Li Laiheng defeated Nanjing from Huguang, and then returned to Huguang from Nanjing, and now he is superior in strength among the generals in Kuidong, and his armor has reached more than 12,000 people, and all kinds of military supplies are also available. In advance, Deng Ming and Li Laiheng agreed with each other that all the captured would be divided equally between the two, and Deng Ming felt that he had taken a great advantage in this condition, because almost all the soldiers and auxiliaries were provided by Li Laiheng. Because of this, all the seizures along the way when returning from Nanjing were handed over to Li Laiheng; Most of the gains made during the siege of Hubei and the seizure of land were not distributed to the Zhejiang soldiers directly under Deng Ming's direct jurisdiction, but to the Kuidong Army, which was in charge of monitoring.

But Li Laiheng had a different opinion, he felt that he had obtained a large amount of materials without paying much price, and he always felt that he owed something to Deng Ming. Li Laiheng heard that Yuan Zongdi and Liu Tichun both have sons and nephews who work by Deng Ming's side, and Li Laiheng's son is still young this year and can't send them to Deng Ming's side, but if there is no news for a long time, Li Laiheng feels that his relationship with Deng Ming will gradually become estranged.

You must have your own people by Deng Ming's side!

For the dual purpose of gratitude and maintaining the relationship, Li Laiheng reorganized the members of the three walls, plus some of their children and some new generations of Xingshan who had deep feelings with him, to form a team of 200 people and send them to Deng Ming's army. A year ago, the Xingshan army was in short supply of war horses, but now Li Laiheng, who has a lot of money, can also match these 200 riders with horses, and each of them is also issued a brand new armor - in essence, this is a gift to the commander, although Li Laiheng is honest, but not stupid, he knows very well that he cannot look too shabby.

With such a cavalry under his command, Deng Ming was naturally very happy. However, it is very expensive to maintain a cavalry, and the maintenance cost of a horse team of 200 men is at least 1,500 infantry. Moreover, the horses are delicate, and it is very difficult to replenish, and the war horses of the Kuidong and Sichuan armies are almost all captured from the hands of the Qing army, and the Ming army has no ability to breed.

Although Deng Ming supported the people of Chengdu to set up a horse bank at any cost, it is estimated that there will be little success in a few years.

However, with this horse team, Deng Ming can start to train his own cavalry troops, and now although there are some captured military horses and riders in the Zhejiang army, there are no cavalry officers.

For this group of cavalrymen who had just arrived, Deng Ming gave them higher rank treatment.

When Deng Ming was in Huguang, he tried to introduce the military rank system. As a student of the Academy of Fine Arts, he didn't know what the benefits of the military rank system were, so when Li Laiheng asked about the role of this system, Deng Ming couldn't say why. However, since more and more armies have used the rank system since the Black Powder War, and it has not been abolished until the era of nuclear war, then this system will certainly stand the test of the battlefield and time -- Deng Ming believes that he will probably not see a war model beyond the level of nuclear war in his life.

So Deng Ming set Qian Zong as the rank of captain, and then set up two military ranks of lieutenant and second lieutenant under it; Sergeants below the rank of lieutenant are awarded to the leaders of each squad, and like lieutenants, according to qualifications and years of service, they range from sergeant to corporal; As for the soldiers, it is still the difference between the armor soldiers and the auxiliary soldiers. Officers and non-commissioned officers who were awarded military ranks were also given a special ornament - metal epaulettes.

For this reform in the army, the soldiers of the Zhejiang army felt very fresh, and whether it was Li Laiheng or Yuan Zongdi, they felt that it was Deng Ming's personal interest - it didn't seem harmful anyway, so Deng Ming should do it.

After arriving in Chóngqìng this time, Yuan Zongdi also asked about the military rank system, and Deng Ming explained that with the epaulette recognition system, soldiers can know whose orders to obey on the battlefield.

Yuan Zongdi praised this, but he didn't think so at all in his heart. Officers and soldiers stay together all year round, can they still not know each other? After a few brief discussions, Yuan Zongdi and Li Laiheng came to the same conclusion, this system was completely a whim of Deng Ming, anyway, making those epaulettes didn't seem too troublesome, it wouldn't consume any military resources, and Yuan Zongdi didn't intend to interfere.

In addition to this inexplicable and wonderful system, Yuan Zongdi felt that the other aspects of Deng Ming's direct troops were still good, in addition to the thousands of people who had rushed to Chengdu, there were now Deng Ming's 8,000 armor soldiers and 16,000 auxiliary soldiers outside the city. The 24,000 men and horses are still friendly with each other, and there is no atmosphere of ordinary soldiers in the army bullying auxiliary soldiers, at least it has not yet formed. The equipment is good, and the armor on the soldiers and the weapons in their hands are all created by the new governor of Huguang, Zhang Changgeng. Because buyers are not easy to mess with, Governor Zhang and Governor Zhou have always attached great importance to the quality of weapons and regarded it as a top priority.

