Lin Gao Qiming

Chapter 647 Defeated
Lu Yizhong was furious, thinking that you are just a talented man, so he blindly held his talents and let go, pointing his nose and scolding: "You rebellious person, if you want to talk nonsense, you will be punished for disturbing the morale of the army!"

"Hmph, do you want me to disturb the army's mind?" Qian Taichong didn't agree, and was about to retort when someone came to look for them.

"Gentlemen, please hurry to the camp meeting!"

When he was leaving the city, Qian Taichong found that all the troops at the gate of the city had been replaced by soldiers and horses from the town mark, and all of them were very strict with their swords and guns out of their sheaths.rolling

A group of horses rolled past the city gate. The officers and soldiers at the city gate did not close the city gate after they went out. The city gate remained open to facilitate the entry and exit of people and horses.

In the Chinese army camp, although He Rubin's servants and town signs remained quite stable, this rocket rain had reduced the morale of the camp to the lowest level.Many people are whispering that the army must be withdrawn.

In the big tent, the camp owners have already arrived.Now they have a deep understanding of the powerful firearms of the thieves, and there is no sense of security here, and no matter how high the wall is built, no matter how deep the trench is dug, the thieves' rockets can be shot from more than ten miles away. There are hundreds of shots, and this battle cannot be fought again.

The generals had no intention of fighting, and the coach felt that the fight could not continue.He Rubin knew that it was pointless to insist on camping in Chengmai to confront the Kun bandits at this time. Now the morale of the army had collapsed, and the supply road could not be restored soon.It's better to retreat to Qiongshan for food before taking advantage of the devastating blow of the troops, at least there is still room for blame.However, he has no right to make such a decision to retreat alone, so he turned his attention to Zhao Ruyi.

Zhao Ruyi wanted to retreat a long time ago—this time the crusade against the Kun bandits was sure to fail, and the fire attack just now scared him almost out of his body.This is the first time he has encountered indiscriminate long-range attacks regardless of the front line or rear.One of his servants was killed instantly by a direct hit from a rocket during the rocket attack.He hoped to get out of such a desperate situation as soon as possible, seeing that all the generals wanted to retreat.So it was easy to agree.

Next, they discussed the order of the battalions' retreat and the banners and methods of communication. He Rubin knew that it would be difficult for him to explain to the governor and the court after the retreat.Zhao Ruyi saw that his complexion was not good, and he was afraid that he would go crazy or commit suicide if he couldn't think about it for a while-once the general died, the [-] horses would collapse immediately.So he said loudly to the generals:

"I have won consecutive victories against thieves, and now that Shishan has suffered a small defeat, the army will return to Qiongshan and eat before we worry about it!"

At that moment, he said a lot of words to boost the morale of the generals, which restored the atmosphere in the big tent a little.The decision to retreat is scheduled for early tomorrow morning, so as not to break out at night and cause confusion and loss of the various ministries.

It was stipulated that Chen Renjie would lead the Qiongya General's headquarters and Hainan's local caojun and Xiangyong to lead the way.Among the five participating generals, Tang Yunwen's team is the most complete, and most of the team are locals, who are familiar with the terrain.Cao Jun and Xiangyong's hometown camps are mostly in Qiongshan and Wenchang, so they don't have high fighting spirit to attack Lingao, but they should still have the fighting will to seize the road and return.

The ministries followed closely behind and fought and left.The troops behind the hall were guarded by the Chinese Army of Zhenbiao Battalion, led by guerrilla Sun Changzuo.He Rubin allocated 2000 horses to him, including 100 riders from He Rubin and [-] riders from Song Ming.Sun Changzuo knew that the two hundred riders were used by Lord Zhentai to save his life.He was very grateful at the moment and said that he would lead the troops to fight to the rear.

There is also Li Modao's firearm battalion in the palace army.The firearms battalion that had lost its cannon seemed useless to everyone, so Li Modao could only take the firearms battalion to defend the camp, and the last one left the camp to retreat.He Rubin gave him instructions that if the road was cut off and he couldn't retreat, he should retreat directly to the Zhongxie Shou in Chengmai County.

After the generals resigned, He Rubin told Zhao Ruyi: "Your Excellency, rest in the old camp in this town, and retreat with the old camp after dawn."

Zhao Ruyi said, "Students still have some luggage left unpacked in the city..."

