Nanming Engineer

Chapter 284

Wang Huanfu sat down again, his gaze was dignified, but there was an extremely reassuring calmness, without panic, which made everyone around him feel less nervous.

"The main force of Du Yinxi is the loyal camp of Li Guo, Gao Yigong and others. Where are they now?" Wang Huan asked Liu Yun after thinking for a while, tapping his thigh with the knuckle of his right index finger.

"According to some stragglers who escaped from Baoqing Mansion, Governor Du left Baoqing at the beginning of the month and went north to attack Changde and Xiangtan. Now that Xiangtan has fallen, it is estimated that Governor Du should still stay in Changde and command the Zhongzhen Battalion to march into Changsha. .” Liu Yun recalled and replied.

Wang Huan let out a "hmm", thought for a moment and then asked, "How many soldiers are there in Baoqing and Chenzhou? Who is the town general?"

Liu Yun replied: "There are about 2000 people in Baoqing, and 3000 people in Chenzhou. They are all miscellaneous soldiers and useless. Once the Tartars came, the city of Baoqing Prefecture was almost empty. It is a garrison under the governor, and according to the skirmishers, he has already taken the lead and ran away."

Hearing that the Ming army was so weak, everyone present no longer felt funny as they laughed at Yang Dapu's army a few days ago. Instead, they felt that the dark clouds were overwhelming their heads. Now the entire south of Huguang, blocking Yinxi's rear, has only a handful of troops deployed. Compared with the Qing army, it is much smaller, and it is so useless. In this way, within a radius of hundreds of miles, the only effective combat force in the formation is Wang Huan's Kuizhou army.

Thirty thousand against two thousand is very difficult.

The complexions of Li Dingguo and others became more and more gloomy.

Wang Huan remained silent, frowning and thinking about countermeasures.

Liu Yun drank some water and regained his energy. He looked up at Wang Huan and then at Li Dingguo. After hesitating for a while, he said, "My lord, the Tartars are powerful and we are alone. Why don't we go back and go to Guangxi again?" Say it."

Wang Huan was noncommittal, fell into deep thought and didn't answer. He stared straight at the sky. Under the scorching sun, there was no cloud in the sky. His eyes looked at the deep blue sky, as if he had crossed mountains and rivers to an extremely far place.

Li Dingguo wanted to reprimand Liu Yun for speaking rashly, but after a little calculation in his mind, he realized that what Liu Yun said was reasonable. The Kuizhou army was a passer-by, and there was no point in fighting the superior Qing army because of Huguang, which was not their own territory. Too little, and it wouldn't even count as scum when thrown on the battlefield. Thirty thousand Tartars can overwhelm the Kuizhou army with a single charge. How can they fight against it?
So Li Dingguo opened his mouth and swallowed the words in his throat. He just stared at the general Wang Huan, waiting for his decision.

The bushes fell silent, and everyone was waiting anxiously. In the distance, Wang Yingxiong's hoarse screams of pain could be heard faintly. His inner thighs had been worn out with many blisters due to riding horses for days. The red-hot knife pierced him and applied medicine. This process was very painful.

Wang Huan's fingers stopped abruptly amidst Wang Yingxiong's cry, and Li Dingguo's heart trembled when he saw it. After following Wang Huan for so long, he knew that once his knuckles stopped tapping, he must have made a decision, what to do, The solution lies in Wang Huanxin.

Sure enough, Wang Huan stood up and looked solemnly at the generals present. At this moment, more than a dozen centurions had already stood in front of him, headed by Li Dingguo, including Ma Wannian and Liu Yun, all staring at him, firmly Waiting for his order.

"We are the sons of the Han Dynasty, how can we see the barbarians wreak havoc and run away?" Wang Huan's voice was deep and powerful, as if it came from the bottom of his heart, infecting everyone: "As soon as we leave, Baoqing, Jingzhou, Chenzhou and Yongzhou will be destroyed." , there will be no more Ming Dynasty officials and soldiers, and the land of one mansion and three states will surely fall into the hands of the Tartars. Pity the people on this huge land, who have just left the sea of ​​suffering and entered the tiger's mouth. See them? The army practicing martial arts does not dare to fight, do you want the common people to fight with kitchen knives and poles? What is the face of a man?!"

Those who heard it were moved, and those who heard it were angry. The hearts of the people were quickly infected by this simple sentence, their eyes became hot, and they shouted in unison: "I am willing to die with my lord!"

Li Dingguo frowned deeply, although he also shouted, but he is extremely stable and thoughtful, not just relying on enthusiasm, so when everyone stopped for a while, he immediately said: "My lord, but there are many Tartar soldiers, we have to fight , you must be able to plan, otherwise, if you fight recklessly, there is no chance of winning!"

Wang Huan nodded and agreed: "That's right, the battle is necessary, but the foolish reckless fight is just to die, so we have to find a way, that is, to hold back this group of Tartar soldiers, so that they can't start from blocking Yinxi. It is indeed very difficult to sneak attack from behind without being able to resist it head-on."

When he said this, he simply squatted down, took a few stones, and set up a terrain on the ground, and everyone gathered around to watch.