This army had fought some siege battles in Hubei, and the experience of capturing Huangzhou and other prefectures and counties gave these soldiers basic battlefield experience. However, Yuan Zongdi believed that their biggest problem was that they had been in the army for too short a time, they were not familiar with each other well enough, and the prestige of the officers had not been established - Yuan Zongdi felt that perhaps this was the reason why Deng Ming established the military rank system that had no practical use.

…… The copper plate in mid-air spun rapidly and fell towards the battlements, and at the moment when the copper coin was about to touch the wall, a hand suddenly stretched out and grabbed it violently.

Li Guoying held the copper coin in his hand steadily, and kept looking at the eyes across the river, the previous hesitation almost completely disappeared, and his face was full of perseverance.

Holding the copper coin for five seconds, until the last trace of hesitation completely receded, Li Guoying suddenly waved his arm hard, and as soon as his hand was released, the copper coin flew into the air: "How can the life and death of tens of thousands of troops be decided by a copper coin!" ”

"Someone's coming." Li Guoying shouted loudly.

Immediately, a guard stepped forward to receive the order, and Li Guoying whispered a few orders in the ear of the guard of this standard camp. After hearing the order, the faces of the guards of the standard camp showed surprise, and the governor of Sichuan and Shaanxi could not wait for him to answer, and urged impatiently: "Why don't you go quickly?" ”

"Wow." Several standard camp guards reacted, saluted the governor of Sichuan and Shaanxi together, and retreated from the city. They went to the Yamen to get the governor's arrows, mounted their horses and left the chóngqìng.

At this time, some of the generals had already walked behind Li Guoying and proposed to him to take advantage of this opportunity to retreat from Chóngqìng, but Li Guoying rejected them: "This governor is sure that this is a thief's plan to lure the enemy." ”

Li Guoying stretched out his arm as he spoke, pointing to the mountain range on the south bank: "This official looks at this mountain, there is a murderous aura behind it, rushing straight to Xiaohan, it must be the army commanded by Deng Thief who is ambushing behind, just waiting for our army to abandon the fortified city." ”

Seeing the suspicions on the faces of the generals, Li Guoying straightened his face and asked: "This governor has been fighting horses for decades, why, can't you believe in this governor's hope technique?" ”

Seeing his subordinates retreating unwillingly, Li Guoying sighed in his heart: "Now I can use my authority to suppress them for a while, but this is not a long-term solution." ”

After letting the generals return to their respective posts to command the army, Li Guoying still stood at the head of the city for a long time and stared at the other side.

"Deng Ming, I bet that you didn't send a partial division out of the Sword Pavilion at all, not now, and you won't dare in the future, because you don't know if I left soldiers and horses in the rear; You did guess the emptiness in my rear, but you didn't dare to gamble, you didn't dare to gamble with the lives of tens of thousands of soldiers, you guessed right, because you didn't have the capital at all. I am also confident that there is no mistake in my deployment here in chóngqìng, I may not know that you are going to Chengdu with dozens or hundreds of people, but it is impossible to go to tens of thousands of people and I don't know it.

Shut down

"So you're trying to trick me out of town. But I'm different from you, behind me is the imperial court, the imperial court is rich in the world, and there are millions of soldiers, you can't figure out my reality at all, as long as I don't show flaws here, you can't know how many soldiers and horses Shaanxi can send to Baoning and Guangyuan. Even if you don't die in the heart of Guangyuan, as long as I am as safe as Mount Tai, you will not have the courage to be tempted. ”

Li Guoying thought silently in his heart, feeling that the confrontation between him and Deng Ming was a bit like when Zhuge Liang used the empty city strategy to deal with Sima Yi in "Romance of the Three Kingdoms". But in his heart, of course, he Li Guoying is undoubtedly Zhuge Liang: "The calmer I become, the more Deng Ming will not dare to take risks." The more I stick to the chóngqìng, the more I can protect the back road of emptiness. ”

Now Li Guoying's biggest problem is how to boost the morale of the chóngqìng defenders, so that the generals will stick to chóngqìng with him. After watching his standard camp guards ride their horses out of the city and go straight upstream, Li Guoying turned his head again and looked south: "When will the reinforcements of the King of Pingxi arrive?" ”

…… Li Guoying didn't know the reinforcements he had been thinking about for a long time, and he was just about to leave Guiyang at this time.

