"Inform the deputy commander that the Tatars have set up camp and are marching northeast."
The scouts stationed outside the city rushed back to Pinglu City and reported the enemy situation to Su Hao who was staying on the city wall to defend the city.
"Do they have any intention of coming to attack the city?" Su Hao asked.
The scout said: "In my humble opinion, they must have fled for their lives. The whole camp was as chaotic as a mule and horse market, and it was noisy when they set out. Everyone was going their own way. It didn't look like they were out to fight at all."
Su Hao smiled and said: "They know each other well. The Rabbit has already been beaten to a pulp by General Xiao and General Ma. The Tatar army is leaderless. If they dare to attack the city at this time, they will probably die even more." quick."
"General Su, should we go out of the city to give them a try?" Zhang Yunlong, the general manager who stayed behind to guard the city, was eager to give it a try.
Su Hao shook his head and said: "The task given to us by General Xiao is to defend the city. If we go out to challenge the city, if we miss and the enemy takes over the city, we will be passive. Besides, the art of war says, don't chase the enemy when you are poor, just return. Master, don’t hold back. When the Tatars are busy running for their lives, if we go to fight them, they will definitely fight tooth and nail. We are no match for them."
Zhang Yunlong touched his head and said with a silly smile: "Actually, I understand this truth, but my hands are itchy and I can't help it."
"Don't worry, I'll fight with you." Su Hao comforted him.
The Tatar army scraped against the east side of Pinglu City and fled out of the side wall. When people were in such panic, no one thought about attacking Pinglu City at all. They were more worried about the Ming Dynasty in Pinglu City. The army came out to harass, especially with those terrible cannons. If they had a choice, they would rather never touch the edge of Pinglu City again in their lives. The exploding shells were really unforgettable to them.
Xiao Ruxun and Ma Qiancheng commanded the Ming army to chase after Zhuli Rabbit. However, since Zhuli Rabbit's troops were all cavalry, and the Ming army was mainly infantry, they were quickly thrown away by Zhuli Rabbit. Captured some injured and straggler Tatar soldiers. Seeing Litu fleeing towards the north, Xiao Ruxun knew that he must have fled to the grassland, and there was no point in pursuing him.
"The camps of the Tatar Army and the Ningxia Army Yiyun are in the southeast. Let's take advantage of the enemy's initial defeat and simply capture their old camp in one fell swoop, right?" Xiao Ruxun suggested to Ma Qiancheng, this One battle ended before he could get enough of it, and he was very unwilling to do so.
Ma Qiancheng was also a bold man. After hearing Xiao Ruxun's suggestion, he nodded happily and said, "Okay, let's work together to wipe out all the thieves around Pinglu City, and then we can march into Ningxia City."
The two generals made up their minds, each gathered their own troops, and divided their troops into several groups to outflank the Tatar camp and the Ningxia military camp in Yiyun. Although Xiao Ruxun led cavalry, he did not dare to get rid of Ma Qiancheng's. The infantry moved alone, so they could only advance slowly and at a slow pace.
Halfway through, the scouts in front came back to report that the Tatar army had fled in advance and was heading northeast. The Yiyun tribe heard the movement of the Tatar army. Knowing that the situation was not good, they fled in a hurry and returned to Ningxia City. Already.
"As soon as Mr. Ma arrived, the thieves fled." Xiao Ruxun said to Ma Qiancheng in a semi-ridiculous tone. Although he was not convinced, he had to admit that Jilitu and Yiyun were frightened by Ma Qiancheng. He ran away. Who asked people to come with 20,000 horses?
Ma Qiancheng waved his hands quickly: "How dare you? It was Commander Xiao who planned the strategy and took the lead in attacking the Tatar camp, which is why our two armies won today. In any case, it is Commander Xiao who takes the lead."
