I

  Chapter 652 649 [Quick pursuit]

  Xing'an Prefecture.

   Li Dingguo was leading his troops towards here, and the sentry sent by Zheng Yi also detected the movements of the Datong Army from afar.

Zheng Bing recalled the soldiers who had gone out to gather food back to Xing'an Prefecture, and said to his son: "At most half a month, the typhoon is coming. Even if there is no typhoon, it will be hot and rainy. These Han soldiers can't bear it. Stick to Xing'an City and wait until it rains before fighting, then the firearms of the Han soldiers will be useless."

  Zheng Zuo wondered: "Our army doesn't have enough food and grass, even if we collect food, it won't last for a long time. Shouldn't the battle be settled quickly?"

"I have already ordered the whole army to reduce their meals, and there is no problem in sustaining it for two or three months," Zheng said. "The Han soldiers are all elites, but most of us are rural warriors. It is very disadvantageous to fight outside the city. It is better for us to defend the city." It is beneficial. As long as there is delay, it will be hot and humid, and the Han soldiers from the north will definitely get sick."

  Vietnam's territory is long and spans many latitudes, so the climate is very complicated.

  Like the Red River Delta where the battle is currently underway, the four seasons are relatively distinct, but it is relatively hot all year round. In summer, there are more typhoons and the rainfall increases significantly. It is hot and humid and it is easy to get sick.

  The rainy season in the true sense is actually on the Ruan family territory, and it is in the south of the Ruan family territory. There is drought for half a year and continuous rainfall for half a year.

  If you fight in Nghe An, Thanh Hoa, Ha Tinh and other areas, even if there is no typhoon in summer, it will be particularly uncomfortable, because there will be "Laos wind". In fact, it is a kind of foehn effect. The reason why Chongqing is called the stove is because the foehn always blows in summer.

  In a word, if time continues to drag down, the Chinese army will definitely experience a large number of non-combat attrition.

  Zheng Zuo nodded and said: "I understand."

Zheng Bing also said: "Our army sticks to Xing'an City. If the Han soldiers are unable to attack for a long time, they may go north to attack Taiping Mansion. There are not enough defenders in Taiping City. If you take 10,000 people there, even if you die in the city, you must kill them." Taiping is guarded, and the Han soldiers must not be allowed to cross Taiping and go to Shenglong Mansion!"

  Zheng Zuo immediately went to count the soldiers and horses, planning to lead the troops to garrison in Taiping Mansion.

  There is a tributary of the Red River called Taiping River. The two rivers meet near Xing'an City, and you can reach Taipingfu City along the Taiping River.

  When the Ming Dynasty conquered Annan, after Annan's rulers and officials abandoned the capital, they fled along the Red River to Xing'an City, and then took the Taiping River to the sea. During this period, the Ming army also caught up and fought a battle. The land and water battle annihilated tens of thousands of Annan's troops.

  Before Zheng Zuo left Xing'an with his troops, more than a dozen people fled in embarrassment to report.

   "Why are you here?" Zheng Yi asked.

The person who came was Zheng Bing's housekeeper, lying on the ground and crying loudly: "Your Majesty, I'm afraid Shenglong Mansion is gone! Mo's thieves attacked the capital with tens of thousands of troops, and the honorable officials in the city fled overnight, but were caught by the thieves halfway. Ambush. The villain...the villain jumped into the river to escape, and he was lucky enough to survive, and after running for dozens of miles, he finally saw the prince!"

  This news shocked Zheng Bing so that his whole body was icy cold, and then he said impotently and furiously: "Where does the surname Mo have tens of thousands of troops? If he survives, he can have several thousand!"

  It takes time to mobilize the army to go out. As long as the secrecy is done well, even if there are only 500 defenders left in Taiyuan City, they can completely stop the Mo family's army for two or three months. Who would have thought that Taiyuan was like a sieve, someone would rush to inform Mo Jingyu the day the defenders were transferred away.

  And Mo Jingyu didn't wait for his troops to gather, so he ordered an army to be summoned, and at the same time led two thousand people to attack the town.

  Zheng Zuo also got the news in the barracks, and hurried back: "Father, do you still want to guard the peace?"

