Daming kill

Chapter 234 Accidental help
A cavalry appeared in the mountains north of Qizhou and wanted to defect, and Ma Yong was ordered to go and check immediately.At the same time, Zhang Qing, who was rectifying the cavalry in Fuchi, was also sent over quickly.

Shouhou'er and Shi Lei were also accompanying him.

After experiencing the raids on the rebel army of native officials and the Battle of Daye County, the cavalry used as an assault force suffered huge casualties. The reconnaissance company plus the cavalry battalion and the cavalry company assigned to the second regiment had only a total of more than 300 cavalry left.

The scarce cavalry force is becoming a huge heart problem for Li Ping.

Although Li Ping captured more than 1000 mules of various kinds from Zhang Xianzhong in the battle of Daye, of which more than 300 could be used as war horses, the difficulty and time-consuming characteristics of cavalry training made it difficult for light cavalry to train. Horses can't solve the near thirst at all, at most it just adds some infantry on horseback.

At this time, the cavalry came to vote, which naturally aroused Li Ping's great attention, especially since they claimed to be Xiaoyuan's battalion.

Xiaoyuanying was a different kind of peasant army in the late Ming Dynasty. According to historical records, it "traveled between Liang and Song Dynasties, did not kill people, did not plunder women, and was also one of the strangest bandits."

Moreover, Xiaoyuanying’s not killing people is not only not killing the common people, even the officials and gentry never kill themselves and treat each other with courtesy. Classes have to praise them.

After Li Ping came to this world, he had heard about Xiao Yuanying's name for a long time, and he was still the kind who couldn't figure it out.

Xiao Yuanying is too different!
Of course, Xiao Yuanying is also very much in line with Li Ping's preferences.

This is completely different from the soldiers and horses of Zhang Xianzhong who were captured. Although many of those prisoners were good at riding, most of those good at riding were old bandits and veterans. No matter how powerful they were, Li Ping did not want to use them , let alone use it.

Only those infantry soldiers who came from ordinary peasants and servants, Li Ping planned to add carefully after strict screening.

There are too many professional women among the peasant army prisoners from Macheng!
"Children Qin?"

The first time Zhang Qing saw Qin Yi with the scarred face who claimed to be the leader of this group of Xiao Yuanying, he hesitated and shouted out.

"Zhang Erlang?"

After being stunned, Qin Yi also pointed to Zhang Qing who was behind Ma Yong, dumbfounded, and shouted back a name that only people in Zhang Qing's hometown knew.

"Brother Skinny Monkey?"

Immediately afterwards, Qin Yi called out Ma Xiaotian's nickname again, and then continued to search behind Ma Yong with shocked eyes.

"It's Brother Qin." The thin monkey also called out in surprise.

"You guys know each other?" Ma Yong couldn't stop looking back and forth in surprise.

"Well, not only do we know each other, but we are also good brothers." Zhang Qing hastily replied to Ma Yong, and then said to Qin Yi that he was suppressing his excitement, "Don't look for it, there is no one you know. Hurry up." , let me introduce you first..."

The alert and tense atmosphere quickly became relaxed at this moment, and everyone who participated in the meeting on both sides was full of joy.

It is a great thing to have an acquaintance between the two parties, and the acquaintance is also the leader of both parties.

Soon, everyone got to know each other briefly in a warm atmosphere, and also briefly understood the story between Qin Yi and Zhang Qing.

It turned out that Qin Yi with a scarred face was from Henan and was the third eldest in his family.Because of his relatively well-to-do family, he learned some martial arts since childhood.But also because he is not the eldest son, he is not easy to inherit the family business, he chose the common practice of many men who are unwilling to be lonely in this era, went out to make a living, and finally went to Liaodong to join the frontier army to seek his background.

Then I met Zhang Qing who was in a similar situation to him.

Since both of them are from Henan, they share the same interests, and each has their own abilities. Although they are not in different camps, their relationship is very close.

Qin Laosan and Zhang Eryun have also become the most affectionate names in private.

Later, because Zhang Qing was dissatisfied with Shangfeng's massacre of the people in a certain operation, he killed his superior and fled, and the two broke off contact.

What happened to Zhang Qing greatly touched Qin Yi, who was also unwilling to do evil things against his will, and who was not interested in making money. The chaos in Liaodong at that time also discouraged many aspiring people, and he was still just a small leader with no ambitions. Qin Yi also chose to leave not long after.

But it is different from Zhang Qing.

