The next day, the Ming army did not set off immediately, and after most of the night, many soldiers had a chance to sleep only when the sky began to shine, and as soon as the tension relaxed, many soldiers felt extremely tired, so the Ming army rested for another day in Tan Hong's camp.

It was impossible to take away all the food, so the Ming army ordered the soldiers to eat with their bellies open. Usually they only ate two meals a day, and the same was true when they were under the city of Chóngqìng, and Deng Ming, who was used to three meals a day, was quite uncomfortable. But this day was non-stop eating, and Deng Ming was able to see how much the soldiers could eat, whether it was coarse grains, fine grains, wotou or rice, the whole basket of food was dried up by the soldiers in a blink of an eye. Many soldiers were so panicked that they went to lift stone stakes and play with big knives, and when they had recovered their breath, they came back to continue eating.

Seeing the miserable appearance of the hundreds of prisoners on the side, Deng Ming couldn't help but relent, and persuaded the Ming army officers to agree to give them dinner. In any case, if you want a qualified soldier, you need to supplement this person with 3,000 calories a day, otherwise you will get a master at most, and if you don't give people food, you won't even get a qualified master.

Originally, the Ming army officers planned to wait for the army to start before giving these people a half-starved meal, but Deng Ming insisted that they must eat in advance, and that they should be fed in order to give full play to the carrying capacity of these prisoners.

Early in the morning of the third day, the detachment of 2,500 Ming troops set out and advanced downstream, and the baggage in Tan Hong's camp was loaded onto the ship or some improvised wooden platoons to advance with the army. The prisoners carried the stuff and armor that could not be stuffed, and the soldiers only had to carry their own weapons, and seeing that everyone looked relaxed and happy during the march, Deng Ming took the opportunity to preach the preferential treatment of the prisoners - that is, at least one meal a day.

However, the road ahead was more difficult than Deng Ming had imagined, and soon the road along the river was gone, and the river bank became a steep cliff, and the soldiers could only maintain a narrow column and wind along the mountain path. Most of these roads are taken by nearby residents, and they are very rough and intermittent. The vanguard soldiers of the Ming army overcame all obstacles to expand the faint roads of zài, or sought and developed a path for the army to walk through the mountains where there were no roads.

The movement of the Ming army was very slow, the winter was short, and soon it was time to camp again, so far, Deng Ming understood why Wen Anzhi, who lacked a sailor, had not arrived for so long.

"It's okay on the side of Inspector Wen, no matter how few ships there are, they are richer than us." Hearing Deng Ming's emotion, Li Xinghan replied on the side.

"Isn't it very inconvenient for the people in this neighborhood? How do business travelers get through? Deng Ming feels that with such a traffic environment, needless to say, business cannot be carried out at all, and even rì's daily life will be greatly affected: "The first two rì felt that the road was not so difficult. ”

"It's okay over there in the capital, chóngqìng, Kuizhou, you have to have a ship to and from the business, and because of this, although we have lost chóngqìng, we can still cut off the Yangtze River, so that the upstream and downstream Tatars are not connected." Regarding Deng Ming's doubts, Li Xinghan was very enthusiastic to answer them one by one: "Of course, the Chóngqìng Mansion is still better than here in Kuizhou, and Tan Hong is camping, so naturally he must find a slightly flatter place that is convenient for stationing and communicating." However, when we arrived in Wanxian, the terrain was still better than here, and the roads were much more spacious. ”

Li Xinghan told Deng Ming that because it was winter, the road was already very easy to walk, and if it was dense in summer, it would be almost impossible for thousands of soldiers to pass quickly through the mountains, and even the path of Qiao Cai would be completely covered with plants, and at that time, if you want to move quickly in Kuizhou, you must have enough ships.

On the way of the Ming army's eastward advance, the sentry occasionally came back to report that they had found some traces of Tan Hong's rout, and many of the thousands of Tan Hong soldiers who escaped that day also advanced eastward, and could not withstand the bitter cold wind, so these routs did not hesitate to raise fires to keep warm.

Seeing this, many Ming army officers jumped to the test and wanted to attack these defeated enemies, but they were all stopped by Deng Ming without exception, and after defeating Tan Hong, Deng Ming's prestige in the army rose greatly, and the Dachang soldiers of Zhou Kaihuang and others all attached importance to Deng Ming's opinion, not to mention the rest of Tan Wen in Wanxian. Deng Ming thought that attacking these routs would not be of any benefit to the Ming army, and that there would be some damage if they were not done, and that if someone was wounded, they could not leave it alone, which was inconsistent with Deng Ming's goal of rushing back to Fengjie as soon as possible.

