Chapter 347: The army is in Zhongzhou

On the fourth day of October in the thirteenth year of Chongzhen, Zhending Mansion was in the territory. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

"Today, today, today, today, the yellow sand is full of battles, one, two, three, four, ......"

In the passionate melody, under the sound of marching drums, a mighty ironclad army is marching south in high spirits. Half of them were cavalry or mounted infantrymen, and the sergeants were heavily armed and armoured, singing military songs all the way, and their morale was high.

"Gentlemen, work harder, before sunset, we will rush to Zanhuang, and we can camp and rest."

A consolation officer from the Central Military Department loudly agitated.

"Protection"

The sound of shouting first sounded from around him, and then the sound of the promise came one after another with the iron armor dragon, full of energy.

"The soldiers are in good shape"

Glancing back at the team behind him, Wang Dou showed a satisfied look on his face, he led the army to set off from Yongning City, basically maintaining a march distance of sixty or seventy miles every day. In just ten days, I have traveled thousands of miles, and no one is left behind.

This kind of marching efficiency, Wang Dou said that he was second, and no one dared to say first.

The army that fought with him this time, including Wang Dou's guards, as well as Wen Fangliang, Gao Shiyin, Li Guangheng, Wen Daxing, Zhao Xuan and other first-class soldiers. There are also Sun Sanjie's baggage generals, Wu Zhengchun, Shen Shiqi, Gao Xun and other three third-class soldiers of the second army, a total of 7,000 people.

Among these thousands of troops, except for Sun Sanjie's baggage Qianzong, the rest of the first-class soldiers all have horses, but the second-class soldiers have no horses, and they are still wearing cotton armor or iron armor, plus the rest of the weapons and equipment, and the burden is afraid of dozens of catties.

Thousands of miles down, all on foot, this hard work can be imagined.

Fortunately, the armor is stressed by the whole body, which largely offsets the weight of the armor, and those selected into the new army are all young and strong people with very good physical fitness. After several months of hard training in the army, the nutritional supplement was also very good, and everyone's physique had a qualitative leap, and the long-distance march did not have a great impact on them.

It was a great honor for the new troops of these departments to be able to go to war with the army, and they marched all the way to sing and beat drums, and their morale was always maintained.

"Emperor Zan's garrison is Xu Xiaoniang, an old acquaintance, when I get there, my army should be able to replenish food and grass for several days."

Wen Fangliang, who was beside Wang Dou, quipped, causing everyone to laugh, and Wang Dou also smiled slightly.

The army was spread out in a marching array of pulling arrays, but Wen Fangliang, Gao Shiyin, Sun Sanjie and others all gathered around him, and in each department, they advanced with the lead of the Chinese officers. This time, Wang Dou led the army, with 7,000 soldiers, including war horses, mules and horses, and more than 5,000 horses.

Based on the amount of food in the Ming Dynasty, a human eclipse is one liter, and a horse's solar eclipse is three liters. In this way, 7,000 soldiers need 74 stone of grain for a day, about 165 stone for war horses and mules and horses, 240 stone of grain and grass for a day and 7,200 stone of grain and grass for a month.

Sun Sanjie's baggage always had 400 carriages, which could only transport 2,000 stones of grain and grass at a time for the army to eat for a few days. Therefore, this time, Wang Dou dispatched 1,200 carriages, in addition to the baggage of 1,000 generals, and escorted by two second-class sergeants, with a total of 6,000 stone of grain and grass for the army, just like three baggage thousands of generals.

Even so, the army can eat less than a month of grain and grass with the army, not to mention that the consumption rate of horses is only estimated at the minimum, and all kinds of hidden consumption can support fewer days with army grain and grass. Therefore, Wang Dou's principle, firstly, took out the military department's documents, and asked the states and counties along the way to supply at least a few days of grain and grass, and if they really didn't have it, they would buy it locally, and finally eat the food and grass of the army.

It's okay in Baoding Mansion and Zhending Mansion, Han Chao is in Laishui, and Hu Dawei is now transferred to Baoding as the chief soldier. Needless to say, Han Chao is Wang Dou's subordinate, Hu Dawei and Wang Dou know each other, and the grain and grass consumed on the way can be quickly replenished.

It was in Dingzhou and other places in Zhending Mansion that Wang Dou had saved the lives of the local squires and people, and when the Shunxiang army passed by, he was warmly welcomed. I dare not say that there is no problem with the supply of grain and grass for three to five days. At present, it is even more necessary to enter Zanhuang, whether it is to replenish grain and grass, what worries Wang Dou is that after entering Zhongzhou......

"The Intelligence Department is in Zhongzhou, can it be improved to accumulate grain in Huguang and Zhudi?"