Under Wu Sangui's continuous squeeze, Zhao Liangdong finally couldn't stay any longer. After he, together with Daniel Zhang and Wang Jinbao, assured Wu Sangui to leave, King Pingxi immediately became affectionate to Zhao Liangdong and them, not only providing them with high-quality rations again, but also promising to provide them with enough military rations to ensure that they could arrive at Chóngqìng safely.

However, Wu Sangui did not plan to provide too many auxiliaries. The road from Loushan Pass and Zunyi to Chóngqìng was walked by Wu Sangui with an army of 180,000 less than a year ago, and the long-experienced King of Pingxi knew very well that it was almost impossible for Zhao Liangdong and them to raise grain and grass from the way. When food and grass were scarce, the generals would not hesitate to sacrifice auxiliaries to ensure the supply of armored soldiers, and in the end the soldiers arrived safely, but more than half of the tens of thousands of auxiliaries had to die on the side of the road. Therefore, Wu Sangui told Zhao Liangdong that they could borrow some auxiliaries from generals from other provinces, but Wu Sangui could not provide too many Guizhou Zhuangding, and those auxiliaries owned by the Pingxi Wang's troops could not lend them anything.

Zhao Liangdong's pro-military camp had 1,000 people, Daniel Zhang had 800 people, Wang Jinbao also had 500 people, plus several other Shaanxi generals who were also excluded by the king of Pingxi, and a total of more than 3,800 armor soldiers from the Ganxi Green Battalion who left Guizhou this time, as well as 6,000 auxiliary soldiers who were dragged hard and soaked from Wu Sangui.

The king of Pingxi was not too picky in terms of food and grass, and provided the 10,000 soldiers with quite a lot of rations, enough for them to eat chóngqìng and be rich. Moreover, Wu Sangui also gave Zhao Liangdong a warrant, asking the prefectures and counties along the way to cooperate as much as possible to replenish their grain and materials, and if there were auxiliary soldiers absconding, they were not allowed to cover up, and they were all to be returned to Zhao Liangdong and others for disposal.

Today, Zhao Liangdong and others led the army to pull out, and Wu Sangui wanted to send him out of Guiyang, but he was persuaded by several generals to talk about it. After the two sides said goodbye in tears, Wu Sangui happily returned to his temporary royal mansion, and Daniel Zhang and Wang Jinbao immediately changed their faces and scolded: "Wu thief who has cut off his son and grandson!" I will not take revenge, I will not be a man! ”

However, although Daniel Zhang and Wang Jinbao scolded fiercely, they were just verbally addicted, and the other party was the powerful King of Pingxi, with heavy troops and a provincial domain, and the favor of the imperial court was incomparable.

For example, the precept that the Manchus and Han do not intermarry, even Zhao Liangdong, who carries the flag, cannot be crossed, but Wu Sangui is not a banner person, but his son can marry a Manchurian girl as his wife, and his surname is Aixin Jueluo, the granddaughter of Emperor Taizu, and the cousin of the current emperor. It is difficult to find Wu Sangui for revenge, and it is even more impossible to want him to cut off his children and grandchildren - his grandson is the daughter of Nurhachi's granddaughter, even in Deng Ming's previous life, and no one could have imagined that Wu Shifan and Xuan Ye, two cousins, would fight for the world in the future.

The generals squirted hard before they stopped scolding and planned to continue the march. Most of the other people who saw him off were from the Pingxi Palace, and they all went back with the King of Pingxi just now, and now only one of the generals who saw him off was still there.

This general's name is Sun Sike, and like Zhao Liangdong, he is the banner man of the Eight Banners of the Han Dynasty, and because of this relationship, the two have a good relationship. However, Sun Sike's identity as a banner man is different from Zhao Liangdong, Zhao Liangdong earned it by virtue of his military exploits, and Sun Sike's father was Sun Degong, a guerrilla in Guangning. Sun Degong betrayed Wang Huazhen and Chen Qu's 130,000 troops to Nurhachi, and helped Nurhachi kill these hundreds of thousands of comrades in Shaling; In Deng Ming's previous life, until 120 years after the Battle of Shaling, when the Korean envoys passed through the battlefield, they could still see the skeletons and white bones all over the mountains and fields - the corpses here are all loyal and brave soldiers of the Ming Dynasty, good men from Liaodong who defended their families and the country, they were Sun Degong's comrades-in-arms, and they were killed by them, so that the bones are still not allowed to be buried after a hundred years.

After the Battle of Shaling, Sun Degong took control of Quang Ninh City and sacrificed all the people in the city to Nurhachi as slaves.

Relying on this merit, Sun Degong became a banner man, and Sun Cisco inherited this identity from his father. The identity of his brother-in-law is even more incredible, but he is the coat of the Aixin Jueluo family, and his sister often enters the palace to serve the queen, and she is very favored by the queen, so that she can be the nǎi mother of the third son of the emperor.

