King Xiang of the Red Chamber

Chapter 410

On October 11th of the [-]th year of Zhengtong, Anxi's capital, Kumutun garrison, was shrouded in a snowstorm.

The Kumutun garrison is located at the junction of the Zasak, Briya and Tushetu Khanates. It is an important stronghold for the Ming Dynasty to monitor these three khanates. A thousand soldiers are stationed here all year round.

The Anxi Xingdu Division has three guards directly under its jurisdiction. Its source of troops is different from that of the provincial divisions. It mainly recruits young men from the mainland to join the army.

Although it is located in a bitterly cold place, because the imperial court provides relatively high wages and salaries, there are still many hot-blooded men applying.

Recently, due to the defense change of Anxi Xingdu Division, there are only 400 people stationed in Kumu Fort, commanded by a deputy Qianhu Liubao.

The blizzard was howling, and except for those who took turns to stand guard, everyone stayed indoors to warm themselves by the fire, and Deputy Qianhu Zhao Xianrong was no exception.

At this moment, he was in the duty room, munching dry food and wiping his sword with a towel.

"In about ten days... someone will come to change the defense, and then we can go home and take a look!"

Sheathing the knife, Zhao Xianrong murmured: "It's been two years since we've seen each other... I don't know if Yun'er has grown taller or if she still recognizes me as her biological father!"

Most of the soldiers left behind at this moment had the same thoughts as Zhao Xianrong.

Although the military salary of Xingdu Division is high, it starts with a two-year garrison period. During this period, although they will be rotated in various garrison forts, it will take at least two years to see their relatives.

Just when Zhao Xianrong was looking forward to being reunited with his family and children, the sentry at Kushu Fort discovered the situation.

"It seems that someone is coming..."

At this moment, the storm was blowing violently, and the dust brought by it made the visibility very low, so the soldiers on duty could not confirm whether they were dazzled.

There are a total of 30 sentry soldiers scattered in all directions of the fort wall, allowing them to monitor the outside world without blind spots.

So the man ran to a sentry tower more than ten feet away, where there was a higher position, which would have a better observation view.

However, before this person could go up, someone from above poked his head out and asked, "Look, is there anyone in front of you?"

"Brother Chen, I really want to ask you!"

When the two of them said these words, they instantly realized that someone was really coming from ahead, so they immediately became vigilant.

There is a snowstorm right now, and logically no one should come, and if something goes wrong, it will be a monster.

So the soldiers on the sentry tower immediately ordered: "Then you hurry up and report to Hu Xiaoqi!"

"it is good!"

At this moment, Hu Xiaoqi was sitting in the gatehouse with his boss, General Zhao Qi, chatting around the stove about what happened when he returned home two years ago. The two of them were also looking forward to the days after the change of defense.

"Sir, you must be a guest at my house this time. We have a..."

Before Hu Xiaoqi could finish speaking, he heard a warning voice coming from outside: "Sir, someone is coming in front!"

"Which one is in front?" Zhao Zongqi looked out the door.

The visitor reported: "Just in front of the fort..."

As soon as they finished speaking, a horn sound came from outside, making the two people in the room unable to sit still.

In fact, as the sound of the trumpet spread, the entire fort was shaken.

The soldiers on duty picked up their weapons and quickly climbed up the fort wall, while other soldiers also covered themselves up. No one would despise the sound of the horn, as they were joking with their own lives.

Besides, on the north side of the Dead Tree Castle, Gizba heard the sound of the horn coming from the front and knew that his plan of sneak attack had failed.

So he immediately launched his second plan and sent people to trick him into opening the door of the Dead Tree Castle.

Soon a dozen "herdsmen" were released and arrived seven or eight feet away from the gate of Kushu Fort.

Seeing the Ming army soldiers who were ready on the fort wall, the centurion leading the team was very confident in deceiving the fort gate.

"Who is it?" Someone yelled from the top of the tower.

At this moment, Zhao Xianrong, the leading deputy Qianhu, also came to the city wall. The current situation made him feel uneasy and irritable.

