Jingtai Fengyun: The First Absurd Emperor of Ming Dynasty

Chapter 866: Temporary Bandits, Desperadoes, Elite Servants, Retired Guardsmen

Wang Shan's servant reacted the fastest and responded calmly. Soon, the chariots and horses were drawn up to form a circle, with Li Bing, Wang Shan and some officials protected in the middle. Then the servants took out bows and arrows from their carriages and distributed them.

Li Bing was dumbfounded. These servants were carrying bows and crossbows, and the bows were all strung.

You know, before the Jingtai Dynasty, even the Ming Dynasty's Beijing army generally did not string their bows during the march.

Because keeping the string on will seriously affect the life of the bow string. Therefore, the Ming army was reluctant to string their bows at any time during the march. They usually string their bows when the two armies were fighting and arranging their troops.

According to Li Bing's investigation, when they first attacked Shanxi, the Ming army suffered several defeats, including the collapse of the Emperor's personal army in Tumubao, all because they were ambushed and raided by the Mongolian army and had no time to prepare.

The soldiers had not put on their heavy armor and their bowstrings were not pulled up. The Mongolian cavalry had already rushed over in large numbers.

What else can I do? I can only cut the melons and vegetables.

Hundreds of thousands of Ming troops were brutally harvested by the Mongolian cavalry like chopping cabbage or leeks.

As for the battlefield analysis of the Battle of Shanxi, no one dares to fully review it, let alone report it to the court for discussion.

In the Jingtai Dynasty, the emperor's troops almost never suffered the loss of being ambushed. This is clear evidence that the emperor learned the cruel lesson of the Tumu Fort battle.

Because these Baoding guards who were born as servants are well-equipped, rigorously trained, and highly valued, they are actually the reserve force of the Yingzhou guards.

The leader of the servants was overjoyed and immediately went to formulate tactics and assign tasks to his men.

The leader of the servants nodded: "It's very possible, but please don't worry, head of the family, the local army is the local army after all, and their combat power is obviously not as good as ours."

If there is really a big reward, there must be a brave man.

Li Bing was speechless as he listened. There were two to three hundred enemies, each worth fifty taels. Good guy, Wang Shan will get a reward of more than 10,000 taels as soon as he opens his mouth.

There were at least two to three hundred people in this group of bandits. Some held bows and arrows to shoot from a distance, while others held long knives and then covered them up to kill them.

Wang Shan smiled helplessly: "You want to say that they are also elites who retired from the guard?"

The leader of Wang Shan's servants came over and reported: "Master, these people don't look like simple bandits. Judging from their performance, if they are incorporated into the Shanxi Guards, they can be regarded as first-class local soldiers."

The soldiers of the Baoding Guards all knew how to string their bows and prepare for battle during the march, not to mention the Yingzhou Guards who the emperor relied on the most.

Wang Shan instructed: "Leave a few alive and tell the brothers, kill each person for fifty taels and leave a dozen or so alive."

Li Bing hid behind the car and thought about his thoughts, but the enemy was already roaring towards him.

The servants divided into two teams and launched a wave of assaults towards the enemies rushing towards the valleys on both sides, disrupting the enemies. The next step is to behead, one sword fifty, one sword fifty, the sword is wielded, but the explosion is silver coins.

What surprised Li Bing most was that judging from the performance of these servants, the emperor seemed to have learned the lessons of the past.

Li Bing realized more and more that the emperor could hardly be deceived.

Wang Shan's servants are skilled in battle formations and cooperate with each other tacitly. Although there are many enemies, they have never practiced battle formations together, and their individual combat capabilities are not as good as those of these elite servants. So once they engaged in battle, they suffered a big loss very quickly.

These so-called 'bandits' are also helpless. No one told us before we came that there were elite-level guards from the border army in the governor's team.

And these are not ordinary border army elites, but the elite level of the Shaanxi-Gansu border army.

On weekdays, when dealing with a government servant, a police officer, etc., it is just like chopping melons and vegetables; but when dealing with such an elite level of border troops, it is completely the opposite, and they will be chopping melons and vegetables. In less than half an hour, the bandits were eliminated. Those who fled into the valley were overtaken and killed. After all, a head was worth fifty taels.

Only a few people managed to escape.

The leader of the servants commanded the servants and brought thirteen people alive to Wang Shan for recovery.

Thirteen living people had their hands and feet tied up and knelt in a row. Wang Shan asked Li Bing to give orders.

Li Bing selected the bandit kneeling in the middle and asked sternly: "It's a clear day and the world is clear. How dare you openly attack the imperial officials? Your nine tribes have suffered enough, right? Who in the end ordered you to not follow the truth?" Invite."

The bandit retorted: "We were forced by the imperial court to survive, so we went into the mountains to become bandits. We only wanted to rob money, not to kill anyone, and there was no one to instruct us. If we were not instigated by others, then we were also instigated by the imperial court. With instructions, we embarked on the dead end of turning a grassroots into a bandit."

Not bothering to listen to such nonsense, Wang Shan grabbed a sharp knife from the servant's hand and directly wiped the tough-talking bandit's neck, causing blood to splash three feet away.

Even Li Bingleng was taken aback by surprise, and the other bandits were even more horrified.

According to the normal procedure, the bandits have been caught and cannot be killed casually. Even if their crimes are extremely heinous, they must be tried and convicted by the judicial department and then executed.

The reason why these thirteen bandits were captured alive shows that they are all afraid of death. Those who were not afraid of death fought bloody battles to the end and were eventually beheaded.

Wang Shan chopped off one bandit and pointed the knife at the other bandit: "You are desperadoes, but I am a good man. As long as you confess obediently, I will protect you from death. You don't have to confess. There are three or four confessions." The personal is enough.

So there are twelve of you left, and I won’t waste anything if I chop down eight or nine more.

You should think about it for yourselves. If you are anxious and want to die, you can kneel forward and take two steps, and I will give you a good time. "

After that, Wang Shan waited for a while, but when no one responded, he took a knife and killed another person.

When Li Bing saw this, he took five or six steps back to avoid being splashed with blood. As for how to interrogate, Li Bing didn't bother to worry about it. Anyway, Wang Shan could handle it by killing people like this.

This was a psychological warfare. Wang Shan didn't even ask, and ordered his servants to light a stick of incense. If the incense burned for an inch, he would kill a person.

When there were only nine left, someone was already lying on the ground and peeing.

When there were six left and Wang Shan raised his sharp knife again, someone finally spoke: "Stop, stop, I'll move, I'll move."

With one person taking the lead, the other five people cried and confessed.

This is the prisoner's dilemma. If one move is made, the rest have to rush to move.

If everyone resists and refuses to attack, Wang Shan will not dare to kill them all. But if three or four people are recruited, the remaining ones are worthless and can only wait to die.

Wang Shan smiled proudly, but soon calmed down his pride and turned to look at Li Bing: "Ming Gong, they have all been recruited. You can continue to ask questions."

Li Bing stepped forward and asked, "Who are you instructing?"

Several bandits rushed to answer, and like pouring beans out of bamboo tubes, they sold out all the powerful men in Datong City.

Li Bing ordered the bandits to be dispersed and imprisoned on several carriages, and then continued on their way.

Before anyone could take action, the rumble of horse hooves could be heard in the distance.

(End of this chapter)