Because of his father's great achievements, Sun Sike's status is prominent, and he is Jia La'e Zhen at a young age, and he has monitored the Han people in Shaanxi and other places, which is also the beginning of his personal friendship with Zhao Liangdong. Although Hong Chengchou lost 130,000 troops, he did not betray 130,000 comrades-in-arms, knowing that the Qing court's trust in Sun Sike was probably something he would not be able to catch up with in his life, so when attacking Yungui, Hong Chengchou asked Sun Sike to accompany the army and supervise the actions of Han generals such as King Pingxi. For a Han army banner man like Sun Sike, Wu Sangui also did not dare to offend, and he had been raising him in Guiyang with good food and drink, waiting for the court to recruit him back one day, and then he would send him out of the country.

"If the road ahead is difficult, maybe my brother will have to return to Guizhou." The auxiliaries in his hands are insufficient, and the military rations are not very rich, if there is a delay on the road, he is likely to encounter the danger of running out of food, Zhao Liangdong can't help but arrange a retreat for himself in advance: "If the king of Pingxi doesn't like it, please ask my brother to help me say a few kind words in front of the king of Pingxi." ”

But Sun Sike did not agree to Zhao Liangdong's request, but said: "I heard that the imperial court has the intention of recruiting me to return to Beijing and then send me to Xi'an again, if Brother Zhao turns back halfway, I may no longer be in Guizhou." Besides, what's good here in Guizhou? Brother Zhao is a hero, why do you want to stay here to see the face of King Pingxi? Let's go back to Shaanxi. Saying that, Sun Sike hugged his fist at Daniel Zhang and the others: "When I arrive in Xi'an, I will have a good time with the generals." ”

"However, this ......" Zhao Liangdong heard that Sun Sike might return to běijīng at any time, and his face suddenly showed disappointment. After losing this flag buddy who even Wu Sangui didn't want to mess with, it is conceivable that life in Guizhou will become more difficult in the future. It is naturally best to go back to Shaanxi, but if there is a shortage of food and grass halfway, will you starve to death if you don't go back to Guizhou?

"Brother Zhao is really a fan of the authorities." Seeing the hesitation on Zhao Liangdong's face, Sun Sike smiled slightly: "Since it is justifiable to send troops to reinforce Chóngqìng, then several generals must of course replenish grain and straw and recruit heroes to serve in the army before leaving Guizhou." ”

Sun Sike's words made Daniel Zhang's eyes widen all of a sudden, and they understood that the other party hinted that they could plunder the place by arson, and then forcibly recruit the people of Guizhou to serve as auxiliaries. As for livestock and vehicles, there is no need to save face for Wu Sangui.

"But ......" Zhao Liangdong just spit out a word and fell into deep thought. It's not that he doesn't understand the meaning of Sun Sike's words, but if he really does this, then even if he completely tears his face with Wu Sangui, he will not be able to return to Guizhou in the future, no matter what the shape is. Although Wu Sangui wanted to drive them away this time, he still had enough food and grass, and he also greeted the states and counties along the way, and Zhao Liangdong felt that the retreat had not been completely sealed.

Zhao Liangdong said another concern: "If I go deep into the enemy's territory, no one can say that I am doing something wrong when collecting grain, but if I act in Guizhou, these are the emperor's people; And if the magistrate stops it, what should it be, is it rude to the court officials? ”

"Hahahaha!" Sun Sike looked up to the sky and laughed, as if he had heard the most ridiculous joke.

"Brother Zhao, Brother Zhao." After laughing for a long time, Sun Sike said to Zhao Liangdong with hatred: "Guizhou is the domain of the king of Pingxi, how can it be said that it is the emperor's people?" Even if it is, it's a layer apart. Could it be that the emperor intends to break his promise and take back the vassal state? Besides, the officials here are all subordinate officials of King Pingxi, what does it have to do with the imperial court? ”

Looking at Sun Sike's smiling eyes, Zhao Liangdong felt that a cold sweat was oozing out of his back: "The last general understands that the last general leads the soldiers and horses of the imperial court, and he only knows how to kill the enemy for the imperial court, and he doesn't know anything else." ”

"Yes. Besides, the prince of Pingxi is loyal to the country, and the army of the court set out to beg for thieves, which is to make the people of the king of Pingxi suffer a little grievance, will the king of Pingxi not understand your difficulties? If there really are people who don't know the general situation to impeach the generals, I will naturally distinguish them in front of the imperial court. Sun Sike was still smiling, and raised his hand to say goodbye to the generals: "I wish all the generals a victory and make new contributions to the imperial court." ”