Xie Ming

Chapter 113: The defeated soldiers fled to the southwest

After hearing Xiao Jingchuan's words, that after the relief grain was distributed, soldiers would be recruited on the spot, and three taels of silver would be given on the spot to settle down, there was an immediate commotion among the people present.

"I'll say it again!"

"Provide food relief on the spot, recruit soldiers on the spot, and distribute money for settling down on the spot!"

"Time is limited! I won't say any more here!"

"Our army will set out from Yi County before noon!"

"If you are interested, please sign up as soon as possible!"

Seeing that there were many people talking at the scene, Xiao Jingchuan was afraid that some people might not have heard clearly, so he repeated it loudly.

At this point, grain distribution continues!
The remaining two thousand shi of rice were all used up in less than three quarters of an hour.

At 8:45 am, the Xiao family army begins recruiting soldiers!
In sharp contrast to the fiery atmosphere in Yi County were the enemy soldiers who fled from the city on the evening of the seventh day!
After these defeated soldiers escaped from the west gate, some died and some were wounded. They were extremely terrified and a heavy thunderstorm occurred.

They gathered together in groups of three or five, and after analyzing the situation on their own, they thought that this unit of Xiao Jingchuan's should be coming from the north towards the capital, and were actually the defeated Ming army, or the elite regular army that broke out.

In addition, Yi County was in the north and was entirely under the command of Liu Zongmin, not the main general Shangguan Liu Fangliang, so he was afraid that they would not be willing to help.

Therefore, the defeated soldiers resolutely gave up seeking help from the north and abandoned the troops in the direction of Lai Shui County, which was the nearest to them, and turned south, preparing to run to Baoding Prefecture in order to seek support.

But that night, there was a violent storm and it was pitch black outside the city, so dark that you couldn't see your hand in front of you.

As a result, these defeated soldiers lost their direction as they walked.
Until the next day, that is, at the early morning of the eighth day, when the sky was just getting light.

The defeated soldiers finally understood where they were after running for their lives all night!

That is in the southwest of Yi County, at the foot of the mountain near the north mountain of Lijiagou!
Going further ahead is the main mountain road that leads directly into the mountains to Zijing Pass!

The defeated soldiers sighed for a while, and then thought that it might be possible to go straight to Zijing Pass, so they took the opportunity to find a main road and mountain path to go west.

At this moment, they suddenly saw a large number of troops coming from the official road!

When we got closer, we found out that it was Yu Tanzhi, one of the five deputy generals under Liu Fangliang. General Yu led the team personally and marched out from the direction of Zijing Pass!
Liu Fangliang, whose courtesy name was Mingyuan, was Li Zicheng's most trusted and beloved general. He once served as the vanguard officer in the front line of the rebel army!

He rides a lightning white dragon horse and holds a bright silver spear with a plum blossom shape in his hand. His horse is fast and his spear is sharp, making him invincible. People call him "the invincible general on white horse and silver spear"!
Therefore, among Li Zicheng's many troops, the best fighter would be Liu Zongmin, the commander-in-chief of the three armies, and the second only to Liu Zongmin would be Liu Fangliang!

In the Battle of Shangluo Mountain, he had not eaten or drunk anything for a whole day and night, but he managed to kill more than a dozen enemy generals with just a bullet in the horseshoe under his crotch. For this reason, he was called "the reincarnation of Luo Cheng, the reborn Zhao Yun."

In the 1643th year of Chongzhen (), Li Zicheng occupied Jingxiang, set up an official position, and appointed Liu Fangliang as the general of the left camp.

In the 1644th year of Chongzhen (), after Li Zicheng established the Dashun regime in Xi'an, he was promoted to the title of Marquis of Ci.

This time, the rebel army invaded the north, starting from Shanxi, entering northern Zhili, and heading straight for the capital. As ordered, Liu Fangliang did not follow closely, but was ordered to garrison at Zijing Pass.

