At night, three carriages formed a triangle. Yin Feng, Zeng Shan, Xu Hongji, Chen Zhongji and others lay on the ground in the carriage formation and talked for a while. Everyone was not optimistic about the situation in Liaodong. June in Northeast China.
It was still very cold at night, so a bonfire was lit in the center of the carriage array. Shopkeeper Jin was old and had already fallen asleep in the carriage.
Within 1 mile of their periphery, there are 100 special battalion soldiers lurking in fields, woods, grass, etc., alert to all movements around them.
Yin Feng couldn't sleep. He went out to inspect the sentry situation of the special battalion. Zeng Shan accompanied him. Xu Hongji took the opportunity to ask Chen Zhongji: "Why is it that the military academy established by the ship owner rarely talks about Sun Tzu's art of war? Isn't Sun Tzu the master of the art of war?"
Chen Zhongji smiled: "I only had a short-term training of three months in the military school. I don't know much about what the military school teaches. The military school is now divided into junior high school and high school. There is also an officer school. It has infantry, navy, and artillery.
, logistics engineer, command, staff and other majors. It takes four years to complete them all; there is also a juvenile enlightenment military academy. It is a school prepared for the orphans of those who sacrificed their lives. If you start from the juvenile military academy, it takes eight years to graduate. So far.
So far. Since the military academy is constantly adjusting its academic system, there is only one batch of graduates. It is the batch of Yan Siqi... Oh, you haven't met Yan Siqi and Yan Zhenquan yet." Chen Zhongji knew that Xu Hongji was actually still in the inspection period, so he had no comment.
He talks too much.
"I've heard of it. He's a fierce general."
"So, those who study at our military academy are now mostly short-term training courses, ranging from three months to half a year or one year. They mainly learn some specific combat tactics. The ship owner said that they are as familiar with military books and strategies as Zhao Kuo. And
You don’t necessarily know how to fight. And the understanding of Sun Tzu’s art of war varies from person to person; water has no shape, and soldiers have no rules. Therefore, the mastery of strategies and tactics must be learned by oneself; and when fighting, what is more needed is the mastery of details...
…”
"Details." Xu Hongji was confused after hearing this.
Chen Zhongji chuckled and changed the subject: "Most of the soldiers and generals in the imperial court today are hereditary military households. There are really very few people who have truly fought for their lives from the bottom. Most of these generals are literate. Most of them can read."
After Sun Tzu's Art of War, how many generals are truly capable of fighting? Large army operations, marching formations, formations, and logistics equipment all require specialized personnel to take charge. And they must be knowledgeable. Those generals of the imperial court, in addition to following their seniors at home,
In groping in practice, there is no possibility of summarizing, integrating or improving on those specific matters. Therefore, although officers and soldiers have firearms, they cannot use them properly; the firearms cannot be modified according to the needs of the battlefield..."
Xu Hongji was silent. He nodded and sighed.
Suddenly, a black shadow suddenly appeared beside the campfire. Xu Hongji was startled. Before he could react, Chen Zhongji had already asked: "Are they brothers from the special battalion? What's going on?"
The brother from the special battalion in black clothes and trousers with a black mask on his head raised his hands to Chen Zhongji and said: "Major Chen, where is the owner of the boat? I am on guard duty in the east. Now there is a group of people coming towards the river bank. I
I came here to report..."
Chen Zhongji reacted quickly. He quickly picked up a water jug next to him and poured all the water on the bonfire. He immediately extinguished the flames. At the same time, the guard who was sleeping on the carriage had already drawn his weapon and stood up.
"What's going on?" Yin Feng asked immediately as he returned from checking the sentry.
"Reporting to the captain, a group of people are coming from the direction of Shenyang City. They number about fifty or sixty. They are unidentified. They are coming towards us."
"Do you have weapons?" Luo Aquan suddenly appeared at some point. Xu Hongji now knew that he was completely useless in dealing with such emergencies, so he huddled in a corner. He felt that Luo Aquan was always very mysterious and always appeared inexplicably.
