Cutting over the end of the Ming Dynasty: a dog-leg knife at the beginning

Chapter 364 A Fatal Choice
That naughty quartermaster really kept his word. He said he would not give food and grass, and he would not give food and grass. He completely ignored the Heluo New Army and Wu Sheng, the Zhejiang Army.

Yang Menglong also kept his word. He said he would not care about other people's food and grass. After the camp was built, he ordered a fire to cook. A large amount of polished rice and flour were unloaded from the car to make rice and steamed buns. I feel a little distressed, isn't this a prodigal?Today, the Heluo New Army's luck was not very good. The convoy sent out to purchase failed to bring them back fresh vegetables and fresh meat. Take it out, pry it open, and dig out large pieces of mutton, pork, fish, sauerkraut, broad beans, etc., and fry them in a mess... The food of these grandchildren is really good!

This meal directly brought down two-thirds of the Zhejiang Army's strength.They were so full that they could barely walk.Zhe Jun caressed his chubby belly and lamented that he was really lucky. If he could eat this kind of food every day, they would never frown even if they were killed in battle!
It seems that there are still troops who have not yet arrived, so the Ming army has not yet held a military meeting.Yang Menglong had nothing to do. While urging the troops to strengthen the camp day and night, he also released the chasseurs to inquire about the military situation.He has a good habit of collecting intelligence. Before each action, he must grasp the reality of the enemy's army, and he will never act rashly when the enemy's situation is unknown, giving the enemy an opportunity.The powerful scout troop also gave him the ability to fully control the battlefield. Xu Gong led three hundred chasseurs out of the camp, and a team of ten cavalry approached the Laizhou battlefield, and began to contact the rebel scouts.Soon, the rebel scouts discovered that they had an extraordinarily strong opponent. These knights in black looked like groups of wild wolves from the prairie. The weapons used by horses or Liaodong war horses, from sabers to bows and crossbows, are all extremely sophisticated.They fiercely attacked the powerful security screen of the rebel army, biting the scouts of the rebel army ruthlessly, coming and going so quickly that people could not see or touch them. Hou's mutilated body.

The rebels soon felt the strong pressure from the imperial army.

Under the city of Laizhou, the sound of guns was booming, people were shouting and horses neighing, dozens of cannons were bombarding the already riddled city, and black lead balls shot out from the orange flames and flew towards the battlements. With one blow, the battlements were reduced to a heap of flying stone dust.What's even more frightening is that some of these cannons can fire explosive shells. Rows of shells exploded one after another on the city wall.The defenders also fought back tenaciously with cannons. The quality and performance of the cannons they used were much inferior to those of the rebels who were personally cast by Dutch and Portuguese technicians, but they were also very accurate. , Seeing the rebels rushing up, it was a shot, a shot weight weighing several kilograms fell from the sky, and blood and mud splashed on the ground immediately, which made people frightened.The brigade of rebels carried a ladder and rushed up against the gunfire. Immediately, hot dung juice poured down on the city wall. At the same time, there were countless ash bottles. These ash bottles were smashed among the rebels and burst open. It flew up and splashed into the eyes of the rebels. The rebels were in pain.

The two generals watched this tragic battle silently from a stone's throw away, with a heavy heart.They are the number one figures in the rebel army, Li Jiuzheng and Kong Youde. These two launched a rebellion in Wuqiao, with a mere [-] Liao soldiers. Zhan Zhibing is no longer under [-].These days are undoubtedly very enjoyable for these Liao army officers and soldiers who have been wronged since Mao Wenlong's death. Seeing those common people, officials and gentry who did not look at themselves directly under their butcher knives, crying bitterly, Begging bitterly, scrambling to send up their belongings to redeem their lives, the soldiers of the Liao army all felt proud.They conquered Dengzhou effortlessly, and slaughtered Pingdu, Laiyang, and Huangxian... They wiped out the Ming army again and again. These brilliant achievements made them very proud, and even created a kind of them that could dominate the entire Shandong. illusion.

Until they crashed under Laizhou city.

