Nanming Engineer

Chapter 281 Bandit
When the city of Zhaoqing was in a mess, Wang Huan's Kuizhou army had been marching like sparks on the official road to the north of Zhaoqing for a long time, waiting for Luo Chengyao to gather his troops and hurried out of the gate of Zhaoqing At that time, the Kuizhou army had already crossed the border of Guangdong and Hubei and entered the territory of Huguang.

The land of Huguang is known as the granary of the world. Since the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, successive emperors have paid attention to the development of agriculture. The area of ​​agricultural cultivation in the south has continued to expand, the population has continued to rise, and the types of rice have continued to be renovated. Double-cropping rice has appeared as a milestone. Lingnan even Three-season rice appeared, and the emergence and introduction of high-yield rice varieties greatly stimulated the vitality of farmers' production. Huguang Province is located in a subtropical climate, with abundant rainfall and fertile land. Due to geographical reasons, various droughts, Floods and locust plagues were less affected, and provided good conditions for agricultural development. Therefore, the reputation of "Huguang is cooked, and the world is full", accompanied by the resale of grain trucks all over the country, spread throughout the land of China. Even Wang Huan's The Minister of Finance, Ma Chongming, is still buying a large amount of grain from Huguang into Sichuan through the companies established in various places in Huguang.

Therefore, when Wang Huan entered Huguang, he saw fields and cypresses everywhere, and large tracts of fields surrounded small villages, filled with an idyllic atmosphere full of greenery and the fragrance of birds and flowers. It was not as barren as in Guangdong.

However, although the scenery is beautiful, the common people working in the fields saw a group of soldiers coming on horseback from a distance, but they threw away the farm tools in their hands in panic, rushed into the village with their children, closed the gate of the village and pulled up the suspension bridge It's like facing a big enemy.

"These ordinary people don't seem to welcome the officers and soldiers very much." Wang Huan frowned and said while riding his horse forward, looking around with the awning on his hands.

Li Dingguo accompanied him, and replied after hearing the voice: "Huguang is a place that has been deeply poisoned by Zuo Liangyu. When the Zuo clan gained power, the whole Huguang was his territory. Taxes are self-collected, and there is no need to hand over a rice to the court. , and Zuo Liangyu's reputation as a bandit is well known. Except for some of his own soldiers, his army has never been paid, and it is all robbed by itself. Powerful, so in Huguang Province, when it comes to the officers and soldiers, it is hated, there are folk rumors; the bandits come and ask for food and money, and the officers and soldiers come to kill!"

Speaking of this, Li Dingguo sighed, shook his head and said: "Speaking of which, this gang of corrupt officials and thieves actually ruined the world. Who would take the risk of moving their heads to raise the flag for rebellion?"

Liu Yun's eyes were red and he replied from the side: "Yes, there was a severe drought in Shaanxi back then. If General Li hadn't seen that General Mo was about to starve to death and saved me with a piece of steamed bun, General Mo would be like the dozen or so members of my family now. The soul has returned to the underworld, how can I meet an adult and get such good luck."

Wang Huan pondered and remained silent. Historically, the peasant uprising began in the Wanli Dynasty of the Ming Dynasty. It swept across the country. Tracing the source and investigating its causes, natural disasters are one, and man-made disasters are two. Even smoking green smoke will not bless Zhu Yuanzhang's descendants.

Although the natural disasters have passed now, the man-made disasters have become more and more serious. In order to cope with the rising military pay, the Nanming court tried every means to squeeze the people. The people have been on the heads of the people for many years and have never been cut off. In the process of collecting these grains and salaries, bureaucrats at all levels have worked hard to collect one or two taels of silver. positive.Even the Qing court, which took over from the Ming court and replaced it, continued to collect three major salaries in accordance with the tax system of the Ming Dynasty because of endless wars and a large gap in military expenditure.As a result, people everywhere suffered unspeakably.

Thinking about these things in his heart, Wang Huan only felt that the pressure was extremely great. He was still too weak and his troops were limited. When he went back this time, he should calm down and sort out his thoughts. Develop one or two practical cross-age weapons to pave the way for future wars.

Just as he was thinking about it, he suddenly heard a trumpet blasting in mid-air, shaking Wang Huan's head up abruptly and waking up from his contemplation.

I saw countless banners erected on a hill in front of me, rows of human heads rising from the haystacks, there were countless people in the darkness, and the shouts of killing were overwhelming.

Wang Huan hadn't reacted yet, and then, from the left and right rears, countless soldiers came out shouting, all in red Ming army uniforms, hats inlaid with red tassels, long spears, broadswords, strong bows and arrows. The equipment all showed that these people were all from the Ming army.

Rows of refusal horses were carried out and lay across the official road. There were also a lot of ground where horses could run on all sides. Many people ran around and kept throwing some things in their hands. Looking carefully, they were so scattered. It's an iron stud.

Ambush? !

