I

  Chapter 423 421 [War in the Wilderness]

  Above the plain, there is a barren field, only weeds in the field, and there is no shadow of wheat seedlings.

  More than 10,000 Datong soldiers were arranged in fourteen columns.

  Melee soldiers are outside, and gunfire soldiers are inside. Although trotting, the formation is a bit scattered, but it can generally be kept neat.

  Ancient elites are all good runners.

   Whether they can run or not is also the difference between the Datong regular army and the peasant soldiers. Although farmers and soldiers have to train formation and killing skills, after all, the food is relatively poor, and they seldom train in sports that consume energy such as running.

  The regular army ran once in the morning and evening, and sandbags were tied to their legs.

  At this moment, just jogging and not wearing armor, it is really easy for the Datong soldiers.

  5000 dragoons protected the infantry on both sides, a team of 500 men, entangled with Wu Sangui's cavalry. Every time the gun is fired, only one-fifth of it is released, so as to ensure that the gun is always loaded and prevent the enemy from rushing to kill in the gap of firepower.

  Wu Sangui became more and more frightened as he fought more and more. He had opened his eyes today. There were cavalry attacking nearby, but the infantry dared to march in a hurry.

  And those firecracker cavalry were also disgusted, and they repeatedly fired their guns in rotation, so that Wu Sangui didn't dare to charge at all. In other words, the miscellaneous cavalry under his command did not dare to charge, and the improvised cavalry officers did not obey Wu Sangui's command in everything.

   "Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!"

  Bronze whistles sounded continuously, the infantry stopped and lined up to rest, and at the same time, the firecrackers began to change the matchlocks. They have been jogging with burning ropes, and as long as Wu Sangui dares to charge with cavalry, they can quickly line up and shoot a volley.

   Matchlocks are really troublesome. It would be nice if they could be replaced with flintlock guns.

  In this era, there is a joke in Europe about arquebus: carry a mile-long matchlock on your back and fight all day long.

   "The whole army obeys the order, walk slowly...go!"

  The flag order was issued in front, and the flag order was waved everywhere in the army. After changing the matchlock, the soldiers of the large group began to move forward.

   You can’t jog all the time, run for a while, walk for a while, you can recover your strength.

  Wu Sangui looked at the scene of the prohibition, and couldn't help feeling: "If I have such an army, I'm afraid I can go all the way south to Qiongzhou. It's no wonder that Emperor Zhao of Nanjing can sit in several provinces."

   "Deputy Marshal, do you still want to harass?" Jiang Zhu came galloping on horseback.

  Wu Sangui in this time and space has not contributed to Shanhaiguan, nor has he developed so many troops. Therefore, he was not crowned king, but only served as the deputy capital commander of the Zhenghuang Banner Han Army.

  Wu Sangui shook his head: "We can't attack for the time being. The enemy's orders are forbidding, but our army doesn't obey orders."

   There are more than 4,000 cavalry under his command, and only more than 2,000 are really obedient. Wu Sangui has nothing to do about it. The Manchurian cavalry and Mongolian cavalry were all taken away by Dorgon, and the rest were all the servant cavalry of the surrendered generals.

  The surrendered generals are willing to lend cavalry and hand it over to Wu Sangui for unified command, which is already a great deal of face.

   Those cavalry officers were told by the surrendered generals when they left: flee if you can't win. If you can win, but there will be casualties, then don't go all out.

  The family cavalry is a treasure, the foundation of the generals, how could they be buried by Wu Sangui?

   Therefore, the glorious tradition of the Ming army has been completely continued. Every time Wu Sangui charged, he would find that some cavalry were disobedient. Or they are superficially obedient, afraid to move forward halfway through the charge, and avoiding the muzzle of the dragoons very accurately.

   "Call~~~~"

   After walking forward for a quarter of an hour, the Datong Army began to blow the copper whistle again, and the flag was issued to order the whole army to jog.

  Wu Sangui said: "Marching all the way in a hurry, there are always times when you slack off, and slowly look for opportunities to break through the enemy's formation. The enemy has no supplies and auxiliary soldiers, and they can't even set up camp at night. Let's see if we can organize a night attack tonight."