The soldier in black shook his head: "Lao Cheng is watching. This group of people is walking on foot. They don't look like officers and soldiers in their clothes. But they have weapons."
"Get ready to meet the enemy." Luo Aquan didn't wait for Yin Feng to speak and directly gave the order: "Shipmaster, please stay here. Don't go out."
Yin Feng nodded: "Be careful. If you can't help it, don't do it."
Luo Aquan nodded and quickly disappeared into the darkness.
There was no bonfire. Everything around was shrouded in darkness. Everyone was silent. There was only the rustling of the wind through the woods and the gentle flow of the Liao River behind them.
In the darkness, Yin Feng kept recalling the content of the manuscript he copied from his laptop. He didn't recall any specific content. He just had a general feeling: before Nurhachi rebelled against the Ming Dynasty, the entire Liaodong Dusi had been in internal chaos. He had witnessed it with his own eyes. He has witnessed the increasingly declining reality of Liaodong. His inspection trip should have achieved his goal. Should he continue to inspect the Northeast? He originally planned to go to the border to take a closer look at the situation of the Jurchens. Now let’s take a look at the situation in Liaodong It's a chaotic situation. I'm afraid I can't get out of here.
Suddenly, a horse tied to the carriage hooted loudly, startling everyone. The horse's hooting could be heard far away in the dark night. One of the guards immediately grabbed the horse's reins and pulled it out. Stuffing grass into the horses' mouths. These carriage horses were temporarily found locally by shopkeeper Jin. They were not trained in the army and were easily frightened.
Yin Feng struck with both palms: "Damn it. That group of people will notice us now."
However, there was still no movement ahead. It took an hour before a brief fight broke out from the edge of the woods ahead.
…
This time, the officers and soldiers of the Central Guards in Shenyang started a pay mutiny, which involved a group of middle and lower-level officers of the Ming army. Under their leadership, nearly ten thousand officers and soldiers were distributed in Shenyang and the surrounding Dunbao and Tuntai. They started the uprising at the same time.
The troops of Zhang Chengyin, the acting commander-in-chief of Liaodong Town, the commander-in-chief of Guangning, and Li Rumei, the representative of the Li family generals, were all involved in the mutiny. The two people, who were incompatible with each other, had to cooperate to suppress the rebellion. That night, the city of Shenyang was opened by surrendering rebels. .Counter-insurgency officers and soldiers and mutinous soldiers fought together in the streets everywhere.
The Liaodong frontier army has a large number of cavalry. Some of the cavalry are Mongolians. Some are military households who surrendered to the Ming army in the early Ming Dynasty and were incorporated into the army. There are also small Mongolians who have defected from the grasslands to areas directly controlled by the Ming Dynasty over the years. Tribes. Some of them became the servants of generals. Li Xiao, the captain of the military camp west of Shenyang who participated in the mutiny, was not from the Li family. Most of his personal servants were Mongolians. Li Xiao was also a child of a military family. 12 He joined the army when he was young. He is now forty years old. He has fought against barbarians, participated in the Korean anti-Japanese war, and participated in the suppression of the Jurchen rebellion. Although he has made military exploits, it is because he is not from the Li family or cannot flatter his superiors, so he still A small captain.
It was precisely because he was not a real member of the Li family that he and his subordinates had not received military pay for a year. This time they were forced to lead a rebellion with their own soldiers. Unexpectedly, on the night when Shenyang City was invaded by officers and soldiers, .There were garrison soldiers inside Zhongtun who surrendered to the officers and soldiers and secretly opened the gate of the village.
During the melee, Li Xiao took his own soldiers and servants. He only had time to bring his son and daughter. He didn't even bring his wife. He took advantage of the chaos and broke out of the camp and fled westward.
The leader of his servants, the Mongolian cavalryman Bali Hai, said to him: "Master, we can't stay here anymore. We might as well go to the grassland."
