On the tenth day of December in the eleventh year of Chongzhen, Jiazhuang, Julu County, Shunde Prefecture, North Zhili.
The Xuan Dajun camp was in a state of excitement. There were many grain bags piled up in front of the camp gate, and soldiers from the middle camp were carrying them.
A group of carriages left on the road. Lu Xiangsheng stood at the camp gate and watched them go away.
Gu Xianyi whispered beside him, "Master Dutang, thanks to you for preparing troops here, these gentry and people are willing to donate all their life-saving food as military supplies."
"I failed to stop the slaves from wreaking havoc. I really feel ashamed of these righteous people."
Gu Xianyi did not try to explain, but listened quietly. Lu Xiangsheng was silent for a moment and then said, "Is there any news about Wang Pu?"
"There is no news about Wang Pu. Mr. Yang has arrived and Mr. Hu will join us in the afternoon."
Yang Guozhu and Hu Dawei had previously dispersed to rescue various prefectures and counties. After Lu Xiangsheng arrived in Nangong, he discovered the Qing army's Julu area further south, and immediately summoned the two troops to join together.
"Is Director Gao's camp sure?"
"In Wei County, the sentry horse also sent the letter, but Director Gao said that there is still a large force in Wei County. He mainly wants to protect Linqing and does not want to come over to cooperate. It is better to contain both sides." Lu Xiangsheng said expressionlessly.
It seems that Gao Qiqian had known this result in advance. The policy of Gao Qiqian's battle against King Qin was the same as that of Yang Sichang, which was to absolutely avoid fighting with the Qing army, preserve the army for containment, and ensure that a few big cities were not lost, and the rest of the country was protected.
He can only seek blessings for himself. As for Lu Xiangsheng, he also knows the gap in field combat capabilities with the Qing army. In March before that, when Jiannu detained the border to declare the great power, Lu Xiangsheng also focused on defense and did not seek a battle with the Qing army.
, but the political situation at the time of King Qin was
It's different, at least to him, and documents constantly coming from the DPRK and China confirm this.
"Distribute all the food and go south tomorrow."
"Lord, do you want to save some, so as not to run out of food and grass like before?" "If you don't save, saving will only delay it for a few more days. In the future, volunteers may not send food again, and it will be the same as before.
Now that we have food, we can go to war and let Jiannu know that our country is not deserted." Lu Xiangsheng said firmly, "
Everyone and every horse must be well fed, and the decisive battle will be in these days."
…
"Qin Jiuze, your ten cakes."
Qin Jiuze took the cake and reached out his hand to take out the silver.
Gu Xianyi shook his head and said, "You don't have to give me the money, you can keep it for yourself."
Qin Jiuze held the silver in his hand and waited for Gu Xianyi's next words.
Gu Xianyi hesitated for a moment and then said, "The Tatars are nearby, and they must be killed in a big way. We, who supervise the central camp, are Lord Dutang's personal soldiers. When Lord Dutang takes the lead, we must protect him."
Thorough.”
Qin Jiuze still didn't speak, just stood indifferently. Gu Xianyi sighed softly, turned around and went to Mr. Xu Bai, talking to him in a low voice.
Qin Jiuze put away the cakes and returned to the sentry team to sit down. Everyone received food. The auxiliary soldiers were feeding the horses nearby, and a group of sentries gathered around and talked in low voices. When Qin Jiuze came back, there was a sentry wearing a dog-skin hat next to him.
He came closer, with several pigtails exposed under his hat. He looked at Qin Jiuze and said, "Brother Qin, someone just said that the emperor wanted to kill the head of the capital and force the capital to fight the Tatars."
, Gu Xianyi gave you ten cakes, didn’t he sacrifice his life?”
Qin Jiuze snorted and ignored him. Another sharp whistler next to him said, "What nonsense are you talking about? The emperor wants to rely on the capital to fight the war, so why would he behead him? I heard that the Minister of War wants to kill the capital."
"That Yang Shangshu wanted to negotiate peace with the Tatars and first sent money and food to the Tatars. Lu Dutang blocked the delivery and failed to do so. Yang Shangshu sent a secret order to the prefectures and counties not to give us food and starve all our Xuan soldiers to death.
"Another sharp whistle said, "What I heard was the same Yang Shangshu. He said that Lu Dutang was also a minister before, so Yang Shangshu couldn't be killed. This time, he was demoted to minister to Lu Dutang. Hey, he can be killed now.