Wang Douce said slowly on the horse.

Wen Daxing hurriedly said: "Back to General, since last year, our Intelligence Department has united with a large number of merchants on the East Road to spy on the situation of the thieves and the enemy according to the towns instructed by the general, and vigorously purchase grain and grass for military needs. According to the statistics in the hands of the lower officials, Zhengzhou, Kaifeng, Luoyang, Suizhou, and Xiangyang, all of our intelligence departments have hoarded grain and grass that can be eaten by the army for a few days to a month. ”

"But ......",

Wen Daxing said: "At present, there is a great drought in all parts of the Ming Dynasty, especially in the land of Zhongzhou, thousands of dollars of rice, or even ten thousand dollars, and many rich families are closed, and it is becoming more and more difficult to buy this grain and grass." In the last few months, Huguang, Suzhou, and Songzhu Prefectures were flooded, and the rice was seven or eight hundred yuan, the neighborhoods went on strike, and the villages were closed. Although it takes a lot of effort, you can also buy grain and grass, but this cost is several times more. ”

Wang Dou said lightly: "Silver is not a problem, as long as you can buy grain and grass with silver, it doesn't matter how much silver you spend." ”

He sighed in his heart, in the middle of the Ming Dynasty, one tael of silver could buy two stones of rice, but now a dozen or twenty taels of silver can't buy a stone of grain, how can this people live.

Listening to Wen Daxing's words, everyone around him whispered excitedly. According to Wang Dou's plan, the chief of staff decided to move around Henan and Huguang to see how those rogues fought. According to this strategy, as early as last year, Wang Dou had already laid out Henan, Huguang and other areas.

Most of the merchants on the East Road, now with Wang Dou on the same rope of leeches, many of them were selected to serve as the Shunxiang Army, and on the orders of the shogunate, they went to these two places to buy and sell, and those with insufficient funds were funded by the shogunate.

Wang Dou's request to them was to continuously collect intelligence from all over the country and gather it into the hands of the intelligence departments of each city, as well as to hoard food for the current military needs of the army. As guards, as well as surveillance, one team after another, the Shunxiang army of the first class followed them, disguised themselves, and scattered to the two provinces.

Gao Shiyin said in a loud voice: "With grain and grass, the soldiers are full of food and drink, in this world, who is the opponent of my Shunxiang army?" ”

Wen Fangliang smiled and said: "As the general expected, the thieves are making trouble in Zhongzhou again, and when our Shunxiang army goes, they will kill them so that they don't even recognize their own mothers." ”

There was another burst of laughter.

Now in the Shunxiang army, it is rumored that Wang Dou, the general of Dingguo, has the ability to predict the future, and can communicate with the gods and predict the future, as evidenced by the war in the eleventh year of Chongzhen. Sure enough, now the Liukou began to toss in Henan again, and the Shunxiang army will fight here for several months in the future, and Wang Dou's Zhongzhou layout in advance has become an important guarantee for the victory of the Shunxiang army.

"Okay"

Wang Dou looked at the sky and handed down an order: "Li Qianzong's cavalry and the cooking carts of each department will go first, and the horse infantry army will follow, and the rest of the sergeants will also speed up their pace, and within half an hour, they will arrive at the foot of the Zanhuang City, and the whole army will eat and rest." ”

The military discipline of the Shunxiang army, every time they arrived at the camp, the cavalry and the cooking carts of each department were sent to the front, so that the horses could rest early, and as soon as the infantry arrived, there were ready-made meals waiting for them, so that the soldiers would not endure the hardships of waiting for food.

"Pick up the pace."

"Sing the Song"

After Wang Dou passed the order, the army significantly quickened its pace, and in the passionate singing, the army rolled forward.

……

In the middle of the Shen hour, the Shunxiang army arrived at Zanhuang, and Xu Yue'e got the news early, and took all the officials and generals in the city to greet him a few miles away from the city.

In the war in the eleventh year of Chongzhen, Xu Yue'e was appointed as the garrison of Emperor Zan, and according to the information in Wang Dou's hands, she actually controlled Emperor Zan, Lincheng, Yuanshi, and Gaoyi. The strength in her hands now is about 1,000 cavalrymen, all of whom have armor, 3 or 4,000 infantrymen, and some of them have armor.

She originally killed more than 200 Qing soldiers in Zanhuang and other places, and her reputation was great and famous. After the battle of Julu, her subordinates were more powerful, especially she was the righteous daughter of Yang Guozhu, the chief soldier of Xuanfu Town, and Hu Dawei, the chief soldier of Zhenbao Town, also knew her.

