The time when Shang Yi arrived at Yanzhou Prefecture was on November 24th. On the same day that Shang Yi arrived at Yanzhou Prefecture, the rogue bandits also gathered outside the city. According to spies, the army of rogue bandits should number between 50,000 and 80,000.
between.
That night, Zeng Hualong arranged a banquet in the hotel to welcome Shang Yi. At the same time, he also celebrated Shang Yi's victory in rescuing Qufu County. The news of Shang Yi's victory in Qufu County had already been announced to the whole city to boost the morale of the soldiers and civilians in the city.
Also present were Wang Yingtai, the governor of Shandong, Chen Guan, the prefect of Yanzhou, and more than a dozen local officials and military generals. Because Shang Yi's meritorious service would not affect his status, they had a pretty good attitude towards Shang Yi.
There were two governors sitting here during the banquet, and the generals did not dare to be too presumptuous. Everyone drank and drank. Although the atmosphere was very lively, it was relatively harmonious. Because Shang Yi had made military exploits first, so from the two governors
At the beginning, everyone toasted to Shang Yi. However, although distilled liquor was popularized in the Ming Dynasty, the alcohol content at this time was not high, only around 20 or 30 degrees. For Shang Yi, he was accustomed to the four-dimensional liquor of later generations.
Fifty-proof Shangdu liquor is nothing to me? So I came to drink more than a dozen glasses in one go, and my expression remained unchanged.
After drinking for three rounds, Zeng Hualong said to Wang Yingtai: "Governor Wang, our troops from Denglai came to rescue Yanzhou Prefecture. They moved in a hurry, so they did not carry much food with them, and it took three days for the troops to arrive in Yanzhou.
Well, then please ask the local government to provide our army with some food and grass."
Wang Yingtai hurriedly said: "It's easy to talk, but I would like to ask Governor Zeng how many people from the Denglai area will rush to Yanzhou Mansion so that we can prepare for the whole situation together."
Zeng Hualong shook his head and said: "No, Mr. Shang Qian brought Denglai's last troops, and there will be no more in the future. Therefore, based on the current number, we will support our army for ten days."
The food and grass are good."
"Ah! There are only so many people!" Wang Yingtai couldn't help but have a look of disappointment in his eyes, but he immediately covered it up and said: "Okay, okay, I will let Yanzhou Mansion make arrangements tomorrow." Then he turned to the other side.
Chen Guandao, who was sitting there, said: "Prefect Chen, tomorrow you will pay ten days of food and grass for the troops in Denglai."
Chen Guan hurriedly cupped his hands and said: "I respect your orders."
While drinking, Shang Yi observed their actions and vaguely heard a few sentences. Although he didn't hear everything, he could roughly guess what they were talking about. Then he was like Wang Xuzhaiqianhu at the next table.
Feng Zhigang asked how many people Zeng Hualong brought this time. How many people are there in Yanzhou Prefecture now?
Feng Zhigang didn't care much about his fame. Although he was envious of Shang Yi, he didn't have any deep hostility towards him. Moreover, he was still half drunk, so when Shang Yi asked him, he started talking nonstop.
It turns out that this time Zeng Hualong rescued Yanzhou Prefecture and brought a total of five generals including Jiaozhou garrison Liu Tianxi, Weihai Guard commander Ma Hanfu, Dasong Guard commander Gao Tian, Xunshan rear guard Qianhu Yang Mingyuan, and Wangxuzhai front guard Qianhu Feng Zhigang.
Among them, two thousand-household stations brought 300 troops each, two guard stations brought 600 troops each, Liu Tianxi brought 1,000 troops, and Zeng Hualong's own 500 servants, a total of 3,330 troops.
Hundreds of people. In addition to the more than 1,100 people brought by Shang Yi, Denglai sent a total of about 4,500 people.
After hearing this, Shang Yi couldn't help but smile bitterly. Not counting the defense, there were seven guard posts and nine thousand-household posts in the Denglai area. According to customization, one guard post should have more than 5,000 people, and one thousand-household post should have more than 1,200 people. There were hundreds of soldiers, but only more than 4,000 people were sent. It seems that Zeng Hualong's job as governor was indeed very difficult.
The local garrison in Yanzhou Prefecture was even smaller, with only more than 3,800 people. Although Wang Yingtai sent official documents to Dongchang Prefecture and Jinan Prefecture to mobilize troops, there has been no response, and it is estimated that it is difficult to count on them.
Although rogue bandits generally bring their families with them, so the actual number of combatants must be at least halved on the basis of the total number, but for the sixty to seventy thousand rogue bandits, it is always appropriate to draw out about 30,000 troops, and there are a total of 30,000 in the city. There are only more than 8,000 troops. Although it is enough to defend the city without force, it is still difficult to repel the rogue bandits. Therefore, Shang Yi can only hope that the rogue bandits will not attack a city for a long time and will attack several times. Once the city is no longer under control, it will voluntarily evacuate.
At this time, Zeng Hualong and Wang Yingtai also made a plan to defend the city at the wine table. Denglai men and horses were responsible for guarding the west and south gates, and Yanzhou men and horses guarded the east and north gates. Zeng Hualong immediately ordered that the people from Denglai guard the west and south gates. Shang Yi was responsible for guarding the south gate, assisted by Yang Mingyuan and Feng Zhigang, and Liu Tianxi was responsible for guarding the west gate, assisted by Ma Hanfu, with his own servants and Gao Tian's men as reserve troops.
