Tan Hong, who is stationed in Wanxian, not only has thousands of soldiers, but also his combat experience and length of time in the army are not comparable to those of young officers such as Zhou Kaihuang, Zhao Tianba and Li Xinghan. It was only because of Tan Hong's arrogance, his excessive underestimation of the strength of the Ming army, as well as greed and various accidental circumstances, that he finally ended up defeated and captured.

Seeing that Tan Hong, who was invincible and could be on an equal footing with his top boss, was tied up strongly, Zhou Kaihuang and Li Xinghan both knew very well that they had indeed escaped death this time. Not only them, but other Ming officers and soldiers also understood that the biggest variable in the reversal was the prince of Han in front of him. Therefore, when the dust settled, there were bursts of cheers among the soldiers, no longer excited about their victory, but congratulating Deng Ming for the victory he had brought to everyone, and sweeping away the pessimism, anger and loss of fleeing from the city of Chóngqìng.

"What a might, Your Highness!"

The ordinary soldiers of the Ming army beside Deng Ming were proud to congratulate Deng Ming in person, and they had no experience in dealing with the children of the clan, so they just respectfully bowed down to Deng Ming, and what they said over and over again were those few words of praise:

"Your Highness!"

"Your Highness is mighty!"

Faced with the enthusiastic support of the people around him, Deng Ming was stunned at first, he had no experience in dealing with the army, especially the ancient army, fortunately, a modern person has seen a lot of movies, Deng Ming remembers a lot of movie plots - both Chinese and Western famous generals will show their approachable side to the soldiers, such as patting them on the shoulder, saying some encouraging words and so on; Or go one step further and cordially shake hands with the soldiers.

So Deng Ming also began to shake hands with the soldiers around him "cordially", smiling and saying some film and television clichés such as "This is the victory of all of us". The ordinary soldiers who received such courtesy were flushed with excitement, and the soldiers, who had never received a smile from the officers, had never thought that they would be able to come into contact with the high-ranking children of the clan. Soon, Deng Ming was surrounded by countless outstretched hands, and everyone asked Han Shizi to treat him equally, shouting for a handshake.

During this period, Li Xinghan has been following Deng Ming's side, willingly playing the role of a personal guard, and the string of beads that Tan Hong took was also taken back by Li Xinghan for Deng Ming and solemnly handed it over to him. Deng Ming casually put it in his arms and continued to appease the soldiers, this kind of expression of valuing people over wealth made Li Xinghan admire this sect disciple even more. Hearing those cheers to Deng Ming, Li Xinghan also felt sincerely happy, grinning and smiling all the time.

When the Qing soldiers entered the customs in the seventeenth year of Chongzhen, Li Xinghan was still young and not very sensible, and throughout his growth, he saw that the Ming court had been at war with the Běijīng regime, and Tan Wen had also taught him to be loyal to the imperial court. But this court is still a very vague concept for Li Xinghan, far less than the image of a top boss like Tan Wen, and his allegiance to the court is also because Tan Wen is kind to him, so he wants to follow Tan Wen to fight for this court.

In the past, there were occasionally clans passing by Wanxian, but Li Xinghan did not have the opportunity to observe them up close, and even Tan Wen did not have the opportunity to have deep friendships with these clans, which always made Li Xinghan feel that the imperial court was a lofty thing, although it was majestic, it also rejected people. And this Deng Ming, who was smiling at his subordinates and holding their hands to praise their courage, made Li Xinghan feel a new image of the Ming court, this is the court that Li Xinghan has fought for many years, and the previous sense of majesty and coercion has been greatly reduced, and there is an impression that can warm people's hearts.

Li Xinghan remembered the scene of Deng Ming fighting side by side with officers and soldiers on the front line. He remembered that Tan Wen had told the generals and officers in the battalion that the battle situation in Yungui was not all smooth sailing, and if the battle situation was unfavorable, the imperial court would probably enter Sichuan under the protection of the King of Jin.

"I don't know what the emperor and the crown prince look like?" Li Xinghan suddenly had such a question in his heart, the Yongli Emperor in his mind in the past had an extremely majestic face, a hundred times stricter than the most stern general Li Xinghan had ever seen. Even if he imagined that he was in front of this face, Li Xinghan would be so nervous and respectful that he didn't dare to take a breath.

