Red Mansion: I am Jia Lian

Chapter 365: A Ghostly Encounter
After clearing the road, the entire army quickly deployed into battle formation. Fortunately, this area was all wild land, so there was no need to worry about trampling on the spring crops.

Along the Yanshan Mountain dividing line is the so-called 400 precipitation dividing line.

In the wilderness after the beginning of spring, white salt can be seen among the sparse weeds.

The backward productivity in the agricultural era, the growth of population and over-exploitation are problems that have existed for a long time.

Jia Lian didn't care about these things. He quickly climbed onto a carriage, stood on a haystack, raised his telescope, and observed the situation in the distance.

Jia Lian was not worried about the safety of Xuanhua City. The reason why he was in a state of preparation as if facing a powerful enemy was not because he was afraid, but because he wanted to tell his subordinates that they had entered the battlefield and should cheer up.

The tide of refugees on the official road continued to move southward. Jia Lian specially arranged for a battalion of soldiers to be responsible for traffic order, and anyone who dared to disrupt the order would be arrested directly.

Perhaps because of the smoke signals, many vehicles and horses on the road began to rush forward, which caused some trouble and injured many people.

The officers and soldiers of the Shenji Camp immediately intervened with bayonets in hand and captured more than a hundred people in one breath. If you don’t want to run away quickly, then stay with me.

With someone maintaining order, the fleeing crowd moved much faster. Even so, there were still too many people, at least 40,000 to 50,000 people fleeing south. After two full hours, the flow of people gradually thinned out.

"Governor, a message from Xuanhua City!" Commander Yang led a messenger over. The messenger stepped forward and clasped his hands, "Greetings, Governor. Grassland Rangers appeared under Xuanhua City. The general ordered us to report to the capital."

Jia Lian got off the car and handed the telescope to someone beside him: "What's the information from Zhangjiakou?"

"Reply to the Governor, I don't know."

Jia Lian had expected such an answer. He had seen it the last time he went to Zhangjiakou to pursue Li Ni, and the military preparations of the towns along the way were lax.

Jia Lian had seen too many similar situations and had become numb to them. He would only be shocked if a military garrison appeared fully armed.

"Well, you guys can continue on your way." Jia Lian waved his hand, indicating that they should be taken away, and then asked General Yang: "Has Ye Bu Shou come back with any news yet?"

"Not yet. Please rest assured, sir. We are all veterans with many years of experience and our horses and equipment are the best. We will not suffer any loss if we encounter grassland rangers." Commander Yang wanted to reassure Jia Lian, but Jia Lian could not be reassured. "Our army knows nothing about the grassland situation. We only know that besides the four major tribes in the south of the desert, there are more than a hundred other tribes, large and small, with a total population of two million, which is information from twenty years ago. We don't even know whether Li Ni unified the grassland tribes or was pushed out by the grassland tribes as a puppet for bargaining. If it is the latter, it is better. If it is the former, it is a big trouble, a trouble of maggots on the tarsal bone."

Yang Tongzhi was speechless after hearing this. Jia Lian said that it was all on point. Once the grassland was integrated by Li Ni, not to mention the three borders, all nine borders would be in a dilemma of being attacked at any time. By then, the military and financial resources consumed were incalculable. If we want to completely solve it, it will take more than one or two years.

On the top of Xuanhua City, General Guo Dongliang looked gloomy as he watched the unbridled cavalrymen outside the city. These barbarians from the grasslands treated the defenders in the city as nothing. Not only did they ride horses outside the city, but they also took off their pants to urinate and humiliate the defenders. What's worse, some even took off their pants and rushed to the top of the city. Guo Dongliang wanted to go out and fight these barbarians, but after thinking about it, he held back. It's not that he was worried about an ambush, but it would be useless if he went. The full quota of cavalrymen under the command of General Xuanhua was 3,000, but there were actually 500. If they were all sent out, they would be wasted.

Guo Dongliang also wanted to raise more cavalry, but the reality is that he simply cannot afford to raise so many cavalry. To put it bluntly, the entire Sanbian is the same. There is only so much funding each year, and the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of War want to take advantage of it, and only 70% of it falls to the local level, all of which is the result of the "kindness" of the masters in the capital. It is obviously not far from the capital, but the prices of daily necessities are not low. The little salary each year is not enough to support the whole family, so he can only tamper with the funding. He takes a little, and the deputy generals, deputy generals, and lieutenant generals below him peel off the money layer by layer. In the end, how much will be left in the hands of the bottom soldiers?
Guo Dongliang felt that he was still a conscientious person, as he still had 500 cavalrymen and 4,500 infantry and artillery under his command, and he only took 50% of the empty salary. Some other places were even more ruthless, taking 70%.

"Sir, look quickly!" The deputy general beside him called Guo Dongliang back with a shout, and he quickly looked in the direction he pointed.

A team of cavalry dressed in the uniforms of the Great Zhou came out from the west. There were not many of them, only about a hundred, but they looked quite impressive from a distance.

