stubborn thief

Chapter 353 Rewards
To the east of the Huangshui River in Hezuibao, trenches have been dug on the flat land of the river valley. This is the fifth day of the confrontation between the two armies.

Liu Chengzong looked at the opposite bank with his binoculars. The frontier troops of the three towns tried to move forward with cavalry, but were repelled by Yang Yao;

In the end, they could only dig trenches day and night, and move forward in a zigzag pattern of five-foot trenches, step by step.

Liu Chengzong put away the binoculars, and said to Huang Shengxiao who was watching the enemy's formation in the same city: "They are modifying heavy vehicles."

Huang Shengxiao nodded slightly, and looked at the stone bridge to the south of Hezui. The Hezui was surrounded by Huangshui [-] to [-] steps wide.

So the Ming army made a choice when fighting against artillery... the chariot.

Huang Shengxiao said: "Maybe it can really stop the cannon, but if you want to pass that bridge, the cart can't stop the cannon."

Liu Shizi never dreamed that he had heard Cao Yao talk about the chariot, but the first time he saw it, it was the chariot in the hands of the Ming Dynasty officers and soldiers.

After thinking about it carefully, I don't think it's strange. There is no difference in human brains. The development of different weapons is nothing more than the environment they face.

The early post-Jin army was the Liaodong Ming army of the Liaodong version. When facing the Liaodong Ming army that valued artillery, they chose to use the car to cover the shells to reduce casualties.

At this time, the [-] troops in Hedong were the Shaanxi Ming army whose maintenance costs depended entirely on suppressing thieves. When facing the Marshal Fu Ming army who valued artillery, they would naturally choose to use chariots to cover the shells to reduce casualties.

Liu Shizi just chuckled at this, shook his head and said: "We don't need to block, we can recharge our batteries for a few days, and we will be able to counterattack soon."

He just picked up the binoculars again in his spare time, searching for the figure of the coach in the enemy's formation.

Liu Chengzong wanted to find his old acquaintance He Huchen, but unfortunately he was too far away to see clearly, but yesterday he saw his old boss He Renlong who was supervising the soldiers digging trenches on the front line.

I heard from the Ningxia Tang soldiers who surrendered before the battle that He Renlong had contributed a lot in suppressing bandits in Shanxi, and now he has been appointed as a post in the Shaanxi capital. This is a transitional position for the promotion of the defense. General.

Of course, if you do a good job, you may be directly awarded the post of general in charge of the first battalion.

Liu Chengzong wanted to pass on a letter of persuasion to He Renlong, but every day the officers and soldiers would dig trenches and deploy new gunners from Guyuan Town in front of them. Those guys would fight anyone they saw, and Tang Qi couldn't make it through.

Although the frontier troops in the three towns were very enthusiastic about digging trenches, there was no pressure for Liu Chengzong.

Because the officers and soldiers are digging trenches, it means that they have nothing to do with the status quo, and time waits for no one. On the battlefield, there is Liu Shizi's good friend-smallpox.

Liu Chengzong is counting the days. It has been seven days since the army's campaign began. Basang's hunting camp started to vaccinate a few days earlier. Now the soldiers under his command have already started to have pox, and the smallpox-stricken army on the other side of the river is about the same time. up.

Huang Shengxiao was still thinking about using flower bombs to blow up the chariot at the head of the bridge, when Liu Chengzong handed over the binoculars, pointed at the enemy formation and said, "Look at the mountain in the northeast of the official army camp."

Huang Shengxiao looked over there with great joy on his face.

The place Liu Chengzong mentioned was a place where military tents were scattered, close to the craftsman camp where the government and the army made ordnance. There is no such place in the normal army formation. There is no doubt that it is an isolation camp prepared by the government and the army.

The officers and soldiers also have this concern, so even if they are facing the disadvantage of artillery, they must rush to attack.

But smallpox probably won't give them such a long time to prepare, and it will spread soon.

The camp on the east bank of the Huangshui River.

You Shilu, the coach of the Ming army, stared at the artillery on the other side of the city with rounded eyes on the dirt hill.

You Shilu is a tough guy.

Ever since he was shot in the stomach by an arrow when he personally approached the city under the city of Liaozhou to attack the city, You Shilu knew that his health was failing.

Although it had been a long time since the injury, the injury never healed. The arrow should have been stained with gold juice or other dirty things, which made him have fever all the time, and the pain in his lower abdomen was unbearably swollen.

At home, he could still replace food with soup and medicine, rely on his body to support himself, and barely suppress the heat and poison of the wounded; but the environment on the battlefield was not enough for him to continue his life.

But he is a lieutenant general who bears the emperor's order, so he must stand here, even if the high fever makes him almost faint.

Facing Liu Chengzong's advantage in heavy artillery, You Shilu had no choice but to let his soldiers rotate day and night, wielding pickaxes in the east of the river, digging five-foot trenches from beyond the range of the artillery, and spreading to the bridgehead by the Huangshui River.