Xiao Ruxun said: "As for this skill, I think it belongs to Deputy General Su Hao. His firearms are very sharp. During the day, he scared the rabbit out of his wits. Otherwise, the Tatar army would also It’s not like we are too timid to fight. Mr. Ma, you didn’t see our battle during the day. If you had, you would know how powerful this firearm can be.”
Ma Qiancheng laughed and said: "Mr. Ma can understand the power of this firearm without looking at it. How can something made by Deputy Commander Su be an ordinary thing?"
Xiao Ruxun was stunned: "What, Mr. Ma and Gai Zhi know each other?"
Ma Qiancheng said: "We have never met, but my wife and Su Hao have had a relationship. You see, this gun was given to my wife by Su Hao two years ago."
As he said that, he took out a short gun stuck in his waist and showed it to Xiao Ruxun. Xiao Ruxun knew at a glance that this was indeed the equipment of Kanyu Camp. Qin Liangyu caught up with him on horseback and said to Ma Qiancheng: " Husband, Liangyu has told you how many times, this is not called a fire blunderbuss, this is called a flintlock gun. When you meet Brother Su, you must not make a mistake or show your cowardice."
"Look, when my wife talks about Su Hao, she is full of admiration. As a husband, I can't help but feel jealous." Ma Qiancheng laughed and complained to Xiao Ruxun.
"Look what you said, I just recognized Su Hao as my eldest brother. That day he killed the Bozhou general Pi Yuanfu and gave the credit to me and eldest brother. He was kind to my Zhongzhou Qin family." Qin Liangyu smiled. argued.
Even though they knew that the enemy troops had fled, Xiao Ruxun and Ma Qiancheng still led their troops to sweep the two camps of the Tatar Army and the Ningxia Army, and collected as trophies some of the fragments that the other party had not had time to take away. Look at the sky, which was already turning white. , the two ordered their troops to return to Pinglu City.
There were 20,000 Sichuan soldiers brought by Ma Qiancheng and Qin Liangyu. Pinglu City could not find so many idle barracks to accommodate them at the moment, so Ma Qiancheng asked his troops to camp outside the city, and he and his wife Together, they entered Pinglu City with dozens of soldiers.
Su Hao took Chen Dao, Xu Guangzu and others to welcome Xiao Ruxun and Ma Qiancheng's triumphant victory at the city gate. Yang Shulan, Lu Xiuer and other female relatives also came out. Seeing Qin Liangyu in full military uniform, the female relatives were amazed.
Xiao Ruxun introduced everyone to each other. When Su Hao was introduced, Qin Liangyu walked up, cupped his fists and called out affectionately: "Brother Su."
"This...Mrs. Ma is too polite." Su Hao looked embarrassed. This was a heroic figure in the history of women. He was rushing to call him eldest brother. How could he dare to agree?
Qin Liangyu pursed her lips and smiled, and did not correct Su Hao's title. When she first met Su Hao, she was still a girl. Now that she is married, it is indeed inconvenient for Su Hao to call her by her maiden name.
Ma Qiancheng came forward and said to Su Hao: "General Su, Mr. Ma has heard General Su's name for a long time. My wife has always admired General Su and mentioned it to Mr. Ma many times. Today I have something to say. Seeing your face is truly a blessing for three lifetimes."
Su Hao said: "It's funny, it's funny. Mr. Ma is from a famous family, and Su Hao has admired her for a long time."
Then, Su Hao called Lu Xiu'er and asked her to meet Ma Qiancheng. When Qin Liangyu heard that Lu Xiu'er was Su Hao's fiancee, she immediately wanted to call her sister-in-law, which made Lu Xiu'er very embarrassed. Su Hao had no choice but to come out to smooth things over and let Qin Liangyu Calling Lu Xiu'er by her first name. Lu Xiu'er called Qin Liangyu "Sister Liangyu", which solved the problem.
