The Ming Dynasty: Starting with the border troops, it was overthrown and the Qing Dynasty was destro

Chapter 85 Wild Boar Ridge

Despite saying that, Wang Chengen didn't dare to actually make a move.

He could deal with minor officials at will, but he wouldn't dare to kill a prefectural magistrate.

The minor officials were all lowly, unranked scoundrels, but the Assistant Magistrate was a fifth-rank local official, the second-in-command of the prefectural government.

Zhao Tongzhi was well aware of this, of course. He sneered, completely unfazed.

"What, General Wang, you dare to chop off my head?"

"Don't forget, the last Ji-Liao governor who dared to kill a minister without authorization is now a Peking duck!"

Wang Chengen felt a chill run down his spine; of course he knew.

In August of this year, Yuan Chonghuan, the military governor of Jiliao, was executed by slow slicing by the emperor, one of the charges being "to plot against the emperor's surrender."

Although it is unknown whether Yuan Chonghuan was truly negotiating peace with the Later Jin, most people in the court believed that the key to this case was Yuan Chonghuan's unauthorized killing of Mao Wenlong.

Enraged, Wang Chengen kicked over the table and stormed out of the government office.

Zhao Tongzhi watched from behind, sneering repeatedly, thinking to himself:

"If you have to blame someone, it's because you, Wang Chengen, are government troops. You dare not kill anyone with your sword, nor do you dare to torture or plunder the local gentry."

Back then, they weren't this tough under Jiang Han. They're only doing this because Wang Chengen is a government soldier and there's nothing they can do about it.

Left with no other option, Wang Chengen could only issue a letter in the name of the general, ordering the surrounding counties of Yan'an Prefecture to quickly send grain and provisions to Yan'an Prefecture.

Their army marched from Yulin to Yan'an Prefecture, relying entirely on supplies from the counties along the way, and was already stretched thin.

After all, the central route bandit suppression army led by Wang Chengen was different from the other two armies.

The left flank was Bao'an County, not far from the border wall, which allowed Du Wenhuan to advance south along the border wall and achieve a swift victory.

Mizhi Village on the right is very close to Yulin Town. With Yulin behind him, Hong Chengchou had no need to worry about food and drink.

But Wang Chengen's side was in a much worse situation:
In order to eliminate Wang Jiayin, Yang He mobilized tens of thousands of troops, almost completely depleting the grain and fodder in northern Shaanxi.

Therefore, when Wang Chengen's army of eight thousand men set out, they only brought enough rations to last for ten days.

Now that the food is about to run out, how can the soldiers fight bandits when they are hungry?
This made him extremely anxious, which is why he sent letters to various counties requesting them to send grain.

Three or four days have passed since the official letter was sent out, but the surrounding counties and townships seem to have ignored it and have not responded at all.

They managed to cobble together a dilapidated grain cart, but when Wang Chengen looked at it, he realized that the grain on it wasn't even enough to fill a tooth gap.

Just as the 8,000-strong army was about to starve to death, the night scouts sent out by Wang Chengen finally brought news of Jiang Han.

"Report! The rebels are besieging Ganquan County!"

Upon hearing this news, Wang Chengen slammed his fist on the table in excitement.

He now only wants to take advantage of the fact that the food supplies have not been completely exhausted, and lead his 8,000 troops to Ganquan County to wipe out Jiang Han in one fell swoop!
Wang Chengen immediately summoned the adjutant Ai Mu and gave the following order:
"Form ranks immediately and march to Ganquan County!"

"Eight thousand troops will be mobilized at once, striving to decide the fate of the world in one battle!"

Aimu frowned and advised in a deep voice:

"My lord, please reconsider. Yan'an Prefecture is our rear base, and we need someone to stay behind to guard it."

"General, just give me three thousand elite soldiers, and I will definitely take down Jiang Han!"

Upon hearing this, Wang Chengen rubbed his temples, pondered for a moment, and then nodded:
"You have a point, but it's too dangerous for you to go alone!"

“In that case, I will go with you to Ganquan County, bringing with me six thousand elite troops, and leave He Huchen to guard Yan’an.”

He paused, then turned to look at Zhao Tongzhi beside him, and tentatively asked:

"Zhao Tongzhi, what do you think?"

Zhao Tongzhi leaned back lazily in his chair, looking completely indifferent.

Whether Yan'an Prefecture is defended or not is none of his business.

He even secretly hoped that Jiang Han would come back, so that he could take advantage of the chaos to sneak home and get some rest.

It was freezing cold, and his body was weak; he wasn't as resistant to the cold as those soldiers.

Seeing that Zhao Tongzhi didn't respond, Wang Chengen didn't bother with him anymore and directly made the decision:
"Aimu, take four thousand elite troops and rush to the aid of Ganquan County immediately!"

"I will lead two thousand men to bypass Fuzheng and circle around to the Fuzhou area, attacking Jiang Han from both sides. We absolutely cannot let him escape!"

Aimu clasped his hands in acceptance of the order and turned to muster his troops.