He really wanted to deal with Liu Chengzong in the same way that Houjin dealt with the artillery of the Ming army, but at the same time he was also making two-handed preparations. From the very beginning of the confrontation, he discovered that the artillery of the Marshal's Mansion had a range far beyond that of Franji, so he ordered his nephew You Yangkun Return to Lanzhou to dispatch the corresponding firearms.

Smallpox is like a knife hanging over the head of the Commander of the Three Towns. For Liu Chengzong, he can accurately know the time of smallpox infection by comparing the soldiers who were vaccinated with pox, but this is not the case for the Commander of the Three Towns.

The military rations were not enough to support them to spend a few months vaccinating. You Shilu, He Huchen and Yang Qi also knew very well that it was impossible for Liu Chengzong to give them time to vaccinate.

They were all fully prepared to fight this battle amidst the raging smallpox.

The reason why smallpox is called smallpox is because it acts as a pox in the sky, and it is God who wants to accept people. For people, the way of heaven is nothing more than a sentence to control the destiny and use it.

During the war, smallpox does not recognize people, and You Shilu plans to compete with Liu Chengzong to see who's fate is tougher.

So not only Liu Chengzong was waiting for smallpox, but You Shilu was also waiting for smallpox. While waiting for smallpox, he was still waiting for his nephew to bring back the artillery to eliminate the artillery advantage of the Marshal's Mansion.

You Shilu's plan is divided into two steps. The first is to wait for the soldiers under his command to have pox, and fight with Liu Chengzong; secondly, he selects soldiers from the three towns and forms a pockmarked battalion. People who have had acne.

Wait for the two armies to retreat a little after the battle, and wait for Liu Chengzong's army to have pox and its combat power has declined, and then use the pockmarked battalion to defeat them.

On the next day, the trenches spread closer and closer to the riverside, and the artillery sent from Lanzhou also arrived. You Yangkun escorted the first batch of heavy artillery from Lanzhou to the front line.

"Marshal, come and return to my humble position."

You Yangkun climbed up the earth mountain, saw He Huchen and Yang Qi were there, so he called You Shilu with military rank, and he said: "After comparison, among the existing artillery in Lanzhou, only these eight can compete with the enemy's artillery. Tianzihao General Cannon."

After all, he said to You Shilu: "The humble official has ordered people to go to Lintao, Jinglu, and Gongchang for transfer. Within [-] days, three batches should arrive, and there should be more than [-] people."

"Tianzihao General Cannon really depends on Ye Gong." You Shilu was dizzy from the burn, sitting on the chair in Tushan, his eyes were red, and suddenly he vomited blood, and everyone around him came forward in shock.

He himself didn't take it seriously, just took a handkerchief and wiped it, laughed dryly twice, asked someone to take floating soil to cover the blood, shook his head and said, "It's okay, transport the cannon to the front and hide it, and then dig two hundred steps forward, Franji can also hit the top of the city, and when the time comes, it will be bombarded everywhere, and the rebels will be caught off guard!"

As soon as You Shilu heard the names, he knew that these artillery pieces could be trusted.

The Tianzihao General Cannon can be traced back to Qi Jiguang's tenure as the chief soldier of Jizhen. The General Cannon at that time was an old cannon that was finalized in the Yongle period. catty.

But later Ye Mengxiong was dissatisfied with this cannon. The 250-jin sub-gun was too bulky, so he simply used the sub-gun as the specification to make a forged general cannon of three specifications: heaven, earth, and mystery, and it was equipped with a three-wheeled cannon. Gong Lingsun' shells.

This kind of forged general cannon was carried forward during the Wanli period, and there were five specifications. The eight cannons brought by You Yangkun were the largest among the forged general cannons.

The cannon is four feet five inches long and weighs a thousand catties. It has cannon lugs and the cannon body is reinforced with nine iron hoops.

When equipped with special public-collar ammunition, it can hit [-]-jin bullets, [-]-jin bullets, [-]-jin bullets and [-] group sun bullets, all of which are lead bullets, with a total weight of [-] jin.

It is seven catties when loaded with iron bullets.

But just as You Yangkun sent someone to send the eight Tianzi brand general cannons into the trench and quietly transport them to a suitable location, Liu Chengzong received a letter of plea for help from Wang Wenxiu.

"Marshal, General Wang urgently reports!"

Liu Chengzong frowned, and waved his hand to let the messenger go: "Report quickly."

Wang Wenxiu's messenger soldiers ran to the city, bowed down, took out a letter and enshrined it, and said: "Commander, Xining has a good news. General Wang has led his army to defeat the Lintao army. He chased the defeated army in the area of ​​Pingrong Post and Laoyacheng. Send reinforcements to the West."

Liu Chengzong breathed a sigh of relief when he heard the word "good news", he couldn't help but blame the messenger, the good news is good news, why call for urgent news, he thought Xining city was besieged.

