Crazy at the end of the Ming Dynasty

() On the morning of March [-]th in the fifth year of Chongzhen.According to the plan, Wu Shigong led nearly a thousand cavalry to set off first to join the main force of the Ming army.

After walking for about ten miles, the cavalry dismounted to let the horses rest and feed the horses to replenish their strength.But at this moment, the spies who went forward to inquire about the news reported the news of the Ming army in front: the Ming army was attacked by the rebels last night, and lost most of its food and grass. Now the Ming army has pulled out its camp and retreated to the rear.

This sudden news surprised Wu Shigong and the others.Everything was fine yesterday, how could there be such a big change today?Could it be that the night attack of the rebel army last night caused a lot of damage to the main force of the Ming army?

It can be seen that Governor Liu Yulie made another mistake.He did not contact Wu Shigong and Liu Zeqing's rear army in time to inform the Ming army that the main force was retreating, which made Wu Shigong and his rear army unable to grasp the situation of the Ming army's main force and deal with the next situation in a timely manner.

After concluding with the military officer under him, Wu Shigong immediately sent someone to the rear army camp to summon Liu Zeqing to lead the elite soldiers to set up a preset defense line at his current location.And Wu Shigong's cavalry will move forward to understand the situation of the main force of the Ming army and respond to the retreat of the main force of the Ming army.

And the remaining soldiers and civilians in the rear army will step up to strengthen the camp.

In Wu Shigong's thinking, since the main force of the Ming army retreated, it must have been defeated.Now that the battle has been defeated, if possible, Governor Liu Yulie must be rescued.In this case, Wu Shigong and Liu Zeqing's rear army did not have any major crimes in this battle.

Of course, the premise of all this is to ensure the safety of the rear army.If Wu Shigong's cavalry found out that the rebel army was indeed powerful, he would definitely use the speed of the cavalry to leave the battlefield immediately, come back to join the elite soldiers led by Liu Zeqing, and then retreat back to his camp together.Anyway, the distance from here to the rear army camp is not too far, only about ten miles away.

Compared with his own safety, who cares about the life and death of Governor Liu Yulie?

It wasn't until Wu Shigong heard that Liu Zeqing had assembled more than 4000 soldiers and started to drive out of the rear camp, that Wu Shigong led the cavalry forward again.At this time, Wu Shigong absolutely did not dare to let his troops get out of touch.Still the same sentence: safety first!

Next, Wu Shigong's cavalry marched very slowly.In addition to sending hundreds of spies to scout in front of the team, Wu Shigong led the cavalry to ride for a while, and led the horses for a walk, in order to ensure the physical strength of the horses and prepare for fighting or fleeing in case of occurrence.

So when we traveled another ten miles, it was almost noon.All the cavalry dismounted to rest again, had lunch with dry food, and fed the horses again to accumulate horsepower.

But at this time, the spies in front reported the news: When the main force of the Ming army retreated to the Shahe River, the pontoon bridge broke, causing chaos in the Ming army, and the main force of the Ming army suffered heavy casualties on the east bank of the Shahe River.

The anger in Wu Shigong's heart!Why are you so unlucky today?As soon as I took a break, there was bad news.Another break, another bad news.How much more bad news is there?

From here, we need to know that there are restrictions on the transmission of messages on the ancient battlefield.Although Wu Shigong was only twenty miles away from Shahe at this time, the news he got also happened an hour ago.

But Wu Shigong didn't know if his news had expired, so he didn't dare to take any more risks.Therefore, Wu Shigong advanced another three or four miles, found an open place to stop, gathered the spies sent out, and formed a battle formation, ready to meet the rout of the Ming army.

Wu Shigong must understand the phrase "The defeat of the army is like a mountain."Although the road from Qingzhou to Laizhou is quite spacious, if tens of thousands of rout soldiers flee, the road will definitely be blocked tightly.

If Wu Shigong led the cavalry to face him head-on, unless it was a massacre, then those routs would definitely also crush Wu Shigong's cavalry.Even those rout soldiers with red eyes would use knives and guns to snatch the horses of Wu Shigong's cavalry.

Therefore, Wu Shigong lined up on the open ground, avoiding the road, preparing to let go of the rout and stop the chasing rebels.

The long wait is really frustrating.Another hour and a half later, routs in twos and threes finally appeared on the road.

After catching a few rout soldiers and learning the news, Wu Shigong finally knew that the main force of the Ming army was indeed defeated.Therefore, Wu Shigong immediately organized the cavalry again to prepare for the possible battle.

