Lin Gao Qiming

Chapter 636 Encounter

The post road began to gradually turn from the sea to the inland, and it took a long time.He Rubin saw that the sun had already set to the west, and estimated that it was already Shenchu ​​time.He looked around, and there were undulating hills and mountains in the distance. Not far from the post road was a hill with lush vegetation.As soon as he lifted the reins, he rode the horse to a small hill beside the post road, and his soldiers and generals quickly followed.

He was riding a Mongolian horse, very handsome.The saddle, bridle, and stirrups were all made of brass, which had been polished to a shiny shine by the soldiers before he set off, and was very dazzling in the sunlight.Holding the rein with his left hand and the whip with his right hand, he watched the continuous marching troops and banners around him, feeling a sense of complacency filled his heart.

"General Tang!" he called out.

"The humble general is here!"

"How far is this place from Chengmai?"

"Reporting to Mr. Zhentai, there are still thirty miles." Tang Yunwen crossed his hands on the horse and said, "This place is called Shishan."

He Rubin took a look at this hill, which was about 100 feet away from the post road.It is a good place to control the post road.If the Kun thief ambushed people here, he would have to go through a hard fight to pass.But Tanma has come to visit just now, and there is no ambush here.

"The thieves don't know soldiers." He Rubin commented, "If we set up a camp here, send people to guard it. Our army must first capture this mountain before we can continue to advance."

"Your Excellency's words are very true." Chang Qingyun's face was covered with dust, and his buttocks were very painful, but he still followed He Rubin's headquarters closely and was not in the old battalion.I just hope that he can say a few words at such a time to show his knowledge and attitude of "diligence and loyalty".

"The terrain here is important. Set up a food platform here!" He Rubin ordered.

The strategy set for the campaign was Changwei, and the supply of military food for more than 2 people was a very urgent matter.The most convenient sea transportation is because the "hard boats and fast guns" of the thieves cannot transport grain, and it is always quite troublesome to transport grain by land regardless of the distance, especially the condition of the post roads in Hainan is too bad.It is very difficult to rely on the shoulder carts sent by the conscripts to push hundreds of miles to provide food.Therefore, the Ming army adopted the mode of setting up grain platforms section by section and transferring them layer by layer.

Shishan has certain terrain advantages and moderate roads, so it is one of the best places to set up a transshipment grain platform.

Immediately ordered a thousand generals to lead [-] soldiers to set up a camp here, set up a grain platform, and be responsible for transshipment of grain.He also planned to set up a second grain transshipment platform in Chengmai County after breaking the siege of Chengmai.In this way, a grain platform will be set up every forty or fifty miles away, and soldiers will be stationed to guard it. Not only will the grain, grass and energy be continuously transported to the army, but it will also ensure the safety of his rear.

The army then camped in Shishan.There are soldiers of the Kun bandits outside Chengmai County, He Rubin decided to rest here for one night, let the soldiers recharge their batteries, and go to Chengmai tomorrow.In case the hungry and tired army can't resist the thieves who are waiting for work, in case of a small defeat in the city, it will have a bad impact on morale.

"Tomorrow afternoon, our army will arrive at the city of Chengmai County." He Rubin told the generals and staff at the meeting in the evening, "According to reports from Chengmaitang, the Kun bandits have already built an earthen perimeter around the city and set up a camp. , with about two thousand troops and artillery, the defense must be strong, and our army must take it all at once without any setbacks!"

"Here!" All the generals agreed loudly together.

Zhao Ruyi said: "Local officials cover up their mistakes and cover up their merits, but all rebels and bandits exaggerate ten times or dozens of times. Even if there are more than 2000 people in his village, most of them are coerced people. Our soldiers will definitely be able to go down with one drum. "

"Your Excellency's words are very true. However, caution is the most important thing." He Rubin asked Ye Zhengfang, the guard of the Chinese army, "General Ye, bring the latest Tang report from Chengmai."

Ye Zhengfang said: "Reporting to my lord, the Tang newspaper in Chengmai has not arrived for three or four days. The bandits have already besieged the whole city and cut off traffic."

"It's even more cautious!" He Rubin felt a little uneasy in his heart, "We will send more scouts tomorrow!"