   "Still keeping a fart!" Zheng Yi was so angry that he wanted to vomit blood.

  To the south of them is Li Dingguo's army, and to the north is the Shenglong Mansion captured by the Mo family. If they continue to hold on, they will be attacked from both sides.

  But if you don’t stick to it, where can you escape?

  Go to sea along the Taiping River by boat? The typhoon is approaching, and if we escape to the sea at this time, it is very likely that the whole family capsizes the boat and feeds the fish. Even if you don't encounter a typhoon, you may encounter the Datong Navy!

  There was only one choice left for them, Zheng Zuo asked, "Go to Ailao Mountain?"

  Zheng Zheng clenched his fists and said: "At the beginning when the Mo clan usurped power, Emperor Li also patrolled the Ailao, so in exchange for my Zheng clan to rejuvenate the Li Dynasty. The whole army immediately marched westward to the Ailao Mountain, and then fought back to Shenglong Mansion!"

  The Ailao Mountain here is not the Ailao Mountain in Yunnan, but generally refers to the large mountainous area at the junction of Laos, Vietnam, and China.

   There used to be an Ailao country, which rose in the middle and upper reaches of the Lancang River and Nu River, and was established by the Dai tribe. Ailao Kingdom is also called Mengzhang Kingdom and Chengxiang Kingdom. The word Ailao is a transliteration, which roughly means "big brother", and is the respectful title given to the king by the leaders of various ministries.

  A hundred years ago, Mo Dengyong usurped the government of Annan. The ancestors of the Zheng family and the Ruan family fled to the Ailao mountain area with a bunch of old ministers, but they did not know where to find the clan to support them. Only then did the most difficult years pass and bought time for the later restoration of the country.

  Now that Zheng Yi is in a desperate situation, he immediately thinks of his ancestors and decides to flee to the mountains to hide for a few years.

  That afternoon, Zheng Yi led tens of thousands of troops, with only food and gold and silver, and evacuated towards the mountainous area to the west as quickly as possible.

  These guys left on the front foot, and Datong in the city worked carefully, and rushed downstream to report the news.

   "Stop!"

Xizuo met Li Dingguo's vanguard on the way, and he said in Chinese: "My own people, act cautiously, and don't wear a belt badge. Tell General Li quickly that Zheng Bing fled westward, probably going into the mountains. Shenglong Mansion There are also people fleeing, and the Mo family is besieging Shenglong Mansion!"

  Li Dingguo soon learned of the news, and ordered: "Follow at full speed, and the enemy cannot escape into the mountains!"

  The ships carried armor, artillery and food, and the soldiers only held weapons in their hands. In the weather of nearly 30 degrees, they ran along the river under the scorching sun. Fortunately, the official road was built by the river, and the cavalry could also run along the official road. Otherwise, there would be paddy fields everywhere, and the cavalry would probably have to abandon their horses to pursue.

   When they rushed to Xing'an City, Li Dingguo successfully accepted the city, leaving only a few hundred people to guard the city, and the rest of the soldiers crossed the river and continued to chase west.

   And the next journey, there is no benefit of the river, food, armor, weapons have to be brought by the soldiers themselves.

  I saw thousands of Datong soldiers jogging shirtless on the ridges in the countryside. The cotton armor was packed on the back, and the spears, firecrackers, and waist knives were tied horizontally on the cotton armor. Under the scorching sun, they were sweating all over their bodies, as if they had just been fished out of the water.

  The horses of the cavalry were all left in Xing'an City, and they were temporarily converted into rapid infantry marches—there were no official roads, paddy fields were everywhere, and the progress of the horses was very slow.

   As for the food, each soldier only brought three days’ worth of dry food, and there was a kettle with cold boiled water on his waist.

  It was also very hot after nightfall, Zheng Bing's soldiers complained one after another, and the civilian men who carried the luggage were even hotter and tired.

  Zheng Bing was very old, and he couldn't bear it anymore. He ordered: "The whole army rests in place, don't walk around anywhere, and continue on the road after dawn!"

  Combined with civilian husbands and village braves, a total of tens of thousands of troops stopped in the fields like this. Let alone the formation, it stretches for several miles in a mess, and it takes a long time to convey the military order.