, Lu Dutang was scared and quickly found him
When you are full of food, you can kill the Tatars."
"Then Shangshu can't kill Lu Dutang, he doesn't even have Shang Fangjian."
"Lu Dutang is still holding Shang Fang Sword. Who did you see him kill?"
"I'm sure it wasn't two people who killed people and robbed them of food."
"That was not killed by Shang Fangjian."
Everyone was chatting while eating, their mouths were full and their words were unclear, but they were all discussing the origin of the meal. A middle-aged whistler waved his hand and lowered his voice, "Don't argue anymore.
I, Yang Shisan, said that the city was in ruins along the way and so many people died. Lu Dutang had no way out. He was probably as late as Yuan Chonghuan. Lu Dutang was decent.
People will not go to Caishikou, and would rather die in the battle, just to drag us along, this meal will be a meal for their heads."
The soldier with pigtails poked his head over, with a few pigtails peeking out from under his dog-skin hat. He looked at the middle-aged sharp whistler and said, "Yang Shisan, I want to follow the capital to kill the Tatars."
The middle-aged whistler slapped him, "Mandar, you are a fucking Tatar yourself."
Everyone laughed for a while, and then the middle-aged whistler said again, "Datong Town has escaped. There are only five or six thousand people. Jiannu has so many banners, and others have eight banners."
Manta'er touched his head and said, "What do you want to do with those many people? If you encounter Jiannu, you will kill him."
... Before dawn on December 11, the horns of the Xuanda military camp were sounded. There was smoke everywhere in the camp, and the soldiers were eating. They could leave the camp at dawn. After receiving the food yesterday, the soldiers' morale was stabilized and they had a good meal.
After a full meal, morale was restored.
Quite a few. The sentry team has arrived at the camp gate, but they still haven't checked the military badges. When the officer saw Mr. Xu Bai, he waved to let him go. After the sentry team left the camp, they headed south. This time, Mr. Xu Bai had no intention of being perfunctory and sent the sentry team through.
The posts are divided into three groups, and there are three roads to the south.
Detective Qin Jiuze was in a group with Mr. Xu Bai, as well as Yang Shisan and Man Da'er. In the weak morning light, everyone was heading due south. They all had many years of experience in going abroad. They knew what to do without Mr. Bai's arrangements.
Able to maintain speed and economy
Save horsepower.
Yesterday, both Zhongying and Yang Guozhu's sentry horses came into contact with the Jiannu. Although the Jiannu camp could not be identified, it was basically certain that its old camp was in the south of Julu County. If we go to this direction today to scout out, we may encounter a lot of danger.
Although Mr. Xu Bai was not perfunctory, he was also full of worries. Apart from issuing orders, he said nothing on the road. Only Man Da'er was eager to try.
After the group rested for a while, they continued to set off. The sky was gradually getting brighter, and Xuan's army should have left the camp.
After walking a little further, Mr. Xu Bai and Qin Jiuze stopped at the same time. Then Yang Shisan and others reined in their horses. Man Daer jumped off the horse and put his ears to the ground. Mr. Xu stood on the horse and looked south.
Mandarer raised his head and shouted, "Southern Brigade, thousands of horses."
After saying this, he immediately jumped on the horse and looked at Mr. Xu Bai expectantly.
President Xu Bai squinted at Chentou in the distance, and after a moment said, "Yang Shi will report back to Vice Town Li immediately, and the others will follow me."
Everyone rode their horses and rushed forward. After about a few miles, a river appeared in front of them. A wooden bridge spanned the river, and some scattered cavalry were crossing the bridge.
Farther south, there is an endless marching column.
The scattered cavalry also discovered them and stopped advancing. Xu Baizong observed for a moment, took out his sword and led the way to the wooden bridge. Manda'er followed him out with a strange scream.
…
In the early morning of December 12, Xuan's army arrived at Jiazhuang camp.
Yesterday there was an encounter with Jiannu. Xuan's army discovered an enemy army marching at Haoshui Bridge and immediately attacked. After the battle, it was found that it was the Qing army's Zhenghongqi unit. The leading general was Gushan.
Well, it’s really Dooley.
The Qing army had not scouted Xuan's army before, so they responded to the battle in a hurry. They fought throughout the day. Because of the river obstruction, no decisive results were achieved. The casualties on both sides were about the same. Xuan's army also captured two Qing soldiers.
Because it was not far from the enemy, Xuan's army was in a dark camp today. There were no lights in the entire camp. Even the Chinese army's lanterns were wrapped in black cloth. They would only be untied if there was a night battle.
