In fact, we only spent half a night in Guide, and we sorted out the situation in Guide with a sharp knife, and then continued southward after arranging things in Guide.
Moreover, the south from Guide was already under the control of the Ming army.
Therefore, Zhu Gaoyuan and the thousand Yiding who accompanied him no longer had to travel day and night.
So from Guide to the south it is a day and night journey, and the speed becomes faster.
Zhu Gaoyuan walked for nine nights from Tongzhou to Guide, which was more than a thousand miles away, but from Guide Mansion to Yizhen, which was more than 800 miles away, he only walked for six days, averaging 140 miles per day!
This marching speed is very close to Xia Houyuan's speed record.
Xia Houyuan, who was dubbed "Xiahou Jiji" by history books, once set a record of a long-distance cavalry march of one thousand miles in six days, which is also a march record clearly recorded in history books.
Once you arrive, you can still join the battle.
There were also tiger and leopard cavalry who marched three hundred miles a day and immediately went into battle after arriving.
However, these march records are nothing compared to the Mongolian cavalry. The Mongolian cavalry can march tens of thousands of miles in two months, with an average march of more than 180 miles per day!
In the several western expeditions of the Mongolian cavalry in the 13th century, the average daily speed was more than 150 miles.
What is even more exaggerated is that the Mongolian cavalry not only marched, but also included the time of fighting.
Of course, the Mongolian cavalry has one advantage that the Central Plains cavalry cannot compare with, that is, they have more horses.
Mongolian cavalry usually has two or even three horses, which can be exchanged, while Central Plains cavalry generally only has one horse.
Zhu Gaoyuan's thousand Yiding are also Mongolian cavalry. The men are Mongolian and the horses are Mongolian horses, but they only have one horse. Therefore, after half a month of more than 1,800 miles of long march, the thousand Yiding have nothing to do.
The phenomenon of fat loss among war horses is extremely serious, and many war horses are on the verge of death from exhaustion.
That's how horses are, if you don't let them stop, they will run to death.
Another thing is that those eunuchs and nobles can no longer hold on.
Especially those few nobles who have been pampered since childhood have already complained endlessly.
However, Zhu Gaoyuan showed no sympathy at all and continued his forced march south.
Finally, on the evening of May 4th, Zhu Gaoyuan led a thousand Yiding troops to Yizhen.
…
Huang Degong was drinking in his tent when the horn sounded outside the camp.
Huang Degong was also born in the army, but he was fundamentally different from Liu Zeqing, who was also born in the army, and even more completely different from Gao Jie and Liu Liangzuo, two guys who were born as bandits.
Everywhere Huang Degong went to suppress bandits, he would strictly enforce military discipline and would never allow anyone to disturb or rob the people.
Unless there were bandits attacking the city, Huang Degong would not even allow his troops to enter the city to garrison, but would only allow them to camp outside the city without causing any harm to the people.
It is precisely because of this that the people of Luzhou Prefecture, Anqing Prefecture and Chizhou Prefecture have built a shrine for him. This is a spontaneous act of the people, rather than being forced by others.
This shows how strict Huang Degong's military discipline is.
Moreover, Huang Degong is neither greedy for money nor lustful. The only thing he likes is drinking.
Huang Degong drank almost every meal. He could control himself from getting drunk in the early stage, but when he became one of the four warlords in Jiangbei, he began to grow up and became drunk almost every time he drank.
But now Huang Degong has not started to expand.
When he heard the bugle sound outside the camp, Huang Degong still said that it was Gao Jie who led the troops to invade. He said to himself that bandits are bandits, and dogs can never change their habit of eating shit. So he finally extended his dog's paws to Nanjing? So today, I am going to Nanjing.
I'll cut off your dog's claws so that you, a greedy thief like you, can remember a little longer.
At that moment, Huang Degong reasoned and stood up: "Come here, please wear armor for this town!"
At that moment, two servants lifted the curtain and entered, wearing armor for Huang Degong.
In just a moment, he straightened up and put on his armor. He put the dagger on his head and took the double iron whip from the servant. Huang Degong walked out of the tent proudly. His weapon was the double iron whip.
At this time, Huang Degong's 30,000 soldiers and horses had already rushed out of the tent and moved behind the fence to stand ready. These 30,000 soldiers were all unexpected soldiers, and there were even more than 7,000 cavalry among them.
Although Huang Degong's military strength was not as good as Gao Jie's, he was still very powerful.
"Headquarters!" Seeing Huang Degong coming on horseback, the soldiers stepped aside one after another.
Before the bandits captured Beijing, Chongzhen issued an edict to confer Wu Sangui as Pingxibo and Huang Degong as Jingnanbo, but the army officers still used to call him Zongzhen.
Huang Degong nodded and said, "Where are the bandits?"
Lieutenant General Tian Xiong frowned and said, "Commander, it seems that he is not the thief Gao Jie."
"What, not Gao Jie?" As Huang Degong spoke, he had already rode his horse to the front of the formation. Looking up, he saw a well-organized cavalry formation on the opposite side.
The number of this cavalry is not very large, only a thousand at most.
But it gives people a strong sense of oppression. Huang Degong has experienced countless battles and is a discerning man. He can tell at a glance that this is a truly elite cavalry, which is much stronger than the seven thousand cavalry under his command.