When Zhang Qing returned to his hometown in Henan, his elder brother and old father had died. As the only male in the family, Zhang Qing could no longer enjoy his grievances alone. In addition, the people in Henan were in chaos at that time, so Zhang Qing had to take his wife and sister to flee. , and hid in the city of Kaifeng to make ends meet.

And Qin Yi soon joined Xiao Yuanying, who was in full swing at that time.

The leader of the Xiaoyuan camp is Yuan Shizhong, a native of Huaxian County, Henan Province, who was born as a farmer. He has been hardworking since childhood and has a strong physique.

In the 13th year of Chongzhen (1640), Yuan Shizhong had to gather hungry people after begging for a long time because he couldn't eat enough food. In that year, even the government in northern Henan called it "a strange famine unseen in 300 years." .

Yuan Shizhong's background, personality traits, and specific conditions for the uprising are very different from other peasant army leaders, which may also be an important reason why the Xiaoyuanying he established is different.

After Qin Yi joined the Xiaoyuan camp, he quickly liked it and took root. Because of his bravery, he was gradually promoted to become a leader who commanded more than 100 elite cavalry, and at the same time he also gained a certain reputation in the Xiaoyuan camp.

"Since Zhang Eryun also put you under General Li's command, I can rest assured. I believe in your vision." Qin Yi quickly made up his final decision, and his overall state was obviously much more relaxed.

But Shi Lei, who had been silent all this time, suddenly asked at this moment: "Hasn't Xiao Yuanying been active in the central and northern parts of Henan? Why did you come here so far?"

Shi Lei's question made Ma Yong and Zhang Qing stunned for a moment, and they soon realized that they had overlooked the most critical question, and their faces were immediately filled with question marks.

The grinning thin monkey also became serious and blinked his eyes.

After the establishment of Xiaoyuanying, it may have gained more appeal because of its extremely decent practices. It developed very rapidly, and its followers soon reached 30.When it joined forces with Li Zicheng in March last year, the troops were far stronger than Li Zicheng's troops, which had only 10 people at that time.

Although the small Yuanying took over the main offensive and overcoming tasks of the coalition forces and suffered huge losses, and before Li Zicheng attacked Kaifeng, he suddenly left the coalition forces to start a bumpy independent battle and continued to reduce its troops.

But according to the information received this year, the Xiaoyuan Battalion still has tens of thousands of troops, and its strength should not be underestimated.

In other words, Qin Yi brought the cavalry from the Xiaoyuan battalion all the way here at this time, which was unreasonable and abnormal.

Qin Yi's complexion with the scarred face suddenly turned pale, and he said in pain: "Xiao Yuan Ying is gone!"

"Xiao Yuanying is gone? What's going on?" Ma Yong and the others were shocked.

"King Chuang's army raided us in May, and we were defeated in Qi County (near Feng). The chief was captured and killed, and all the soldiers dispersed." Qin Yi said desolately.

"Li Zicheng's troops suddenly attacked you? How many people did he use? Which general did he send? How many people were there at that time?" The thin monkey who was working in the reconnaissance company instinctively wanted to determine a more accurate situation, but Li Zicheng killed Yuan Shizhong. There was no reaction, after all, it is not new for that guy to kill his comrades.

"One thousand cavalry, [-] infantry, the leader is a tiger Li Guo. We had [-] horses and infantry at that time."

"You are so far away, why did Li Zicheng do this? How did you lose so badly?" Zhang Qing couldn't believe it. This was absolutely different from Li Zicheng killing Luo Rucai with his allies, and Zhang Qing also noticed Qin Yi used the title Chuang Wang when he said Li Zicheng.

"Hey! It's hard to say. Go and see the brothers who followed me all the way! They are all waiting for my news. They are very anxious and tired. Let's talk slowly later."

After speaking, Qin Yi called everyone to get on their horses and prepare to set off.

Qin Yi was more cautious about this contact. Except for the few people who followed him, the others were hiding deeper in the mountains.

"Then why do you want to join us, or go so far away?" Shi Lei obviously didn't intend to end the inquiry so easily, he still had too many things he didn't understand, and he was very cautious.

Qin Yi glanced at Shi Lei, who was unremarkable in appearance but seemed to have a lot of power to speak, and then at Ma Yong and Zhang Qing, who stopped their movements after hearing the words and expressed doubts, so he also stopped their movements to get on their horses and explained. :

"After the chief was killed, most of the people in the camp chose to join King Chuang's army, but some people like me were unwilling. After all, we had cooperated before King Chuang opened the seal. What is the nature of his army? very clear.