Wang Huan pointed with his fingers: "This is Baoqing, this is Chenzhou, and here is Changde, and the farther is Changsha, everyone! If the Qing army captured Baoqing, they would go straight to Changde and attack Du Yinxi's back road, Du Yinxi's main loyal camp is near Changsha, and He Tengjiao's army besieged Changsha, Changde must not have a large army. Once the [-] Qing army arrived, Du Yinxi would either withdraw to Changsha to protect himself, or fall into a wasteland. Flee, abandon Changde and go to Changsha. No matter what you choose, the siege of Changsha will be broken, and once morale drops, the military power will be greatly reduced. The land in the prefectures and counties will be lost again, and it will slump for thousands of miles. If you can't even hold the original territory, Duyinxi is almost over!"

Watching Wang Huan move his fingers, and listening to his analysis, everyone felt terrified. At first, they thought it was dangerous when the Tartars came, but they didn't know exactly how dangerous it was. Hearing what Wang Huan said, everyone's minds suddenly became clear. This specific sense of crisis is more terrifying than the ignorant sense of crisis. If Huguang is lost, Guangxi and Guangdong will be exposed to the iron heels of the Tartars.

Li Dingguo thought thoughtfully and said, "In this case, we must try our best to hold off the Tatars before Du Yinxi reacts."

"That's right, delay. We have few people, and it is impossible to defeat the Tartars in a frontal field battle. The only way to win is to find a way to delay."

Li Dingguo knelt down on one knee, looked at the few stones, and said in a deep voice: "Our army is all cavalry, good at maneuvering, why not spread out and harass and sneak attack, so as to disrupt the Tartars."

Everyone's eyes lit up and they nodded their heads. They all thought it was feasible, but Wang Huan shook his head and said, "Harassment can't be done at all, and it can't touch the Tartars at all. If the Tartars are smart enough, they can send out some cavalry to deal with us. Ben Changde, in this way, we will be helpless."

Everyone was right at first glance, scratching their ears and cheeks but unable to think of a way to break it, so they were all silent and at a loss.

But Wang Huan said solemnly: "So, if we want to hold back the Tartars and give Du Yinxi time to make roundabout arrangements, we can only find a proper place and hold it firmly. If it lasts for three or four days, Du Yinxi can arrange it calmly, so as not to mess up the space in a hurry."

"Therefore, there are two keys to this method. One is to notify Du Yinxi in time that there are wolves coming in his rear. It is estimated that the people who escaped from Baoqing have already reported to him, but just in case, Also in order to let him know that my Kuizhou army is blocking the sword for him, it is necessary to send a fine horse to deliver a message." Wang Huan stood up, sat back on the stone, raised two fingers, and said in a deep voice: "The first Second, we need to find a place that can withstand the attack of [-] or more Eastern captives. This place must be critical enough and the terrain is critical. The Tartars cannot bypass it and must conquer it. Only in this way can we achieve our goal."

The generals suddenly realized that the lord had already made a plan, and he had a plan in his mind. Most of the place he held on to had also had a plan, so everyone shut up and waited honestly for Wang Huan to announce the answer.

Li Dingguo smiled and said: "My lord has a well-thought-out plan, he knows the geography, mountains and rivers like the palm of his hand, and every state and prefecture in Huguang is in his mind. Please give me some guidance."

Wang Huan didn't hold back his appetite, picked up a small stone from his side, and gently placed it on the ground between the stone representing Changde and the stone representing Chenzhou, and carefully pressed it into the soil. .

"It's here. Between Chenzhou and Changde, there is a county named Xinhua, and the official road passes through the county. The wonderful thing is that Xinhua has a radius of hundreds of miles, with many mountains and high hills. There is no way to go except the official road. If you want to It will take a lot of time to bypass, we will show weakness first, let the Tartars think that the defenders are just stragglers, and attract the Tartars to attack the city. In three days, our goal has been achieved."

Everyone was relieved, admiring Wang Huan's familiarity with geography to the point that he even knew the small town of Xinhua, and lamented that he had thought of so many key points in such a short period of time, and his thoughtfulness was evident.

However, Li Dingguo was still full of worries. His face was full of worry, and he asked worriedly: "My lord, Xinhua is only a small county town. This kind of county town has low earthen walls and dilapidated defenses. I'm afraid there is no moat. Can it be blocked?" A division of [-] tigers and wolves?"

After a pause, he looked at Wang Huan, his eyes were full of loyalty, and said awe-inspiringly: "Since the day Li Dingguo surrendered to you, this life has been entrusted to you, and you have no regrets about life and death, but we have nothing to do with Huguang bureaucrats. , He Tengjiao once envied Silver Mine to fight with us, is it really worth spending two thousand sons to block Yinxi for him?"

These few words were said with utmost sincerity, without any hint of pretense. They were thinking about Wang Huan and the Kuizhou Army from the bottom of his heart. Wang Huan could not help but feel a movement in his heart, and a warm feeling among his comrades arose spontaneously. This feeling , similar to the feeling of relying on each other among a group of orphaned monks who share weal and woe in a ruined temple in Yangzhou, makes Wang Huan extremely affectionate.

"We are not trying to block Yinxi, we are doing it for the people of Huguang, for the Han family." Wang Huan patted Li Dingguo's shoulder lightly, and said in a vibrating voice: "It is of no benefit to us if Huguang is lost. Well, if we help Yinxi, we are helping ourselves."

He blinked, and said confidently: "Besides, who said that I would entrust two thousand sons here?"

(End of this chapter)