The sun was shining overhead, scorching hot.

The Foreign Affairs Committee took off the scorching helmet from the head for countless times.He stopped his horse under the shade of a tree by the side of the path, and several cavalry behind him followed.

"Master! Why don't you leave?" one of his brothers asked.

"What a fart, it's so hot. This damn place! Let's talk later!" Zhong Xiao cursed, his armor was not only hot but also extremely heavy under the sun, and the place where the leather was connected was constantly emitting a disgusting stench.He was ordered to lead several brothers to act as scout horses, to investigate the enemy's situation at any time.

He took off his helmet to feel better.Not only sighed.This war is really a difficult thing, not to mention the fear, the march alone will cost half his life.

"Master, take this small helmet." A soldier surnamed Xu beside him said flatteringly.

"Okay, then." Zhong Xiao threw the helmet into his hand, "I'm so relieved! You can't even find someone to drink in this damn place."

They brought all the water they had just drank.For a while, there will be no place to replenish clean water.

"There is water here." Xu Qinbing quickly handed over a bamboo tube, "I brought a few more before going out today. You are our backbone, so we can't make a mistake."

"Good boy, really capable!" Zhong Xiao praised.Several other soldiers secretly scolded him for being shameless-this person always had a smiling face on weekdays, and respectfully served him as if he were his master.Gained a lot of benefits for myself.

Zhong Xiao, a small group of cavalry, separated from his own team, left the post road, and set out to patrol the south to see if there were any signs of enemy activity.

They walked more than ten miles in one breath.Along the way, apart from occasionally seeing a few people working in the farmland, I didn't even see a single person.He wanted to arrest a few civilians for questioning, but the civilians ran away as soon as they saw the officers and soldiers in full armor.The horses in the paddy fields were hard to chase, and he was so angry that he cursed at his mother.

Since he couldn't catch the people for questioning, he had no choice but to take his brothers and ride forward slowly.I am used to staying in the densely populated Guangdong, but when I arrived in Hainan, I felt that this place was extremely desolate. There were uncultivated wasteland everywhere, and there were few villages along the way. When I encountered a few villages, the people inside had already fled with their soft things.

"There's no trace of the gangster!" Zhong Xiao scolded, "They're probably eating, drinking, and having fun in the bo shop, sleeping with the little girl!"

"Tell me what you said!" The soldier surnamed Xu echoed, "Where the thieves dare to come out to fight, they dare to set firearms from a distance."

"Let's go, let's go to the woods on the hills over there!" Zhong Xiao was much refreshed after drinking the water.

"At 500 meters in the direction of [-] o'clock in the southeast, there are five enemy cavalry! They are moving to the northwest!" A scout who was watching from the big tree reported in a low voice.

Chen Sigen was already a little asleep—he heard the report and slowly turned around and moved to the observation position.He and three scouts have been lying in ambush on this small hill since last night to observe the surrounding movement.

The order given to him was to eliminate all the officers and troops with less than ten men who appeared within their patrol range.Suspicious people can be hunted and killed even if they are not in official uniform.

Due to the lack of mobility, the special investigation team can only rely on two legs for shielding patrols.Although the physical strength and endurance of special reconnaissance members are several times that of ordinary people, it is still quite difficult to intercept small groups of reconnaissance cavalry in a wide area.

Beiwei decided to adopt the block-by-block system to divide the shielded area into blocks.Every four people form a team, and every two teams are responsible for a small area. The 2 teams take turns to conduct latent squatting and armed patrols.Teams use walkie-talkies to keep in touch with each other and keep informed.If the distance is far beyond the fire range of the SKS rifle or there are many officers and soldiers, only their movements will be reported, and a special mobile team will deal with them-the mobile team is composed of motorcycles and agricultural vehicles equipped with machine guns. .

Chen Sigen led the people to choose a commanding height here and set up an observation post.A warrior observes the surrounding situation with a telescope in the branches and leaves at the top of the big tree.

He took out his binoculars and observed according to the instructions of the sentinel: 500 meters away, there were indeed five Ming army cavalry walking over listlessly. Their armor, helmets and sabers hanging on the saddle all showed their identities.

