After Shang Yi led his troops to leave Luzhou, after walking for more than an hour, the gap between the three groups of troops was immediately revealed.
It was the fifth day of July when we left Luzhou. It was a hot time. Under the scorching sun, they could not walk for a while. The soldiers of Xie Ke and Peng Shou were sweating all over their backs and panting heavily with their mouths open. Angry. Some people took off their helmets, some took off their armor, and some even took off their shirts and marched shirtless. Those who walked slowly fell behind, and the order of the team began to become chaotic. Moreover, the soldiers were all complaining that the weather was too hot, that being a soldier was too hard, etc. Some soldiers had been asking Xie Ke and Peng Rui to find a place with shade to rest for a while before leaving.
But they were so angry that Xie Ke and Peng Rui yelled: "We have already obtained the money, why don't we be more honest? We have just left Luzhou and we are still marching. What should we do if we encounter bandits? Stop talking nonsense and follow up quickly." Bar."
"Useless things, I've only been walking for a while and I can't bear it anymore. Look at the Shandong Army. Aren't others walking the same way? And everyone is still carrying so many things. Why is no one complaining? ?Please keep your spirits up."
According to Shang Yi's inner thoughts, these veteran soldiers not only had little combat effectiveness, but were also a drag on the battlefield. They ran faster than rabbits before the enemy could attack them. And he bullies the common people more ruthlessly than anyone else, and it is commonplace to defect and surrender in the face of battle. It is true that he fails to achieve more than he succeeds.
Moreover, Shang Yi observed the two armies. Sun Shou led the Beijing army, which was fully equipped with armor and weapons. There were also five or six hundred various firecrackers, but they were all quite old, but everyone bowed their heads. Their low spirits showed that they had not trained for a long time. The spirit of Xie Ke's army was slightly better. After all, they had been rectified by Wu Zong, but their armor and weapons were even worse. Except for Xie Ke's five hundred servants, , She's soldiers didn't even have a complete set of iron armor. Many of the soldiers wore Tieshen, leather armor, and cotton armor mixed together. This also opened Shang Yi's eyes. It turned out that China actually conquered the enemy more than three hundred years in advance. Mixing and matching has become popular since then. But this is not bad. Many soldiers have no armor at all. They just wear a bun and tattered mandarin duck jackets. Many of the swords, guns and weapons are also rusty, so It is true that the army cannot be counted on.
But first of all, this is a good thing from Wu Zong, and it is difficult to refuse. In addition, Shang Jun's own troops are indeed limited, so he can fight. But after taking Guangzhou, he still has to defend the city, and troops must be stationed in the areas he regained. In this way, our own troops will not be enough. Therefore, with the two teams of Xie Ke and Peng Shou, we can help more or less to run errands and make soy sauce. Anyway, don't expect them to fight.
In fact, Xie Ke and Peng Rui were also holding back their anger. It turned out that before setting off, Shang Yi distributed all the 20,000 taels of silver he received to the entire army, and each soldier received one tael of silver. It was for motivation. The morale of the soldiers. But the money was distributed directly to each soldier by Shang Yi without passing through the two of them. Therefore, the soldiers had some morale, but Xie Ke and Peng Rui had no money at all. I didn't catch it, but it hurt to see thousands of taels of silver being put into my pocket by the soldiers.
Therefore, after setting off, the three armies marched hand in hand. Although Xie Ke and Peng Rui were riding horses and did not have to walk by themselves, they were still dizzy from the sun and felt that their scalps were about to burn. But they did not dare
Go ask Shang Yi to ask for a rest, because they can see clearly that, also under the scorching sun, the Shang army walking among the three armies is still full of energy and vitality, not only advancing at a fast speed
It has not slowed down at all, and the queue is still intact. Not to mention the soldiers, not even the followers in the team have any complaints.
Under such circumstances, how could Xie Ke and Peng Rui have the nerve to ask Shang Yi for a break? Moreover, before setting off, Wu Di clearly told Shang Yi that they could act cheaply, in case Shang Yi was angered.
Will he really kill him? Now everyone knows that among all the armies, Commander Wu values Shang Yi's men the most. If Shang Yi really wants to kill them both, Wu Di probably won't say anything. What's more, even if Shang Yi
Yi did not kill himself, but asked himself to return to Luzhou. Haha, there was Wu Zong's Shangfang sword waiting there? So he could only grit his teeth and endure it. He was still thinking: Damn it, this Shandong soldier is so difficult, isn't it?
Born and raised by my mother and my son, under such a big sun, I actually act like a normal person.
The army walked for more than two hours. Although Xie Ke and Peng Rui did not dare to stop, the soldiers under their command were too weak and could only drag one step at a time. They could not keep up with the marching speed of the merchant army.
The two of them had no choice. Despite their repeated urging, the entire army still moved slower and slower, and was gradually dragged back a long distance by the merchant army.
By the time the soldiers of the two armies, panting, sweating profusely and in a state of chaos, caught up with the merchant army who had stopped to rest, the merchant army had even finished their lunch.
Because this time they dispatched troops, all the food and grass were escorted and controlled by Shang Yi's army, so they had to catch up with the merchant army to have food. Seeing Xie Ke and Peng Rui standing in front of them, they just kept breathing and wiping sweat.
