Daming kill

Chapter 127 Before the Great War
On the second day of December in the 15th year of Emperor Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty, the 40th Allied Forces led by Li Zicheng and Luo Rucai arrived near Fancheng, where Hu Guangcheng announced the political envoy of Xiangyang Mansion.

The whole night of that day, Li Ping, who got the news, was unable to fall asleep again for a long time.

A lot of emotions such as nervousness, anxiety, and anticipation made him toss and turn on the bed. He got up and sat on the cot in the tent several times and fell into hesitation, but in the end he suppressed the urge to go out for a walk.

Li Ping knew very well that in the face of such a big battle, the calmer and calmer the general of the first army behaved, the better it would be for the morale of the army.

Although Li Ping is no longer the first brother on the battlefield, it stands to reason that he should be calmer and easier to adjust.But now, he became more and more restless. Maybe this is the responsibility and pressure!

In other words, the more you have, the more you worry about gains and losses.

Li Ping couldn't help thinking that those famous generals recorded in ancient books who could sleep peacefully and snore like thunder probably either became numb after fighting too much, or they deliberately pretended to be for their subordinates. How long will it take to reach.

During the day, a boatman who had been serving Li Ping for the past few days brought news to the grandfather of signal soldier Dong Jiangpeng.

When the boatman was fishing for everyone, he met an old friend who had escaped from the opposite direction near Xiangyang City, and was drawn to join the rebel army.

According to an old friend of the boatman, many people in Jiangbei have gone.

The boatman found a reason not to go with him, and immediately told the news to Dong Jiangpeng's grandfather, and Dong Jiangpeng's grandfather immediately told Li Ping.

In the evening, the reconnaissance company confirmed the news. The people in Jiangbei and even some small landlords rushed to meet the rebels first. The road to the north was full of excited crowds, and people didn't even shy away from it.

The officers and soldiers in Jiangbei had already shrunk into Fancheng, even if there were a small group still active outside, they didn't have the courage and mood to interfere.

Although expected, these news made Li Ping and Ma Yong even more frustrated.This means that the various shallows no longer have any secrets from the peasant army, and they will really have no chance to face the attack of the peasant army.

If there is any hope for Li Ping now, it is probably the disagreement between Li Zicheng and Luo Rucai.

Because of his poor understanding of the history of the late Ming Dynasty, Li Ping did not pay much attention to the name of Luo Rucai that appeared continuously during this period.

In his impression, Luo Rucai is just a person who is not much different from other rogue leaders. He even once thought that the alliance between Li and Luo was just Luo Rucai clinging to Li Zicheng.

Although Ma Yong had told Li Ping many times, Luo Rucai had a great reputation among the thieves, even louder than Li Zicheng.This person, nicknamed "Cao Cao", is good at planning and talks about "morality and righteousness". His army is famous for not killing honest officials, and he is willing to help other bandit generals who are in trouble. Many people, including Li Zicheng, have led Because of his kindness, Luo Rucai is very popular among thieves.

But Li Ping didn't take it seriously.

If Luo Rucai is not the right number, but he does know a little about "Cao Cao".

It is really not easy for people to remember the nickname "Cao Cao".

But the nickname "Cao Cao" is not very good, Li Ping only saw the cunning.

Because the image of Cao Cao in "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" is very poor.And "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" and "Water Margin" were very popular in the Ming Dynasty, and the storytelling jokes are generally indispensable.

One of the great characteristics of the thieves in the late Ming Dynasty was that they liked to imitate the heroes of Liangshan, and their nicknames were an important one.

Moreover, their nicknames are gradually called out by everyone, and most of them have a certain connection with the characters themselves, which means "seeing the name is like seeing a person".

Just like Li Zicheng inherited Gao Yingxiang's title of "Chuang Wang", Zhang Xianzhong's title of "Yellow Tiger".

Luo Rucai was called "Cao Cao", which doesn't seem like a good name no matter how you look at it.

Moreover, Li Ping vaguely remembered that this man named "Cao Cao" was killed by Li Zicheng in the end.

Therefore, Li Ping always thought that Ma Yong's field of vision was relatively small at the beginning, and the thieves were always exaggerated, and a little deed was blown into the sky. In addition, the information was not smooth, and the other big thieves might not be in the thief where Ma Yong was. There are big names in the team or in the nearby area.