Zijing Pass, as mentioned before, is a dangerous pass at the junction of Shanxi and Northern Zhili.

If we hold this place, we can have a basis for advance and retreat, and by holding the dangerous place, we can ensure that the army has a route of retreat and avoid a complete collapse.

At present, the reason why Yu Tanzhi, one of the five deputy generals of Liu Fangliang, led his troops out of the border was actually because he was following the order of King Chuang to draw troops to reinforce the capital.

Prior to this, Liu Fangliang had sent out a unit of more than 800 people, and they are the ones that are now heading to Laishui County.

This is the second wave that Yu Tanzhi has set off.

"Report——!"

"Report!" Yu Tan's scout reported back.

"General, six defeated soldiers were spotted ahead, and they said they were coming from Yi County!"

"There is urgent military information. Please inform the general in person!"

"Oh? Yi County?" Yu Tanzhi sat astride his horse, his face covered with three stripes of flesh, and he pursed his lips in thought.

"Logically speaking, this rebel king has already reached the capital!"

"Northern Zhili, including the entire Shandong Province, is already our territory!"

"How could something happen in a small town like Yi County?"

"It can't be a riot caused by bandits, right?!"

"Hmph, the city guard is so incompetent! If that's the case, he should be beheaded!" "Let's go! Lead the way, let's go and ask clearly!"

Yu Tanzhi snorted coldly, his expression quite disdainful.

As he finished speaking, he kicked his horse and rushed forward with the scouts.

After a while, Yu Tanzhi arrived near the fleeing soldiers.

"Hey! Fleeing traitors!"

"I am Tan Zhi, the deputy general under General Liu Fangliang!"

"Why did you flee here? Tell me in detail. If there are any mistakes, omissions or lies, I will kill you immediately to restore military discipline!"

Yu Tanzhi began to question and speak.

Upon hearing this, several defeated soldiers were so frightened that their hearts and livers broke. They fell to their knees with a few thumps.

"General, general!"

"It turns out that General Yu is here in person!"

"I have long admired General Daming, but I regret that I have never had the chance to see his true face before!"

Although the leader of the defeated soldiers was extremely frightened at the moment, he was able to speak some flattering words very quickly.

It is said that no matter how many holes there are, flattery will never wear out!

People always like to hear some nice words.

At this moment, Yu Tanzhi, who had reined in his horse and was standing high above them, was no exception.

"Heh, you're such a sweet talker!"

"Don't give me that shit, if you have something to say, just speak up. What on earth happened in Yi County?"

Yu Tanzhi was very pleased, but he could not show it too much on his face, so he further inquired about the details.

"oh oh!"

"General Yu! This is really bad!"

"Yi County was suddenly attacked by the Ming army! Now I'm afraid that the Ming dogs have occupied Yi County!" said the leader of the defeated soldiers.

"Hmm? Ming army?"

"Damn it! The King of Rebellion has conquered Beijing. In the entire north of the Yellow River and Huai River, where is there any resistance from the Ming army?!"

"If you dare to lie to me, I will chop you into pieces and feed you to the dogs!"

Yu Tanzhi expressed no belief at all.

"Oh, General Yu! How dare I scare you!"

"We fought desperately to break out, so we can get to Zijing Pass to get help as soon as possible!"

"That group of Ming dogs is very powerful. A rough estimate shows that there are more than a thousand of them!" The defeated soldiers exaggerated the matter and made it sound more serious in order to hide the responsibility for their unfavorable combat performance.

"What? Over a thousand?"

"Where the hell did this come from?!"

"When did you break out from Yi County?" Yu Tanzhi asked again, cursing.

"General, we left the city at 11:45 PM last night!"

"But this was such a horrible weather. As soon as we left the city, it started to rain heavily. It lasted the entire night. Several of us were injured!"

"The three brothers who were in a more serious condition could not walk anymore!"

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(End of this chapter)