Daming kill

Chapter 268
On November 16th of the 100th year of Chongzhen, on a small river in Anxiang County on the north shore of Dongting Lake, more than [-] miles northeast of Changde Mansion, a long fleet of small boats was heading northward against the narrow river.

The creek is not only narrow, but also not deep, so the boatmen can easily use the poles to prop up the river bottom to push the boats forward.

Therefore, even though it was against the current and the draft of the small boats was generally deep, the speed of the fleet was not very slow.

The terrain of Anxiang County is high in the north and low in the south.

Since the Lishui River from the direction of Lizhou in the northwest was diverted to the south during the Southern and Northern Dynasties, Anxiang has begun to transform from a plain landform to a swamp.

In the Ming Dynasty, Anxiang became even more swampy because of imperial officials' "protecting the north and shedding the south" (to prevent the Yangtze River floods in the north of Anxiang, that is, to only reinforce the north bank of the Yangtze River, and let the south of the Yangtze River be responsible for flood discharge and diversion).

Of course, this also allows the Yangtze River to connect to the Lishui River, which flows into Dongting Lake, and eventually to Dongting Lake through many small rivers that often diverge and sometimes disappear.

It's just that such a waterway is complex and changeable, not only requires a very good guide, but also can't take a big boat.

However, this geographical feature of dense water networks and swamps has also made Anxiang County sparsely populated, and has become a natural geographical barrier between Changde Prefecture and Yuezhou Prefecture. It is difficult to rely on legs and wheels. Normal traffic within a hundred miles around.

At this time, the end of the fleet was far away from the mainstream of the Lishui River for a long distance, and at the same time, Huarong and Shishou counties, which were still controlled by the peasant army, were sandwiched between here and Baling County, the capital city of Yuezhou.

Therefore, although the boatmen of this fleet belonging to the Atlantis Army are still taking turns pushing the boats forward, the few soldiers with bows and guns on the boat are mostly pulling their heads and relaxing. Lost vigilance.

At this time, in a dense forest on one side of the small river, the company commander Slender Monkey, who was directly under the reconnaissance company, was lying in the dark while chewing dry grass roots irritably while staring at the fleet's eyeballs.

The reconnaissance company directly under it is currently the only full-time reconnaissance unit in Li Ping's army. Since the expansion of the army in Fuchi, the regiment no longer has such a unit as a reconnaissance company.

That is to say, the reconnaissance company directly under the leadership of Shouhou not only gathered the top leaders of Li Ping's army, but also accumulated extremely rich experience in continuous battles, all of them were elite and experienced.

Zhang Xianzhong didn't burn all the boats, but he couldn't hide it from them who were sent to surround them for close surveillance.

The thin monkey even knew that most of the ships in this fleet were loaded with grain, and this was a grain transport fleet.

In order to ensure that tens of thousands of people could eat horse chews, Zhang Xianzhong almost plundered the wealthy Changsha and Hengzhou. It is obviously extremely inconvenient to transport so much food by land in the south where there are many water networks, so he easily chose to give up the convenient waterway It's also hard to understand.

Therefore, it did not surprise the thin monkey that a part of the food fleet was kept secret, and it was even in his expectation.

And this one is probably trying to be as concealed as possible and not cause the flotilla to be too long to take care of, and there are not many soldiers escorted.

But even so, the fleet still has a size of nearly two hundred ships.

"Matou, they want to follow these small rivers to enter the Yangtze River! It's too thief, do it! If you don't do it, you won't have a chance." A subordinate lying next to the thin monkey said anxiously.

Ma Xiaotian's nickname is not dared to be called in the reconnaissance company, and the company commander is a bit unfamiliar to everyone who lives and dies together all day long. Matou can be a pun. Ma Xiaotian is the name of the horse that leads the reconnaissance company. So it was called out quickly.

In line with the principle of not putting all eggs in one basket, there is actually not only one grain transport fleet like Zhang Xianzhong, but another.

The difference is that another larger branch went directly to the upper reaches of the Lishui River.

It is said that the waterway there can take larger ships.

The reconnaissance company discovered that Zhang Xianzhong's grain transport fleet sailed into the Lishui River secretly, and at first they only thought that they wanted to go directly to Lizhou through the Lishui River to reduce part of the transportation pressure. Run into the Yangtze River.

