Late Ming Dynasty: Oops, I am surrounded by the Donglin Party

After leaving the Meridian Gate, Zhang Shikang rode on Ergou and galloped at full speed. In less than a quarter of an hour, they reached the city gate tower of Fuchengmen.

"Nephew, why are you running around again instead of staying in your own defense area?" Sun Weifan complained when he saw Zhang Shikang riding towards him on a war horse.

The excitement of the Jiannu entering the pass had long disappeared. Sun Weifan had been stationed in Xicheng District recently and had long since faded out of the limelight. However, due to his duties, Sun Weifan still did not dare to relax.

"Uncle, His Majesty has agreed to my going to the war. Go and inform them quickly. Don't eat lunch. Let's set off as soon as possible." Zhang Shikang didn't even dismount his horse. He had to run to Dongcheng to inform Wen Bangguo and others.

Sun Weifan frowned. He had reason to suspect that Zhang Shikang came to entertain him because he was bored, so he said:

"If you dare to lie to me, I will never let you down in the next sparring match."

Zhang Shikang liked martial arts and always liked to ask him for advice whenever he had nothing to do. He was afraid of hurting Zhang Shikang, so he always gave in on purpose.

Zhang Shikang laughed out loud when he heard this.

"Uncle, just think that I am lying to you. You can stay in the city while we go to war."

After hearing this, Sun Weifan said nothing, turned around and ran into the house.

Zhang Shikang asked doubtfully:

"Uncle, what are you doing?"

"What else can we do? Go get our armor and weapons. It will take at most an hour for West City to reorganize and assemble. Let's teach them to hurry up. Hahahaha!"

Zhang Shikang smiled when he heard this, and headed for East City. Actually, he could have sent someone to pass on the message, but since he had fought so hard for this opportunity, he naturally wanted to show off.

Secondly, there are not many opportunities to gallop on horseback in the capital city. The capital city has been under martial law, and the streets are empty except for the patrol teams of the Bingmasi.

But Zhang Shikang knew that there were people in the houses on both sides of the street. He had seen ordinary people looking out through the cracks in the doors more than once. In order to let the people in the capital see his heroic figure, Zhang Shikang would ride his horse for a few laps every day.

As the only fast means of transportation on the road in that era, war horses were initially disdained by Zhang Shikang.

You have to know that he drove a third-hand car in later life. Although his car was broken, it could shelter him from wind and rain. No matter how fast a war horse was, could it be faster than his third-hand Jetta?

But the war horses at that time were not the rubbish seen in scenic spots of later generations. Only after riding one did you know how cool it was. The 360-degree panoramic sunroof allowed you to feel the speed of the horse while galloping. The immersive feeling was incomparable to the closed environment of a car.

The fuel consumption is the same as that of a bundle of grass per 100 kilometers, which makes it the king of cost-effectiveness. Since getting Ergou, Zhang Shikang rides it to go wild every day.

Zhang Shikang rode around the inner city of Beijing. Ergou was snorting, not only did he not feel tired at all, Zhang Shikang even felt that he was unsatisfied.

After notifying the generals in the four cities, Zhang Shikang returned to the South City where he was stationed to pack up his things.

Although he was the commander-in-chief of the Beijing Camp, he had to take care of almost all matters except training. Sun Weifan, Wen Bangguo and others took care of them all.

Since they had been planning to fight against the Jiannu, the convoy responsible for transporting supplies had already been prepared. This expedition was a short one as the surrounding areas were all imperial territory, so Sun Weifan ordered that only seven days of food and fodder be brought.

An hour later, 24,000 soldiers from the Beijing camp had gathered outside Anding Gate.

Originally, Emperor Chongzhen wanted to come and see him off in person, but was ruthlessly rejected by Zhang Shikang, who felt it would be too much of a waste of time.

All the soldiers were excited and in high spirits, except Cao Bianjiao, who looked worried and restless.

"Sir, the Jiannu love to kill generals and seize flags. If you really encounter them, remember to wear the clothes of an ordinary soldier."

Cao Bianjiao felt it necessary to give a reminder, but was afraid of being heard by others.

"I know, I know. You should go back and set up defenses." Zhang Shikang agreed readily.

Sun Weifan on the side frowned. It was quite strange that Cao Bianjiao came to see them off. The border army generals always looked down on the Beijing camp army. However, he did not care and just thought that Zhang Shikang was too charismatic.

"March!" Zhang Shikang said, and the 24,000-strong army headed towards the southwest of the capital.

According to the plan, Zhang Shikang planned to go to Zhuozhou first, and after meeting up with Yang Sichang's troops, he would briefly understand the situation, especially the location of the Jiannu and the situation of Lu Xiangsheng's troops.