So Li Ping also asked Ma Yong: "If Luo Ru is such a character, why didn't you vote for him?"

Ma Yong's explanation is: this Luo Rucai has always had no fixed place for the army, moved around, and never organized the resumption of production.It is said that he lived a very extravagant life, he had good beauties and property, and he plundered women wherever he went, and his army was also prone to plunder.No matter how righteous you are, it is nothing more than a thief.

In this way, Li Ping did not pay any attention to it.

There were so many famous and well-known thief kings in the late Ming Dynasty. One day you die, another one descends tomorrow, and a new one emerges the day after tomorrow.

However, as Li and Luo formed a coalition to attack Xiangfan, Li Ping had to strengthen his understanding of Luo Rucai. After all, understanding the enemy's generals as much as possible is the most basic principle of combat.

And as he grasped the latest information about Luo Rucai, Li Ping also gradually discovered that he underestimated this "Cao Cao".

Li Zicheng and Luo Rucai have a coalition of 40 troops. It is said that Luo Rucai has the largest force, not Li Zicheng, but Luo Rucai is willing to be his deputy. It is very interesting.

It is also rumored that Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong have always been at odds. When Li Zicheng was in trouble, he voted for Zhang Xianzhong, but Zhang Xianzhong wanted to kill Li Zicheng. It was Luo Ru who saved Li Zicheng.Then, after Zhang Xianzhong was defeated in Xinyang last year, he also went to vote for Li Zicheng. Li Zicheng also wanted to kill Zhang Xianzhong, but it was Luo Ru who saved Zhang Xianzhong.

Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong had such grievances, no wonder Zhang Xianzhong didn't join forces this time.

The relationship between the other thieves is likely to be more like that of Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong: they are very suspicious and jealous of those who are capable and appealing, and they can only rest assured if they are killed.

But in the past few years, the Peasant Army has been abnormally able to achieve great alliances frequently, forming a sweeping trend, which surprised everyone.

There is a saying that it is all because of Luo Rucai.

All the thieves gave Luo Rucai a lot of face.

Just like since the beginning of this year, it was because of Luo Rucai that Li Zicheng quickly gathered many bandits from all walks of life and formed such a powerful momentum.

Such Luo Rucai was indeed beyond Li Ping's expectations.

Of course, Li Zicheng's personal prestige accumulated over the years is also very important. "General of Civil and Military Affairs of the Fengtian Advocacy Camp" is the latest title Li Zicheng was elected after he captured Kaifeng, and Luo Rucai is "General of Dulwei, Fumin on behalf of Tiantian".

Pay attention to the difference between these two titles, which are parallel, but also determine Li Zicheng's military priority.

It stands to reason that Luo Rucai's reputation should not be lower than that of Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong, right?But why is such a character so inconspicuous or even unknown in the public perception of later generations?

Li Ping thought, either this guy died too early, like Gao Yingxiang, the first generation Chuang Wang, so little is known about it.Or it has only a name, has never done much, has always been the second or third child in a thousand years, and finally drowned in the vastness of history.

But no matter what the situation is, based on Luo Rucai's nickname and his current strength, he and Li Zicheng should not be a tight unity.

One mountain cannot accommodate two tigers, and an army cannot accommodate two generals.

Although Luo Rucai is willing to be behind the scenes, the difference in ambition between him and Li Zicheng will become the biggest difference between the two, and Luo Rucai is still very strong, and he is kind to Li Zicheng.

However, Li Ping did not dare to take it lightly because of this. It was not his turn to worry about the matter between Li and Luo, and the problems between Li and Luo would basically not change them to attack Xiangfan.

After all, they have come.

On this issue, Li and Luo should be unanimous.

Li Ping's real headache now is the attitude of the people in Xiangfan who are desperate for bandits and Zuo Liangyu's inability to fight against the wall and clear the country.

This has completely taken him by surprise.

Li Ping suddenly realized that his old den on the south side of Wanshan was already very unsafe, and the geographical location there was very bad.

Regardless of whether the enemy crosses the Han River by force or by smuggling, as long as the light infantry crosses Wanshan, he will be in big trouble.

The little time difference in advance notification that he could do was not of much use at all.

So many belongings and people can leave immediately, even if they are packed in advance.

After hesitating for a long time, Li Ping decisively ordered to inform Song Baolai to immediately lead all the personnel and materials in the villa to transfer to the predetermined location in the southwest mountain area.