Shang Yi also felt funny in his heart. He said: "General Xie, General Peng, don't worry, we have prepared the meals for your army for you. Please hurry up and send people to transport it for the soldiers to eat."
After hearing this, the two of them breathed a sigh of relief, and then thanked Shang Yi profusely, and immediately called his soldiers to come over and bring food. Then Peng Rui said to Shang Yi: "Master Shang, your army is really powerful.
We are walking too fast, and our two troops really can't keep up! The brothers are all very tired from the journey. We are marching in the afternoon, and we asked General Shang to slow down a little."
Shang Yi snorted and said: "We have only traveled more than thirty miles this morning. How can we say that we are going fast? Besides, as the saying goes, 'Soldiers are more valuable than speed.' If we delay like this, when will we be able to reach Guangzhou?"
, you really missed the governor’s plan to suppress the invaders, how can you afford it?”
The two of them were thinking, wasn't it your idea to attack Guangzhou? If you leave Macheng nearby and Huanggang aside, you want to attack Guangzhou in the distance. Wouldn't you be able to hold on after being full? But this is not true.
Dare to speak out, Xie Ke said: "It's not that we are wasting time, it's because our brothers can't walk anymore, and there's nothing we can do."
Shang Yi nodded and said: "This is also a problem." After thinking for a while, he said: "I think so, I will lead a large group of troops to take the first step to capture Guangzhou, and you two will follow with your troops. I will limit you to
Reach Gwangju within eight days, otherwise I will seize the place with the army, do you think it is feasible?"
Guangzhou is about three hundred miles away from Luzhou. According to the requirements at the time, the army should walk about sixty miles a day, so eight days was enough. The two had no way to say no, so they had to agree. Peng Rui
Then he asked: "I wonder where we will meet up with General Shang after arriving in Guangzhou?"
Shang Yi smiled slightly and said, "Let's meet in Guangzhou City."
Before Xie Ke and Peng Rui could catch their breath, Shang Yi's army set off again, leaving only eight days of food for each of them.
Seeing the queue of merchant soldiers getting further and further away, Peng Rui spat hard on the ground and said: "Fuck his grandma, why are you walking so fast? Are you rushing to reincarnate?"
Xie Ke also said: "Go! Go quickly! You don't know how powerful Li Zicheng is! Let that group of thieves take care of you. I don't see how we can meet up in Guangzhou City. At that time, I will see if Shang Yi dares not to do it in the future."
Dare to be arrogant."
After the two of them finished speaking, they looked at each other and laughed together. In the past, they both looked down on each other. Peng Rui felt that the local guards were just trash, while Xie Ke knew the people in the Beijing camp.
The soldiers and horses were actually a bunch of idiots, and at this moment, both of them felt the same hatred.
In fact, what Shang Yi said about meeting up at Guangzhou in eight days is not unfounded nonsense. With the marching speed of the merchant army, it would only take five days at most to reach Guangzhou, and the remaining three days would be enough to attack the city.
Because long before Shang Yi arrived in Luzhou, he had thought of the plan to invade Guangzhou and sent soldiers from the reconnaissance battalion to Guangzhou to find out the garrison strength of the invaders. The powerful general Han Huamei under Li Zicheng who guarded Guangzhou was stationed.
Among the official positions Li Zicheng set up in Xiangyang, military generals were divided into six grades. From the largest to the smallest, they were General Quan, General Zhi, General Yiguo, General Weiwei, General Majesty, and General Yingwu. Among them, the fourth rank was Yiguo, Weiwu, Majesty, and Yingwu.
It is divided into left and right.
At the same time, Li Zicheng divided the army into two types: the five battalions for attacking cities and seizing land, the pro-army and the local guard troops in sub-townships. There were two generals named Quan, Liu Zongmin and Tian Jianxiu. Liu Zongmin was in charge of the central pro-army, which was also
They were the men and horses of Li Zicheng's old camp, which were divided into five commanders: front, front, rear, left, and right. Tian Jianxiu was responsible for admiral and supervised the camps, and was divided into four camps: front, rear, left, and right. These were the two elite cavalry in the past.
The troops are currently the main force of Li Zicheng, totaling about 100,000. Most of them are old brothers who have followed Li Zicheng in the war since the twelfth year of Chongzhen. They are basically stationed near Xiangyang at present.
In addition to the fifth battalion, the pro-army, there are the guard troops in various parts of the town, which are basically annexed from other peasant armies and surrendered government troops. With Xiangyang as the center, and then gradually extending to all directions. There are mainly Xiangyang guards, accessible
Wei, Yang Wuwei, Runing Guard, Junping Guard, etc., and Guangzhou fell under the jurisdiction of Yang Wuwei. This group of troops also numbered more than 100,000.
The largest number of people were civilians who temporarily surrendered to the army. In Li Zicheng's army, they actually acted as handymen and followers.
However, it can also be seen from Li Zicheng's division that he still did not get rid of the idea of roving bandits. He kept elite soldiers and generals by his side, and those guarding the border areas were only second-rate troops.