The shortest straight-line distance from the Lishui River in Anxiang County to the Yangtze River is less than a hundred miles. If you can go straight to the Yangtze River, it will certainly save a lot of time and energy.

"What are you kidding! Although there are not many enemies, there are hundreds of them, and they are all elites. We can only gather a dozen or so now. Isn't this sending you to death? Did you fight too well, kid? How old are you?" The thin monkey resolutely refused after spitting out the grass roots.

"Matou, look at this terrain, and the river is so narrow that torches can be thrown directly onto the boat. There is no better ambush site than this. Let's wait until it gets dark, and don't ask him to burn it all. Shen, as much as you can get rid of, it's not that dangerous." The subordinate defended unconvinced.

But the thin monkey stared and said, "What, you kid want to burn these boats? They are all food, you prodigal son."

The thin monkey who was almost starved to death in Kaifeng has feelings for food that others cannot understand.

"Then we can't just let these grain ships go!" The subordinates continued to argue unconvinced.The reconnaissance company is not a unit that has many good enemies, and it is a consistent tradition to dare to argue hard.

However, this subordinate did not question the courage of his company commander, so there was no need to question it.

The thin monkey took a deep breath, rubbed his head and said, "Wait a little longer! Our general soldier never takes an unusual path. With so much food, he must have an idea. He should send troops here. Maybe we still have a chance."

"What chance is there? With this terrain, if we go further north, it's useless for our soldiers to come. There's no way to chase them! Unless they can fly!" the subordinates continued to mutter.

"You fucking let me think about it again, can't you?" The thin monkey got a little angry, and it was probably the most worrying part of being mentioned.

At this moment, there were some noises behind them, and then a guy who had been sent out for a long time crawled over.

"Matou, find a local boatman hiding nearby. This person not only knows the waterway that the enemy will probably go, but also knows that there is a little-known path leading directly to the front of this waterway for dozens of miles." The new guy Said furtively.

The thin monkey was taken aback, and asked uncertainly: "How is this possible? Don't you just deceive us."

"It shouldn't be too bad. According to the boatman, there is less water in winter now, and people can go to some places, so this road is available. Moreover, the boatman is hiding with his boat, obviously because he is afraid that thieves will take him away." The guy who ate was burned, and his heart is definitely not on the thief's side. And, in order to persuade him, I also promised him 50 taels of silver."

The thin monkey was overjoyed immediately after hearing this.

As soon as Zhang Xianzhong's indiscriminate killing policy started, people's hearts quickly changed subtly. The reconnaissance company led by Shou Houer could most intuitively feel and discover this change, and their reconnaissance work became much easier and easier because of this.

In particular, the large number of deserters and deserters made it possible for them to obtain some crucial information quickly and accurately.

This is the key to their ability to discover the grain transport fleet that was highly secreted by the Great Western Army.

And if Zhang Xianzhong wanted to leave, it was inevitable that the people around the lake would not follow him.Then Zhang Xianzhong not only burned his own boat, but also burned the boats of those boatmen in the lake who were unwilling to follow, and the common people would naturally become more eccentric.

Skinny Monkey sent people to search around to make full use of this change in public opinion, to see if he could get some unexpected information, at least to understand the waterway the enemy was going to go.

Of course, he didn't report much hope.

The main reason is that time is too tight.

Now that the blind cat caught the dead mouse, he was happy and said without any doubt: "Great. Wu Xinfeng, you have made a great contribution. This group of enemies sailed all night last night, and they will continue to travel today. , we must rest tonight. I believe that our commander-in-chief will definitely send someone, even if they are all from the navy battalion, we have a chance."

But the scout named Wu Xinfeng just continued to sneak around and said: "Well, that 50 taels of silver can be cashed in! I know it's a bit much, but I promised him."

"Look at how promising you are! 50 taels of silver is nothing, I'll guarantee it for you." The skinny monkey almost laughed out of anger.

"That's good, that's good. I promised 50 taels of silver. The boatman said that there is another place in the upper reaches of the Lishui River that can go to the Yangtze River in this winter, but the waterway is much, much longer and more difficult. Sailing by boat, but closer to Jingzhou Mansion. But he is not familiar with that waterway." Scout Wu Xinfeng added timidly.

"I'll go. Wu Xinfeng, can you fart all at once, boy? Why are there so many twists and turns, I'm really afraid that I won't honor it for you! Just based on your news, don't say 50 taels of silver, you promise 500 taels Everyone will only praise you." The thin monkey almost resisted the urge to beat someone up.