Deng Ming explained this reason to everyone, and he felt that fighting in this kind of mountainous area, even if it was much stronger than the opponent's troops, it was normal to be ambushed if he was not familiar with the terrain, and it was difficult to reinforce the powerful forces in the air, so in line with the principle that more is better than less, Deng Ming also resolutely disagreed to trace the traces of these routs.

However, Deng Ming didn't explain, but after the explanation, the officers were slightly disappointed, Tan Hong's state of these routs was a hundred times worse than the state of the Ming army a few days ago, and many officers, such as Zhou Kaihuang, felt that this was a rare opportunity to train the army, which could make officers and soldiers more familiar with each other, and also boost morale, as for the casualties that might be paid were inevitable costs. As for Deng Ming's second reason, it made everyone feel a little afraid of the enemy, and he didn't want to learn from Tan Hong's whole army to attack, but just let some small troops expel and hunt down the lost dogs around the army, what danger could there be? How much time can be delayed?

"Mr. Deng, we will soon be in Wanxian, let's have a military meeting tonight." When the soldiers were camping, Zhou Kaihuang hurriedly came to find Deng Ming.

Zhao Tianba, who has no subordinates, is still Deng Ming's personal bodyguard along the way, and after Zhou Kaihuang finished talking to Deng Ming, he beckoned Zhao Tianba and said: "Brother Zhao also comes to plan and plan together." ”

"What are you doing with the military conference?" Deng Ming asked a little strangely, "Are you planning to attack Wanxian?" ”

"Exactly!" Previously, the Ming army had found that the camp on the north bank of Tan Hong had also broken up - this is not surprising, there was no baggage there, and there were no effective officers, Xiong Lan, who was ordered to guard the camp, according to Li Xinghan, was a coward, relying on the work of slapping horses, so Li Xinghan and other Wanxian soldiers planned to go to their hometown to see, if there was an opportunity, they would capture the city.

"Didn't you think that Inspector Wen would definitely move the family of Fuhou's subordinates away?" Deng Ming heard Zhou Kaihuang and them discuss this matter, the population is of great significance to the Ming army in Kuizhou, especially after the loss of the Chóngqìng area, tens of thousands of troops of Wen'an crossed the border, and it is impossible not to move the households of Wanxian back to Fengjie by the way.

"It's not a matter of population, it is estimated that many of the people in Tan Hong's camp on the north bank have fled back to Wanxian, they don't have any decent weapons, our army is now in high morale, just annihilate it in one fell swoop!"

"I think the top priority is to return to Fengjie, there is no need for Wanxian to attack, even if it can be captured, with just our two thousand people, don't we have to go back to Fengjie?" Deng Ming shook his head again and again, these days he is not even willing to fight the stragglers of the Qing army, let alone attack a county town.

"Well, this ......" Zhou Kaihuang turned his gaze to Zhao Tianba for help.

But Zhao Tianba just shook his head: "I don't have a single soldier under my command, it's all up to Mr. Deng and Brother Zhou." ”

"I'll talk about it that night, and then I'll talk about it." Zhou Kaihuang still did not give up, most of the officers of the Ming army felt that this was a good opportunity for meritorious service, and the attack on Chóngqìng failed, and he wanted to come to Inspector Wen and was eager to see more victories.

After Zhou Kaihuang left, Deng Ming asked Zhao Tianba again: "What does Brother Zhao think about this matter?" ”

"Why didn't Mr. Deng agree to attack?" Zhao Tianba did not answer the question, but asked Deng Ming.

"I don't think it's necessary to make the officers and soldiers pay for useless casualties," Deng Ming said frankly, and he had no pursuit of military merit: "Our marching speed is not fast in the first place, and the attack on Wanxian will inevitably delay time, and we are in danger anyway, right?" Isn't it safe to return to Fengjie a day earlier? ”

Zhao Tianba was silent, and Deng Ming didn't urge him but let him think, but Deng Ming didn't know that Zhao Tianba was thinking far more than he expected.

After the victory of the third prince, he was supported by everyone, and at least more than 2,000 people were convinced of him. However, in the past two days, the third prince has been too cowardly, and he did not dare to attack when he encountered a few or dozens of defeated enemies, which made the army a little disappointed in him. "In the past two days, due to Deng Ming's continuous suppression of the Ming army's attack, Zhao Tianba has heard some dissatisfaction with Deng Ming's timidity, and feels that he is still a noble son in the end, and the courage he showed last time may be just a flash in the pan." If the third prince personally led the soldiers to capture Wanxian, then his prestige must be greatly boosted, and when he returns to Fengjie in the future, everyone sees that Yuan Zongdi was defeated, Tan Wen died, and tens of thousands of troops returned in vain, and the third prince passed the pass and beheaded the generals, sorted out 2,000 routs and swept away the enemy soldiers along the way...... If this is the case, coupled with his identity, I'm afraid that Inspector Wen won't be able to suppress him. ”