"The town will send people to handle it."

"No, no," Zhao Ruyi said hastily, "There are many manuscripts and books among them. If the students don't go, the servants are ignorant, so I'm afraid they can't figure it out."

"Okay, sir, please go and come back quickly."

Zhao Ruyi took his servant Pegasus back to the Song residence in the city, and his staff also followed.As soon as this group of people came back, the courtyards of the big households in the city where Song Zhai and his staff lived were in chaos.Zhao Ruyi's plan to supervise the army this time was to search carefully along the road, and when he arrived at Lingao, he could get a lot of treasures played by the thieves.So brought a lot of empty boxes and servants.Although this time the army was defeated too quickly and his desires were not filled, but with the filial piety of the lieutenant generals and the dedication of the gentry along the way, after entering Chengmai this time, he received many gifts from the county magistrate of Chengmai and the gentry in the county.Because Song Zonghui asked him to protect him, he also gave him 50 taels of silver, a calligraphy and painting by a famous artist in this dynasty.

As soon as he returned to Song's house, he ordered his servants to pack and tie up all the belongings immediately, and ordered people to confiscate the vehicles of the peasants immediately, preparing to escape.

Although the staff members are not officials, they have received many different gifts along the way, and they have to take them away one by one. They are no more than Zhao Ruyi, who brought seventy or eighty servants - someone as prominent as Lu Yizhong, who brought thirty or forty servants. The servant, generally a poor scholar like Qian Taichong, has only a little boy servant.So some people only picked soft boxes to pack, and some even took away a few bolts of local cotton cloth.For a while, there was chaos and a lot of voices.The servants of each family simply moved their belongings in the guest courtyard of the Song residence at will while they were packing their luggage, including the decorations on the table, the calligraphy and paintings on the wall, and even the curtains on the bed.The servants of the Song family shouted for a while, "This is an official thief!" Song Huizong saw that the scene was so chaotic, he ordered his family members to send the family members, old and young, to the inner courtyard, and at the same time asked the whole family to prepare sticks, knives and guns, and prepare for emergency. For a while, he resisted the robbery of the rebels, so he hurried to find Chang Qingyun.

Chang Qingyun was urging several servants to bundle up and carry the luggage.While commanding the servants loudly, he kept scolding them for not doing things quickly.A servant accidentally unpacked the bundled luggage, and a few horses of jibebu, a local specialty, were scattered all over the place.Chang Qingyun roared again and again.

"What's the reason for packing up all of a sudden?" He was panicked. In fact, Song Huizong had already guessed that the officers and soldiers were going to flee for their lives, but he still had a glimmer of hope, hoping that it was just a relocation of the camp.

Since Chang Qingyun has been very hospitable to him these past few days, he whispered to him: "To be honest, the army is short of food and grass, and it was burned by the gunfire for a while. Our soldiers are about to return to Qiongshan."

The news was like a bolt from the blue, and Song Zonghui almost fainted—what would happen to the county once the officers and soldiers ran away?
"I'm going back to Qiongshan, when will I come to Chengmai again?"

"This is a major military matter, how do we know?" Chang Qingyun said, "In my opinion, it could be as little as three months, and as much as half a year."

"This, this," Song Zonghui was anxious. As soon as the officers and soldiers left, the bandit army would be under the city. Isn't it a matter of time before the city falls, "I don't know how many soldiers and horses will be left to defend the city?"

Chang Qingyun said impatiently: "Students don't know about military affairs."

Song Zonghui stood in a daze for a long time, until an aide came to him and asked him to help conscript a few cockroaches and the folks would transport his luggage for him.He quickly agreed casually, and rushed to the county government office in a hurry.

Liu Jingxuan was in a state of panic in the county office. He was frightened by the rocket attack just now. He was afraid that the thieves would take the opportunity to attack the city. While urging the brave people to put out the fire, he personally led people to the city to check the situation. There was fire everywhere, and people and horses made noise.His heart sank to the bottom.It was not easy to wait until the fires everywhere were extinguished, and the Kun thief did not attack the city.He just went down to the city to go back to the yamen, where he had someone cook supper for him to eat.

Before he could eat a bowl of rice noodles, he got the news that all the camps outside the city and inside the city were making noise, and he didn't know what happened.Liu Jingxuan hurriedly put the bowl away and ordered someone to wring a hot towel. He was going to wipe it before going out to check.As soon as the servant brought the towel, Song Zonghui arrived in a hurry.