The cavalrymen under the city also discovered the cavalry no more than three miles away. After a moment of panic, they quickly got ready and mounted their horses.

The newly arrived cavalrymen were in no hurry to exert their strength. They just gathered together, formed a straight line, and slowly pressed forward in an orderly manner.

Guo Dongliang looked through the telescope and asked curiously, "Whose group is this?"

"It's too far away, there's no flag, and I can't see clearly!"

There were no less than 200 cavalrymen gathered together, and many small tribes on the grassland had only dozens of young and strong elite soldiers. If they were lost, the tribe would be waiting to be annexed.

It was obvious that these were not cavalry from a small tribe. Faced with an opponent that was half their number, the grassland cavalry under the city chose to fight.

After seeing clearly, Guo Dongliang on the top of the city wall immediately ordered: "The new cavalry is the reinforcement of Ye Bu Shou. Go and see if there is a messenger. Let the cavalry prepare. If the situation is not right, immediately attack to meet the reinforcement of Ye Bu Shou."

The Night Warriors of the Shenji Battalion were unique in the Great Zhou army. Each of them had a carbine, which was special enough. The narrow sabers on their waists were even more special. They had an arc-shaped breastplate on their torsos and a hand cannon as a backup. As the two armies gradually approached and the grassland rangers began to speed up, the cavalry of the Shenji Battalion continued to walk quickly, raising their carbines. With a command, there were loud bangs and smoke rising. They pulled down their masks and started to speed up, taking out the short cannons on their waists.

The grassland rangers suffered a loss right from the start. They had never seen cavalry fighting like this before. After a volley of bullets from a hundred steps away, sixty or seventy people in the front were hit and fell, and more than a dozen horses that did not dodge stumbled, and the formation was immediately disrupted. At this time, the enemy accelerated and rushed forward. Because the formation was disrupted, the grassland rangers' counterattack was a dozen arrows that fell on the curved breastplate and bounced off, causing no damage. The two sides were already within ten steps.

The two teams of cavalry were like two huge waves heading towards each other. The moment they collided fiercely, another burst of gunfire rang out.

The new percussion cap pistol was used to fire at close range. After the musket in his hand was used up, he threw it over as a hidden weapon and picked up his saber to kill.

With one charge, the grassland rangers, who were only equipped with leather armor, were directly defeated.

In the real battlefield, it is very rare for cavalry to charge and not dodge, and there is a chaotic battle between the two. Usually, when one side approaches, most people dodge to avoid collision, and only a few brave enough soldiers will charge forward. The role of cavalry has never been to charge the enemy head-on.

The situation Guo Dongliang saw was very special. Being familiar with the combat methods of the grassland cavalry, he realized that the tactics of the grassland cavalry were completely disrupted.

Steppe cavalry usually do not engage in head-on combat. Most of the time, they rely on the mobility of the cavalry to harass the opponent's formation with mounted archery. If they fail once, they will dodge and turn around to try again a few times.

Only when the opponent's formation is scattered will they seize the opportunity and rush in.

Today's opponent obviously didn't play by the rules, and his style of play was totally new to me. The tactic of using a musket from a distance of 100 steps was extremely rare, and even rarer was the high accuracy of shooting from a distance of 100 steps, exceeding 50%.

What's even more infuriating is that they are still behind, carrying sporadic bows and arrows to fight back, and using pistols to hit their faces to fight with equality again. These grassland rangers are the elite of the tribe. It's not that they can't fight, but the opponents are too foul. After two rounds of equality, they took advantage of the fact that the opponent's formation was completely disrupted and everyone became a frightened bird, picked up sabers and accelerated to chase, and carried out the final harvest.

It's a ghost, how can you fight like this?

Guo Dongliang was dumbfounded. Which genius came up with this tactic? No, it was a new type of musket, a new type of musket with enormous power and amazing accuracy. The new type of musket was the key to the new tactics.

"Leave two teams to clean up the battlefield, and the rest of the teams will disperse to continue to explore the battle situation ahead. Governor Jia is waiting for our news."

The leader of the team, Captain Ye Bushou, was a rough man in his early forties with dark skin and a full beard.

This new style of play originated in Shandong and was finalized after returning to Beijing. It was a night-time strategy whereby soldiers would use signal cannons to send messages and gather or disperse the enemy. If the enemy had many people, they would run away; if the enemy had few people, they would attack them in a row.

The mission of Yebushou is not only to gather information, but also to block battlefield signals so that the opponent cannot obtain sufficient battlefield information.

The city gate opened, and the captain of the Shenji Camp raised his hand and slammed it hard on Guo Dongliang's chest as he was leaving the city on horseback: "Shenji Camp Vanguard Yebushou Captain Ding Zhun greets the general. I am wearing armor and cannot give a full salute!"

"Why is there no main force of the Shenji Battalion on the city wall? Only you have advanced. You must know that there is no enemy to the south." Guo Dongliang asked, trying to cover up the guilty conscience of his troops who were afraid of the enemy and did not go out.

