Prince Chongzhen

Chapter 410 I'm Really Afraid of Saying the Wrong Thing

Zhu Cilang cheated.

According to common sense, after passing Qipan Pass, one should go north along the Yudai River, and after it merges into the Han River, go west along the river until it is blocked by Yangping Pass.

This is the way passed down by the elders, and it has remained basically unchanged for more than a thousand years. If Zhu Cilang had not been forced to do so, he probably would not have had the motivation to find the Huangba River that flows into Hanzhong through the mountains.

To be honest, it’s not that no one knows that they can bypass Yangping Pass from here, and the local mountain people even use it as a shortcut.

However, the source of the Huangba River is some distance away from the Yudai River, so it is understandable that it is overlooked.

But then again, being ignored has its own advantages. Xiang Rensheng led his troops along the way but did not encounter even a single Qing army outpost.

Xiang Rensheng was not completely unprepared for this situation. After all, the central army was alone and deep in the territory. When the camp appeared in his sight, he remained sufficiently vigilant.

"Go grab two tongues."

Following the order, those who were good at sneak attacks moved forward quietly. Afterwards, Xiang Rensheng and several soldiers quietly hid among the bushes and trees, carefully observing the movements of the enemy troops in the camp.

He had fought several night battles in the past year or so, but no matter whether it was a surprise attack on Zhenjiang or a night assault on the Qing army camp, they had some understanding of the enemy's situation, but it was not like this time when they were completely in the dark.

To others, this seems to be superfluous.

But in essence, a night attack cannot be successful by just rushing out to kill all the enemies at once. If we fail to make arrangements based on the enemy's details, it is possible that we will be counterattacked.

"Brother, something is wrong."

Just as Xiang Rensheng was looking anxiously at the patrol soldier who had not been seen for a while, a general crawling beside him whispered something.

Judging from the size of the Tartar camp, the soldiers patrolling the camp at night should be able to complete a round in half an incense stick of time. However, more than an incense stick of time had passed, and there was still no sign of the patrolling soldiers. This made Xiang Rensheng, who had launched several night attacks, puzzled.

"Wait a little longer, it's still early."

After he finished speaking, Xiang Rensheng and the others quietly watched the movements in the enemy camp. After a while, they saw a group of Qing soldiers marching past the fence, and he was slightly relieved.

Probably because the defense was lax.

With this in mind, Xiang Rensheng waited to catch a tongue to confirm it, but when the people he sent came back, he was stunned.

Those who were good at using clubs to attack did not find any enemy sentries in the surroundings. When they went around to the west side of the enemy camp, they discovered that the Tartar sentries and patrols had suddenly become much more dense.

Seeing this situation, they did not dare to act rashly and ended up returning empty-handed.

"Second brother, the west is probably the valley road that Emperor Liu took back then. The Tartars didn't expect us to come from this side."

Xiang Rensheng also expressed his approval of his brother's judgment.

He was unable to formulate a specific strategy because he did not know the number of enemy troops, and he was inevitably hesitant when issuing military orders.

Suanqiu, why bother with so many things? Anyway, this can't be a camp of tens of thousands of people.

After thinking for several times, Xiang Rensheng finally made a plan. After making some arrangements, the vanguard led by the general moved towards the enemy camp.

This was not because Xiang Rensheng was hesitant. Basically, their central army had been outnumbered since Yingtian. Even though their equipment was far superior to that of ordinary soldiers, they would still suffer heavy losses if they did not take extra precautions before the battle.

Because the enemy's defense was lax, the vanguard easily broke a hole in the camp wall. Then each unit followed Xiang Rensheng's orders. It was not until the raging fire gradually spread that the Tartars discovered that they had been attacked by the enemy.

Things had come to this point, and naturally the Qing troops on Dingjun Mountain had no choice but to wait for death.

Afterwards, the guards in the central army lit fires and defeated the enemy. In just three or two quarters of an hour, there were only a hundred or two hundred people left in the camp, fighting stubbornly around the central army tent.

“How many people are there on the mountain?”

"Dang~~!"

While his soldiers were besieging the enemy, Xiang Rensheng's attention was on a dozen prisoners kneeling in a row not far away. However, these people seemed unaware of his questions, as if they had lost their hearing.

