, it's just a bluff. There are 200,000 people outside the city. I'm afraid
He is a donkey ball, General Li Chuang is in the east of the city, you sit down and drink."
Liu Guoneng glanced at the others and saw that no one had any objections, then slowly sat down.
At this time, the sound of gongs outside became louder again, and this time it sounded closer, as if it was near the west city wall.
Everyone in the hall turned their heads and looked out, and some people were talking in low voices.
Gao Yingxiang was still munching on the mutton chops that had little meat. Zhang Xianzhong had already finished eating and picked up the wine bowl to drink. Liu Guoneng did not look outside, but lifted a copper kettle that was hot on the charcoal basin and put it in.
Gao Yingxiang and Zhang Xianzhong added wine to their bowls.
The sound of the gong became lowered again, everyone relaxed a little, and the hall returned to peace.
"You are all elders. We have besieged a city that is not a hundred but seventy. We must stabilize when we should.
The biting dog does not bark, but beats gongs and drums to steal the camp, but it is just to scare people."
Gao Yingxiang finally finished chewing the meat, threw the bones back, wiped his hands on his pants a few times, leaving a few dark marks on the pants, and then stood up.
He was tall and walked slowly up and down the hall, giving him an air of power.
"I captured an officer and soldier at Hezhou Pier. He came from the water camp of Anqing garrison camp. He came by boat from both sides."
Gao Yingxiang thought deeply and said, "The soldier was seriously injured and died after being tortured for a while. I and General Chuang discussed it. I am afraid that Lu Xiangsheng is coming and has mobilized soldiers and horses along the river to surround us, so Hezhou only stayed for two days."
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When the leaders heard about Lu Xiangsheng, they all held their breath and concentrated. Compared with the strange garrison in front of them, Lu Xiangsheng was an old rival. Everyone did not hide their fear of this man. Now that Lu Xiangsheng was chasing behind them, they were bound to be nervous.
"I never thought that Anqing would be ahead of us by boat. They blocked Puzikou and wanted to cut off the road to the east. I was thinking that Lu Xiangsheng might be coming from the west."
There were low murmurs in the hall. Many of them had stayed in Jiangpu for some time and knew that this place was a dangerous place. It would be even more dangerous after the officers and soldiers landed today.
The north of Jiangpu is mountainous, and the road capacity is not strong. To the south is the river. The official road to Liuhe in the east is still there, but the officers and soldiers have captured the Menghu Bridge. Not far across the bridge is the official road to Liuhe.
If the brigade wants to go to Liuhe, it will encounter flanking threats from the officers and soldiers at the Tiger Bridge. Not to mention the officers and soldiers have artillery, and they may be able to bombard the official road from the west end of the Tiger Bridge. No one can march in this situation.
Therefore, the road to the east is also cut off. If Lu Xiangsheng really comes from Hezhou or Quanjiao, everyone will be surrounded around Jiangpu City. They can only escape through the mountain road to the north. When King Lu Yan chases him, all the camps will fight for it.
I'm afraid only a few people can escape.
Zhang Xianzhong looked at Gao Yingxiang and said, "What the fourth brother means is that Jiangpu is no longer here."
"It's just that I won't stay. This is a strong soldier in the small town of Jiangpu. As soon as I arrived today, I encountered various battalions fleeing back. Every family risked their lives to run a long way. You have to be lucky. Jiangpu is not a place to stay for a long time."
The horse guard over there responded, "Then each family will not take revenge for the many horse soldiers they killed in the east of the river?"
"If you can't defeat Lu Xiangsheng, you should hide away. Officers and soldiers fight for food, so what's the use of keeping a grudge?"
The Sweeping King chuckled and said, "I listen to King Chuang."
Gao Yingxiang looked at Liu Guoneng and said, "Go to the sky and say something."
"If you want to leave, leave early. There are many rivers and ponds in Jiangbei, making it inconvenient to run. It's better to go to Henan."