"It must be the same as this highness, right?" Li Xinghan could see the excited faces of his subordinates, but he didn't know that his expressions were actually similar to theirs: "I will definitely hold the hands of our soldiers and personally thank us for fighting for their Zhu family, yes, it must be so, so even the evil gangs of the Western Thieves will bow their heads to their ears." Alas, if I could get the personal praise of His Majesty or His Royal Highness the Crown Prince before I died fighting for the imperial court, then my life would not have been in vain. ”

When these thoughts were turning in his heart, Li Xinghan unconsciously imagined Deng Ming, the "son of the clan" in front of him, as the more noble Emperor of the Ming Dynasty and the prince of the East Palace, and burst into tears because he was immersed in such fantasies.

Unlike Li Xinghan, Zhao Tianba was a little far away from Deng Ming, but at this time, he also recalled in his heart Deng Mingjin's appearance on the battlefield: "There is no doubt that the third prince has never been on the battlefield, and he doesn't know anything about how to shè arrows. But he was not ashamed of the battlefield, nor did he hide that he did not understand the matter of shè arrows at all, but politely asked me again and again for advice, until he fired arrows to kill the enemy and boost morale. ”

Zhao Tianba couldn't help but compare Deng Ming with other clans, such as Emperor Yongli, other clansmen who took refuge in Li Dingguo or Sun Kewang's wing, in the past, as soon as they heard that the battle situation was unfavorable, the Yongli Imperial Court would flee to the safety of the rear as quickly as possible. For victory, the imperial court will certainly give rich rewards, but Zhao Tianba can feel that the imperial court is not grateful for the sacrifice and dedication of the soldiers, but because of helplessness, because of the troubled times, it has to increase the reward for the military.

Before, Zhao Tianba faintly puzzled why Li Dingguo swore allegiance to the Ming Court, if he just used this banner, it would be reasonable, after all, this banner could unite the Ming Court's descendant troops and even the old troops of the camp. But Li Dingguo's loyalty to the Ming court was far beyond this, which made Zhao Tianba, a person who was loyal to the Jin Palace, feel a little confused. On the contrary, the previous Sun Kewang rebellion was able to make a considerable number of officers and soldiers in the Xiying feel normal: Lao Tzu is a hero who stands up to the sky, why should he succumb to you?

Seeing Deng Ming's image today, and thinking of the faces of the monarchs and ministers of the Yongli Imperial Court, Zhao Tianba sighed silently in his heart: "If His Majesty had the appearance of three princes, there would probably be no dispute between Qin and Jin, right?" The soldiers of Yungui's Xiying will not be secretly dissatisfied with having a court on their heads, right? ”

At this time, Zhou Kaihuang ordered the boat to be docked on the shore, ready to take Deng Ming onto the boat to rest. After seeing Deng Ming's actions just now, Zhou Kaihuang also sighed in his heart: "The third prince is brave to take the lead, and in order to prevent the soldiers from being killed or injured before the big victory, this is benevolence and righteousness, as the saying goes, if there is a father, there must be a son, in other words, the father and the son are very similar." The third prince is brave and benevolent, and he seems to be a virtuous and virtuous person these days, but his biggest problem is that he doesn't know the suffering of the people. If Emperor Lie is such a person, why would he disregard the lives of the people back then? But if Emperor Lie was not a virtuous and virtuous son of heaven, how could he have a son like the third prince? ”

At first, the soldiers of the Sichuan army had to be more excited, and under their infection, the Dachang soldiers also crowded forward to ask for Deng Ming's personal praise, although they had the identity of breaking into the rest of the camp, but the identity of the heavenly nobles was still almost a god for these low-level soldiers who even had a sense of admiration for Xiucai, and the deep-rooted sense of superiority and inferiority coupled with the feelings of celebrating the victory made them also can't wait to hear the royal children's gratitude for their heroic battles- Deng Ming is thanking these combat soldiers one by one, not only can he be proud of the qualifications of his companions in the future, but some people also think that this can even be told to his children and grandchildren after the expulsion of the Tartars - I think back then, when King Han was still young, he stood in front of your father like this, patted me on the shoulder and said I am a hero!

When everyone had their own ideas, Deng Ming suddenly came to his senses, although it was very exciting to play this kind of role, Deng Ming still remembered that he was not a real sect disciple after all, and not only he knew that Zhou Kaihuang and Zhao Tianba were just acting with him in order to unite Li Xinghan. If he continued to win the hearts of the people in the army without knowing how to advance or retreat, Deng Ming was worried that he might cause dissatisfaction among Zhou Kaihuang and others, after all, he still had to continue to go to Fengjie, and he would still have to live under the rule of the Ming court for a period of time in the future.