She levied protection fees in Zanhuang and other places, apportioned the cost of raising soldiers, and paid how much each city and town, passing merchants, paid every year, and was quite cruel to those who did not obey.

Under her management, there are small kingdoms in Zanhuang, but the local officials dare not say anything, not to mention the relationship between Xu Yue, if the persecution is too much, she runs away to be a thief in a fit of anger, and the officials and the court are investigated, and it is only these local officials who are unlucky.

However, in addition to the quota, Xu Yue'e does not levy other fees. And under her control, the horse thieves and rogues in the territory are extinct, and those soldiers and ruffians do not dare to be too ostentatious. She also often gave relief to the victims and encouraged farming, and compared with other places, the people there lived a stable life.

The local gentry praised her as Qin Liangyu, Mrs. Xian was second, and Yang Wenyue, the governor of Baoding, praised her as a heroine among women, and vigorously wooed her, promising to promote her as a guerrilla general in the near future.

In Yang Wenyue's view, the combat strength of the soldiers and horses under Xu Yue'e is likely to exceed that of his own standard battalion, and it is no problem to surpass the ordinary battalion soldiers in the town, and his troops dare to fight against Dongnu. ,

Wang Dou also paid attention to Xu Yue's development, but after the General Staff Department and the Intelligence Department studied the combat strength under her command, Wang Dou didn't care. The combat strength of Xu Yue'e's subordinates is good compared to the local officers and soldiers and the nearby Liukou, but of course it is not at the same level as the Shunxiang army.

According to the General Staff Division, Xu Yue'e's 1,000 cavalry is more suitable to describe as a horse team, and the Shunxiang Army only needs to send a total of 200 cavalry to defeat her 1,000 "cavalry". If you send hundreds of Shunxiang troops, you can beat her thousands of wolves.

At that time, due to the mistakes of the military discipline of Shunxiang Army, which led to the emergence of characters like Xu Yue'e, Wang Dou just paid silent attention to her development, she was operating in Zanhuang and other places, and the future was good or bad for East Road, Wang Dou was still thinking.

"There are more than 1,000 miles from Zanhuang to Zhengzhou, Kaifeng and other places, and it is estimated that it will be reached in October. After arriving there, how to explain to the Ministry of War and Yang Sichang, and find an excuse to stay in Henan, Huguang and other places? ”

The letter given to Wang Dou by the Ministry of War needs to be rushed to Sichuan within three months, and Yang Sichang will be ordered to control it.

Of course, Wang Dou would not rush to Sichuan stupidly, but how to find a way to stay in Henan is a problem that Wang Dou needs to consider. The General Staff Department has no way to deal with this issue, but Wang Dou knows the historical process, but he has a lot of excuses to find.

While Wang Dou was thinking, Xu Yue'e was busy in the house, making beds and quilts for Wang Dou.

Wang Dou's army arrived at Empress Zan, Xu Yue'e feasted for the generals of the Shunxiang army in the garrison hall, and prepared comfortable rooms for the generals in the city, while Wang Dou rested in the garrison mansion. Seeing that Xu Yue'e was busy, Wang Dou just watched her silently.

This scene is very familiar, and in the Zanhuang Cottage back then, Xu Yue'e was the same.

When she was busy, Xu Yue'e was still so silent, she hadn't seen her for almost two years, her complexion was more resolute, wearing a tight-fitting jacket and a silk cloth to wrap her head, but her heroic taste had not changed.

After making the bed, she walked out, and soon brought a basin of hot face washing water, seeing that she had robbed her own job, Xie Yike and the guards outside the hospital all looked at each other, probing their brains from a distance. Xu Yue'e twisted the face towel and handed it to Wang Dou.

Wang Dou rubbed his face, exhaled comfortably, handed the face towel to Xu Yue'e, and said, "Xu Niangzi, after so many years, why don't you become a family?" ”

Wang Dou remembered that Xu Yue'e was a few years younger than him, and she was twenty-four or five years old, and she was an old girl in Daming, but she had never heard the news of her marriage. For the sake of his fellow villagers, Wang Dou thinks that he should take care of it.

Xu Yue's face changed, and she said: "How dare you hope that the body of the broken flower and the willow is defeated? ”

She seemed a little angry, went out with her face wash water, and left a message at the door: "The slave only wants to kill all the Tartars in the coming day, and nothing else." ”

There was a "bang", but it was Xu Yue'e who poured out the washing water, which startled Xie Yike and the others in the hospital, and hurriedly scattered.

Wang Dou sat on the chair and pondered for a while, and took out Qi Shuai's "Actual Record of Military Training" to watch.