Li Xiao said dejectedly: "Hey, now we have no way to go to heaven and no door to earth. You fled to me back then and now you are fleeing back to the grassland. What will your tribal leader say to allow us Han brothers to stay? ?.
Bali Hai high-fived and said: "Sir, heroes are most welcome on this grassland. We brothers are all heroes who can fight. Find a larger tribe to settle down. It is always a place to go. We can't stay in the place where the Ming Dynasty court is. There are no people in heaven." The road, Master, is to go to the grassland in the west and settle down."
Li Xiao was riding on his horse. He was still hesitating when the servants at the rear suddenly rushed over and shouted hurriedly: "The officers and soldiers are chasing us. It's the cavalry."
Sure enough, in the darkness behind them, the rumble of horse hooves shook the earth. There were at least a thousand pursuers. Li Xiao and Bali Hai looked at each other, jumped off their horses and said, "Brothers, our horses can no longer run. Dismount." Drive the horses away. Hide."
They drove their horses to the north and hid in the grass near the river. The officers, soldiers and cavalry caught up with torches. Some knights who were exploring the road discovered the horse's hoof prints. With a roar, the large group of people chased north.
Li Xiao and his party of more than fifty people waited for the cavalry to go away. They quickly changed into civilian clothes and fled westward.
As they approached the Liaohe River, suddenly there was a sound of horses honking in front of them. This was the sound of horses that startled Yin Feng and others.
Li Xiao and others were also frightened. They crouched down in the grass on the roadside and did not dare to move.
A Han soldier climbed up to Li Xiao and said: "Brother Li, don't tell me that the officers and soldiers have already set up an ambush here."
Li Qinghai, a private soldier who was only 16 years old, was Li Xiao's brother. Li Xiao suddenly reached out and covered his mouth. His eyes were cold and scary in the dark night. Bali Hai, who had been dealing with wolves on the grassland all year round, lay in Li Qinghai's ear. Bian whispered: "Something's not right around here. There seems to be an ambush. Don't move, don't make a sound."
Luo Aquan slowly moved behind a big tree. Cheng Laosan, the first sentry commander of the special battalion who was ambushing behind the tree, whispered in his ear: "The other party is not an ordinary person. There are experts included. It seems that we have been noticed."
Luo Aquan blinked in disbelief and made a gesture to indicate that he should continue to lurk and not move.
Around these 50 unidentified persons, there were about 70 special battalion soldiers lying in ambush.
No one from the two parties dared to move first. They just lay there, trying their best to lurk, competing for time and endurance, waiting for the other party to make the first move.
Luo Aquan's side had an advantage: they had been ambushed here in advance and were familiar with the terrain; while Li Xiao and his group were fugitives. They were exhausted in the middle of the night and eager to escape from the officers and soldiers. They couldn't afford time: they couldn't cross the Liao River after dawn. It is difficult to escape the pursuit of officers and soldiers. Of course, Yin Feng and others are not willing to deal with officers and soldiers. But Li Xiao and others do not know. Li Xiao and others always thought that the officers and soldiers were ambushing here.
Finally, Li Xiao and others lost their patience and stood up and suddenly ran out of the forest. They thought of escaping first and then taking a detour to cross the river. However, their way back was also blocked by dozens of men in black. Suddenly, without warning, they burst out from the grass. The tactics were ruthless. A burst of sticks and crossbow arrows attacked. Li Xiao and other leaders were caught off guard and were inexplicably knocked to the ground. Under Luo Aquan's order, the crossbow arrows of the special battalion soldiers They didn't hit him to death. Most of them hit the opponent's legs and feet.
Bali Hai resisted for a while. In the end, he was beaten unconscious by four or five men in black. More than fifty former Ming army soldiers, most of whom were tired and hungry. There was Luo Aquan, a special battalion of 70 soldiers who had been recuperating for a long time.