Then, he immediately turned around and ordered: "Wu Xinfeng, take your people and immediately send this boat owner to the agreed contact point by the lake for us to report back. How to call? Listen to the new commander. I will stay The next two people will continue to follow and monitor this fleet, and I will take all the others away to check the movement of that fleet, and we will look for you when the time comes."

In the evening of that day, a large group of large and small ships stopped at a dilapidated small pier on the north bank of the Lishui River, where wrecks of ships were everywhere.

This place was suggested by the local boatman brought by the reconnaissance squad leader Wu Xinfeng. It was not only convenient for a large group of people to disembark, but also very close to the familiar path of the boatman.

Soon hundreds of men and a few horses disembarked from the boats and quickly began to mass.

But the team that was gathering didn't seem to be paying enough attention, and many people's eyes were attracted by a row of people on the wooden stakes on the shore.

Those people were inserted into their buttocks one by one by long wooden stakes inserted vertically into the soil, and emerged from their mouths in extremely strange postures.Especially one of them is obviously not dead yet, still whimpering.

If this kind of punishment is done well, it can often avoid the most deadly organs of the human body, so that the person being punished will often not die on the spot, but will die slowly after suffering for a long time.

Therefore, it is not only very shocking, but also very frightening.

"It doesn't matter if it's exposed or not, just give that person a good time." Wu Xinfeng, the scout squad leader, said to a scout beside him.

Yan Ming, who had been talking with Wu Xinfeng all this time, turned his head and said to his side: "Leave a few brothers to put down all the people on the stake and bury them. They are all raised by their parents. It's too miserable."

The local boatman who was being supported and was about to mount his horse stopped and said movedly: "Thank you, the official. It's still the official's kindness. What a bah! Those people still call themselves rebels, and what they do is so outrageous."

"They're crazy!" Yan Ming murmured.

"Yeah! They're crazy." Wu Xinfeng, who had jumped on the horse first, echoed.Then he stretched out his hand to pull the local boatman who was about to ride with him and had never ridden a horse before asking uncertainly:

"Captain Yan, you really don't ride a horse?"

"I don't ride, I use my own legs with my brothers. I am the most senior officer here, and I have to set an example for everyone when I march quickly." Yan Ming said firmly.

Zhang Xianzhong led his army northward and he hid a grain transport fleet and was trying to secretly enter Lishui with a high probability. The two pieces of information were almost transmitted back to Yuezhou by the reconnaissance company.

Although it was not clear that Zhang Xianzhong had a more daring plan, Li Ping urgently ordered Yan Ming to immediately command most of the naval battalion to pursue it, and at the same time transferred a battalion of infantry to accompany the ship to deal with emergencies.

Anyway, Zhang Xianzhong burned all the boats. Not only did Li Ping not need the navy battalion to continue guarding Yuezhou, but he also dared to send the navy battalion alone to go deep.

And with so much food, it was worth his risk.

Yan Ming, who accepted the task, was already suffocated because he didn't fight well in the previous battle.

After connecting with the reconnaissance, I found that there was still a god-given opportunity, and I held back my energy even more, secretly vowing that I must also do a beautiful job.

On the premise of not giving up on continuing to pursue another enemy grain fleet whose movement is not yet clear, Yan Ming decided to disembark and personally lead the team to eat this already-proven enemy grain fleet, and brought it with him. Onboard many of his crewmen.

The task of these crew members is to ensure that the captured grain ships can be brought back smoothly.

Yan Ming has a big appetite and is very careful.

But there is also a problem here.

Most of his crew members are not good at long-distance marches, and some of them are even older and have poor physical fitness.

With a distance of tens of miles and such a hurry, Yan Ming felt that it was very necessary for him to play an exemplary role.

"Well, it's getting dark, we have to go now, hoping to catch up with the enemy." Wu Xinfeng stopped talking nonsense.

Notes:

Most of the area south of Anxiang County in the Ming Dynasty was not land, but water, where the main branch of Lishui flowed into Dongting Lake.Even Nan County, which is now located in the east of Anxiang County, did not exist in the Ming Dynasty. Its land of more than 1000 square kilometers was only a few small sandbars protruding from the water of Dongting Lake at that time.

(End of this chapter)