The development of the matter was exactly as Ding Yunyi had predicted.
After Hong Chengchou decided on an eight-pronged attack, Li Zicheng quickly proposed a plan to divide his troops into four routes. Among these four divisions, the eastward advancing troops became the main force to break Hong Chengchou's encirclement and suppression.
After the officers and soldiers were completely attracted to the battlefield in Henan, Gao Yingxiang and Li Zicheng quickly led the main force to attack Gushi. Gushi, who was caught off guard, threw the city to the rebels without much resistance in front of the rebels.
Gao Yingxiang and Li Zicheng, who obtained Gushi, got a rare respite.
While this team was recuperating and resupplying in Gushi, Zhang Xianzhong's battalion, which had withdrawn from the frontal battlefield, also arrived.
Zhang Xianzhong, who originally acted as a magnet for officers and soldiers, suddenly became the main force of the eastward march.
Zhang Xianzhong, who suffered a loss in Xinyang, focused all his anger on the upcoming attack on the city. He commanded his army to attack Huoqiu, and Huoqiu was defeated in one battle.
Zhang Xianzhong hastily replenished his troops at Huoqiu, and immediately sent his troops straight to Shouzhou. After only a short resistance, Shouzhou also fell into Zhang Xianzhong's hands.
After two battles and two victories, the morale of Zhang Xianzhong's camp was restored.
His next target was directly set at Yingzhou, an important town in Anhui!
At this time, Ding Yunyi, who was ordered to reinforce Yingzhou, knew that the two cities of Huoqiu and Shouzhou were hopeless, so he did not stop and rode lightly and quickly towards Yingzhou.
The rogue soldiers invaded Anhui, causing this place that had never been ravaged by war to suddenly fall into chaos. This was especially true for Yingzhou.
Yin Menglong, the magistrate of Yingzhou, Zhao Shikuan, the magistrate of the state, and Zhang Heming, the minister, had no master. Yingzhou's troops were poorly prepared and the soldiers had never fought before. What could they do to resist the incoming bandit army?
Fengyang does have 20,000 troops, but once Yingzhou is defeated, the rebel army will definitely march directly to Fengyang. Fengyang has no time to take care of itself, so where can they send troops?
The whole Yingzhou is in complete chaos!
Fortunately, Yin Menglong was quite talented. After the panic, he quickly forced himself to calm down. He ordered the city to be closed down and to be on strict guard while recruiting young men and women everywhere.
But at this time, everyone is thinking about how to escape. Who is willing to fight against the bandits?
"Master Yin, after two days of recruiting, there are only a few dozen people." Zhao Shikuan rushed in with sweat dripping from his eyes; "No ordinary people are willing to apply, and now they are thinking of escaping for their lives."
Yin Menglong's face was ashen. Yingzhou only had more than 2,000 troops. How could they resist the incoming bandit army?
Zhao Shikuan said cautiously: "I heard that the person leading the rebel army was Zhang Ni Xianzhong. This man was extremely ferocious, and all the court officials were executed wherever he passed. At present, there are few major generals in Yingzhou's army. Why not, let's withdraw temporarily."
"No!" The words just came out. Yin Menglong and Zhang Heming shouted out together: "Yingzhou is an important place. Once Yingzhou is defeated, the thieves will no longer be able to stop them. Fengyang is in danger. Fengyang is where the central capital is and where the imperial mausoleum is. Once it is lost,
We don’t have enough heads to chop off!”
Zhang Heming nodded: "Yes, even if we die, we must live and die with Yingzhou! Master Yin. Although the city of Yingzhou is not in good condition and the military equipment is not repaired, since the imperial court has put you and me here, we must do our best. That's amazing.
I will repay the imperial court with my death!"
At this time, the two of them had made up their minds and were no longer afraid.
"My lord, my lord. Reinforcements are coming, reinforcements are coming!"
At this moment, a subordinate rushed in and said, rolling and crawling.
Yin Menglong and others were immediately ecstatic and couldn't wait to rush out of the Yamen. Yin Menglong even shouted: "Where are the reinforcements? Where are the reinforcements?"
"Five Tigers Guerrilla General Ding Yunyi, Commander-in-Chief Hong, reinforces Yingzhou!"
A voice sounded, and Yin Menglong and others saw the young general who called himself "Ding Yunyi" jump off his horse and said loudly.
"Okay, okay, General Ding!" Yin Menglong was very excited: "The bandit army has defeated Huoqiu and Shouzhou in a row, and they will arrive at Yingzhou in a blink of an eye. Yingzhou's military equipment is weak. We are at our wits' end. We don't want the general to just tell the truth.
Reinforcements have arrived. General, please leave Yingzhou!"
Zhang Heming was thoughtful and looked behind Ding Yunyi: "I wonder how many troops the general has brought?"
"Eight hundred fine riders!"
Ding Yunyi's answer immediately disappointed several Yingzhou officials. They thought that the reinforcements coming this time were not only 10,000 but also 8,000.
Yin Menglong gritted his teeth and said: "General, the person commanding the bandit army this time is Zhang Xianzhong. I heard that this man is fierce and has tens of thousands of troops. I'm afraid it will be difficult for 800 people to resist, right?"
"Sir, it doesn't matter." Ding Yunyi said with high spirits: "That day when I was in Xinyang, my three hundred cavalry defeated him by fifty thousand. Today there are eight hundred cavalry, and there are all the soldiers of Yingzhou, so why worry? Besides, I only need to persist here for five years.
