Eighth year of Chongzhen

Chapter 27 The First Battle
Shanyang County is located in the southeast of Xi'an, about [-] miles away from Xi'an, and is under the jurisdiction of Shangzhou.Shanyang is located in the Shangluo Mountains, surrounded by mountains.The entire Shanyang County has a population of less than [-]. Most of the fields in the county are mountainous, and only the terrain near the county seat is relatively flat.

The city wall of the county seat has been in disrepair for a long time and has been dilapidated, but it is difficult to repair it due to insufficient taxes.Several parts of the city walls have been damaged. If there are thieves attacking, it will be extremely difficult to defend.

There are about 1 people in the city, and several streets are also bumpy, and shops along the streets are also sparse.After all, Shanyang is located in a remote place. In addition, there is a bandit village in the east of the city. They often harass the place and plunder the passing merchants. This makes the merchants fearful of going to Shanyang to do business. Without the drive of business, the originally poor The life of the people in Sanyang has become worse.

At this time, in the dilapidated second hall of the county government, Xun Wenli, the magistrate of Shanyang County, was talking with a visitor.

Xun Wen was born in Yingchuan, Henan Province, about fifty years old. He claimed to be the successor of Xun Yu, a famous counselor of Cao Wei in the Three Kingdoms period.He was enlightened at the age of five, and was a middle school student in his thirties, and then failed in many trials. He barely made it to the bottom list five years ago. He knew that it was hopeless to go further.Because Shanyang is located in a remote place, and is a place where thieves often ravage, no one wants to go to become an official.

Xun Wenli is also a daring character, unwilling to die as a country gentry, he gritted his teeth and disregarded the opposition of his family, and accepted the post of magistrate of Shanyang County, which has been in office for three years.

When he first came to office, he also wanted to make some political achievements, one is to accumulate meritorious service and promotion in the future, and the other is to show his family members who opposed him at the beginning.As soon as he took office, he went to the countryside to encourage villagers to open up wasteland, grow cotton and mulberry.

In the first year, more than [-] mu of wasteland was opened up, including more than [-] mu of grain fields. This is already a good achievement in a small county with tens of thousands of people. Calculated on the basis of the yield per mu and one stone, the production can increase by [-] mu in the second year. Around Shi, when the time comes, the Ministry of Officials will record all kinds of things in the assessment.

It's a pity that people are not as good as heaven. In the next year, the harvest is expected to be good. The county organized the people to harvest. The bandit King Qi, who was entrenched nearby, led the crowd to attack the villagers who were transporting the harvested grain to the county. They robbed all the grain and grass, killing There are several villagers.

Xun Wenli's dream of being promoted was shattered. At the end of the year, the Ministry of Officials assessed him as a major demerit, which directly cut off his future. If nothing else happened, after the end of his term in the last year of this year, he would return to his hometown in desperation.

The person who was talking to Xun Wenli was none other than Sun Chuanting's officer in the standard battalion, Luo Shifang from a thousand households in the Yongwei Battalion.

He led a team of [-] horses, carried five days of rations, and traveled day and night. After three days of traveling, he arrived in Shanyang yesterday. At this moment, the five hundred officials were resting in an uninhabited ravine north of the county seat. He took two He came to the county yamen in casual clothes as a personal guard, claiming to be from the county magistrate's hometown, and met Xun Wenli.

After the meeting, Luo Shifang showed the governor's warrant, and Xun Wenli hurriedly let him go to the second hall to talk.

After serving tea, Xun Wenli said, "I don't know why General Luo came here? Shanyang should have handed over 2000 taels of tax this year, but the officials are incompetent and only received 1000 taels. Incidentally handed over to Fuya. Alas, this should be the last time I will pay taxes for the imperial court!"

Hearing this, Luo Shifang did not explain the purpose of the trip, but asked the reason for Xun Wenli's last sentence.

With a wry smile, Xun Wenli recounted the robbery and murder that happened last year, his tone full of unwillingness, and when he talked about the bandit King Qi, he was full of hatred.

Luo Shifang smiled and said: "Master Zhixian, why should you be depressed, I was ordered to come here this time, just to give you a fortune!"

Xun Wenli lifted his spirits when he heard this, leaned forward, and asked, "Why did the general say that? The officials are in trouble, and the people are killed. How can we be rich?"