He didn't have time to greet the county magistrate, so he hurriedly told him the news that the army was going to withdraw to Qiongshan at dawn.

"Seriously?!" Liu Jingxuan almost jumped up, even ignoring the rice noodles that hadn't been wiped off the corner of his mouth, "I'm going to leave?"

"Seriously!" Song Zonghui reported all the things that the staff and officers in the city were packing their luggage, and then repeated what Chang Qingyun had said.Then he sighed and said, "What Mr. Chang said cannot be false."

"What should I do?" Liu Jingxuan's face turned pale, "As soon as the officers and soldiers leave, the thieves will come to attack the city, and the thieves' firearms are so powerful..." At this point he couldn't continue, even though they guarded the city at the beginning. Chengmai has been occupied for dozens of days, but it was just that the thieves surrounded and did not fight, and it was not impossible to capture the city.

"I think we are the only ones who climbed to the Yuan together, please stay..."

Liu Jingxuan knew that this method was not a solution at all.Now the food roads are cut off, and they are attacked by the Kun bandits again, and the morale of the army is in chaos.Isn't the life and death of tens of thousands of people under He Zongbing and his own head more important than this small county town?It is indeed a crime for him to fall into the county seat, but it is definitely not a capital crime.Why is it necessary to stay in this Jedi and share the fate with the army and the people of this county?

Thinking of this, Liu Jingxuan burst into tears and said: "I don't think this method will work, I just feel sorry for the gentry and common people in this city!" He sighed and declared that once the city was broken, he would commit suicide and die for the country.

"I think the master should go to the old camp of He Zhentai as soon as possible, take advantage of the advantages and disadvantages, and let the town master leave a team to help defend the city." The colleagues in the yamen suggested.

"Most of the food and grass in the city has been requisitioned by the officers and soldiers. Even if there are soldiers guarding the city, they can't hold it without food supplies." Liu Jingxuan sighed.

Song Zonghui didn't think about this, but that once the officers and soldiers escaped, they would inevitably rob the city. Even though He Rubin brought troops from the province, there was no guarantee that he would be able to restrain his subordinates.Thinking of this, he felt that it would be better not to have officers and soldiers—since 1000 officers and soldiers have to flee in the face of the Kun bandits, what's the use of leaving [-] people behind?If the Kun bandits want to capture the city, it will only happen overnight.

The officials in the yamen are responsible for guarding the land and have to defend to the death, but the gentry and common people like them don't have to follow to the end.In my heart, I have already prepared to surrender in case the Kun bandits want to attack the city.At the moment, he just echoed a few times, but stopped talking.

During the discussion, a small school sent a horse to send an order: the whole county should immediately prepare [-] catties of dry food, and at the same time collect laborers and chicken busses.Send to camp before dawn.

"It's okay to prepare dry food. The officials immediately arranged for each household to light up the fire and cook. It's just that the peasants and the chicken trucks are all trapped in the city now, and the official papers can't go out of the city gate. How can we prepare?" Liu Jingxuan asked anxiously.

"This is an order from your lord, and it has nothing to do with you." The principal rolled his eyes and said, "It must be done before dawn!" As he spoke, he flew off on his horse again.

Liu Jingxuan was in a hurry, although Chengmai was considered a big county in Hainan, the number of young people that could be recruited in the county was only a few hundred people.Most of the regiments who guard the city are provided by the villages near the city.Steaming [-] catties of dry food is not an easy task.He wanted to convene a meeting of the gentry in the starry night again.Or Song Zonghui muttered: "Leave at dawn, why bother?"

Liu Jingxuan knew what he meant, and he had some concerns: "What if the general asks you?"

Song Zonghui sneered: "I'm afraid it will be too late to ask about this matter." He then said in a low voice that now it is only necessary to ask the women to light up the fire to make dry food and ship the dry food out at dawn.

"...You don't even have to make enough dry rations. Firstly, there is not enough time. Second, when the army arrives, they are already returning home. They will definitely rush to leave at dawn. How can there be time to wait for the dry rations from the county to be delivered safely? To..." Song Zonghui said in a low voice, there is a few thousand catties of dry food and it's enough to pay for it, there is no need to waste the food in the county.