Under the feudal imperial system, the merit of supporting the establishment is great, and the same is also a great risk, if the person you support fails to sit on the throne in the end, then the act of supporting the establishment is not a great merit but a great sin. Zhao Tianba glanced at Deng Ming again, and thought: "The third prince has no friendship with the King of Jin, what if he replaces today's son...... Well, don't look at it now, it's easy to talk, but sooner or later in the future, you will remember the hatred of King Jin who supported you as today's son, and you will feel that King Jin helped others rob their family's world. ”

"In my opinion," Zhao Tianba already had a case in his heart, so he said to Deng Ming: "Mr. Deng's weight is still correct, but if you don't enter Wanxian County, the people below are afraid that they are in a hurry, after all, no one dares to say that Inspector Wen must have moved everyone's family away." ”

"What does Brother Zhao mean?" Deng Ming felt a little strange, in his impression, Zhao Tianba didn't talk around like this.

"Let Mr. Zhou Qian or Mr. Li Qian take some people to take a look, if there is no opportunity to take advantage of it, forget it, if it is an empty city or there are not a few soldiers guarding it at all, then you might as well go into the city to have a look, maybe you can also collect some baggage and take it away."

"For the sake of the unattainable, delay the march." Deng Ming was still a little hesitant.

"Mr. Deng hasn't fought many battles, has he?" Zhao Tianba asked in a loud voice.

Of course not, even the previous battle in which Deng Ming participated was not all a plan made by him, hearing Zhao Tianba's words, Deng Ming's face turned slightly red, and he secretly scolded himself for being too ignorant of the heavens and the earth, and solemnly bowed his hand to Zhao Tianba: "Brother Zhao's reproach is that I am too arrogant, and the important affairs in the army still have to listen to Brother Zhao." ”

"Mr. Deng is humble." Zhao Tianba was a little embarrassed in his heart, but it was about the future and safety of King Jin and many soldiers in Xiying, and he had already made up his mind.

According to the practice of this era, the city that cannot be defended will generally be destroyed, Zhao Tianba estimated that when Wen Anzhi retreated, Wanxian County was also destroyed quite a long time, a group of frightened routs guarded the destroyed city with grain and grass, Zhao Tianba felt that it was not difficult to capture it, as long as Deng Ming did not go, it would not help him to improve his prestige, and if it was easily won, it would also let everyone see his cowardice.

"Mr. Deng's status is noble, if he goes to Wanxian in person, everyone is afraid that everyone will obey Mr. Deng's orders, which is also a little unfavorable to the marching battle," Zhao Tianba decided to take a risk, according to his impression, Deng Ming is not a scheming guy at present, and his temper is also good: "When you go to Wanxian to investigate, Mr. might as well stay behind." ”

Deng Mingting's face turned red again, and he understood that the other party was hinting that he should not blindly command, nor should he exert excessive influence on the army, so as not to interfere with the front-line officers to make correct judgments: "Brother Zhao, I have been taught." ”

"Don't dare, don't dare, I'm more direct and rude, just don't blame Mr. Deng."

That night, the military discussion finally decided to reconnoiter Wanxian and capture the enemy soldiers if there was an opportunity, although Deng Ming did not support it, but he also listened to Zhao Tianba's opinion and did not insist. In addition, although Zhao Tianba did not say it, some of the other officers mentioned that the city defense of Wanxian County might have been destroyed, and Jian Yì Deng Ming went to see it with his own eyes in order to make a final decision, and if he decided to attack, he might as well personally command this battle, which may be of little difficulty. But Deng Ming insisted on refusing this suggestion, and let the experienced Ming army officer make a judgment on the spot, and he was willing to stay in the rear with the baggage.

The person who mentioned yì was a person who had the honor of shaking hands with Deng Ming on the night of victory, and many people were indeed quite disappointed when they saw Deng Ming express himself like this. But when everyone thinks about it, this is actually reasonable, how can there be a reason to let the clan go to the front line in person? Last time, Deng Ming's table was originally unusual.

Now that the strategy has been determined, the Ming army stopped to do some preparatory work, selected officers and soldiers to form several detachments, and also built some simple siege equipment just in case.

……

chóngqìng。

"The Marquis of Xinjin was defeated, and he didn't know whether he was alive or dead."

Upon learning that Tan Hong had been defeated by a group of routs, both Wang Mingde and Tan Yi were taken aback, and some of Tan Hong's routs rushed to Chóngqìng by boat to report to them what they knew.

"Han Shizi?" Wang Mingde looked at Tan Yi with some doubts: "When did this person join the army?" ”

Tan Yi also shook his head vigorously: "I really didn't know beforehand." ”

asked a few people in a row, and some people also told Wang Mingde and Tan Yi about Han Shizi's giving Tan Hongzhuzi, and when they saw that everyone said that they had noses and eyes, these two people were also skeptical.