"We...are...herdsmen. A blizzard is coming...We are afraid that the cattle and sheep will freeze to death...please ask the Tomorrow Soldiers to take us in!"

"When we get through the wind and snow... we will definitely have a generous reward, and the cattle and sheep can give you some!"

If you want to deceive the city gate, you must be willing to give benefits.

In fact, it is not unusual to take in herdsmen. After all, if people have cattle and sheep as gifts, it is naturally better than eating dry food. This kind of thing has been done in various garrison forts.

So at this moment, the hundred households who shouted looked at Zhao Xianrong, and it depended on his intention whether to open the door or not.

But Zhao Xianrong shook his head. The latter guessed that he didn't want to cause trouble, so he immediately shouted: "This is a military stronghold, no outsiders are allowed, leave quickly!"

"We can send twenty sheep!" the centurion below continued to shout.

"Leave quickly!"

How resolute Zhao Xianrong's attitude was, so resolute were the tone of the hundreds of households who shouted.

This surprised the centurion, so he shouted: "Thirty sheep, no more..."

However, the next moment, three arrows were shot in front of him, frightening him to quickly pull the reins and take a few steps back. This was the instinctive reaction of a first-class rider.

The castle had already made its attitude clear, and there was little hope of further talk, so the centurion could only lead his people away.

Knowing that he could not open the fort gate by deception, Gizba sighed on horseback. He could only accept the worst outcome and prepare his men to attack by force.

The wall of the withered tree fort is two feet high, and it is equipped with sharp weapons such as the Crouching Tiger Cannon. In addition, all Ming army soldiers are wearing armor.

It will not be easy for Gizba's three thousand light cavalry to capture this place.

But no matter how difficult it was, for the great cause of Junggar, he could only use his life to fulfill it.

Faced with today's abnormal situation, Zhao Xianrong also sent people out of the fort to investigate, and found a large number of cavalry wandering around, so he immediately ordered pre-war preparations.

After half a day, the snowstorm that lasted for three days finally stopped. A large number of arrows and projectiles had been moved onto the fort wall, and the Dead Tree Fort was ready for all defenses.

All four hundred soldiers were on the fort wall. The north side of the fort wall was nearly fifty feet long. There were 50 soldiers on this side, with an average of one person every one or two meters.

The remaining 150 people were responsible for the remaining three fort walls and were used as reinforcements by Zhao Xianrong.

At this moment, Zhao Xianrong was standing on the sentry tower, observing the situation hundreds of meters away, with a particularly solemn expression.

"You bastard, who are these people? I just came to attack when I was about to leave!" Zhao Xianrong said in a cold tone.

While he was thinking, a hundred households below reported: "Sir...it's time to eat!"

The sun was already setting in the west, and it was indeed time for dinner. At this moment, the soldiers on the fort wall had begun to eat dry food.

"Has the messenger been chosen yet?" Zhao Xianrong asked as he walked down the watchtower.

Baihu replied: "We have selected three good horse riders. We are letting them rest now. Let them go out when it gets dark!"

"No... we can't wait until dark. We have to wait for them to attack and let them out during the chaos!"

Obviously, in Zhao Xianrong's opinion, this would make him more confident in escaping.

But even if they escaped, the nearest Ming army stronghold to Kushu Fort was nearly four hundred miles away, and it would take three to five days for reinforcements to arrive.

The question now is whether we can hold on for these five days.

Gizba also considered this issue, and he knew that he must capture the Dead Tree Fort within five days.

Although time was tight, Gizba was not in a hurry. Instead, he asked his men to prepare with all their strength. He would have the power of thunder whenever he moved.

Soon night fell, and the soldiers of Kushu Fort also began to rest, leaving only a few people to stand guard and closely observe the enemy's situation.

Nothing happened that night, and soon the next day came, but it was a rare sunny day.

This was also the best time to attack. After eating and drinking, Gizba gave the order to attack.

The battle at Kushu Fort was fierce. Due to the defensive advantages of Kushu Fort and the better equipment and weapons of the Ming army, Zhao Xianrong led his troops to repel attacks again and again.