Liu Jingxuan listened to Song Zonghui's suggestion, while arranging people to make dry food, and at the same time telling people to beat the gong to recruit civilian workers in response to the accident, and the people in the city hid one after another.Song Zonghui gathered all the regiment warriors and waited at the three city gates, waiting for the officers and soldiers at the gates to leave, and immediately closed the gates.In order to prevent officers and soldiers from taking advantage of chaos and robbing.

The people in the county are preparing nervously, and part of the army and staff officers who were originally stationed in the city also left the city one after another.Someone took the opportunity to rob the city, and several fires broke out in the city, and there was a chaotic sound of hacking, killing, shouting and begging.On the street in front of the county government office lay several corpses killed by the rebels.The gate of the county government office has been closed, with a heavy bolt and a top bar added.Liu Jingxuan took dozens of minzhuang to protect the Great Seal in the lobby.He was very frightened. Just now, more than once, sporadic and small groups of rebel soldiers broke into the county government office, waving bright knives and guns and asked him to issue "money for opening and pulling"; He is not only afraid that the officers and soldiers will rob the county treasury and make him unable to explain, but also worried about his wives and concubines in the back office, for fear that the rebels will break in and insult them.

He Rubin didn't know that the officers and soldiers in the city had been regarded as enemies, he sent people to urge the army and staff in the city to leave the city as soon as possible, and at the same time gather all the ministries near the old camp.He ordered that all the clumsy equipment should be discarded, and only food and light firearms should be taken.For the remaining cannons in the Firearms Battalion, he instructed Li Mo to put all the cannons on the barracks, and throw all the gunpowder when covering the retreat.

Zhao Ruyi said in a low voice: "I'm afraid it's not easy to account for throwing away too many armored weapons. According to the students, it's better to send them all to Chengmai County, and leave another 500 people to help guard the city."

He Rubin was deeply convinced, and immediately ordered all the armored weapons to be discarded to be transported to the county seat, leaving a thousand generals and five hundred soldiers to assist in guarding the city.

In a blink of an eye, the sky was getting dark, He Rubin immediately ordered the whole army to leave camp and set off.Chen Renjie led Qiongya's generals and the local cavalry army to the front, followed by 1 remnants and defeated generals, and then 2000 elite troops from his headquarters to cover the old camp and supplies.

Although he had taken care of sending unused bulky equipment and redundant armored weapons into Chengmai County in advance, the incident happened hastily. Discarded weapons and armor are everywhere.

He heard the report that Chen Renjie's troops had set off in a whole team, and he felt a little more at ease. He was most afraid that the soldiers would flee for their lives amid panic and tension, and the order of the retreat would be chaotic. The army was defeated.So He Rubin was very nervous, and asked people to go out from time to time to investigate the retreat of various troops.

Kun Bandit is very good at scouting horses. Every time he intercepts the Tang Ma sent by him, even the secret agents rarely come back. Moreover, he has not caught a single prisoner in several battles. Come.He Rubin knew that he was like a blind man and a blind horse, he could only rely on step-by-step groping to fight, and he was in a very dangerous situation.

Not long after Chen Renjie's team set off, the follow-up people also set off one by one.He was a little relieved when he received the news that all the troops in the front team had gone three or four miles away.He was thinking about how to deal with the next step after retreating to Qiongshan, how to report to Lord Zhijun—he knew that Zhao Ruyi would definitely blackmail him for a sum of money... While he was thinking about it, he suddenly heard a series of cannon shots outside , dense and almost innumerable sounds.He was startled, not knowing where the Kun thief got so many cannons.Then there was people shouting and screaming, and there was chaos.He was shocked and immediately stood up and hurriedly asked:
"What's going on outside?"

"The Kun thieves are attacking!" A soldier hurriedly reported, "Cannons are being fired from the east!"

He Rubin's heart sank, the east was the direction for Chen Renjie's front team to retreat.Could it be that the thieves have already set up a defense line on the road to prevent the officers and soldiers from retreating?
In a short while, the sound of artillery and gunfire outside became more and more intense, and the noise in the camp became louder and louder, and even his standard camp began to fluctuate.He was about to send someone to investigate again, when Ye Zhengfang, the Chinese army garrison, rushed in and reported:
"The former army! The former army!" He seemed to be out of breath in horror, "The former army has lost!"

(End of this chapter)