  Wu Sangui sent several cavalry to chase after Zu Dashou and report the military situation.

  …

  Datong army rushed all the way, but Zu Dashou's side was like an outing.

  Most of the city guards from nearby states and counties have gathered in Xihua County, and there are a total of 70,000 to 80,000 people.

   Some surrendered generals forced hungry people to join the army halfway, so that they could ask for more military rations in Xihua County. Of the 70,000 to 80,000 people, about 30,000 were recruited temporarily by the generals.

   Normal operation, don't be surprised.

  Who told the Qing Dynasty not to pay military salaries? Even if the military salary is allocated, it only throws some money.

  The surrendered generals couldn’t afford to support the army, so they could only disarm their troops in large numbers and concentrate money and food to support their own servants. When encountering a war, just recruit troops, and ask the Manchu for more marching fees by the way.

  The Thirty Years War in Europe, all countries did this in war.

   Recruit troops during the war, and disarm them after the war, and often do not even pay severance pay. Of course the common people don't want to, so they will coax and lie. For example, let an aunt lure a man who is not full to eat into the cellar with food as a temptation, and lock him up so hungry that the man can only agree to join the army.

  Zu Dashou rode on horseback, turned his head to look at the procrastinating army, and said helplessly: "Order all the ministries to hurry up, and take a rest when we arrive in Taikang County!"

  However, military orders have no effect.

  The ministries did speed up their march, but they slowed down again after not going far. And the elite troops went to the front, and the troops composed of hungry people fell far away, dragging into a long snake that stretched for several miles.

  Zu Dashou also ordered the generals to throw away these useless weak soldiers.

  But the generals are unwilling, this is their army. The Manchu Qing didn't pay enough for the marching fee, so why didn't they let them lead the army with more rations during the war?

   No matter what kind of garbage soldiers, they have to be paid anyway if they have soldiers.

   If a tael of silver or a stone of rice is handed out, the generals can swallow 70% to 80%. Anyway, they are all temporarily recruited hungry people, they just need to hang themselves and not die of starvation, and they just need to be used as tool people to receive wages all the time.

  The marching team got longer and longer, and Zu Dashou was made to lose his temper.

  If he dares to govern the army strictly, the generals will dare to look for opportunities to turn against him. If he dared to abandon the various ministries and only take the elite to Taikang County, the surrendered generals would dare to turn around and join the Datong Army.

  Zhao Han has a bunch of burdens who can only eat, and Zu Dashou also has a bunch of dregs who can only get paid.

   Seeing that all the ministries were completely out of touch, Zu Dashou had no choice but to order: "The whole army draw closer and rest for a while."

  For half an hour, the army of 70,000 to 80,000 people finally came together with difficulty, no longer dragging for nearly ten miles as before.

   "Da da da da!"

  The cavalry sent back by Wu Sangui came and reported the military situation: "Commander, the enemy is marching in a hurry and is chasing after our main force."

   "So fast?" Zu Dashou asked in surprise.

  The cavalry **** said: "The enemy troops are all stripped of their armor and marching with only weapons. There are thousands of cavalry with gunfire to protect them, and General Wu can't stop them."

  Zu Dashou looked joyful: "Is the enemy really disarmed?"

   "Take it off, no one is wearing armor." Said the pawn.

  Zu Dashou reconfirmed: "The whole way is in a hurry, but you didn't bring artillery?"

  The cavalry said: "There is no artillery."

  Zu Dashou was overjoyed immediately: "The enemy will take the risk and rush forward, it is a great time to defeat him in one fell swoop!"

  In Zu Dashou's mind, the Datong Army had no artillery, and even took off their armor, which was the meat on the cutting board. I don't have to go anymore, I just stay here and wait for work, and I can easily defeat a group of unarmored enemies.

  …

   "Bang bang bang!"

   "Shhhhhh!"

  On the wilderness, the Tan Ma of the Datong Army was fighting with Wu Sangui's cavalry on a small scale.

  As the pursuit deepened, the dragoons dispatched 500 cavalry and rushed to the front to inquire about news. Wu Sangui divided his troops to obstruct, and the dragoons sent more troops.

