Carrying AK into Ming Dynasty

Chapter 4 Going deep into the enemy camp
Coming out of Andingmen, Liu Hongjian walked all the way to the southeast. He planned to touch the rear of the peasant army to check the terrain first, and then act by ear.

Outside the Anding Gate is a dilapidated village called Baiyang Village. The reason why it is called a dilapidated village is that when Liu Hongjian passed the village, he did not see a living person, and the air was filled with stench. Knowing what this smell is—the stench of corpses, it seems that history is right. The plague in the late Ming Dynasty was really rampant. Liu Hongjian covered his face with his sleeve and dragged a long gun quickly through the uninhabited village.

The peasant army at the end of the Ming Dynasty has always played a strange role. Although they have a large number of people, their combat effectiveness is very low. Among the army of 50, at most 20 can really fight, and the rest are more than [-]. It's the poor, the old, the young, and women. That's right. The peasant army fought with their families, and all the seven aunts and aunts followed the army to fight (flee) all over the country.

In the beginning, it was common for thousands of Ming soldiers to chase tens of thousands of peasant soldiers, and Comrade Li Zicheng was also beaten many times, leaving only a few people. Shout out: "Open the city gate to welcome King Chuang, who will not pay for food when King Chuang comes!" As a result, ordinary people flocked here without enough food and clothing, and the peasant army made a comeback. Li Zicheng has never been short of soldiers.

However, the plague spread extremely rapidly, and by 1644, it had spread to the capital area. The villages around Beijing were empty, and no one restrained them, because those who dared to restrain themselves died, and even some wealthy families died. People who were greedy for money entered Searching for money, he fell down before he could go out, which shows the severity of the plague.

The defenders in Beijing also suffered heavy casualties. Of the more than 5 Beijing troops killed and injured, only more than [-] weak soldiers were left, and tens of thousands of horses were also affected. Loyalty to the south and the north put the Ming Dynasty on the stove, burning, killing and looting without any restraint.

Liu Hongjian was lying on his stomach a few hundred meters away from Li Zicheng's army. A row of sergeants stood lazily in the distance. They were not worried about the Ming army's sneak attack. The horses were dead and wounded. The defenders in Beijing had lost their ability to fight in the field.

He took out a piece of hard pancake from his body. The pancake can be stored for a long time after being dried. It is a must-have military ration for soldiers of the Ming Dynasty during long-distance marches. Stuff it into your mouth, hiss—it’s really hard enough!Liu Hongjian took a sip of water while clutching his aching teeth.

After a while, two carriages came slowly from the camp. The carriages were covered with coarse cloth. When they left the camp and turned right, Liu Hongjian suddenly saw the neat big feet at the rear of the carriage. The feet were bare. Yes, it looked very glaring under the sun, and the peasant army was also severely affected by the plague, and Li Zicheng was really ruthless. He stripped off his clothes when everyone died, Liu Hongjian slandered.

He is a full man who does not know how hungry a man is hungry. It is early spring and the weather has not turned warm. Even if the hundreds of thousands of peasant troops can loot everywhere, almost all the people in the late Ming Dynasty were in a dying state without enough food and clothing. Where did they grab so much clothing, money and food?

There has been a severe drought in the north in recent years. Although I don’t know why there was a sudden lightning and thunder the day before yesterday, and heavy rain fell from the sky, which relieved the drought for many days, but because many nearby villages were almost dead, and no one collected the corpses. After the heavy rain, the epidemic situation became more serious.

One or two horse-drawn carriages would come out of the barracks every half hour. Liu Hongjian roughly estimated that at this rate, Li Zicheng's army would be invincible in six months without fighting. However, at that time in Beijing Maybe it's already empty.

Liu Hongjian lay prone in the haystack for a long time. It was not until dusk that he moved his stiff body and slowly ran towards the direction of the carriage.

After walking for about 10 minutes, three miles away from the camp, I saw piles of earth mounds, each with a flag symbolizing the peasant army, and several half-dug earth pits. Prepared for the next corpse.

After a while, two more cars drove up from a distance. Seeing this, Liu Hongjian hurriedly knelt down in front of a mound of dirt and wept loudly.

"Uncle Cousin, why did you leave just like that! How can you send a white-haired person to a black-haired person? No, how can you let a black-haired person send a white-haired person!"

"What's going on in front? Who's crying there?" The groom who led the horse in front turned around and asked.

"Hurry up, let's go over and have a look." The soldiers escorting the team behind gave a hehe.

As the sun sets, the sun shines on the rows of corpses, which is particularly dazzling. As long as there is food to eat, the people will not rebel. The people in Huaxia are the best to feed, but the problem is that there is not enough to eat, alas!This damned famine, this damned war! .

"Big brother, which battalion is it from? Why did you come here to cry?" A middle-aged militiaman with a simple face and a Henan accent patted Liu Hongjian on the shoulder and asked with concern.