The capital city is not far from Zhuozhou, separated only by Fangshan. The entire journey is about forty to fifty kilometers, and it usually takes a day for an ordinary troop to complete the journey.

Zhang Shikang ordered the entire army to march quickly. Running was the strong point of the Beijing Camp, and the horses pulling the baggage were also the war horses that had been eliminated by the Beijing Camp before. It only took five hours for the Beijing Camp soldiers to reach Yang Sichang's Zhuozhou camp.

Even Yang Sichang was a little surprised, as the express horse from the capital only delivered the news half an hour ago.

Yang Sichang felt that the emperor did not allow Zhang Shikang to defend the city, but arbitrarily released this boy as if it were a child's play. The battlefield is not a game of family reunion. The emperor doted on him, but the Jiannu would not.

"Commander Yang, how is the war situation going? Where are the Jiannu now?" Zhang Shikang said without wasting any words as soon as he saw Yang Sichang.

He was looking for traces of the Jiannu all the way, but only saw some corpses that had not been collected and discarded weapons near Zhuozhou. There were also Jiannu, but very few, and their heads were missing.

"It is still under control. Yesterday we received a report that Dorgon's troops went to the direction of Hejian Prefecture, Yuetuo's troops are in Xinhe, and Kong Youde's troops are near Xinhe."

"Where is Lu Xiangsheng?" Zhang Shikang asked.

Yang Sichang raised his eyebrows. He didn't know why Zhang Shikang suddenly asked about Lu Xiangsheng. After thinking about it, he didn't hide it.

"In Julu."

Zhang Shikang immediately walked to the map to check and found that Xinhe was only thirty miles away from Julu. He couldn't help but frowned.

"They are so close, they should have already run into each other."

"Don't worry, Admiral Zhang. The main force of the Jiannu is Dorgon, not to mention that Eunuch Gao is also over there." Yang Sichang comforted him, but there was no expression on his face.

"Eunuch Gao, military inspector?" Zhang Shikang frowned, feeling that something was wrong.

Yang Sichang said nothing, but changed the subject:

"Tomorrow, I will march the army to Tianjin, and Lord Hong will go to Zhending Prefecture, intending to trap the Jiannu in Baoding, Zhending, and Hejian.

Admiral Zhang, what suggestions do you have?"

Although Yang Sichang was the governor of military affairs, he had no confidence that he could control Zhang Shikang, so he just asked casually.

"Four sides and six corners, a net spread out in ten directions?" Zhang Shikang said almost subconsciously.

This strategy was previously used by Yang Sichang to suppress bandits. To put it simply, it was to set up a dragnet to trap the enemy in one area, and then the troops from all directions cooperated with each other to gradually narrow the encirclement until the enemy was eliminated.

If this method were used in later times, with the availability of modern communication tools, it would be considered quite acceptable.

But it was the Ming Dynasty at that time, information was not transmitted in a timely manner, and the various troops marched at different times. Zhang Shikang felt that it was pure luck that he was able to encircle Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong in his net.

He finally understood why the food and grass were consumed so quickly. Several armies did not gather their superior forces to fight a quick battle, but always retreated slowly and set up an encirclement. Were they trying to compete with the Jiannu in terms of consumption?

What is the situation of the imperial treasury? Don't you, Yang Sichang, know it? Can you afford to fight for consumption?

Yang Sichang's beard twitched when he heard this. He could hear doubt in Zhang Shikang's tone. He wanted to get angry, but he held back. There was no need to argue with a dandy young man. What did Zhang Shikang know?

"His Majesty has ordered me to protect you. I think Admiral Zhang's army should follow ours tomorrow." Yang Sichang said, suppressing his anger.

"No, you go on your way. I'm going to Julu." Zhang Shikang refused directly.

"But your majesty asked..."

"I will be outside, and I will not accept your order."

Sure enough, Yang Sichang shook his head in his heart, knowing that this kid would not listen to him.

But he didn't mind. Since you insisted on doing so, it's no wonder that I didn't remind you.

When something happens and His Majesty asks about it, I will have an excuse. Haha, I wanted to join forces with them to deal with the Donglin Party before, but it seems I was wrong.

Good words can't persuade a damn ghost.

However, does this kid want to save Lu Xiangsheng?

It shouldn't be the case, but even if it is, it's probably too late now.

The two of them had a disagreement, and Zhang Shikang returned to the barracks on his own. The soldiers from the Beijing camp had been marching quickly for the entire afternoon, and they would definitely need a good rest at night. It was useless for him to be anxious now.

The next day, before dawn, Zhang Shikang ordered the fire camp to ignite the pots and cook. When daybreak came, Zhang Shikang took his men and left for Zhuomo without even saying hello to Yang Sichang.