After greeting each other, everyone followed Xiao Ruxun to his general military mansion and sat down in the meeting hall. This large group of people belonged to several different systems. Xiao Ruxun represented Ningxia Wei, Su Hao The survey camp was directly under the Ministry of War. When the army was founded, it was affiliated with the Huai'an Guard directly under the Governor's Office of the Chinese Army. Ma Qiancheng led the Sichuan Army. Everyone couldn't tell the order, so they had to let Chen Dao, a doctor from the Ministry of War, come. The moderator of the meeting.
"My generals, due to the stubborn resistance of Commander Xiao and Deputy Commander Su, the Kuaibai rebels finally failed to capture Pinglu City. We gained valuable time to mobilize our troops. With the cooperation of Commander Ma, we achieved the final goal of defeating Pinglu City. Rabbit's major achievements have eliminated external hidden dangers and also damaged the morale of the rebels. Now, it's time to march in to eliminate the rebels." Chen Dao's opening remarks were quite leadership-like, and he praised everyone comprehensively. .
"General Ma, as far as you know, what is the current situation on Ningxia South Road?" Xiao Ruxun asked Ma Qiancheng.
Ma Qiancheng said: "When our army went north, I heard that General Li Rusong led the Liaodong soldiers to conquer Zhongwei, Lingzhou and other castles, and the Kuaibai army was retreating steadily. In my opinion, in a few days, General Li's army would It’s time to attack Ningxia City.”
"Li Rusong is a strong general, and the Liaodong soldiers are the best among the frontier troops. I'm afraid he is no match for Li Rusong after those two bows." Xu Guangzu commented at the side.
"What Xu Laobing said is absolutely true. Ma met General Li when he was in Xi'an. He indeed had the demeanor of a general. The Liaodong soldiers also have high morale and are quite arrogant." Ma Qiancheng agreed with a smile. .
After hearing Ma Qiancheng's words, Su Hao and Xiao Ruxun looked at each other, and both of them heard something else in Ma Qiancheng's words. Literally speaking, Ma Qiancheng seemed to be praising Li Rusong and A soldier from Liaodong, but his tone of voice when he spoke was rather dissatisfied. Maybe something unpleasant happened between the two of them in Xi'an.
Youdao means that scholars look down on each other. In fact, it is easy for generals to look down on each other. It is not easy for others to inquire too much about such delicate matters, so Xiao Ruxun pretended not to hear what Ma Qiancheng said. He said to Chen Dao: "Mr. Chen, since General Li's troops on the south route are making good progress, Xiao thinks that we on the north route should also send troops immediately to try to join forces with Mr. Li at the gate of Ningxia City."
"The Ministry of War means the same thing." Chen Dao said, "It's just that Commander Xiao and Deputy Commander Su had a hard time defending the city against the enemy. Do they need to rest for a few days before sending out troops?"
"No need, only by capturing Ningxia City can we truly rest at ease." Xiao Ruxun said.
Chen Dao asked Su Hao and Ma Qiancheng what they meant, and both of them said they could send out troops immediately. Chen Dao nodded and said, "In that case, the teams on our North Road will be unified into the North Road Army. General Xiao was familiar with the situation in Ningxia, and he was older and more experienced than General Ma and Deputy General Su, so he asked General Xiao to be the commander-in-chief of the North Route Army, followed by General Ma and Deputy General Su. , what do you think?"
"It is in line with Ma's wishes. Ma is willing to have General Xiao take the lead." Ma Qiancheng stood up and saluted Xiao Ruxun, expressing his willingness to obey Xiao Ruxun's orders.
Not to mention Su Hao, who holds the title of deputy commander of the Ningxia Guard and was originally Xiao Ruxun's deputy, he certainly wouldn't have any objections to this arrangement.
Xiao Ruxun stood up, bowed his hands to everyone, and said: "Then Xiao would like to thank you all for your trust, and I will serve as the commander-in-chief of the Northern Route Army. The soldiers were all tired from the fierce battle last night. Today, the whole army will have a day off, and tomorrow morning, we will
We set out for Ningxia City." (To be continued...)