As soon as he played yùwang, the feeling of hunger returned, and Deng Ming's greatest wish now was to hurry to Tan Hong's camp, he, like other Ming officers and soldiers, had not eaten for nearly forty hours and had been exposed to the wild, and the little food he had been allocated had long been digested. Now Deng Ming is full of anticipation for the enemy's reserves, and he can't wait to enter the warm camp tent immediately.

A careful count of the captives has not yet been carried out, so the exact number is not known, but the more than 300 Qing soldiers who finally surrendered, plus the hundreds of defeated soldiers captured before, now have at least seven or eight hundred prisoners in the hands of the more than 2,000 Ming troops, and this number will continue to increase as time goes on.

Zhou Kaihuang parked the boat on the shore and wanted Deng Ming to get on the boat and go to Daying, which was unanimously supported by the two Ming armies, Yuan Zongdi and Tan Wen. Deng Ming was very curious in his heart, and couldn't help but take a closer look at Zhou Kaihuang, who proposed this construction, and thought in his heart: "Are you going to roast me on the fire?" Now thanks to you and Zhao Tianba, I have become a disciple of the clan in the eyes of everyone, so I respect me very much, and I will not object to me taking the boat. But I'm not after all, and when the truth comes out, people will probably be angry that I deceived them, if I didn't know how to converge now......"

Therefore, Deng Ming resolutely refused to take the boat, but wanted to walk to Tan Hong's camp with everyone, which was strictly his duty for him, but in the eyes of others, it was naturally a different scene. As for Deng Mingti yì let the wounded soldiers take the boat, this idea was also unanimously supported by the officers of all teams, which was the world of the Zhu family, and their children should appease the army's psychology. And Zhao Tianba couldn't help but have a thought: Didn't the third prince have any thoughts about the throne and the current son sitting on it, right?

"Your Highness is an enemy!"

After the victory, the soldiers chatted happily, and the soldiers who saw Deng Ming on the front line just now simply became Deng Ming's volunteer propagandists, and the soldiers who heard the news seemed to have more respect for Deng Ming, which made Deng Ming couldn't help but feel that winning the hearts of the army was not a difficult thing.

The Tan Hong camp that had just been occupied could not be presided over without one, and now that the Ming army had won a complete victory, it was no longer necessary for all the leaders to stay together, so Zhou Kaihuang left by boat, and rushed back to the camp to supervise the preparation of food and accommodation, and the rest of the Ming army was also preparing to set off for the east one after another.

The Ming army captured about seven or eight hundred prisoners, and for the victors, whose own army was only more than 2,000 men, it felt that so many prisoners were a bit too much. The Ming army didn't have a lot of baggage, and the demand for coolies was not very large, and besides, these captives needed to eat and send people to monitor, so the Ming army planned to quickly screen and dispose of some of the prisoners. For example, if you are injured or look weak and useless, these will be disposed of as useless; There is another type, that is, the Ming army will not spare the lives of the captives who are more fierce and still threatening for safety reasons.

Of course, this kind of screening is not unified and large-scale, but a spontaneous action far from Deng Ming's sight, and the Dachang soldiers are martyred. Compared with the Dachang soldiers of Yuan Zong's first department, the rest of Tan Wen's troops were still more polite to the prisoners, they were also from Wanxian, and the prisoners in their hands were far more than the prisoners in the hands of the Dachang soldiers. After being captured by the rest of Tan Wen's troops, these Tan Hong's men hurriedly called out the names of people they knew, hoping to find acquaintances to save their lives. For those prisoners who were wounded and had difficulty moving, the Wanxian soldiers did not kill them like the Dachang soldiers, but left them to fend for themselves.

The reason why some Ming soldiers only attack the prisoners now is because the morale of the Ming army is also uneven, just as there are fast and slow charges when they charge. The morale of the soldiers of the Ming army was far less high than it is now, and some people wanted to secretly leave a way out for themselves, if the Ming army was defeated in the end, they might be able to save their lives by giving some favors to the captured enemy soldiers. For example, if you want to change the court and surrender to Tan Hong, you also need an intermediary to introduce you, right? So some of the soldiers made an agreement with the captives they had captured: if the Ming army won they would be responsible for the safety of the Qing soldiers, and if Tan Hong finally won, the Qing soldiers would in turn be responsible for the lives of the Ming soldiers who captured them.