Because the bandits are now marching to the south of Yanzhou City, the south gate will definitely be the main attack point for the bandits. Zeng Hualong doesn't trust others, so he can only send Shang Yi to garrison here. Although Yang Mingyuan and Feng Zhigang both have higher official positions than him , but firstly, they had too few people, and secondly, Qianhu was not a high-ranking official in the first place, and was appointed by Zeng Hualong, so the two had no choice but to follow Shang Yi's orders. Wang Yingtai also made some arrangements for the Northeast.
Although this is not a court hall, discussing official matters over a wine table is a fine tradition in China, and it has been the same in ancient and modern times. So the defense plan of Yanzhou Prefecture was decided.
Early the next morning, Shang Yi led his troops to Nancheng and guarded the wall. At the same time, Yang Mingyuan and Feng Zhigang also came with their soldiers.
Yanzhou Prefecture is a big city. The city wall is six miles and sixty steps long. In ancient times, one mile was 360 steps, which is 550 meters in metric system. That is, the length of the city wall is 3.4 kilometers in metric system. The length of one side is It is 850 meters. The city wall is ten meters high and about six meters wide. There is also a moat along the city wall, about six meters wide, which leads into the water of the Surabaya River. Overall, the protection is very good. And in Nancheng Actually, three Franco machine guns were mounted, each with five gunners and a captain. They were all in place.
In fact, the three Folan cannons could not change the overall situation, but after all, it was a habit. After seeing the cannons, Shang Yi instinctively felt relieved.
But when he saw the two soldiers from Qianhusuo, Shang Yi's newly optimistic heart could not help but feel cold again. To be honest, except for the 60 servants each brought by the two men, who were well equipped with armor and well-equipped weapons, the rest of the soldiers The equipment is not as good as that of his original militia. There are only twenty or thirty sets of iron armor, and only about a hundred sets of leather armor. A considerable number of people do not have any armor. Most of the weapons are damaged, and many are rusty. There are no traces. But after all, they are all formal weapons. No one is carrying a hoe or sickle.
Because by the end of the Ming Dynasty, the military officers of the thousands of guards in various places were becoming increasingly lax, and the command and Qianhu were not fully trained, and they only regarded the military households as free servants for their own families. Therefore, not only the thousands of guards in each guard
Assembling weapons is getting worse and worse, and even military households have almost completely degenerated into farmers. The servants are not considered military members at first, but are private armies hired by each commander and each household. But because of this, they have received more benefits.
Well-assembled weapons have the most combat effectiveness.
After Yang Mingyuan and Feng Zhigang saw the military appearance of Mu Ling's army on the city wall, they couldn't help but feel ashamed. Although their servants' weapons and equipment may not be inferior to theirs, the difference between the two sides' spiritual temperament is greater than the weapons and equipment.
However, it was too late for Shang Yi to ask whether he should come to rescue Yanqi, because far outside the city, the rogue bandits Yi Jing were gathering troops and preparing to launch an attack on Yanzhou Mansion. Therefore, Shang Yi immediately sent two servants from a thousand households first.
They were incorporated into the team that defended the city, and the rest of the people also stayed on the city. Anyway, it was better to stay and fight and make up the number of people.
At this time, the troops of the rogue bandits had been assembled and were slowly approaching the city wall of Yanzhou City. Shang Yi took out his telescope and observed carefully on the city tower.
Although it is still unclear how many troops the rogues have, their weapons and equipment are not bad. At least in the first few rows, everyone has armor, and the proportion of armor is not small. They also push many vehicles.
.This was also Shang Yi's first time fighting a city offensive and defensive battle, so he didn't know what this thing was for.
At this time, telescopes were not particularly rare, but they were basically single tubes, divided into two tubes. When fully pulled out, they could be more than two feet long. However, Xiang Shang Yi's double tubes were even more powerful than such a short size.
Telescopes have not yet appeared. The soldiers of the Muling Army have often seen them and many of them have used them. They are used to it. However, Yang Mingyuan and Feng Zhigang find it very new. They don't know where Shang Yi got it from.
, it looks much more refined than an ordinary monocular telescope.
Seeing that the distance was almost the same, Shang Yi took out his GPS and turned on the infrared to scan the enemy's situation. After a few seconds, the number of people scanned was displayed on the screen, twelve thousand, seven hundred and forty-seven, one thousand
There were one hundred and eighty-three large four-legged animals, probably large livestock such as horses and donkeys, and there were also twenty-three small four-legged animals. I don’t know what kind of animals these were.
Seeing this number, Shang Yi couldn't help but tremble. After he arrived in this era, the largest battle he fought was only two to three thousand people. Now it was suddenly upgraded to the level of ten thousand people. Is it possible that he has been upgraded all of a sudden?
too fast.
At this time, the army of rogues gradually approached to a distance of more than 300 steps, which could be clearly seen with the naked eye. I saw that in the open space outside the city, they occupied a large area of darkness. Moreover, the troops and horses were arranged in a very organized manner.
.More than 12,000 people, walking a distance of several hundred meters, can still maintain a generally stable formation. After all, they are members who have participated in the Rongyang Conference. Each one has more than ten years of experience, and chronic illness has its own consequences.
After receiving medical treatment, they also kept in contact with powerful men such as Cao Wenzhao, Hong Chengchou, Lu Xiangsheng, and Sun Chuanting, so they also learned a lot about marching and fighting. It seems that the strength of this group of bandits cannot be underestimated.
Of course Shang Yi knew that this kind of combat experience gained in actual combat was far more terrifying than what was learned from books. Therefore, this group of bandits must not be equated with small bandits like Qinglangfeng and Shahugou.