Luo Shifang said with a smile: "My lord, the rogues are raging in the territory, causing the place to be unstable, so it was recorded by the officials. If your lord wipes out the rogues in the country, what about appeasement?"

Xun Wenli's eyes lit up immediately, and now he is the most credited for suppressing bandits.If he talked about killing bandits in the country, then the incident of cutting food and killing people last year would be nothing to mention, it would be a great achievement, and it would even go straight to heaven, the Holy One hates bandits to the bone.But after he thought about it, his eyes dimmed, and he sighed: "I have only 500 brave archers going to the countryside, and the defense of the county is not enough. How can I spare the energy to wipe out the bandits!"

Luo Shifang asked: "Dare to ask, my lord, how many thieves are under King Qi? What's the fighting power like?"

Xun Wenli replied: "The king of bandits is called Zuo Erhu, a native of this county. He is actually a deserter from the frontier army. He fled back to his hometown a few years ago and gathered in the mountains. At first, there were only more than a hundred people. After several years of looting, his momentum gradually increased. From time to time, there are more than [-] thieves under his command, including [-] strong old thieves. They are the elites they rely on. There are more than [-] cavalry and excellent armored soldiers. The rest of them are armed with sticks and farm tools. , nothing to fear."

Luo Shifang said proudly: "My lord, I want to know that a certain book belongs to the Royal Guards. This time, I was ordered by the emperor to lead [-] cavalry to accompany Mr. Sun as a standard battalion. A certain generation of generals, who practiced martial arts since childhood, dare not boast Bravely crowning the three armies, but such grassroots bandits have not yet been placed in the eyes of a certain person! A certain ambition is to wipe out all the thieves and bandits for the Holy Majesty, make meritorious deeds, and be appointed as a marquis and general. Does the Lord think that a certain person came here alone this time? Five hundred elite riders are already here On the other hand, the knives and guns in the hands of the sons are thirsting for the blood of the enemy, my lord, what worries do you have?"

Xun Wenli was full of energy, and laughed loudly: "Hahaha! With a warrior like General Luo, why worry about the bandits not being wiped out!"

So after the two discussed it, Luo Shifang left the city with his personal guards.

On the gentle mountainside of a large mountain to the east of Shanyang, there is a cottage built according to the mountain.The south, west, and north sides are all surrounded by stone walls as high as a person. The gate of the village is in the due west, and there is a narrow slope facing the gate of the village.

There is an archery tower on each side of the gate of the village, and there are archers on each side to look out for firepower. If an enemy comes to attack, the number of archers can be increased to five, which is already very difficult for ordinary officers and soldiers to break through.What's more, the government and army are now hunting down a large number of thieves, and they have never tried to attack this place.

In the hall in the village, Qi Qi Wang Zuo Erhu was drinking and having fun with several leaders.

He was in his thirties, and he was originally a frontier soldier in Yansui Town. He had been in the army for more than ten years, and was promoted to general manager after accumulating meritorious service. Reported to the headquarters of the army, Shangfeng wanted to kill several of them according to the military order.A fellow villager who worked in the general army told him in secret that Zuo Erhu fled overnight with arms and several cronies. After returning to his hometown in Shanyang, he found the place where the cottage was located, and several people followed him and settled here.

Then he sneaked into a large family in Shanyang at night, killed more than [-] members of his family, and robbed thousands of taels of silver, and then recruited some refugees and fugitive military households, and gradually grew stronger.

The confidant sweeper Li Hanwa respected Zuo Erhu with a bowl and said, "Your Majesty, we are number one now. Who told us that we are not afraid? Now we are really aggrieved in this ravine all day long, or else Let's make it bigger and occupy the county seat, so the king will be a prince? Our brothers should also make a great general!"

Another confidant, Jiu Tiaolong, also said: "Your Majesty, the brothers are all in the army to make a living. I didn't expect to gain a great reputation with the King! I think the sweeping tiger is right, we should be a big one, Take the county directly! Let's compare ourselves with Chuang Wang, Huang Hu, and Cao Cao, and let them see that we are not bad!"

Several other people also echoed, Zuo Erhu squinted his eyes, thinking in his heart, he never thought that after defecting from the army, he could pull up so many teams and gain such a great reputation.