For the soldiers' careful thoughts, the officers all knew it, that is, Deng Ming didn't know anything about it. However, the Ming army was originally composed of defeated soldiers, and it has been a lost dog pursued by the Qing soldiers for two days, and it is not surprising that the morale has fluctuated a little, and some officers have not tasted it. Only those who are particularly determined do not leave any room for doing things, for example, Zhou Kaihuang and a dozen people around him did not catch a single prisoner, while the team members who followed him captured some. When the victory or defeat is clear, and even Tan Hong himself is captured alive, these captives will be completely useless and burdensome, and the people who keep their promises will continue their agreements with the Qing soldiers, and those who are not very trustworthy will simply dispose of these collaborators - after all, this kind of agreement is not good to hear, and it is easy to cause trouble for themselves.

When the 2,000 Ming army marched into Tan Hong's camp with more than 600 captives, Zhou Kaihuang had already set up a sentry post and boiled some water for the soldiers to drink. When the camp was breached, Zhou Kaihuang captured four or five men who didn't have time to escape, and these few non-threatening cooks Zhou Kaihuang did not cut the grass and eradicate the roots, but let them cook.

Now that a large number of captives had arrived, the Ming army sent men to watch over them, asking them to chop wood and make fires, and piles of bonfires were lit in the camp, around which the victors warmed their bodies, chatted happily about today's battle, and boasted about their bravery and good fighting to those around them who knew or did not know.

A few men first cooked food for the officers, and then instructed the captives to wash rice, brush pots, and prepare food for the Ming army. The captives also worked diligently. According to general convention, the best captives can survive to become coolies in the army, and over time it is possible to gain trust and become combat soldiers again, and those who are good at the craft and can grasp the opportunity can become gangsters - it is a good errand to be in charge of cooking, not only can they be fed, but they are generally respected in the army, and although they cannot participate in battles, they do not have to worry about their lives.

Deng Ming watched the movements in the camp with great interest, he had never had the opportunity to know the operation of the entire camp before, but today he was surrounded by the stars of the officers, and all the work arrangements were reported to him, waiting for his instructions—of course, Deng Ming did not know how to give these orders, and adopted the suggestions of the officers around him.

"When the captives are ready, will they give them a little to eat?" Standing in the distance and looking at the Qing soldiers who were working hard in the cold night, and the watchmen with leather whips around them, Deng Ming felt that this possibility was very suspicious.

It turned out that Deng Ming's suspicion was very reasonable, and after hearing this question, Zhao Tianba replied in a reasonable tone: "Of course there is nothing for them to eat." Starve them for two days, and then we won't be able to make a mess when our hands and feet are weak, after all, we still haven't returned to Fengjie, and we're still in danger. ”

"But I'm so hungry that I don't have the strength to move my hands and feet, how can I help us move things?" Deng Ming already knew that these captives would be treated as masters, and since they were porters, how could they have the strength to work if they were not fed?

"With a whip, who dares to be lazy and slippery?" Zhao Tianba replied categorically. He was a little surprised in his heart that Deng Ming didn't understand anything, but he immediately realized that the other side was a child of the clan, and he had asked a lot of strange questions these days, which showed that he didn't know much about the mundane affairs of the world. Isn't there a whip in the palace? Probably there was plenty of food in the palace, and the three princes didn't stay long, and after escaping, they were all loyal guards, and they didn't need whips.

When Zhao Tianba was thinking nonsense, Deng Ming sighed softly in his heart, he didn't believe that whips could replace the role of food, but it seemed that this era was like this to treat prisoners. Deng Ming also figured it out, the whip could squeeze out the last trace of strength from the captives, and if they fell to the ground and died of hunger and exhaustion, most of these victors would not take it too seriously: "No wonder it is very difficult to persuade surrender in this era, there are only a few dozen people left around Tan Hong, and it is difficult to make up his mind to surrender knowing that there is no way out." ”

Thinking of this, Deng Ming felt a little uncomfortable, and he looked back and greeted everyone: "Let's eat." ”

"Good!" The young officers were all happy to be in sè, and they had been looking forward to Deng Ming's words.

At this time, whether it was the excited Ming soldiers or officers, as well as Deng Ming himself, they all felt that the future was bright, the roadblock Tan Hong had been defeated, the most sharp guards were all captured, and the remaining troops seemed to have lost their fighting spirit, waiting for everyone not only to have warm tents but also plenty of food, it seemed that the road to Fengjie was already a smooth road. The Ming army felt that it was a matter of course to continue to march smoothly and return to Fengjie safely.