In less than half an hour, four thousand elite troops had assembled outside Yan'an Prefecture, their banners waving, and marched in a mighty force toward Ganquan County.

Meanwhile, on the top of Wild Boar Ridge, Hei Zi was lying on a large rock, scanning the official road not far away with his binoculars.

The squad leader, Feng Lao Er, squatted down beside him, hunching his shoulders, and muttered in a low voice, "Commander Fang, do you think those pursuers from Yan'an Prefecture will really pass through here?"

Although I often hear Lord Jiang calling the battalion commander by his nickname, Blackie.

But Feng Lao Er dared not call him that, nor did he dare call Hei Ba Zong. He could only honestly call Hei Zi Ba Zong.

Hei Zi rolled his eyes at him and replied irritably:

"I'm not a fortune teller, how would I know?"

"All I know is that Commander Qi ordered our division to lie in ambush at Wild Boar Ridge to see if we could get an advantage and launch an ambush!"

The two were chatting casually when Feng Lao Er's eyes lit up. He nudged Hei Zi's arm and exclaimed in surprise:
"Sir, look! People are coming up the official road!"

Hei Zi's heart tightened, and he quickly raised his binoculars, looking in the direction that Feng Lao Er was pointing.

Dust billowed on the official road, and the first to appear were several cavalry teams, each with five riders, lightly armed, scattered on both sides of the road, vigilantly scanning their surroundings.

The vanguard cavalry stopped and stood still, and the rearguard cavalry immediately followed, keeping a distance of no more than a mile, with the two cavalry moving in seamlessly together.

Hei Zi's eyes sharpened; these were the border army's cavalry!
The cavalry were divided into groups of five, all of them light cavalry, with several colorful command flags planted behind them.

There is a difference between Tangqi and Yebushou.

The cavalry were mainly responsible for patrolling and transmitting intelligence, acting as scouts on the front lines and playing an early warning role.

Night scouts were more inclined to reconnaissance and intelligence gathering, essentially acting as spies. They were fluent in foreign languages ​​and would often venture alone into enemy territory to gather intelligence.

Even more extreme, some would go to the enemy camp to try and persuade them to surrender.

For example, in the ninth year of the Xuande reign, "Xu Bin, the Vice Commander of the Shanxi Provincial Military Command, and others dispatched night guards to issue proclamations to the remaining enemy troops in the city of Shanyu, but some of them went directly into the enemy camp and did not return."

It means that Xu Bin, the deputy commander of the Shanxi Provincial Military Commission, sent a scout to the city of Shanyu in Mongolia to persuade the rebels to surrender, but the scout went in and never came back.

When Emperor Xuanzong of Ming learned of this, he was furious and warned that if the captured scouts did not return, he would severely punish those who sent the scouts to the Xiongnu capital.

Looking around, Hei Zi saw several squads of cavalry swiftly clear the area ahead and wave several flags to the rear.

Immediately following were two cavalry units, marching in a grand procession, one on the left and one on the right, emerging from the official road in single file.

The cavalryman in the middle is holding two large flags aloft. The left flag reads "By Imperial Decree to Suppress the Rebels," and the right flag reads "Ai, Assistant General of Yan'an Camp."

The infantry following behind were divided into four square formations, marching side by side, with heavily laden horses led by their sides, their weapons and armor all hanging on the horses' backs.

Further on was the supply battalion, which, unlike the massive combat troops ahead, appeared rather shabby.

There were only twenty or thirty pack horses, carrying pots and pans, and pulling more than a dozen artillery carts behind them.

The entire group walked for nearly 15 minutes before disappearing from Hei Zi's sight.

Judging from the situation, Hei Zi estimated that this government army must have at least three or four thousand men.

Feng Lao Er, who was watching with envy, couldn't help but ask:

"Commander, weren't we ordered to launch an ambush?"

"Why don't you take some men and charge out?"

Hei Zi raised his hand and slapped him on the back of the head, cursing:
"You son of a bitch, open your eyes and take a good look! That government army has at least three or four thousand men!"

"I've only hidden one division here at Wild Boar Ridge, with only about six hundred men. What are we going to use to launch an ambush?"

"Charge out to your death?"

Feng Lao Er covered his head and muttered:

"So we're just going to watch them go by?"

"After passing Wild Boar Ridge, we'll reach Ganquan County in less than two hours. Lord Jiang and the others are still there!"

Hei Zi snorted coldly:
"You know nothing!"

"Quickly send a messenger to report to the lord at full speed that a government army of three or four thousand men is heading from Yezhu Ridge towards Ganquan County, and they are flying the banner of 'Yan'an Battalion Commander Ai'."

"There were about four hundred cavalrymen, nearly twenty cannons of various sizes, but very little baggage and probably not much food."

Feng Lao Er nodded quickly: "Is there anything else?"

Kuroko grinned:
"Just tell Lord Jiang that I deliberately let these government troops pass through, intending to rip them out later."

"As long as the government troops start fighting us up ahead, I'll charge out!"

"If we attack from both sides, we might be able to annihilate these government troops!"

　I'll write two more chapters during the day, I can't hold on any longer.
　　
　
(End of this chapter)