Another thing is that this cavalry seems to have come on a forced march, and many of the horses are already foaming at the mouth from exhaustion.
A look of confusion immediately appeared on Huang Degong's face. If he marched forcefully without any effort, would he still have the energy to fight after encountering the enemy? Are he rushing here to kill him?
At this time, a cannon shot suddenly sounded from the opposite side.
Then a horseman slowly walked out of the formation and came this way.
When I got a little closer, I saw clearly that this man was wearing a python robe and a three-mountain hat. He turned out to be a eunuch.
Seeing that this man had no intention of stopping, the generals and servants on both sides of Huang Degong drew their bows and arrows, preparing to shoot the eunuch to death with one arrow. Huang Degong hurriedly reached out to stop him.
When he got closer and could see the eunuch's face clearly, Huang Degong's expression suddenly changed.
Huang Degong once served as the deputy commander-in-chief of the Beijing Camp and knew many of the great eunuchs in the Forbidden City. He could even recognize the one in front of him who turned into ashes - Wang Chengen, the eunuch of the Imperial Camp.
"Prince!" Huang Degong quickly got off his horse and bowed to the ground.
The civil servants of the Ming Dynasty believed in their high status and did not take eunuchs seriously, but military generals did not dare to do so.
In normal times, Wang Chengen might not have looked directly at Huang Degong, but today is different from the past. The world is in chaos, and the status of military commanders has actually been greatly improved.
"I don't dare to take it seriously. Uncle Jing'an has ruined our family."
Wang Chengen quickly dismounted his horse and returned the favor, but staggered and almost fell down.
"Prince, please be careful!" Huang Degong quickly stepped forward to help him, "Slip carefully."
"It's not that the ground is slippery." Wang Chengen shook his head and said, "It's because of the exhaustion caused by the rapid march of more than 1,800 miles. Our legs have been worn to pieces."
"March more than 1,800 miles in a hurry?"
Huang Degong's expression condensed when he heard this. What's going on?
But Wang Chengen waved his hand and said: "If you don't talk about this, Uncle Jing'an will go with our family to kowtow to the Holy One."
"Your Majesty?!" Huang Degong exclaimed, staring at Wang Chengen in disbelief and yelling, "Eunuch Wang, what did you just say? Your Majesty? Did I hear you correctly?"
Huang Degong's roar was also heard by the soldiers in the front row.
"Your Majesty?" The soldiers in the front row looked at each other in disbelief.
"How dare we deceive Uncle Jing'an?" Wang Chengen waved his hand and said, "Please come quickly."
At that moment, Huang Degong hung the double iron whips on the side of the saddle, left Wang Chengen and galloped towards the riding formation in front, shouting "Holy Majesty" in his mouth.
The Ming Dynasty was the most upright country, and the emperor's status in the minds of the gentry and the common people was unshakable.
Therefore, although Huang Degong had a share in supporting the Fu King Zhu Yousong to supervise the country, when he learned that the emperor was still alive, he did not hesitate to put Zhu Yousong aside.
When the emperor is here, why should we supervise the country?
"Your Majesty? Your Majesty! Where is your Majesty?!"
Huang Degong ran and shouted loudly.
The Mongolian cavalry in formation gave way to both sides one by one.
Soon a voice sounded from deep in the queue: "Bo Jing'an, I'm here."
Following this sound, a row of civil servants slowly moved to both sides, revealing a middle-aged man wearing cotton armor.
It is actually inappropriate to say that he is a middle-aged man. Chongzhen was only thirty-three years old this year, but because he had been busy with state affairs for many years, his hair had grown gray on his temples and he looked very haggard.
After running more than 1,800 miles in half a month, can I not feel haggard?
Huang Degong had met Emperor Chongzhen and recognized him.
Looking at the haggard emperor with gray hair on his temples, Huang Degong burst into tears.
Huang Degong really cried, with tears and nose running down his face, like a helpless child.
Unlike Gao Jie, Liu Zeqing and Liu Liangzuo, Huang Degong still respected his father very much.
Although Huang Degong had not read much, he admired Confucian filial piety even more than scholars.
Zhu Gaoyuan was touched and cried too, then the eunuchs cried too, then the civil servants, generals and several nobles also cried, and finally a thousand Yiding also wiped away their tears.
Yiding was also emotionally aroused and felt sad when he thought of his abandoned wife and children.
This scene stunned the 30,000 Ming troops arrayed opposite. What is going on? What is this?
After a long while, the monarchs and ministers gradually held back their tears, and the barbarians in formation also slowly stopped crying.
"Your Majesty." Huang Degong choked and said, "You must have suffered a lot on the way from Beijing to the south, right? I failed to go north to King Qin before, and then I failed to meet the Holy Master halfway. I deserve death!
"
"This journey has been really hard, and we have narrowly escaped death several times." Zhu Gaoyuan said with a smile.
"However, it's all over. Didn't I arrive at Yizhen well and see Aiqing?"
"Yes, yes, what the Holy One said is absolutely true." Huang Degong nodded repeatedly, "As long as the Holy One is here, the Ming Dynasty will still be there, and the thieves will never think about turning the world upside down!"