However, as the number of soldiers under his command was lost, the defensive pressure on Dry Tree Fort began to increase.On October [-]th, two days after the attack on Kushu Fort, only one of the three soldiers sent for questioning arrived at Yongning Fort alive.

As the core of the defense on the west side of Anxi Xingdusi, Yongning Fort is larger than Kushu Fort, so Anxi Xingdusi established Yongning Guard here.

The current commander of the Yongning Guard is named Sun Shaozu. His ancestors followed Shizu in revolting against Jingnan, and it has been passed down to him for the fourth generation.

Nowadays, although the Sun family has lost its title, he himself has the intention to revive the family.

Ten years ago, Sun Shaozu was only 20 years old. As the first flag officer of the Yiwei Division of the Imperial City, he dared to join the army of King Jing Zhu Xianming and seize the first pot of gold on Qingyun Road.

In just ten years, he rose from the flag officer to the actual commander, with six and eleven levels in between. Sun Shaozu can be called the king of scrolls at the moment.

Now he has risen from the fourth rank of Xianwu Captain to the fourth rank of Mingwei General. He will pass a big hurdle in his life.

However, at this time, Sun Shaozu received news of the attack on Kushu Castle, which made him very angry.

"Sir, there are three thousand attacking enemies, and I'm afraid I can't hold the Kushu Fort!" Commander Zuo said to his colleague Wang Xing.

Ma Zongyi, the commander on the right, responded: "Even if we can't hold it, we have to take back the Kushu Castle, otherwise the Holy Emperor will be angry and you and I will be severely punished!"

Qiu Min, the commander on the right, said: "Now that the matter is urgent, we can send troops directly to Yongning Fort and report to the Xingdu Division for help!"

While everyone was discussing, Sun Shaozu remained silent, and Zhang Chunman, the commander on the right, also remained silent. The two were looking at each other at the moment.

"Chunman...what did you say?" Sun Shaozu asked.

Zhang Chunman replied: "Sir, there is a very important matter that we have all ignored..."

"What's the matter?"

"Who on earth is so bold and dares to attack our army!"

Everyone present was stunned and felt extremely ashamed for a moment. It was obvious that they were all overwhelmed by anger.

"Withered Tree Fort is located between Zasak, Tuxietu and Bria. Among them, Zasak is the most unruly. I think it's probably them!" Wang Xing, the commander on the left, analyzed.

The two ministers also nodded, obviously agreeing with this conclusion.

However, Zhang Chunman said: "I don't think so... Although Kushu Castle is located between these three families, there are few people on the grassland, and other forces can also pass through secretly!"

Hearing this, Sun Shaozu frowned and said, "You mean... maybe they are Junggar people?"

Zhang Chunman nodded. Others present did not immediately refute, but fell into thinking.

If the Junggar people take action, the problem will not be as big as usual. It is not impossible that the northwest will be in chaos in an instant, so the soldiers of Yongning Fort cannot move lightly.

"Pass the order, this rotation will be suspended, and every household will be on strict alert!"

"In addition, immediately send a message to Dusi and ask them to send more reinforcements!" Sun Shaozu said coldly.

And with this order issued, the fate of Dead Tree Fort has been determined.

On October 420, after Kushu Fort held on for five days, one of the [-] officers and soldiers in the fort was killed. Gizba stood on the north gate tower.

Although he had conquered the Withered Tree Fort, Gizba was not happy at all.

The Ming army lost 420 people in the battle, but his men lost more than [-] people. The Gizba fortress here was filled with human lives.

If it weren't for the empty defense of Kushu Castle, his three thousand troops would not be able to attack at all.

"Clean the battlefield immediately and arrange it as if it were done by the Zasak people. Once completed, we will withdraw immediately!" Gizba ordered.

The fort built by more than 700 people was lost, and it was necessary to give up after less than an hour. Gizba made this decision very uncomfortable.

But it won't work if they don't leave. They have to obey the Khanate's plan and lead the disaster to Zhasak.

When Jizba was preparing to evacuate, Anxi Xingdusi received military information from Yongning Guards and learned that Kushu Fort was under attack.