Faced with such a situation, he would certainly not be soft-hearted. As he raised his stick and swung it, a golden sound was heard immediately, and then a Tartar prisoner collapsed to the ground like rotten meat, and when his helmet fell off, a streak of red and white was also smeared on the ground.

“How many people are there on the mountain?”

“Dang~~~!”

After asking two questions in a row, Xiang Rensheng didn't get the answer he wanted. However, he didn't expect to get the information so easily. When he came in front of the third person, he picked up the iron rod and knocked him down without saying a word.

“Dang~~~!”

Following a muffled sound, the Qing soldier collapsed, and when Xiang Rensheng was about to hit the next one, a howling suddenly reached his ears.

"I know!!! I know!!!"

"Oh? I thought you guys weren't afraid of death."

Looking at the soldier, Xiang Rensheng couldn't help but ask a question.

This statement is not a joke, but comes from the heart.

Mo looked at Rensheng who was knocking all the way, as if because those people did not answer, but in the process he was quietly paying attention to the emotional changes of the other captives.

When he knocked on the first few, the Qing soldier also looked afraid, but the fear was far from enough to make him answer obediently, until the third man collapsed to the ground.

"General, you don't know that he is our father. If he is not dead, we would never dare to answer your question."

"Oh? You're all captured, how can you still be afraid of him?"

After hearing this question, the soldier showed hesitation on his face. Then he looked at Xiang Rensheng and seemed to have made up his mind.

"General, he is Ezhen, and his clan is quite powerful. If he can be saved in your hands, the court will pay to redeem him, and then our family will be saved."

redemption?

Hearing this, Xiang Rensheng couldn't help but feel confused.

He had been with Zhu Cilang for such a long time, so he naturally knew what his Majesty's rules were, but at this moment.
"Who said we would allow you to pay to redeem someone?"

"Reporting to the general, it has been spread all over here that you have agreed to negotiate peace, and will allow the court to redeem the high officials who were previously captured as soon as this war is over."

I don't know if it was because he was alert in his heart or because he asked this question casually, but at this moment Xiang Rensheng seemed to have forgotten his original purpose and focused his attention on the matter of paying money to redeem the person. After the Qing soldier finished answering, he realized that something was wrong and he secretly kept this matter in mind.

"I am not a high-ranking officer, but I have never heard of these things." After a brief perfunctory reply, Xiang Rensheng asked about the situation of the garrison on Dingjun Mountain.

At this time, the soldier had reached the point where he knew everything and told everything. In just a few words, he had revealed the entire situation on the mountain and below.

"That means there are 1,500 people on the mountain, and about 8,000 in the pass?" Xiang Rensheng paused, as if waiting for the soldier's answer. But no one knew what he thought of during this time. Before the other party could speak, he asked again: "Hauge has less than 20,000 people?"

"Yes."

"Come on, take them all away."

By this time, Xiang Rensheng had already understood the general situation of the Qing army in Guanzhong. If he had not had to report the matter of redeeming people to his emperor, he would have taken the lives of these captives. But when his soldiers were about to take action, a soldier ran over in a panic.

"General, there is a fire at the foot of the mountain. It must be the Tartar reinforcements that have arrived."

Although Xiang Rensheng heard the words, he was not too surprised.

After all, Dingjun Mountain is only eight or nine miles away from Yangping Pass. They have been fighting for a while, so it is not surprising that the Tartars from inside the pass come to support them.

Is there any way to save some effort?

With this in mind, his eyes couldn't help but glance at the prisoners who were being taken to the rear. Then, with a loud shout, those people were brought over again.

"what's your name?"

"General, my name is Akdan."

"Okay, I have something for you to do. If you do it well, you will be rewarded."

When the voice came, the Qing army soldier looked puzzled, but in a moment, a look of fear appeared on his face.

"General, please spare my life! General, please spare my life! I am not a servant who can shoulder such a heavy responsibility. If I ruin your plan, I will die a thousand times and never redeem myself!"

Seeing the other party's behavior, Xiang Rensheng immediately showed his impatience. He then grabbed the other party's collar and said sternly: "Since you are not capable of taking on the important task, there is no point in keeping you. It would be better for me to release those people and see if they will spare your whole family!"
-
Du Lei's temperament was not considered violent among the Qing army generals, but changing traditions always takes a lot of time, and many of the new generation of Qing army generals were good at killing.