It has been seven months. From the siege to the present, neither Li Jiuzheng nor Kong Youde can remember how many times they have launched a strong attack on Laizhou City, how many artillery shells have been fired, and have used all available tactics and tricks. However, this little Laizhou is as hard as iron, no matter how hard you grind it, it will stand still!On July [-]th, the rebels lured Zhu Wannian, the magistrate of Laizhou, out of the city by feigning surrender, and captured this important figure in one fell swoop, and asked him to call for the soldiers and civilians of Laizhou to surrender. As a result...no one thought that this naive and pedantic civil servant would be so staunch, Under the city of Laizhou, he roared angrily: "The elites of the rebels are all around me, fire at this place!"The sound of the rumbling guns completely shattered the rebels' last illusion of taking Laizhou City out of their wits. Want to take Laizhou City?Okay, let's trade your life for it!
They underestimated the bloodiness and stamina of Shandong people.

As expected, this round of offensive caused the defenders to repel again.Li Jiuzheng gritted his teeth and said, "Damn Yang Yufan! After the city is broken, I will cut his body into thousands of pieces and exterminate his entire family!"

Yang Yufan was the defender of Laizhou. It was he who commanded the soldiers and civilians of Laizhou to withstand the seven-month siege of the rebels. The rebels hated him deeply.

Kong Youde frowned and said, "Xu Congzhi is dead, Xie Lian is dead, and Zhu Wannian is dead too, but Laizhou is still indestructible... Could it be that Laizhou City is made of iron!?"

Li Jiuzheng sneered: "Even if it is really made of iron, I will chew it off and slaughter the whole city without leaving any chickens or dogs behind!"

Kong Youde didn't speak, just looked at the dilapidated city wall in thought.Unlike Li Jiuzheng, a gambler warrior, he was once a well-known general in the Dongjiang Army. He was as famous as Geng Zhongming and Shang Kexi. He made military exploits in a series of bloody battles against Houjin.Li Jiuzheng has been dazzled by the series of victories since the rise of the army. He thought that the whole Shandong was at his disposal, but Kong Youde did not. He knew clearly that if he could not get out of Shandong as soon as possible, the only thing waiting for them was a dead end.

Yes, it must be typed out as soon as possible.From the perspective of military geography, Shandong has many shortcomings. It does not have the breadth and depth of Shaanxi, the strength of eagle strikes on both wings to control Youyan, and the complete appearance of mountains and rivers in Shanxi. It does not have the scenery surrounded by mountains and seas Domineering, not even the kingly aura of Huguang, Jianghuai, Dajiang screen protection, tigers occupying dragons, it is adjacent to the endless North China Plain and Huanghuai Plain, only a piece of low mountains and hills as the outer barrier, once you cross these low mountains and hills, you can go straight to Shandong In the hinterland, the entire territory of Shandong is irreversibly penetrated.Of course, the most terrible thing is that there is an endless sea to the east of Shandong. Once the outer defense line is penetrated, they will have no way to retreat.Once the Shandong separatist forces are formed, there are three choices before them: the first is to go straight to the Central Plains, the second is to attack Youyan, and the third is to go south and sweep Jiangnan.Based in Shandong, it is powerful and powerful, but it is necessary to clarify the strategic direction as soon as possible, and fight out quickly, otherwise it may become a brutal tug-of-war in three directions, and eventually be beaten to death.It is a dead end to be trapped in Shandong, and it is also a dead end if the strategic direction is not clear—the lesson of Huang Chao is clearly there.For thousands of years, Cao Cao was the only hero who rose up in Shandong and finally achieved hegemony. It's not that Shandong people are weak, but that they are in a disadvantaged position.On the other hand, it has been almost a year for the rebels, and they are still running between Denglai, not to mention Shandong, not even Jiaodong. Their ending was already doomed when they were under the city of Laizhou by Chen Bing. No matter how fierce they are, There is no way to change it.

Kong Youde's vision was not so far-sighted, he just felt that it was inappropriate to put the army under the city of Laizhou for a long time without a decision. You can't expect that the commander who leads the imperial army to quell the chaos every time is an idiot like Liu Yulie, right?Now that they have exhausted the court's patience, they have brought in tens of thousands of troops again. Do they still have the good luck they had last time?

Just as he was worried, a small group of cavalry came galloping, and the knights immediately looked a little flustered.Li Jiuzheng shouted in a deep voice, "What's going on?"

The leader of this small group of cavalry is Li Jiuzheng's precious son, Li Yingyuan.Li Yingyuan dismounted from his horse and bowed his knees to pay homage: "I would like to report to Commander-in-Chief, our scouts in the Shahe area and the scouts of the imperial army broke out in a fierce battle, and many were killed and injured!"