A thought flashed through Wang Huan's mind. He didn't expect the news of Nanming to spread so fast. It took three days to notify the ground in Huguang. It was careless. He only sent four or five scouts to go out, and they must be silent. It's done.

"Dismount and resist the enemy!"

"Arrange in a circular formation, with card players on the outside, spearmen next, and the rest holding crossbows and ammunition in the center, waiting for orders."

"The horses are all driven into the inner circle, and the reins are tied together to prevent the horses from running away in fright."

A series of orders came out of Wang Huan's mouth like a cannonball.

More than 2000 people were well-trained, and they started to move almost at the same time they heard Wang Huan's roar. The two centurions measured the distance with their eyes, ran away one after the other, and stood still after making sure that the distance was enough. The squad took these two people as benchmarks, and found their positions in an orderly manner. Under the leadership of their respective officers, a huge circular formation was formed in an instant in order. When a squad was in place, eleven people roared in unison: " Team A, Class B is in place!" "Team A, Class C is in place!"

Amidst the roars one after another, the shieldman stabbed the large shield into the ground hard, and propped up the reinforced crossbar. The spearman stretched out the ash rod spear from the hole reserved on the edge of the large shield, and inserted the tail end obliquely into the ground. Stepping on one foot, freeing both hands, he raised the mountain-destroying crossbow at his waist.Behind them, Niao Tong was busy loading ammunition and ammunition, making nervous preparations for the battle.

All of this, from the marching column to the battle formation, was completed in just a few breaths. In the dust raised by the military boots, the Ming troops who were throwing stumbling nails on the outside had not yet finished.

"Who is here?" Li Dingguo commanded the circle to form, and then came to Wang Huan who was in the center of the circle, squinted his eyes and looked forward and asked, "Why can't I see the banner of the general?"

Wang Huan looked puzzled, and also squinted his eyes to look hard: "The flags are all tiger and leopard flags. It's quite strange that they didn't recognize the flags."

Li Dingguo looked at it carefully for a while and then said: "Looking at the clothes, they must be officers and soldiers. This horse-repelling technique should be mostly used by soldiers. Plus those horse-snapping nails, it must be the personal barracks of the general soldier of one side." s things."

He wondered: "Since you are a personal soldier, why don't you call the general to recognize the flag?"

Wang Huan said in a deep voice: "It doesn't matter who comes, we will fight! We will hold our breath and wait for him to attack. We will shoot a group of arrows and see how powerful he is. If he is defeated in one blow, we will kill him." Just wait for a while; if you become more courageous as you fight, wait for him to approach and greet him with exterminator bullets."

Li Dingguo agreed with a sullen face, and the corners of his mouth were calm and twitched with a smile. In fact, he was looking forward to it very much, because he had touched the luster of the captive ammunition in his bag during this period, and he was very eager to try it out with his own hands. Today I finally have the opportunity to test the power of the captive ammunition, how can I not be happy?

The circular array was set up, motionless like a mountain, and the Kuizhou army was like a statue, looking at the Ming army in front of them calmly, grasping the weapons in their hands, and waiting for the battle to come.

Liu Yun stood in front of the circle, hiding behind a large shield, holding a mountain-destroying crossbow in his hand, peeking out through the hole in the shield, with hatred in his mouth, constantly cursing the cunning of the Ming army in a low voice, Block the way with refusal horses and studs, and lay a trap to trap the Kuizhou army, which is all cavalry.

There were tens of thousands of Ming troops in chaos all around. They yelled indiscriminately for a while, with great momentum. When they saw that the Kuizhou army in the middle had set up a circular defense without panic, they were somewhat surprised, and their yelling gradually became quieter. , looked at each other, felt timid in their hearts, and felt that compared with the besieged Kuizhou army, they seemed to be much worse.

The Ming army at the front where the horses are rejected is the largest and densest. The soldiers' size and spirit must be stronger, and the armor is more distinctive. I saw a man suddenly rushing out from the gap where the horses were rejected, and walked towards the round formation that was waiting for the formation. Go, walk to a stone's throw away, and stand still.

Liu Yun looked at this man strangely, but he was dressed as an ordinary sergeant, with a slightly fatter figure, a fat face and a wide mouth, and a big belly that stretched out his waist armor. It looked a little funny. He opened his voice and shouted at the Kuizhou army.

"Hey, brother on the opposite side, this is the territory under the jurisdiction of General Yang Dapu of Wuyi, Lord Yang, and you are passing through the army. According to the rules set by Lord Yang, five hundred healthy horses will be drawn, and 5000 taels of military pay will be used as passing money. Who is the chief general in the army? Come out and talk to me quickly, otherwise, this road will be difficult! By then, weapons will not have eyes, and it will be too late if you hurt your peace!"

When Liu Yun heard this, his eyes almost popped out, and his mouth was so wide that he almost couldn't close it.

What?Is this for robbery?

(End of this chapter)