  Zheng Bing felt that he was safe, and the Han soldiers were still far away, so it was impossible for them to fly over and attack him.

  The officers of the various ministries ordered the soldiers to collect weeds and ignite them to fumigate mosquitoes. They are all weeds such as wormwood and mugwort, which can be seen everywhere in the wild, and farmers rely on these things to repel mosquitoes.

  For a while, the field was filled with thick smoke, and the smell of rice was mixed with it.

   Just as the meal was being served, there was a change from behind the troops, followed by another burst of shouts.

  Zheng Zuo came to report covered in blood: "Father, a gentry escaped with a countryman, and the child has been suppressed! Elite guards have been arranged everywhere. Whoever dares to be a deserter will not even want to see the sun tomorrow!"

   It is normal for deserters to appear.

   Of these tens of thousands of troops, more than 70% are civilian husbands and countrymen. The generals of the village brave troops are all diligent gentry from all over the country.

   It is fine to let the gentry recruit soldiers to serve the king, but let them abandon their family property and go to the mountains, and don't know how many years they will hide, that is more uncomfortable than killing them.

Zheng Bing expressed his appreciation for his son's quick response. After a few words of praise, he ordered: "There are all men in the army. I don't know how long they will stay in the mountains. It is bad if there are no women. Before entering the mountains, sweep the villages outside the mountains." , all the women were captured and assigned to the soldiers as wives.”

  Zheng Bing thought for a while, and said: "To prevent the soldiers from escaping, go and send an order now. Tell them that they can rob along the way tomorrow, but each person is only allowed to rob one woman. Too much robbing is not conducive to a fast march."

   With this approach, the Datong Army did not need to march in a hurry, and could catch up with normal speed.

  Zheng Zuo immediately sent someone to order the whole army. Hearing that they could plunder along the way, their morale recovered slightly. Especially those bachelors in the army are even excited, they will be able to grab their wives soon. They even made up their minds that if they want to rob the lady of the landlord's house, they don't want any ugly ones!

Zheng Ting said to his son: "At the beginning when the Mo clan usurped power, our ancestors led tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians into the mountains. After thirteen years of hard work, we finally achieved great success! Don't be discouraged. Our ancestors can dormant in the mountains for thirteen years, and we can do another one." Thirteen years. As long as you seize the opportunity, you will definitely be able to restore the country!"

   "Kids, remember!" Zheng Zuo was inspired by a few words.

  Actually, it was Ruan Gan, the ancestor of the Ruan family, who led the soldiers and civilians into the mountain. Zheng Jian, the ancestor of the Zheng family, came to seek refuge in the middle of the journey, and made a fortune by being Ruan Gan's son-in-law.

  They didn’t spend thirteen years fighting hard in the mountains, but spent thirteen years as cowards.

   Finally able to restore the country, it was Mo Dengyong who angered Emperor Jiajing, and the officers and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty had already reached Zhennan Pass. Mo Dengyong was so frightened that he peed his pants, and personally led all the ministers to Zhennan Pass to confess his guilt to the Ming army and ask for surrender.

  The ancestors of the Nguyen and Zheng clans seized the opportunity to send troops to retake Ngee An and Thanh Hoa. With the help of Ngee Ann and Qinghua gentry, they recruited the peasant army for the Northern Expedition, and finally recaptured Thang Long Mansion.

  After the restoration of the country, the Ruan family and the Zheng family fell out, and the Zheng family also played tricks to usurp power. The Ruan family fled to the south to establish a separatist regime.

  Of course, in the propaganda of the Zheng family, the Ruan family is a traitor, and the restoration of the country depends entirely on the efforts of the Zheng family.

  At night, Zheng Yi did not sleep soundly, and was always worried about the future development.

  Suddenly there was the sound of shouting and killing, and Zheng Bing woke up suddenly.

  Zheng Zuo came over with his own soldiers, and said anxiously: "Father, hurry up, the Han soldiers are coming!"

  Zheng Bing asked in surprise: "Why so fast? Can the Han soldiers fly?"

  (end of this chapter)