Fighting scouts is the most common thing on the battlefield. As long as it is a general with a normal mind, who doesn't want to control the battlefield and grasp the enemy's every move?Therefore, the casualties of scouts have become the most common thing, and it is really not worth making a fuss about.Li Jiuzheng frowned and said, "It's just that a few scouts died, is there anything to make a fuss about?"

Li Yingyuan said: "No, Commander-in-Chief, these scouts are different from other scouts of the Ming army! Each of them is riding a tall and strong Liaodong horse, dressed in black, coming and going like the wind, and has excellent riding skills. They all have the tactics of piercing Yang with a hundred steps, and the equipment is even more sophisticated! The boy picked up some of the arrows they fired——" making a gesture, a scout took out a few sharp arrows and handed them over.Li Jiuzheng and Kong Youde took two each, and when they saw it, they frowned disobediently: the arrow feathers of these arrows are made of high-quality goose feathers, the shafts of the arrows are polished extremely smooth, and soaked in tung oil. Very good.Of course, the most eye-catching thing is the three-inch-long triangular arrowhead. It is black and heavy, with sharp edges and corners, making people shudder.This is a steel arrowhead, which is very different from the crude iron arrowheads used by ordinary Ming soldiers.The entire arrow reached two feet in length, and it was full of weight. It was enough to be a heavy arrow on Houjin's side. You had to use a step bow to shoot it effectively and hit a target 50 meters away.

"A scout from the Ming army shot an arrow from fifty paces away, piercing the helmet of one of our servants, and that famous servant died on the spot!" Li Yingyuan said with lingering fear.

Fifty steps is 75 meters. It is not easy for ordinary cavalry to hit such a distant target.Li Jiucheng asked: "Did he use a walking bow or a riding bow?"

Li Yingyuan said: "A riding bow! A riding bow that is no longer than four feet long! This Ming army scout shot this arrow from the back of a galloping horse!"

Li Jiuzheng's frown became tighter and tighter: "Riding on the back of a galloping horse, an arrow shot our servant's head, pierced through the helmet, and killed him with one arrow? Where did such a deadly scout come out? Could it be that the Ming army also Increased troops?"

Kong Youde said: "They have watched us fight for several months in the outskirts of Laizhou, and they should make a move..." He sneered at this point: "But, so what? How is the combat effectiveness of the Shandong soldiers? I’ve learned it, not to mention sending tens of thousands of people, even if it’s hundreds of thousands, we can cut them all like chopping firewood and mowing grass!”

Kong Youde is crazy, but he has the capital of madness. Since the beginning of the army, the Denglai rebels have been invincible, and the Jiaodong Ming army was defeated by them.The tall and powerful Shandong Han was vulnerable to the fierce Liao soldiers, but the Zhejiang army still had some combat effectiveness, but the Ming army generals were too stupid, and ruined thousands of Zhejiang troops on the battlefield in vain.After the experience of chopping melons and cutting vegetables to destroy Liu Yulie's tens of thousands of troops, Kong Youde had the confidence to dismiss the Ming army that was gathering in the Shahe area.

Li Jiucheng asked: "Brother, what are you going to do?"

Kong Youde was full of murderous intent: "Don't attack the city, leave thousands of troops to surround Laizhou, we will lead the main force to advance to Shahe, and kill the [-] Ming army led by that dead eunuch Gao Qiqian! As long as we can kill the [-] Ming army Army, even if Laizhou City is really forged with iron, it should be surrendered!"

Within the rebel army, Li Jiuzheng was elected as the generalissimo by everyone, and Kong Youde was elected as the general. In other words, Li Jiuzheng was the boss and Kong Youde was the second child. On the other hand, Li Jiuzheng still wants to listen to Kong Youde's opinion.Hearing what Kong Youde said, he also felt that it was not worthwhile to stay under the city wall of Laizhou. It would be better to kill the [-] Ming army first. nodded.

The rebels agreed with the decision of the generalissimo and the general. In their view, fighting tens of thousands of Ming troops in the wild is far easier than gnawing the city wall, and they can get more spoils.They cheered and left the camp, and drove towards Shahe.

The rebels didn't know that just when Li Jiucheng nodded, the God of Death began to smile grimly at them.

(End of this chapter)