Li Ping no longer dared to report his hopes and take risks.

……

In the early morning of the third day of junior high school, Li Ping woke up with a start to the sound of bugles.

He lifted a corner of the tent door listlessly, glanced at the dim light outside, yawned, and returned to the bedside to sit blankly for a while.

Li Ping felt as if he fell asleep in the early morning, and now he was very tired, and his eyes were very astringent.

Li Ping knew that now was not the time to be lazy, the busy voices of the officers and soldiers outside had become louder and more numerous.So after grinding for a while, he washed his face in a basin inside the tent.

He washed it many times, hoping to wash away all the sleepiness on his face.

After washing his face, Li Ping tidied up carefully for a long time before he put on his cotton armor and took his weapons and walked out of the tent.

Then I saw the big stupid Liu Qiang wandering not far away.

Seeing Li Ping coming out, Liu Qiang grinned openly, and leaned forward and shouted, "General, you're better off. Why don't you think I can't sleep? I've been stuck all night in my heart!"

"Are you afraid of it?"

Li Ping looked at Liu Qiang's obvious dark circles and asked, and at the same time worried whether he might have dark circles too.

"Not afraid. Although I, Liu Qiang, have only been with my elder brother for a few months, we have eaten and eaten, women have slept, and I am content with death. I am not afraid at all." The stupid big Liu Qiang shook his head and said firmly .

But then, he was a little confused and said: "I don't know why, my heart is always in a mess, it's not like I used to say that I can fall asleep when I say sleep."

Li Ping smiled, patted Liu Qiang on the shoulder, and said nothing.

Li Ping knew in his heart that having nothing was always different from having something, but he didn't want to say this to the simple Liu Qiang.

At this time, two soldiers approached to the side and asked Li Ping, "Sir, can you clean up?" After receiving Li Ping's affirmative answer, the two soldiers immediately packed up Li Ping's tent.

After waking up this morning, it was Li Ping's plan to pack everything that could be packed into the truck. The purpose was to ensure that the troops could quickly organize and transfer according to changes in the battlefield.

Of course, this may also cause the army's morale to be unstable and the fighting spirit to be weak.

For this reason, Li Ping specially asked the staff office to convey an order to all officers and soldiers (rather than just to the company level): temporarily block the bandit army at Yangpitan and reinforce other places at any time according to General Zuo Liangyu's military order.

Li Ping hopes to use "temporarily" and "at any time" to dispel the soldiers' idea of ​​"not fighting hard, but ready to run at any time", and to show that his determination to fight the bandit army remains unchanged.

Seeing that the two soldiers started to pack up the tent quickly, Li Ping also started to slowly turn around in the camp, and Liu Qiang continued to follow behind him like a bodyguard.

At this time, smoke began to rise in a grove next to the camp where the officers and soldiers camped. Some officers and soldiers were preparing weapons, some were packing items, and officers were constantly shuttled back and forth to check that everything was in order.

After breakfast, it was already bright, and it was sunny again, and there was wind, a little stronger than the breeze.

The troops began to gradually enter the designated battle positions to prepare.

At this time, several boats approached on the river, and everyone's eyes were attracted.

As soon as those boats came ashore, the reconnaissance platoon leader Wang Huqiang hurriedly jumped out of the boat and reported to Li Ping and Ma Yong who were waiting for him on the shore: the bandit army is heading towards Fancheng, and many more people are heading west.

Li Ping hurriedly asked: "Have all our scouts withdrawn?"

"They've all been withdrawn, we're the last ones." Wang Huqiang replied hastily.

"Okay, hurry up and eat something warm, and have a good rest." Li Ping felt relieved.

His reconnaissance cavalry is still very immature, and there are very few good cavalry, and he does not have the capital to fight against the enemy's elite cavalry.Unless it was particularly urgent, Li Ping would not allow his scouting cavalry to conduct reconnaissance, because such losses were completely unnecessary.

At this time, Ma Yong began to yell loudly to the various ministries to speed up their preparations for combat.

In an instant, the entire south bank of Yangpitan was in a hurry. The enemy situation made the atmosphere suddenly condense, and tension once again filled every face.

However, after waiting for a long time, there was no sign of the enemy on the other side of the river.

Many people began to become bored, and the tense atmosphere began to slowly fade again.

Suddenly, there was a faint sound of artillery from the direction of Fancheng in the east.

(End of this chapter)