In five days, the army will arrive!"
Hearing that there were reinforcements from the army behind, the Yingzhou officials were relieved. Yin Menglong hurriedly said, "The general has had a hard time traveling a long way. I will have people prepare food and wine to welcome the general."
Ding Yunyi waved his hand: "I'm not busy, please help me get some food to satisfy the hunger of my brothers. Ding Yunyi also wants to ask some adults to take me to observe Yingzhou."
Yin Menglong did not dare to neglect. While ordering people to get food for the eight hundred cavalry, he personally took Ding Yunyi around to patrol.
After an inspection, when he arrived at the city entrance, Ding Yunyi's brows knitted together. Yingzhou's defense was far weaker than he imagined.
The city wall was as weak as paper. Counting the government officials, officials, servants and the original soldiers in the city, there were no more than three thousand people. The swords were embroidered and the arrows were bare. How could they fight Zhang Xianzhong with such an army?
Clearly seeing Ding Yunyi's dissatisfaction, Yin Menglong sighed and said: "General Ding, Yingzhou has not encountered war for many years. No one would have thought that rogue bandits would suddenly appear here. The people in the city are now panicked and there is no way to recruit brave soldiers."
Ding Yunyi also knew their difficulties: "You have to defend this place even with a small number of people. Five days is enough. Sirs, recruit all the available people, sharpen your knives and polish your arrows. Tell the brothers
We, tens of thousands of imperial troops will arrive within a few days. If Yingzhou is captured by the rebels, they will kill people and set fire to them, and no one in Yingzhou will survive!"
This is the specialty of these officials, and they responded one after another.
These magistrates, magistrates, and ministers were all powerful figures in the local area. But at this time, a great disaster was coming, and they all pointed at Ding Yunyi, a military commander, to save his life. They responded to whatever Ding Yunyi said, and they did not dare to neglect at all.
"I and my brothers will be stationed outside the city." Ding Yunyi nodded and said outside the city.
Zhang Heming was shocked when he heard this: "General, when the bandit army comes, it will be huge. The general only has 800 cavalry, how can we resist it? It is better to station in the city. With more people, we will naturally have greater strength."
Ding Yunyi smiled: "If we can't stop the bandits outside the city, can we do it inside the city? Sirs, I have two things to ask of you. The first thing is to ask the adults to send me all the bows and arrows you can find.
It’s best to have a cannon.”
"Cannons?" Yin Menglong said in embarrassment: "Where are the cannons in Yingzhou? You can find them in the fortification arsenal. In addition, I can also order the craftsmen to build them overnight. I can send as many as I can to the general."
Ding Yunyi also knew that finding cannons here was really wishful thinking: "Well, the second thing is that once the rebels attack me, your Excellency must let all the soldiers climb the tower, set up more flags and drums, make loud drum sounds, and wave the flags and shout
, it would be best if the people also climb up the tower to cheer me on."
Several officials understood at that time that this was a strategy to deceive the enemy, so that the enemy could not figure out how many troops there were in Yingzhou.
Ding Yunyi explained in detail what he needed and how to defend the city, and then he led his men to station outside the city. The people in Yingzhou City heard that reinforcements were coming. Although they didn't know how many reinforcements were coming, they felt somewhat relieved.
Ding Yunyi commanded his soldiers to set up camp urgently, set up traps, and set up horse ropes.
Duan San'er directed and supervised the brothers as they were busy. When he saw Ding Yunyi approaching, he suddenly asked: "Sir, we are done fighting this time, can we go home?"
"Are you homesick?" Ding Yunyi asked with a smile.
Duan San'er nodded honestly: "Well, it doesn't take long to leave home, but I really thought about it. Sir, you are so carefree in Penghu, Taiwan, why do you have to come here? I know.
, those people look down on us."
Ding Yunyi smiled: "Yes, they all look down on us, but we didn't come here ourselves, the emperor asked us to come. We people can't disobey the emperor's orders!"
"When you become the emperor yourself, we won't have to be manipulated by others anymore." Duan Saner said smoothly.
Ding Yunyi was startled: "Duan San, you must never say such things in the future. If someone hears it, you will be beheaded."
"We're not afraid." Duan San'er said carelessly, "We used to be pirates. If we hadn't met adults, our heads might have been moved by now. I say this with all my heart, if it weren't for adults, our brothers
Who among the seven is willing to suffer here? Have you not seen those officials, no matter how small they are, they are as indifferent to us as they are to local leopards. If we were in Taiwan, we would have become one by now.
The big-eared photon slapped you up. Who is the emperor now? I can’t even name him, but if you become the emperor, then I will serve you wholeheartedly."
"Duan San, shut up." Seeing that Duan San'er was getting more and more speechless, Ding Yunyi couldn't help scolding him, but he was a little touched in his heart. The brothers were really loyal to him.
I don't know how Wang Cheng'en's arrangements were in the capital, or whether Chongzhen would listen to him and transfer him back to Taiwan.
This place is not your own place. You are subject to control and anger everywhere. Otherwise, because of the emperor's orders, you should let go and let it cause chaos.
After taking these brothers out, I must bring them back safely. But can I do this in the face of the incoming bandit army?
Ding Yunyi didn't know that he couldn't face this problem now.
However, these are all brothers whom I regard as brothers! To be continued...