In order to survive, those of us who don't want to surrender to King Chuang have to go our separate ways.Some of them were familiar with me and agreed with my brothers. They followed me south into the Yinghuo Mountains to hide and tried to find reputable officers and soldiers to take refuge in. It was also the wish of the former chieftain to join the officers and soldiers.But you also know what most of the official troops are like these days, and many of them are not even as good as the rebels.

In the mountains, we also met some people from the Fifth Battalion of Gengzuo who fled back to the mountains, which made our choice even more firm.Some of the fifth battalion of Gezuo eventually joined us.

It was also by chance that we heard about General Li’s name from the officials and common people who had been rescued by General Li in the Yinghuo Mountains, and we knew that he was very different from Zuo Liangyu.Afterwards, we got more information in this area through special collection, so we decided to give it a try, and a merchant who had been rescued by General Li led us down here.

Although the choice was a bit hasty, there was no other way.There are also some brothers' family members in our team, including women and children. The Yinghuo mountain area is too barren. We need food, medicine, and more importantly, a place where we can settle down. "

"Among you, there are Gezuo people?" Ma Yong was shocked.

"En." Qin Yi nodded, but his eyes were on Shi Lei.

But this time Shi Lei didn't say anything, but just nodded and looked at Ma Yong.

……

When it was dark, the six or seven hundred cavalry led by Qin Yi, led by Ma Yong and Zhang Qing, avoided Zuo Liangyu's army near Qizhou City and quickly approached the Yangtze River.

They did not choose to enter Qizhou City, which is an easy way to find their whereabouts.

Under the cover of darkness, they quickly boarded a boat and headed directly to Fuchi.

At the same time, a regiment was also withdrawing from Qizhou and moving to Fuchi, so the sudden surge of ships on the river did not attract the special attention of Zuo Liangyu's army.

When disembarking, Qin Yi was on the pier watching groups of uniformly dressed soldiers disembark in an orderly manner, gather quickly and then drive away neatly. His heart was filled with shock.

Seeing the details, he, who is old in the army, of course knows what this means.

Looking at those subordinates who used to be quite proud, they all put away their superior expressions of being cavalrymen, and each of them became timid, Qin Yi was dumbfounded for a long time.

Seeing this, Zhang Qing went up and patted Qin Yi on the shoulder and said, "This place is different from any army you have ever seen. I think you will be in a daze for a while. Let's go! The general will see you after breakfast, It's almost dawn."

After being patted awake, Qin Yi felt apprehensive immediately, it was because he was in awe of the strong.

However, when Qin Yi came out of Li Ping's residence in the morning, his expression became strange again, and he quickly found an opportunity to grab Zhang Qing, who was accompanying him just now, and secretly whispered: "This General Li is too young, isn't he?" !"

Zhang Qing didn't seem to be surprised. Maybe he had already discovered the abnormality of his good brother Qin Yi. He calmly stared into Qin Yi's eyes and said solemnly: "A hero does not look at age. General Li is not only a hero, but also knowledgeable. And knowledge is deeper and unfathomable, we can only look up, you must not despise him because of his youth, in time you will know that what I say is true."

"Of course I believe you, but General Li's age really surprised me!" Qin Yi hurriedly argued.

At this time, a group of soldiers who were training in the distance sang a loud military song, which quickly attracted the attention of Qin Yi, who had never heard such a strange tune.

The unusually neat queue, the majestic singing, the vigor and vigor, the people around them doing their own things as if nothing had happened, and the few children playing happily are so harmonious and surprising.

Qin Yi was stunned again.

"General Li is definitely worthy of our service, but there are many rules in the army, so you have to be prepared." Zhang Qing added at the right time after looking in Qin Yi's bewildered direction.

Qin Yi nodded and said, "I'm not afraid of having too many rules, but of not having them."

……

At this moment, Li Ping was deep in thought.

There were 672 people in Qin Yi's group, and everyone had horses or mules. Among them, there were about 300 cavalry, and almost all of them were fine cavalry, and the rest were women, old and young and other family members.

According to Li Ping's request, Qin Yi and his men could go into the Yinghuo Mountains to find some troops from the Fifth Gezuo Battalion, especially the cavalry, who were unwilling to submit to Li Zicheng.

This is definitely a godsend to the current Li Ping.

But after being pleasantly surprised, Li Ping's eyes and thoughts inevitably turned to a wider space.

Li Ping knows that the big situation is undergoing great changes, and this is the real key.

(End of this chapter)