"Don't worry, they are coming towards us, put them at a distance of 100 meters before firing." Chen Sigen ordered, "Notify the people in the first team! Tell them to pay attention."

Seeing that the Wuqi enemy had already reached less than 100 meters away from him, Chen Sigen made a gesture of "ready to shoot".Then he pulled the SKS in his hand to his eyes, and carefully aimed at a knight who looked like an officer in the lead.

Just when Zhong Xiao looked into the distance again, a crisp gunshot sounded in his ears.

A bullet flew past his ear, and Zhong Xiao was taken aback: There are thieves in ambush here!I didn't dare to think too much at the moment, so I quickly turned the horse's head and prepared to escape for my life.

At this time, several shots were fired again, and the two cavalrymen beside him fell off their horses.Xu Qinbing, who was still talking in a word just now, was already lying on the ground with half of the back of his head uncovered, blood and brains flowing all over the floor.Zhong Xiao was so frightened that he almost fell off his horse

"Go!" He bent down low, hugged the horse's neck, and whipped the horse's buttocks.

"Bastard!" Chen Sigen cursed, quickly adjusted half a secret position, and pulled the trigger again.

The bullet accurately hit Zhong Xiao's shoulder blade, causing his body to rush forward. The bullet came out of his mouth, and the huge impact tore off half of his jaw.The body fell from the horse into the mud.

The other two cavalrymen turned their horses' heads and ran for their lives in a panic. The bullets quickly caught up with them, and the two men were shot and fell off their horses one after another.

"It's a pity!" Chen Sigen couldn't help but cursed as he looked at the two empty-saddle horses.These are all Mongolian horses that are rare in the local area!
"Quickly, pull the horse back, and drag the corpse into the ditch!" He continued to order, "Report, eliminate the five scouts and cavalry of the Ming Army in Area B12."

The special investigation team shielded the Ming army's scouts, so that the officers and soldiers quickly lost all news. He Rubin sent several batches of scouts, but none of them came back.After walking for more than ten miles like this, none of the scouts came back.Feeling bad, he ordered the whole army to stop advancing.

"How far is it from Chengmai County?"

The answer was that there were still twelve miles to go.He Rubin felt hesitant, based on his experience, the sudden disappearance of his Tangma meant that the enemy's scouts were also actively active, trying their best not to get the opponent's movements.

It seems that the enemy is not planning to be besieged by him obediently in Lingao, but is planning to fight him in Chengmai County.

"This thief is not easy to deal with." For the first time, he felt a little worried.Don't the thieves have no cavalry?It is impossible to wipe out all the scouts he sent by infantry alone, and none of them will be released.

The generals are all waiting for his order. It will be dark in another hour and a half. The [-] troops and luggage are still on the way. If they can’t reach Chengmai before dark, they can only camp there—time will not allow him hesitate.

"General Tong!" he ordered, "Send [-] cavalry to Chengmai immediately, and another [-] infantry to run after. Set up a camp outside Chengmai County before dark to meet the army!"

Tong Yizhen saw the serious face of the commander, knew that there was a dangerous army at this moment, so he immediately sent the general manager He Zhanran to lead [-] horses to gallop towards Chengmai County.Just in case, instead of sending [-] infantry, he himself led his servants and followed closely behind with [-] infantry.

The special investigators of Ye Mengyan's unit, who were acting as shields on the post road, saw more than 300 cavalry coming down the post road, and knew that they could not defend themselves with a small group of four scattered troops, so they immediately let the cavalry pass by the road.

"The enemy team is coming. Three to 400 cavalry!" Ye Mengyan yelled through the intercom, "There is a lot of smoke and dust behind, and there are still troops coming."

"Don't get entangled with them, the whole team exits the shielded area while harassing and shooting. Let the enemy go to the county!"

"understand!"

Ye Mengyan raised his SKS rifle and pulled the trigger at the cavalry galloping on the road, and then the team members around him also fired one after another.