It's not that Xinjinhou has never seen the world. Tan Yi and Wang Mingde quickly understood that Tan Hong had fallen for the other party's plan to lure the enemy, but the bait that could make a veteran like Tan Hong come out of the camp was not to be said to be full, and there were seven or eight percent of it that was true.

Tan Yi regretted killing Tan Wen too quickly at this time, if the children of the clan came to the chóngqìng army, even if they came secretly, most of them would have informed Tan Wen, if he knew that there was such a big fish in Tan Wen or Yuan Zong's camp at that time, he would not let it go.

"I don't know if it's true or not, but it's possible that it's true." Wang Mingde made such a judgment.

"It's not true, and we can't let this rout army go." Tan Yi said coldly: "Being able to reorganize into an army after the rout, how can it be that Tan Wen and Yuan Zongdi's subordinates are ruined, if they are allowed to escape back to Fengjie safely, it will still be a big trouble for the imperial court in the future." ”

"Does Tan Hou want to pursue them?" Wang Mingde's eyes narrowed.

"Exactly, in the end, they are just a group of stragglers, even if they snatch some weapons from Tan Hong, it is useless." Tan Yi immediately replied: "They don't have a boat, so they can only return east on foot, I will take the headquarters to set off tomorrow morning, take a boat down the river, and it won't take long to catch up with them." ”

In addition to Han Shizi, who suddenly appeared, Tan Yi realized that there was another credit in front of him, originally he and Tan Hong agreed that in addition to helping Chóngqìng relieve the siege, he would also give Wanxian as a meeting gift to Li Guoying, the governor of Sichuan and Shaanxi. The latter is not difficult in the eyes of Tan Yi and Tan Hong, and after Wen'an's retreat, Wanxian is Tan Hong's bag, and the troops in Wanxian are stationed, so they block the threat from the east for Chóngqìng, and completely divide the Ming army in eastern and western Sichuan into two.

Now that Tan Hong's army is defeated, if Tan Yi does not immediately dispatch to recover Wanxian, then it will not be Tan Yi's credit when the Qing army sends troops to obtain Wanxian; Even if it is Tan Hong's remaining dedication to the city, it has nothing to do with Tan Yi. Now sending troops to pursue, not only can you take this credit lightly, but also eliminate the remnants of the Ming army that escaped from the chóngqìng fiasco, and there is also a Han Shizi who does not know the truth or falsehood.

Wang Mingde also guessed some of Tan Yi's small abacus, but as a chóngqìng guard, it was impossible for him to leave the defensive ground to grab this credit, so if there was no good credit at all, he was unwilling to watch Tan Yi, the general, show off: "Tan Hou, don't worry, the thief has been gone for a few days first, and this may not be able to catch up." Besides, this Han Shizi, in the final analysis, I still don't know whether it's true or not. ”

"Indeed, they have gone for a few days, and if they don't have enough boats, they may not be able to catch up, so the last general dares to ask the general to lend me the chóngqìng boat master." Tan Yi didn't need Chóngqìng's boat, his army came by boat, and some of Tan Wen's were captured, which was just an excuse for him to share the credit with Wang Mingde: "If you have the help of General Wang, you will definitely be able to catch up with the thieves." ”

Seeing that Tan Yi was so knowledgeable and interested, Wang Mingde no longer insisted, but agreed with a smile. handed over a few boats that the chóngqìng army had carved up from Tan Wenshui's division, and randomly assigned an officer to bring a small team of people with him, Wang Mingde said that if Tan Yi was smart, he should give the first credit to himself, if he was not smart...... After the credit can definitely be shared, Wang Mingde asked with concern how sure Tan Yi was of catching up.

Tan Yi didn't dare to go deep into Kuizhou, but he thought that the Ming army would not be able to escape there at all: "Tan Hong's Beida camp was scattered, and they had no ships or food, so they must have fled back to Wanxian to find supplies." When Wen Anzhi withdrew from Wanxian, it is estimated that he also wreaked havoc in Wanxian County, taking away everything he could take. I estimate that this thief has probably walked to the vicinity of Wanxian County right now. No, no, they must be chasing the rest of Tan Hong along the way, it should be far away from Wanxian, and there will be two days. Leading Han ...... Pseudo-Han Shizi is young and vigorous, and he has just won so easily, how can he not beat him when he sees a water dog? It will delay them for another two or three days. I will set off tomorrow morning and rush downstream, and before they can sit on the hot bench in Wanxian, my army of five thousand will be able to arrive and kill them by surprise. ”――

Today's second update, remember to help me publicize and collect.