When Gao Yingxiang's eyes fell on Zhang Xianzhong, the Eighth Prince tilted his head and said, "There is a place to go. Where did Fourth Brother say we were going?"
"The road back to the west leads to a river to the south. It becomes more and more cramped as you go east. The spies said there are more rivers and ponds than here."
Gao Yingxiang returned to his seat and sat down, "Go north."
Zhang Xianzhong immediately answered, "Tomorrow the Western Camp will be the vanguard."
As soon as these words came out, some people around showed a look of disdain. If Lu Xiangsheng was chasing him at this time, the defender would be the most dangerous, but the forward would be the safest, and he could also grab things.
Gao Yingxiang did not express his position immediately. After pondering for a moment, he said, "Xiying will be the vanguard and go to Chuzhou City."
Liu Guoneng suddenly said at this time, "Shaking the sky has lost his head, but the old camp is still there. Whose house will they go to tomorrow?"
As soon as the words came out, Zhang Xianzhong's face turned cold and he looked towards him. Liu Guoneng took a sip of wine, put down the bowl and looked at Zhang Xianzhong coldly.
The thieves in the hall were a little excited at this time. Before Gao Yingxiang came over, Zhang Xianzhong was the most powerful, and the camp was not far from Shake Tiandong. Not long after returning to Jiangpu, he sent people to Shake Tiandong's old camp.
The plan to annex this group of troops had been spread privately before the meeting.
Everyone was dissatisfied with this, so Liu Guoneng proposed it at this time, just to break Zhang Xianzhong's wishful thinking, and did not give Zhang Xianzhong any face.
Gao Yingxiang sat on the spot with a normal expression, placing his hands on the armrests and slowly wiping the remaining suet, causing the two of them to stare into each other's eyes.
After a while, Gao Yingxiang said to the sweeping king, "Originally, I said that the elder Zhang is dead, so you can find it yourself, or you elders can make up your mind. The people below are always looking for a way to survive. Please tell me how to do it."
The Sweeping King chuckled again, "King Chuang has spoken, let's just talk about it, shake the sky and move the camp, it's a lot less, leave it to any family, how come there are so many mouths, it's not easy to feed, old horse
The camp head suffered the most losses this time, so we will raise more, and the other camp heads will share the food equally, so that no one is tired, and this will avoid any feud between the families."
Liu Guoneng immediately said, "We agree."
Others immediately agreed, with Ma Shouying being the most active. Zhang Xianzhong scanned the hall and knew that the matter was no longer up to him.
There is no organization in the rogue camp compared to the officers and soldiers. Everyone just grabs things to survive. It is common for the camp leaders to poach each other and even annex them.
Whether words count or not depends on strength, and strength is the old battalions and cavalry of each family. No matter who Gao Yingxiang asks to say at this time, he will not let Xiying monopolize the remaining elites of Shaking Tiandong, even if the sweeping king and the
Zhang Xianzhong has been working in collusion for a long time and will not give in on his strength. According to everyone's assessment, Zhang Xianzhong's strength has been increased to a limited extent and cannot threaten Gao Yingxiang at all.
Gao Yingxiang said lightly, "That's it."
He called one of the four kings behind him and told him to divide up the rest of Shake Tiandong.
(Note 1) After the main direction was set, the subsequent meeting was of little content. After drinking for a while, everyone returned to the camp.
Liu Guoneng and Zhang Xianzhong went out one after another. Zhang Xianzhong stopped outside the door and watched Liu Guoneng mount his horse in front and drive away.
Zhang Xianzhong's scarred yellow face twitched, and he whispered with a half-smile, "Liu Xiucai, Liu Xiucai."
A young man beside him came over and said, "Don't worry, foster father, one day he will fall into our hands."
Zhang Xianzhong touched his nose and said, "Let's go."
...Note 1: There are four kings in the Gaoyingxiang camp. Under them are generals, and under them are Baohu Banner and Gaozhao.