   In the end, the cavalry of both sides fought between their main forces.

   After fighting for half an hour, the casualties of each other were only single digits.

   Not only those surrendered generals cherished the servant cavalry, but Wu Sangui also did the same. He was reluctant to let the servants get close to be shot. One and two are all about preserving their strength, mainly because the ruling power of the Manchu Qing Dynasty is not stable, and the surrendered generals can only rely on the army to protect their own interests.

  Historically, even when the Qing army reached the south of the Yangtze River, the generals of various tribes were still annexing each other.

  But the small imperial court of the Southern Ming Dynasty was even more rubbish, and also had all kinds of infighting.

  At that time, Jin Shenghuan, the surrendered general, was ordered to enter Beijing, and because he was afraid of being taken away from the army, he took the initiative to ask to lead troops to attack Jiangxi. This guy has only a few thousand soldiers in his hands, and he claims to be a pioneer. The Manchu Qing army will soon have 200,000 troops going south. The Minister of Civil and Military Affairs of the Southern Ming Dynasty in Jiangxi was trembling with fright, so Jiangxi surrendered...

  Because when Jin Shenghuan occupied Nanchang, he got a lot of gold and silver treasures. The Jiangxi civil servants appointed by the Qing Dynasty were jealous, and they forcibly demanded and extorted money. The Manchu Qing Dynasty didn't reward Shenghuan generously, so Jin Shenghuan simply brought the whole of Jiangxi to seek refuge in Nanming.

   I heard that Jiangxi rebelled, and Guangdong followed suit, because Governor Tong Yangjia suppressed generals who were not from Liaodong.

  Civilian officials blackmailed and suppressed generals, causing Manchu Qing to lose Jiangxi and Guangdong one after another... This script is bad enough.

  But Manqing and Nanming were in a competition, and Nanming was even better.

  Manchu Qing is really no match, and the world is in a daze.

  At this moment, several cavalry rushed back and reported the information: "The enemy army is camping halfway, waiting for our army to kill."

  After discussing with Huang Shun, Jiang Dashan ordered the whole army to stop and rest, and took out the dry food they carried with them to eat.

  The distance between the two sides was about 20 miles. Zu Dashou quickly got the information and ordered the whole army to slowly approach the Datong Army. He had to seize the opportunity to take the initiative to attack while the Datong army had no armor or artillery, and he would accomplish all his achievements in one battle!

  Zu Dashou marched very slowly, dragged down by a group of garbage soldiers.

   When they were only a few miles away from each other, the sun had already set. Zu Dashou was afraid that if he was too burdensome, he would be successfully attacked by the enemy at night, so he continued to lead the front army, planning to fight a decisive battle before dark.

   Cao Bianjiao, who was fighting with the enemy cavalry, also gradually distanced himself. He held up the binoculars to observe for a while, and immediately rode towards Wei Guoxiang: "General Wei, the enemy army is in chaos in several places, let's take the cavalry to kill there!"

  Wei Guoxiang is a son of a family in Zhejiang. He studied since he was a child, but he likes to wield knives and sticks. He joined the Datong Army as a scholar.

  First, he was a mission officer in the army. Because of his proficiency in bows and horses, he turned into a cavalry general when he was training cavalry. Now, like Cao Bianjiao, he commands 2,500 dragoons.

  Wei Guoxiang also took out the binoculars to observe carefully, and then said with a smile: "I will attack the left wing, and General Cao will attack the right wing."

   After finishing speaking, the two of them led their cavalry, and pulled farther to restore their horses' strength. By the way, replace the match, re-ignite, and wait for a more suitable time.

  Wu Sangui also took the cavalry back, but retreated to the rear of his own infantry. His troops are superior, and he wants to wait for the infantry to attack first, and then find an opportunity to charge and kill the main force of the Datong army... Still wanting to preserve his strength, he does not want too many cavalry soldiers to die.

  The setting sun is setting, and the afterglow is everywhere, coating the wilderness with a layer of gold.

   (Not today.)

  (end of this chapter)