Now in Shanyang and Shangzhou, no one knows his name, King Qi.Those country gentry were afraid that they would go to attack by themselves, so they sent daily necessities such as silver taels, grain and grass on a monthly basis.

It is not a long-term solution to stay here in the cottage. If it occupies the county, it will really be famous.

Zuo Erhu's news is very well-informed, and many country gentry and caravans have provided him with a lot of information from various places in order to please him.

He knows that the current imperial court is mainly focusing on Chuangwang, Cao Cao, Zhang Xianzhong and other large groups of rebels, and the hinterland of Shaanxi is empty. You can recruit more soldiers and horses. If the army comes to attack, you can retreat to the cottage. If you don't care about him, then he can use Shanyang as a base to plunder everywhere and grow stronger.

Thinking of this, he said: "Jiu Tiao Long, you arrange a few brothers to dress up and enter the city, and investigate the city's defenses. After the investigation is clear, we will take down the county with all our strength!"

The Nine Dragons shouted excitedly: "It's still a majestic hero, the broken county town still needs to be probed, and the townspeople in the city won't fight at all! At that time, we will arrange some brave brothers to advance into the city, and if they attack, they will act as internal response and occupy the city gate. As soon as the king led his brothers to charge, those bastards had already run away! After entering the city, those officials and family members with thin skin, white flesh and delicate flesh must not be fiddled with by our brothers!"

All the thieves laughed wildly, thinking about enjoying the fun of the officials.

At this moment, a spy dressed as a commoner hurried into the hall, knelt down on one knee and reported to the two tigers on the left: "The king of Haojiao learned that we got news in the county that the magistrate dog official is organizing Xiangyong archers, saying They are here to wipe out our cottage, and we rushed back to report after hearing about it!"

Zuo Erhu and the others were taken aback when they heard this, and then burst out laughing.

Zuo Erhu burst into tears as he laughed, and he said out of breath: "When the fuck is dozing off, someone will give you a pillow. I was thinking about how to take down the county seat. It just so happened that the dog officer gathered all the people to give us a pillow." Come to the door! There are only a few hundred bastards, not enough for our teeth! Get rid of these bastards, and this county will be like a naked woman, since it will be a disaster for our brothers, hahahaha!"

Jiu Tiaolong and others also laughed and echoed, Zuo Erhu ordered Shodihu and others to gather five hundred elite old camps, one thousand young and strong infantry, and go down the mountain to face the battle, while the rest of the old and weak guarded the village.

Zuo Erhu led his troops out of the stronghold and came to the official road along the mountain road. The brigade of infantry was in front, the bandit leaders and the old battalion were in the middle, and a hundred cavalry was in the rear. A total of [-] troops walked along the official road. Marching towards the county town mightily.

Although the Zuo Erhus are from the army and have been in battle several times, they are junior officers after all, and they can barely train small groups of soldiers. When there are too many people, they don't know how to meet the enemy and how to maintain formation. .

The infantry in front were not so much soldiers as refugees.There are all kinds of weapons in their hands, some are holding dung forks, some are holding shovels, some are holding hatchets, and some are holding kitchen knives. Most of the infantry hold sticks as weapons, and only a few hold horizontal knives and long guns. This is considered the elite of pawns.

These men with knives and guns walked proudly at the forefront of the line, and thousands of people crowded forward in a chaotic manner.

Behind the infantry is Zuo Erhu's old battalion. Compared with the infantry in front, they are much more elite. The weapons in their hands are basically knives and guns. The power of long-range strikes.

These dozens of people walked in the front row of the old camp, while Zuo Erhu and the bandit leader rode on horseback to the side of the old camp.

A hundred paces behind is a team of one hundred cavalry, also patchwork, some riding mules, some riding horses, the only ones who can really fight are dozens of bandits riding horses, these people are either deserters or bandits, see Zuo Erhu Only then did he come to him with great potential.

After marching for about a quarter of an hour, it was September weather, and the sun was shining directly around noon, and the temperature was still high. Coupled with the heat from the crowd, the pawns in front got confused.Some people stopped to drink water from their water bottles, some untied their belts to pee on the side of the road, and some simply sat on the side of the road to rest, making a lot of noise, as if they were going to a market.