The curtain of the Chinese army's tent was tightly closed, but there was still a faint light from the lantern in the tent.
There was a wooden barrel placed in the middle of the tent, filled with hot water, and white steam was still coming out.
Lu Xiangsheng had finished bathing. He put on his clothes solemnly. There were armor and linen clothes on the table. He got the linen clothes first and was ready to put it on, but then he stopped and looked at the armor and hesitated.
At this time, there was a sudden howl of a strange beast outside, and there was a commotion outside the tent. Gu Xianyi ordered the sentry to suppress it.
Lu Xiangsheng closed his eyes for a moment, reached out and picked up the armor and began to put it on, then put on the linen clothes, and finally he solemnly tied the linen scarf on his head.
In the wilderness outside the tent, another desolate whistling sound was heard.
The sound of horns in the wilderness continued, and a dim yellow halo glowed on the horizon.
All the Xuan soldiers and generals in the camp got up, regardless of the freezing weather in the early morning, and stood at the door of the camp tent looking out.
The tent of the sentry team is at the edge of the camp. Because it is a sentry tent, they can go out at night and everyone is already outside the tent.
Qin Jiuze said indifferently, "There is fire in the southeast, and there is another wave of Tatars coming over there, at least tens of thousands of Tatars."
Yang Shisan's face was heavy, "The people who were screaming just now were the vanguard soldiers of Jiannu. They were marching at night because they found our camp and refused to let us retreat." President Xu Baisquinted for a moment and saw that the Qing army was in such a cold weather.
A large-scale march at night was already beyond the reach of most frontier troops. Their scouting abilities were far beyond their capabilities and they easily found the Xuan Army camp, whereas before
King Qin's army never confirmed the exact location of the Qing army's camp. The Qing army's purpose was to start fighting before dawn to prevent the Xuan army from evacuating after dawn. It can also be seen that they were eager to eliminate this frontier army.
Yang Shisan turned around and said, "Mr. Bai, I heard that Yuan Yingkui proposed to move the camp last night, and Lu Dutang wanted to kill him. With tens of thousands of Tatars coming over, why shouldn't we move the camp? Is it possible that everyone must die?" The firelight flashed in the distance, which put great mental pressure on everyone. Another whistle muttered, "Lu Dutang wants to fight the Tatars, so Gu Xianyi asked us whistlers to guard Lu Dutang. Isn't that just sending yourself to death?
"
Yang Shisan said bitterly, "Mr. Bai, let me tell you, I am not going to die. Lu Dutang is going to Caishikou. There is no way to go to Caishikou to die, and I am not going to Caishikou."
President Xu Bai looked around at everyone and said, "What do you do when you are a soldier in a war? We are the sharp sentries of the central camp. Gu Xianyi came to protect the capital hall. Deputy Town Li never said that we will follow the central camp." "
The people in the sentry team felt a little calm after hearing this, but there was already a commotion in the camp, and officers could be heard suppressing the situation in various places to prevent camp roars.
While everyone was still discussing, Mr. Xu Bai pulled Qin Jiuze aside and whispered to him, "Old Qin, it will probably not end well after dawn."
Qin Jiuze nodded silently, "There are quite a few Tatars here." Mr. Xu Bai added, "Normally we should have moved camp early last night. The Tatars came here to grab things. We didn't have time to chase them around. They grabbed the things right now. Our children, who have a lot of money and food, dare not leave them behind to chase us. They just want to go north and west. The Tatars
I don't dare to chase them. We will follow them when the time comes." Qin Jiuze didn't answer this time. After thinking about it, Mr. Xu Bai said, "Lu Dutang is a good officer. It's just that we serve as soldiers to eat food, and we die in the war. , so I know that it is still a loss to die. Even though they are all dead, it is still a good thing.
Ming. I ignored Gu Xianyi. The sentries fought on horseback after dawn and had to act according to the situation... But he talked to you alone. I know that you did not join the border army for food and revenge. Do you want to go or not? You decide it yourself.
Qin Jiuze was silent for a moment and then sighed, "Your life is your own. Even if you live, you don't know why. If Lu Dutang has no other way to go and has to die here, there is no need to bother."
"Lu Dutang is about to die, but his life is his own, and living is always a hope."
After that, Mr. Xu Bai patted him on the shoulder and left. Qin Jiuze looked at the firelight on the distant horizon in trance, "It's not easy to live."