"My Lord General, there are too many people fleeing and they have blocked the road. Lord Jia, the commander of the Left Army, has ordered the people to make way." Ding Zhun's impression of the general was instantly very bad. How dare you question me? If you were not so much higher in rank, I would have slapped you to death. It is a military order that friendly troops cannot be beaten without reason, so I have to bring up Lord Jia to scare you to death.

As expected, General Guo Dongliang shuddered instantly. He was really scared. The person he was riding was a horse, not a concubine, nor a handsome servant.

Guo Dongliang was staggering and almost fell off the horse.

Who else can lead the troops to the war, a man named Jia, and can also hold the title of commander-in-chief of the left army?
"I will go and greet Lord Jia right now, you can go and do your thing." Guo Dongliang quickly waved his hand to signal Ding Zhun to leave, and all his thoughts about the victory outside the city were gone. He dared to steal the military achievements of Jia Lian's subordinates, he must be tired of living. Everyone knows that Jia Lian is surprisingly good to his subordinates.

When Ding Zhun came back, the two teams of subordinates who stayed behind were still cleaning up the battlefield. Looking at the distance on the official road, Ding Zhun twisted his mouth and cursed: "These few people and horses can be scared to light a smoke signal and stay indoors."

The attendant beside him laughed and said, "Sir, not every team is called the Shenji Camp."

Outside the South Gate, Guo Dongliang and his subordinates were waiting at the door, and the local prefect was also waiting here with a group of people.

Jia Lian, surrounded by three hundred servants, galloped on the official road. His horse was as strong as a dragon and his man was as beautiful as jade, raising a cloud of dust.

He reined in his horse and dismounted ten steps away. Jia Lian strode forward with all the officials waiting at the city gate.

"I am Jia Lian, the commander-in-chief of the Left Army. Nice to meet you all." In order to avoid trouble in the future, Jia Lian adopted a gentle attitude and dressed like a scholar.

Everyone greeted him politely. Jia Lian waited until the courtesies were over before asking, "Have you met my messenger team?"

After gathering in Changping, Jia Lian sent out a five-man messenger team to report the news that the commander-in-chief of the left army was leading his troops to reinforce.

"Reporting to the governor, I have seen them. They are heading towards Zhangjiakou and Datong." It was Guo Dongliang who answered, and added in his mind, "If I hadn't seen the messenger team, I would have wanted to run away too."

"How much intelligence do you know about Zhangjiakou?" Jia Lian continued to ask. He must get accurate information as soon as possible to avoid misjudgment.

"The news was delivered yesterday that the garrison and officials began to withdraw to Datong two days ago. Some of the refugees the governor met on the road came from Zhangjiakou. Most of them were wealthy families in this city, and even more were people from the surrounding areas. Upon hearing the news, they fled without caring about anything, causing you to be blocked." Guo Dongliang's answer was clear, but there was not much useful information.

The civil officials had no chance to speak, but when they saw the two men pause, the prefect finally had a chance to speak: "Your Excellency, the governor, I have prepared some wine to clean the house for you."

Jia Lian suppressed his nausea and smiled gently, responding with the courtesy of a scholar: "Thank you for your kindness. The military situation is urgent and His Majesty is waiting for a reply. This governor needs to learn about the battle situation as soon as possible and report it to the capital. May I ask the prefect, how are the food and grass preparations in the city? There are 15,000 people in our headquarters, and including the subsequent Xishan camp, there are about 45,000 people in total."

As soon as these words came out, the prefect's face turned green, and he stammered, "This, this, this..."

Jia Lian took note of it silently but did not react immediately. After all, the person who played the biggest role in the war situation right now was the prefect.

"Don't worry, sir. Please gather the gentry in the city and try to collect food and fodder for military supplies. We have a baggage train to follow, so there is no need to worry about food and fodder within ten days."

Jia Lian said he was not in a hurry, but the prefect was very anxious. He knew very well what kind of people the rich families and gentry in the city were.

More importantly, the garrison troops and the yamen runners in the capital were all local tyrants, colluding with the local gentry, and he, as the prefect, could not mobilize the gentry's food and grass. Speaking of which, if he had been the prefect in another place, not in a military town, he would not be so embarrassed.

"Your Excellency the Governor, I will do my best to handle the food and fodder issue. I just ask that you dispatch a team of troops to help with the collection of food and fodder." The prefect's words were very subtle, but Jia Lian understood them instantly.

"Zhang San, take all your family soldiers and follow the prefect to collect food and fodder. If the gentry cooperate, they will write an IOU first. If they don't cooperate, they will be arrested directly and treated as traitors."

Jia Lian, who had experience as an acting prefect, was very clear about the specific situation of the local prefect. At this time, any energy was precious and there was no time to argue with the local gentry.

Zhang San followed the order and set off. When Jia Lian faced the military generals with Zhuzi, his face turned gloomy.

The generals led by Guo Dongliang all bent their waists instantly, trembling slightly. They were afraid, but they didn't dare to resist.

(End of this chapter)