"Ah! My cousin!" Liu Hongjian cried even more sadly. While crying, he hammered the ground with both hands to show the grief in his heart.

"But ye's relative died? Sigh! A few days ago, my little nephew also had a plague and left. My old Li's family is about to die..." Speaking of sad, the simple and honest man of about forty also said: He sat down on the ground and cried aloud.

Liu Hongjian was dumbfounded, he just cried like this, stealing the show!Before Liu Hongjian could react, the accompanying militiamen greeted him.

"I said, Lao Li, why are you crying? Who hasn't died of illness yet, hurry up and help, bury these corpses and go back to work!" The leading soldier shouted as if he was used to it.

The simple and honest man answered dully and stood up, patted Liu Hongjian on the shoulder, picked up a shovel and began to dig a hole.

"Young man, which adult's subordinate are you, why did you come here alone?" Seeing that his subordinates were working hard, the leader of the militia began to be lazy and went straight to Liu Hongjian.

"Returning to the adults, the younger one... the younger one's surname is Zhang, and his nickname is Zhang Er Gouzi. His family members died of the plague, and only my uncle and I are left to depend on each other. Before that, I have been traveling all over the world with my uncle. Now he...he I also got the plague and left me, and now... now I am the only one left..." Liu Hongjian raised his voice again and prepared to start performing.

"I haven't joined the army yet, how old is this year?" When Liu Hongjian was almost crying, the leader waved his hand to stop Er Gouzi's impromptu performance.

"The little one just turned fifteen this year!"

"Huh? It doesn't look like much, let's say you are young!" Li Zicheng stipulated that men who follow the army must join the army to fight when they are over fifteen years old. It is so dangerous to fight. Farmers are not stupid, and many people hide their age. Eating and drinking in the back of the barracks.

"Back to my lord, I really just turned fifteen this year, but I'm getting a little anxious. If you don't believe me, ask my cousin! Cousin, ah! Cousin, why did you leave! Leave me alone... Seeing that the militia leader frowned, Liu Hongjian cursed inwardly, trouble, these ancient people are not easy to fool!

"Okay, okay, don't cry, just follow me from now on, as long as you work hard, you will have food, come and work!"

As the sky was getting dark, Liu Hongjian followed the carriage into the barracks with a spear in his left hand and a shovel in his right, looking around. He thought that one more person would be questioned, but the soldiers on duty didn't even look at him. Clutching his nose and turning around as if seeing a plague god, Liu Hongjian was relieved to see that the peasant army's security was loose.

Along the way, the simple and honest man introduced their work to him. The man’s name was Wang Dachui, a native of Henan. When Li Zicheng passed through Henan, Wang Dachui, who was hungry and desperate, joined the peasant army, but because of his clumsy hands and feet, he was finally assigned to the logistics army. His only job was to bury the dead. He dealt with the plague-infected corpses every day. The treatment was the worst, and he was not welcome. Others in the barracks would avoid them when they saw them. The reason was simple. Infection, in fact, several of the peasant soldiers who buried the corpses with him have died.

When it was time to eat, Liu Hongjian followed Wang Dachui, observing who was the handsome accountant as he walked.

"Brother Sledgehammer, which one is Lord Chuang's handsome tent?" Liu Hongjian asked cautiously.

"It's in Beitou, don't care what it is, let me tell you, you have to run fast when you get your food, or you won't have any food." Wang Dahui said as he walked.

"What?" The gong sounded in front of him, and before Liu Hongjian had time to ask, Wang Dahammer's blessed body rushed towards the fire-headed army like an arrow off the string. Gradually froze for a moment, and hurriedly followed Wang Dachui to the Huotou Army, and the surrounding soldiers also changed their look of lovelessness, rushing in one direction, as expected, people depend on food for their heaven!Liu Hongjian thought while running.

After a while—

"I told you, hurry up, you kid is younger than me, why are you slower than a donkey!" Wang Dahammer held two black steamed bun-shaped things in his hand, and smelled them reluctantly. Hand out one.

"Here, remember to grab it and return it to me tomorrow!" The simple Wang Dahammer couldn't bear to watch the little comrade-in-arms he just met go hungry even though he didn't have enough to eat.

Liu Hongjian took the black steamed bun with a grateful face, thinking, no wonder this guy is still fattening his body in such a difficult environment, he is indeed a talent!

Black steamed buns are very unpalatable. Although his old Liu's life is also very bitter, he can still drink a bowl of round-grained rice porridge. What is this black steamed bun? There is a limit of two per person. Spit, sand, bark, grass roots, wheat bran, um, there should be sweet potatoes, what the hell is this?

"Hey! Boy, what are you doing? I got this after all my life. If you don't eat it, give it back to me. Don't waste it!" Seeing that Liu Hongjian was reckless, Wang Dachui became impatient.

"Brother Sledgehammer, what are you doing? I was choked just now, and I agreed to return it to you tomorrow, hey - this is mine... mine..."

(End of this chapter)