Amidst the stern gunshots, cavalrymen were constantly shot and fell off their horses.This sudden shooting took He Zhanran by surprise, because he didn't see any sign of someone firing a blunderbuss at all.But from the gunshots, he knew that there were not many people on the other side, at most three to 40 people. It must be to harass and delay his troops from advancing. He shouted, "Follow me!" away from the county seat.

Three or four squads of Ye Mengyan's team shot at both sides of the road, causing He Zhanran to drop more than 20 riders on the post road.Ye Mengyan originally wanted to launch another ambush, but the infantry of the Ming army rushed over all over the mountains and plains.Tong Yizhen heard the gunshots ahead, judged that the enemy army had spread out, ordered the infantry to disperse and form a formation, and personally led dozens of servants on horseback to the front.

Ye Mengyan originally thought that the enemy was nothing more than that, and he was simply vulnerable to the SKS rifle. Seeing the infantry of the Ming army rushing all over the ground, with flags and banners unfurled, swords and guns like a forest, his heart was beating wildly, mother!This is too spectacular!I thought that there would be a machine gun, and I was afraid that I couldn't hold it-too many people!
"Quick! Retreat!" Immediately, he ordered the whole team to retreat. He raised his SKS-D rifle and did not aim.

The special reconnaissance team's retreat route has been surveyed in advance, and the terrain should be used as much as possible to avoid the enemy's pursuit.Since the weapons used by the special investigation team all fired smokeless bullets, and all members were equipped with camouflage uniforms, it was difficult for the Ming army to identify their positions in the wilderness.

Tong Yizhen's men lost more than a dozen people in Ye Mengyan's team's last intercepting shooting, including one of his relatives who was also killed.The enemy's shooting without a trace made him very afraid.But the people behind kept coming, so he had no choice but to bite the bullet and lead the people to rush towards the county seat.

He Rubin heard the gunshots and shouts ahead, and knew that the forward had already approached the enemy, so he quickly ordered the guerrilla Li Guang who commanded the Zhibiao Battalion to quickly take Zhibiao to the reinforcements.He personally led his servants and Zhen Biao to meet him at the back.

"Tell General Yan that he should hold down the rear team and move forward slowly, and don't get confused first!"

The rear team not only has a large amount of luggage, but also local bravery and local cavalry troops. These troops are very unreliable, and they will rush to flee at the slightest wavering.So he took special care of it.After delivering the order, he personally led his servants to follow Li Guang's men.

He Zhanran's cavalry was the first to arrive outside the south gate of Chengmai and occupied the empty village abandoned by Youhuo.The light infantry who had been carrying out blockade shooting outside the gates of various cities had withdrawn from their positions and retreated to the camp in the northwest of the city.

He Zhanran saw that more than 300 infantry were retreating, and they had only walked less than two or three miles away, so he rushed over with the cavalry.

The 1st Light Infantry Company of the 5st Infantry Battalion commanded by Yang Zeng was the first to withdraw from the position, but the [-]th Light Infantry was delayed for more than ten minutes in connecting to the order. , Waited for a while on the way, but was bitten by the cavalry who rushed over from the Ming army.

Yang Zeng saw that the cavalry had already rolled in, and immediately drew out his command saber, and shouted an order: "Bayonet up! Phalanx formation!"

The snare drum beat rapidly.

The [-]st Light Infantry Company, which was retreating, immediately turned around and stood in front. The [-]th Light Infantry Company was divided into two, with half of the soldiers on the left and right.The [-]rd Light Infantry Company turned their backs to them.

Yang Zeng found that there were not enough infantry on the left and right wings. He was deeply afraid that the firepower of the two wings would be broken by the enemy, so he immediately ordered the front and rear companies to transfer a platoon to the two wings respectively.

Because the number of people is relatively small, the square array is simply arranged in three rows on each side.The first row knelt on one leg in front, pointing their bayonet-loaded rifles obliquely upward.The rear two rows of rifles were raised horizontally.Always be ready to fire.

This series of maneuvers took less than 3 minutes, and the enemy had rushed to the front of the phalanx in an instant. The cavalry's full-speed impact force made the soldiers who had received countless infantry confrontation training also began to shake.

At this critical moment, Yang Zeng yelled: "Return the scale to [-]!" He swung his command saber downwards, "Fire!"

(End of this chapter)