Two days later, the soldiers of the Beijing camp arrived at Zhao County and met Gao Qiquan, the military supervisor of Xuanda. Gao Qiquan had received a letter from Yang Sichang the night before.

However, unlike Yang Sichang's indifference, Gao Qiquan was very warm to Zhang Shikang. He not only went out to greet him, but also prepared a sumptuous banquet for Zhang Shikang. However, Zhang Shikang did not appreciate it and said:

"How is Lu Xiangsheng? Has he already engaged in battle with the Jian Nu? Why didn't you go to support him, eunuch?"

Faced with a series of inquiries, Gao Qiqian was stunned for a moment, then said:

"I heard that a fight has broken out. We haven't received any news from Lord Lu asking for help. Besides, Yang Ge's army has ordered us to garrison here. The Jiannu Kong Youde army has been nearby for the past few days. I guess they want to attack Hejian Prefecture. We dare not violate military orders and mobilize troops without authorization!"

He knew that Zhang Shikang was a favorite of the emperor and he also wanted to make friends with him. He did not look down on Zhang Shikang just because he was young. In fact, Gao Qiquan did not have a very good impression of Yang Sichang and cooperating with him was only a stopgap measure. This man was too petty.

Yang Sichang showed him the emperor's secret letter, which shocked Gao Qiquan because he had never seen the emperor protect someone so much. He thought that as long as Zhang Shikang did not ruin their plan, he would find a way to win over this guy.

"How many people are there in Kong Youde's group?"

"Eight thousand."

"My lord, you have more than 8,000 soldiers and horses, right?" Zhang Shikang said meaningfully.

"We are all infantry, how can we use our own weakness to attack the enemy's strength? Kong Youde is very cunning. He cursed us outside the camp several times, just to make us go out of the city to attack, so that we will not fall into his trap."

Gao Qiquan was not angry when Zhang Shikang mocked him. As a eunuch who had climbed up from the bottom of society, he had suffered all kinds of humiliation. Zhang Shikang's mockery was just a drizzle.

"Where is Kong Youde's army now?"

Zhang Shikang felt that this eunuch was not honest. He could tell from his cunning eyes. But Gao Qiquan answered every question after all, and as a visiting soldier, it was difficult for him to get angry.

"They suddenly broke camp and left last night. We didn't find out until midnight. It was pitch black and we sent people but couldn't find them.

But don't worry, Lord Zhang, they will never escape the net cast by Yang Gebu.

Sir Zhang, the Jian Nu are very brutal. Sir Zhang should not have left the capital. I envy you so much for being able to stay in the capital!

But it doesn't matter if he comes out. With our family here, we can keep Master Zhang safe. Master Zhang, don't worry. But if there is military merit, Master Zhang will definitely get his share!"

Gao Qiquan was full of praise for Yang Sichang's plan of setting up a network in four directions, six corners and ten directions. He guessed that Zhang Shikang was going to the expedition at this time because he must want to show off in front of the emperor.

After all, he was young and who wouldn't like credit? In order to win over Zhang Shikang, Gao Qiqian patted his chest loudly, which was just the right way to please Zhang Shikang.

If he was an ordinary playboy, and if he really wanted to go out of the city to gain some military merits and show his talents, he probably wouldn't be able to resist the gift Gao Qiquan gave him.

But Zhang Shikang was not an ordinary playboy, and he did not leave the city for military merit.

Kong Youde is missing, and Zhao County is only a day's journey away from Julu. Even a fool can guess that Kong Youde is very likely to have gone to Julu, and Lu Xiangsheng is in danger!

With this in mind, Zhang Shikang ignored Gao Qiquan's attempts to win him over and returned to his own camp.

The soldiers of the Beijing camp were very tired after a day of rapid march, so Zhang Shikang ordered them to rest on the spot for two hours and decided to rush to Julu overnight.

After Zhang Shikang left, Gao Qiquan's smile quickly disappeared, and he looked at the table full of sumptuous food and wine without any interest.

It has been two days. Gao Qiquan was really surprised that Lu Xiangsheng could resist the Jiannu for two days with only six or seven thousand people.

But today is the last day. Kong Youde has also gone to Julu, and Lu Xiangsheng will definitely not see the sun tomorrow.

There would be no evidence to prove the mistake, so even if Zhang Shikang went there, he would only think that it was Lu Xiangsheng's improper command that led to the defeat.

Lu Xiangsheng, ah Lu Xiangsheng, so what if you know a little bit about military tactics? Who taught you not to be a good person?

How can you gain a foothold in the Ming Dynasty if you haven’t even learned how to behave yourself?

So what if you are brave? Haha, who cares?

……