Once the front stops, the rear team will be unable to move forward. Nine dragons trotted forward, swung their whips, and whipped a thief peeing on the side of the road, cursing: "Call your mother!" Pee! This is going to war, you are fucking looking for death! How did you teach you in normal times, I will kill you bastard!"

The thief who was whipped was crying for his father and mother, and before he could pull up his pants, he spread his legs and hid in the crowd. moved.

Zuo Erhu felt helpless, most of these people had not been here for a long time, and the bosses himself didn't know how to drill a brigade, so they could only make do with it.

Besides, there are no decent officers and soldiers within a few hundred miles. To deal with ordinary armed forces, my old battalion is enough.When the county seat is seized, it's time for these bastards to practice hard, eat and drink from me, and it's useless to just wave the flag behind and shout.

As we walked, the front gradually opened up, and there were flat wastelands on both sides of the road. These are the wastelands that Xun Wenli organized the people to open up. After being robbed last year, the people did not plant them again, and this piece of land became wasteland again.

There is a small hill a few hundred steps away on the right side of the official road. Although it is not big, it blocks the view from the official road.Behind the mountain bag, Luo Shifang was fully clothed and stood standing on horseback holding a spear. Behind him were [-] cavalrymen from the Yongwei Battalion, all of whom had guns in their mouths, so the entire cavalry basically didn't make a sound.

Not far from the official road, a small team appeared in the sight of the thieves. This was the four hundred township braves and archers from Shanyang County.

Xun Wenli, the magistrate, and Mou Dayong, the Dianshi, each rode a mule and stood in front of the team.

At this time, Zuo Erhu had discovered Xun Wenli's team, and he ordered to meet the enemy. Nine dragons rode their horses to the front of the pawns, drew out their waist knives and pointed forward, shouting: "Kill the dog magistrate, and reward you with a hundred taels of silver. Go!" After saying that, he rushed over immediately.

The two teams met at a distance of several hundred paces, forming a formation that could barely be called a square formation, with thirty archers in front, two hundred spearmen behind the archers, and a hundred sword and shield players on each side.Although he is a hero of the countryside, he often organizes drills during the slack season of Dianshi Mou Dayong, and he is a bit decent.

Xun Wenli saw the large number of bandits rushing towards him, and the bandit who rode first looked fierce, roaring and charging forward, his face turned pale, his hands and feet became weak, and he almost fell off the mule.Mou Dayong has a stout figure and is dressed in iron armor. Because he is usually exposed to martial arts, he is more courageous than a literati like Xun Wenli. Seeing this, he hurriedly said: "Your Excellency, you should go to the back of the team. I am afraid that you will be attacked when you charge later." Injure your lord, I will command here!"

Xun Wenli tremblingly said: "Okay, I will leave this place to Mou Dianshi! Remember, as long as you hold on for a quarter of an hour, the governor's cavalry will kill you!"

After speaking, he turned the mule and ran slowly to the rear of the team.

Mou Da made a serious effort, thinking that it was a big deal, and I will explain it here today, holding a bow and arrow and shouting back: "The archers are ready! After shooting three arrows, immediately go around to the two sides, the spearman is on top, and the sword and shield are protecting the two sides!",
Hundreds of Xiangyong were also trembling with fear, but seeing Master Dian Shi beside him, he became more courageous. Thirty archers raised their bows and set arrows, pointing obliquely at the sky. Seeing the bandits entering the range, Mou Dayong shouted: "Shoot!"

At this time, the horses of the nine dragons had rushed to a distance of about thirty steps, and Mou Da hit his mount with an arrow.

A bowstring sounded, and thirty long arrows flew obliquely into the air. After flying for a certain distance, they turned their heads and pierced the ground.

The thieves with guns and knives in front charged forward, because the charging crowd was relatively dense, all the arrows shot by the archers hit, and there was only a miserable howl, and a dozen thieves wearing only commoner turned over and fell to the ground, some were shot. In the head, some were shot through the neck, and some were stuck in the shoulder. More than ten people were killed or injured in an instant.The thieves who were not shot screamed and wanted to stop, but the thieves behind didn't know what was going on in front, they still rushed forward with shouts, and immediately collided with the thieves who stopped in front, and the scene was in chaos.

(End of this chapter)