The footsteps sounded, but it was Xu Yue'e who came back, and she carried a plate of hot water all the way to Wang Dou. Then pulled a small bench and sat down, gently took off his shoes and socks for Wang Dou, Wang Dou glanced at her with some surprise, and continued to read his book.

Xu Yue'e tested the temperature of the water with her hands, gently soaked Wang Dou's feet into the footbasin, and carefully washed his feet.

Xu Yue's hands are very rough, there are even some calluses in the palms, the skin on her face is also a little dark, and there seem to be a few freckles, not to mention that the skin quality is not comparable to Ji Junjiao, even with Xie Xiuniang. Maybe it's the result of the sun and rain, dancing knives and guns, only the skin on the neck is as white as jade.

Wang Dou was silent, Xu Yue'e was also silent, and her hands seemed to tremble a little when she washed Wang Dou's feet.

After washing Wang Dou's feet, Xu Yue'e showed a look of joy and satisfaction on her face, and she said to Wang Dou: "General, you have worked the march, rest early." ”

She went out with the water for washing her feet and brought the door to Wang Dou.

After a long time, Wang Dou shook his head and looked at the book again.

……

On the second day, the Shunxiang army set off, Xu Yue'e sent ten miles away, and she also provided five days of food and grass for the army, just to supplement the consumption of the Shunxiang army from Dingzhou.

When the army entered Neiqiu County in Shunde Prefecture, Wang Dou looked to the east, and more than 100 miles away from the east of Neiqiu County was Julu, where Wang Dou had fought bloody battles in the eleventh year of Chongzhen. Many people died in the battle there that year, and those Shunxiang sergeants who died in battle retreated in a hurry at that time, so they had to bring back some relics as a clothing mound.

After Wang Dou returned to Baoan Prefecture in the twelfth year of Chongzhen, he successively sent people to Julu to bring the remains of the soldiers back to Shunxiang Fort for burial. ,

I heard that the battlefield of the year by the Artemisia River, now built a lot of temples, every year the incense is vigorous, the local people of Julu, all pray for Lu Duchen and Shun Xiangjun in the heavenly spirit to bless their house peace. The worship ceremony of the local government is also held every year.

Seeing Wang Dou standing on the horse and looking out, Wen Fangliang said softly: "General, do you want to go to Julu and his party?" ”

Wang Dou sighed lightly: "When the class teacher comes back, let's go again." ”

On the 8th day of the first month of October, Wang Dou led the army into Zhangde Mansion, which was already the boundary of the Henan Buzheng Division.

Wang Dou rode on his red horse, looked around, and his heart twitched for a while.

The scenery in front of me is like hell. It was yellow and white, and there were no leaves, no bark, no blades of grass, because they were all eaten. There was no bark, and the trees trembled in the yellow earth, and a gust of wind swept in the dust.

There was no river to be seen on the ground, because it was all dried up. The fields and rivers are all seeping cracks, and the sky is full of "dark clouds", which is the effect of overwhelming locusts flying in.

Most of the towns they passed through were empty, starving, bones, and all kinds of people who had perished. The rest of the people also had a pair of strange eyes, which was a sign of hunger and dizziness. What Wang Dou couldn't bear, groups of people went to cut the flesh of those who had fallen to eat, and the dead babies who were donated were seen everywhere.

At the beginning, Wang Dou was extremely angry, and ordered the cannibals to be driven away, the bones were contained, and some military rations were distributed for relief.

However, there are too many scenes along the way, if the military rations are scattered, what will the Shunxiang army eat? Wang Dou knew that there had been a great drought in the north of the Ming Dynasty in the past two years, although the scene along the East Road was unbearable, but Baoding Mansion and Zhending Mansion were better, and after entering Shunde Mansion, what he saw and heard......

Wang Dou sighed, Qin Yi, as a shogunate scribe, was also with the army this time, he burst into tears, and suddenly looked up to the sky and shouted: "God, open your eyes"

Everyone around him was stunned, and the military songs of the sergeants could not be sung, and there was a strange silence all around.

At this time, the army had crossed the Sand River, and there was a town in front of them, although it was noon, there was not a trace of cooking smoke, and they were afraid that the people inside would have died or fled. Suddenly, a terrible howl came from the side of the road, it seemed to be a woman's voice, Wang Dou's face sank, and Wen Daxing shouted: "Go and see." ”

Immediately after a few nights, he came out without collecting the crowd, and galloped to that side.

Before they could get there, they saw several women crying and appearing in front of each other, their footsteps staggering, and several men chasing after them, each holding a wooden stick. Seeing the cavalry who did not collect at night, some women screamed and ran to the side, their voices desperate and miserable.

Only one woman ran and cried loudly in a local accent: "Jun Ye, Jun Ye, they are going to eat my ......"