After a while, the first defeated brigade of the Ming army arrived.As expected, it was the team that guarded the escaped governor Liu Yulie.This really comprehends the essence of "the leader goes first"!

A group of cavalry as big as Wu Shigong was on the side of the road, and Liu Yulie and the others would definitely not turn a blind eye to it.Coupled with the fact that Wu Shigong's cavalry was in a battle formation, Liu Yulie's rout was terrified.You must know that the costumes of the rebels are basically the same as those of the Ming army. From the outside, it is impossible to tell the difference between the Ming army and the rebels. Liu Yulie and the others are afraid that a rebel army will steal their way.

But for the same reason, Wu Shigong is also not sure whether this broken army is a counterfeit rebel army.Otherwise, if you let this fake rebel army pass, your rear camp will be in danger.Therefore, Wu Shigong must also determine the identity of this defeated army.

So under Wu Shigong's order, Wu Shigong's cavalry took up the weapons in their hands, and slowly pushed towards Liu Yulie and the others.Seeing this situation, the defeated soldiers beside Liu Yulie also panicked, guarding Liu Yulie with their weapons.

Suddenly, General Liu Shen of Shenji Camp next to Liu Yulie shouted loudly: "Commander Wu! Lord Wu! It's my family! This is the governor! You are so unreasonable!"

Liu Shen will happen to know Wu Shigong.Anyway, at that time Wu Shigong was also a famous figure in the capital.Besides, Xue Lian, Wu Shigong's father-in-law, was the admiral at the time, and as a member of the Shenji Camp, General Liu Shen had of course met Wu Shigong a few times.

Wu Shigong didn't have much impression of General Liu Shen.However, several military officers around him who were from the guards of the Xue residence also knew General Liu Shen. After the introduction, both parties were relieved, knowing that they had met one of their own.

So Wu Shigong brought dozens of guards to meet Liu Yulie, and General Liu Shen took advantage of this short time to introduce Wu Shigong's identity to Liu Yulie and the staff and military officers around him.

Wu Shigong came to Liu Yulie on horseback, bowed his hands to Liu Yulie immediately, and just about to speak, he heard a staff member beside Liu Yulie shout: "Commander Wu! The governor's body is important, you quickly bring your cavalry guards With the governor."

In General Liu Shen's introduction just now, that staff member also knew Wu Shigong's identity.Of course, General Liu Shen didn't know Wu Shigong's detailed resume, so the staff still called Wu Shigong's official position in the capital - Commander Wu.

In the heart of that staff member, it was already at the point of imminent fire, where was the time to talk about the red tape with Wu Shigong?And the addition of Wu Shigong's cavalry guarding Liu Yulie's escape can increase the safety factor of Liu Yulie's escape a lot!Just give this soldier an order.

But being waved around by that staff member, Wu Shigong felt a little unhappy in his heart.So Wu Shigong said coldly: "The last general is now guarding Runing. It is to meet the army and return. Governor, please rest assured that the back road has been cleared by the last general, and there is no enemy. It is more than ten miles behind. There is also the support of General Liu Shen. Your Excellency, you can rest assured. But the general still needs to move forward. The matter of giving up the robes will not be able to be done in the end."

Wu Shigong satirized Liu Yulie's behavior of escaping first regardless of the safety of the army.Of course, in Wu Shigong's previous battles, his relationship with Qin Liangyu and Liu Zeqing was very good.Therefore, at this time, Wu Shigong couldn't do the matter of giving up his comrades-in-arms.

Of course, Wu Shigong is not a noble person.For him, being able to gather more routs would also help his defense of the rear camp.After all, the rebels had already defeated the main force of Liu Yulie's Ming army.In order to ensure the safety of the rear army camp, it is always good to have more troops.

Of course everyone could hear the meaning of Wu Shigong's words.However, compared to the blush of that staff member, Liu Yulie looked composed.He said, "That's exactly what it should be. Then I have to ask Wu to guard!"

After saying this sentence, Liu Yulie didn't even look at Wu Shigong, pulled his horse's head, and fled first.

After walking for a while, the staff member approached Liu Yulie and said quietly to Liu Yulie, "That soldier is too presumptuous. How dare you be so rude to your lord!"

Liu Yulie smiled slightly after hearing this, and said, "Come here, Fang Chang! I'm still the Governor-General now."