Even at this time, two soldiers had already fallen behind and were killed by the sword of the Du Lei, but the time it took for the reinforcements to arrive at the foot of Dingjun Mountain was an incense stick's time earlier than usual.

"Oh my god! The fire on the mountain is already big, I'm afraid..."

"Snapped!"

Seeing the flames rising from the mountain, the general beside Du Lei warned him, but before he could finish his words, he heard the sound of hitting flesh, and then he felt his face burning.

"Asshole! How could we lose this mountain?!"

After all, Du Lei is not a greenhorn and certainly has his own judgment on the current situation.

To ordinary people, time was on their side. Even if Dingjun Mountain was lost, the Qing army could retreat inside Dingjun Mountain and wait for Hauge to retake Hanzhong. Even if this pass could no longer be defended because the food supply was cut off, they could still have a good fight with the Ming army on the Hanzhong Plain.

By then, relying on the combat effectiveness of his own troops and the backup plan that Hauge had already laid out, there was indeed a great possibility that he would be able to defeat the Ming army in Hanzhong.

But for them, Dingjun Mountain cannot be lost, and Yangping Pass cannot be lost even more.

After all, the Ming army's combat effectiveness is not bad, and fighting with them in the Hanzhong Plain will inevitably cause considerable losses to their own troops.

If the Ming army could be stopped outside Yangping Pass, Hauge's backup plan would be able to play a greater role. Compared with this, a head-on battle would only be an option made as a last resort.

Thinking in this way, even if he really won the battle in the end, for a man who lost the mountain pass, the best result for him would be to make up for his mistake. How could he possibly get any credit at all?
This is the disadvantage of lacking family support.

Everything depends on your own merits. If there is any mistake, all your efforts will be wasted.

This was not something he thought too much. When he followed Jirgalang to besiege Jinzhou, he was punished for his troops retreating and accepting gifts from Mongolia.

Not long after, he was convicted and sentenced to death because his subordinates revealed that he had condoned horse theft in Shandong.

Of course, the emperor was lenient and only demoted him from his position and seized his property. But after suffering such a punishment twice, how could he not know how big the gap was between him and a real nobleman?
"It seems that the fire on the mountain has not spread to the entire camp yet. I think the people on the mountain are still resisting. If we are afraid of fighting, we will not be able to pass the test of the prince."

Just like when he faced Luo Luohun earlier, although he failed to control his emotions when the incident happened, he made up for it after a while.

But then again, what the general said earlier was not that he wanted to escape without fighting, he just wanted everyone to be more vigilant.

After all, military law is there, and if you flee without fighting, you will probably have no chance of survival.

"After we get to the mountain, I will lead a thousand men to the camp to assist, and the remaining thousand will be divided between the two of you. If we can get around to the south, we will cut off the Ming army's retreat."

"twitter!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Du Lei took the lead and rode out on his horse. After half an incense stick of time, he and his men had reached the halfway point of the mountain.

Along the way they encountered many fleeing soldiers on the mountain. Only after killing a few who were only concerned with escaping did they stop the soldiers' fleeing.

At this point, not only had Dulei left his warhorse, but his forward speed was also not as fast as before.

When he returned to the base, he asked about the situation on the mountain among the defeated soldiers, but the enemy came too suddenly and these people were beaten and fled before they could even form a battle formation.

Under such circumstances, he didn't know much about the situation on the mountain, and the closer he got to his own camp, the more cautious he became.

"Stop!"

Just when Du Lei was leading his men cautiously up the mountain, a soldier came down the mountain in a panic.

Seeing this lone soldier, everyone felt a little strange, but when the other party stopped according to the military order, he somehow called him over.

"How are you alone?"

"My Lord, my Niulu was stationed in the south of the main camp. After being defeated by the enemy, I accidentally ran in the wrong direction and ended up all alone."

"Wrong direction? Did you find out the enemy's situation?"

"No, not yet."

As soon as he heard the words, Du Lei realized something was wrong. Since they were stationed in the south, they would have encountered the enemy if they ran in the wrong direction. In addition, the man was so hesitant, so he naturally became alert.

"How dare you! How dare you deceive me!"

"I dare not! I dare not! I am really afraid of reporting the wrong news!"

(End of this chapter)