As a result, when he opened the letter, he couldn't help but smile, he knew where Wang Wenxiu was in a hurry.

Wang Wenxiu sent not only a letter of appeal for help, but also a battle report written by Cheng Yun, detailing that two Yanyue knives were cutting each other in the valley, and Wang Chengen's knife collapsed, so that he was chased and beaten by Wang Wenxiu with infantry for a day during the retreat. .

Every time the formation was not stable, Wang Wenxiu rushed up to cover his head and beat him up, throwing away the artillery, and fought three times in a row on the mountain platform and river valley, and was finally defeated.

But it was easier for Wang Wenxiu to fight head-on than to chase down the defeated army.

Wang Wenxiu even felt that Wang Chengen probably broke up the army by himself, because Wang Wenxiu had a great advantage in forming a dignified formation, but once the two armies withdrew from the large formation, he would not be able to take advantage of small-scale conflicts.

The main reason was that the two flanking troops held back. Wang Chengen's Lintao soldiers, as stragglers, were able to fight back and forth with Wang Wenxiu's infantry battalion.

And the left wing that Liu Chengyun has accumulated is a group of people who have let go.

Wang Wenxiu admitted in his appeal letter that his biggest failure in this battle was that he did not tell the three generals not to pursue him.

The left wing with a lot of people, once dispersed, it was like magic, it was gone.

So much so that he is seriously short of troops now, and more than half of the limited infantry battalion elites are used to guard the prisoners and surrender troops.

He said in the letter: "If the commander still has spare power, please send reinforcements to the west as soon as possible. The defeated enemies are running all over the valleys and hills. The last general has limited strength and cannot catch them. They are all good soldiers. Let them run away." pity!"

At the same time, Chengyun also asked in the letter whether he should set a reward for Lintao General Wang Chengen, and try to see if he can surrender.

When Liu Chengzong read the letter, he thought that there is still such a good thing?
I counted the food and grass in my pocket a little bit in my heart, and when I was halfway through, I slapped my left hand with my right hand, and immediately ordered: "A team of three thousand horses will be drawn from Xie Erhu and A Haidaiqing's men, and Dai Daozi will lead it to the west to help Wang Shen general collect it." Surrender, if you don’t want to surrender, you will be captured first.”

After finishing speaking, he said to the messenger: "Go back and tell the general Wang Shen and the soldiers who went to the battle, I will remember the exploits of defeating the Lintao army first, and reward them together after the battle is over."

As for the reward mentioned by Chengyun, Liu Chengzong attached great importance to it.

This was something they ignored in the past, and there was no institutionalized reward for recruiting and surrendering, because Liu Chengzong himself did not feel that there was a chance to recruit and surrender court officials.

But now that the territory and strength of the Marshal's Mansion have been greatly improved, a special rule will be formulated for this matter in the future. Once this set of rules is established, it will be of great help to eat the land of the imperial court.

But this time, Liu Chengzong didn't intend to give rich salary to senior officials. He just wrote a letter, asking Chengyun to take care of the defeated generals until the battle was over. Reward, bind him to come and lower the reward of 5000 taels of silver, first catch and then talk.

If you don't want to surrender, it's fine, kill the one who deserves to be killed, and keep the reward for your own people.

Liu Shizi knew that Wang Chengen might be the first military officer to be recruited to surrender. After all, his clan was taken to Xining City by his father and was defeated head-on. There was a great chance of surrendering.

He can set an example for the court generals to surrender in future battles, but Liu Chengzong does not have the conditions to promise high officials and generous salaries. The best conditions he can offer are nothing more than hereditary commanders.

It's not that he's stingy. According to the role Wang Chengen can play, it doesn't hurt to give him a Marquis.

However, both Cao Yao and Liu Chengzu were only deputy generals, and Yang Yao and Wang Wenxiu were also sub-generals. Even if Liu Chengzong wanted to be knighted, the first one to be titled was the Heavenly Monkey Liu Jiusi.

The old brothers are only treated like this. At this time, if you give a defeated general a marquis, let alone whether the generals will be chilled if they are ignorant, Liu Shizi himself will not be able to overcome the hurdle in his heart.

After Liu Chengzong finished writing the letter, he wrote down the end of the battle in his notebook, and discussed with his father and brother about conferring official titles and annual salaries on meritorious service, then turned around and handed the letter to the messenger, and sent several horses to escort him back.

Then he stood at the top of the city and sighed, there are too many temptations in life, and it is too difficult to resist these temptations.

This is just the Lintao Army being defeated. I don't know how many veterans will be recruited. There are two officers, two officers and four commanders in front of him. If the follow-up battle goes smoothly, how many people will he have to surrender?
How many more people do you have to feed?

Thinking of this, Liu Chengzong shook his head, picked up the binoculars and glanced at the enemy line again. He hoped that the general soldiers of the five towns would carry more rations.

　good morning!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)