Wu Changhui, the Commander-in-Chief of the Chinese Military Governor's Mansion and the current Commander-in-Chief of the Anxi Provincial Governor's Office, learned the news and realized the seriousness of the problem.

So he immediately ordered all guard posts to be on strict alert, deployed an additional [-] conscripts to Yongning Fort, and conveyed urgent military information to the capital.

At the same time, Wu Changhui also ordered the two tribes Langtaiji and Namu to prepare for mobilization and dispatch of troops.

At the level of the Xingdu Division, there are especially many places that need management and supervision. Therefore, Wu Changhui sent his colleagues and officials to keep an eye on them.

After another four days, as the capital commander Chen Rongxian returned to Jingning City, the news of the capture of Deadwood Fort was also brought back.

In the Xingdu Division Office, Wu Changhui looked at Chen Rongxian with a stern expression and asked, "Did the Zasak people do it?"

Chen Rongxian replied: "The situation at the scene indicates that it was the Zasak people who did it!"

"All died in the battle?"

Chen Rongxian replied: "Except for those who left the fort to deliver the message, everyone else died in the battle!"

"How many enemy soldiers died?"

"Two...more than two hundred people!"

He thought it was more than [-], but when he learned that only more than [-] enemy soldiers died, Wu Changhui immediately lost his composure.

"More than two hundred people?"

Chen Rongxian explained: "Only 230 corpses were left at the scene, but there should be more...it's just that the enemy took the corpses away!"

Suddenly, the situation became more complicated.

What is the purpose of the Zasak people and their strange methods?
After thinking for a while, Wu Changhui realized a more pressing problem, so he said: "There can't be more than two hundred enemy corpses, otherwise I won't be able to report it to the court!"

More than [-] people died in his own family, and the enemy's attack on the city left only [-] corpses. If Wu Changhui really reported this, it would only make the Northwest Xingdu Division a laughing stock.

He knew that he had dissatisfied the emperor, and if something like this happened again, he would have to commit suicide to apologize.

Chen Rongxian is also a very smart person. He immediately understood Wu Changhui's worries and asked, "What do you mean, sir?"

Wu Changhui said calmly: "Send a message to Sun Shaozu. If he doesn't want to lose his official title, he can give me the enemy corpses and turn them into one thousand and fifty!"

"But how can this be changed?" Chen Rongxian asked, completely pretending to be stupid.

As a general like him, how could he not know the methods of "killing the good and taking credit for the merit"?

"He will figure it out on his own!" Wu Changhui said coldly.

"Write a letter to him personally to urge him to complete this matter!"

Many things can be avoided by just pretending to be confused. For example, Chen Rongxian has to take over this job at this moment.

Of course he could refuse, but the consequence of refusal would be that as an official responsible for the military preparations of the capital, he would have to be severely punished when the court learned of the situation.

As for directly lying, no one in Xingdusi had the courage. After all, Nanzhen Fusi is not a vegetarian, and they are very good at counting corpses.

This also means that the matter of "killing good people and taking credit for merit" must be done before the Nanzhen Fusi Anxi Qianhu Office interferes, otherwise it will be impossible to hide it from each other.

"You go and do it immediately. I'll go find Eunuch Yang and Yushi Wang. I want to jointly report this matter to them!"

The two people Wu Changhui mentioned at this moment are the eunuch and censor who oversee the army. These two people play an extremely critical role in Anxi Xingdusi.

"I understand, sir... I always feel weird about this matter!" Chen Rongxian hesitated to speak.

"You suspect it wasn't the Zasak people who did it?" Wu Changhui put it bluntly.

In fact, being able to sit in their position, they both basically knew the possibilities of the matter.

"If you want to take away the corpses, why do you leave two hundred of them behind? This is too deliberate!"

Standing up from the chair, Wu Changhui said: "But there is no evidence that anyone else did it, so we can only assume that it was the Zasak people!"

"We should investigate this matter carefully, but the necessary arrangements must be made!" Wu Changhui said seriously.

"I understand my humble position!" Chen Rongxian sighed in his heart.

(End of this chapter)