When Amul led more than a thousand Qing soldiers back to Qingzhou, Pang Gang also commanded more than 4,000 soldiers and horses under his command to follow him to the gate of Dezhou City.
"Sir, Dezhou Mansion has arrived!" Meng Qing, the staff officer accompanying the army, pointed to the tall city wall in front and said to Pang Gang with a hint of joy in his tone: "In front of you is Dezhou Mansion. I hope it hasn't been captured by the Tatars yet.
Bar!"
When Meng Qing first came to Lingshan Guard's Wanghai Fort, Pang Gang only asked him to be in charge of sundries, but later Pang Gang saw that he was quite knowledgeable in the military, so he asked him before this expedition.
I specifically asked him if he was willing to develop in the army, but unexpectedly he happily accepted it. Since he was a scholar and had a reputation as a scholar, he was considered a rare talent in Lingshan Guard, so Pang Gang promoted him.
As a staff officer accompanying the army, he was asked to make suggestions along the way.
Before arriving in Dezhou, what Pang Gang and other generals were most worried about was that Dezhou had been captured by the Qing army, which would put Pang Gang in a passive position. After all, the four thousand troops had been walking for more than half a month, and nearly half of the food had been consumed.
, one can imagine the situation that these four thousand troops would be in if there were no supplies.
Pang Gang smiled slightly: "Dezhou Mansion is a big city after all. Although it is not as high-walled as Jinan Mansion, it is not something that thousands of Tatars can easily capture. As long as the generals who defend the city are not idiots, they insist on going up.
It’s not a problem to hold on to the moon.”
"Who knows, it's hard to say accurately about things in this world. As for the city defenders in Texas!"
Pang Gang could hear that Meng Qing's tone seemed to be indifferent to the officials of Dezhou government. Although he was a little shocked, he was not the kind of person who liked to inquire deeply. He smiled slightly and stopped talking. He put his horse under his crotch.
, speeding up and running towards the looming Dezhou Mansion.
In the afternoon of March 2nd, Chongzhen City, Dezhou Prefecture City Headquarters
At this time, there was thick smoke billowing from the top of Dezhou City, and the walls were in a mess. Many soldiers were busy carrying things on the top of the city. Some civilians were carrying soldiers who were killed or injured in the battle for medical treatment. There was no Tatar attack today.
Finally being repelled again, everyone began to get busy, repairing the city wall when it was time to repair the city wall, and rescuing people when it was time to save people.
Ji Ruxing, the governor of Dezhou, was standing at the crenel at the top of the city, looking at the Qing army camp about a mile away from the city. The anxious expression in his heart directly appeared on his chubby round face. The fat face that should have been red was now covered with sweat.
It kept falling. But the expression on the face of Yi Jiang, the Dezhou Mansion soldier and horse guard beside him, was exactly the opposite of Ji Ruxingji. He always had a black face, as if he was owed money and refused to pay it back.
Looking at the Tatar soldiers who had just retreated from the city, his face was still expressionless, but there was an unusual fluctuation in his eyes.
Ji Ruxing took out a snow-white silk scarf and wiped the beads of sweat on his face, and asked anxiously: "Yi Shoubei, these Tatars have been attacking the city for three days, and our manpower is getting bigger and bigger."
"Young master, we are about to be unable to hold on any longer. I estimate that Dezhou Prefecture will fall if the Tatars attack again tomorrow. Should we ask Jinan Prefecture for additional reinforcements?"
Yi Jiang said expressionlessly: "Master Ji, since you know that Dezhou cannot survive tomorrow, is it still too late to send someone to Jinan Prefecture for help?"
"you"
Ji Ruxing was so choked by Yi Jiang's truth that he couldn't speak. He couldn't help but said angrily: "That's better than waiting to die. If you don't think about yourself, you have to think about the hundreds of thousands of people in Texas!"
"
Seeing that Ji Ruxing was so choked that he couldn't get off the stage, Yi Jiang's originally stern face softened slightly, and he sighed and said: "Sir, those Tatars from the humble post cannot conquer Dezhou Mansion. They are in our Dezhou City."
The government is here to serve as bait."
"Bait?" Ji Ruxing asked in surprise, "What does Yi Shoubei mean by this?"
Yi Jiang explained patiently: "Master Ji, haven't you noticed? In the past three days, whenever the Tatars are about to break through our city wall, they always have to slow down the speed of the attack to give us time to plug the loopholes.
On top, and their attacks these days are mainly focused on the Mongols, and the main force of the Tatars has almost never been dispatched. What does this mean? Does it mean that the Tatars have not used any force to deal with us? "
"Ah, the Tartars haven't used their strength yet?" Ji Ruxing was a little dumbfounded, "Why do I feel like these days have passed like years? Is such a ferocious attack just a feint attack by the Tartars?"
Yi Jiang continued to say with a straight face: "Although I don't want to admit it, I'm afraid this is the truth."
"What can we do?" Ji Ruxing stood aside and muttered to himself, "Are the Tartars still waiting for someone?"
"If what I expected is true, the Tartars are waiting for our reinforcements from all over Shandong to arrive, so that they can annihilate our Shandong reinforcements in one fell swoop in the field, and then take the opportunity to invade the hinterland of Shandong and plunder them."
As soon as Yi Jiangyou finished speaking, the sergeant beside him exclaimed, "Sir, look, reinforcements from the Tartars are coming!"
"What, the Tatars still have reinforcements!"
Ji Ruxinghe, who was startled, quickly stuck his head out of the crenel, staring into the distance. In the southwest, a Qing army of more than a thousand people was rapidly approaching the Qing army's camp outside the city. Behind them,
There was still smoke and dust everywhere, and there seemed to be a large army following behind.
Seeing this scene, Ji Ruxing immediately felt as if the sky was about to fall. He collapsed to the ground and said with an earthy face: "It's over, the Tatar reinforcements are here, our Dezhou Mansion is over!"
Yi Jiang also looked at the dust and smoke in the distance with a sullen face without saying a word. His originally dark and thin face was now so heavy that it was about to drip with ink.
The smoke and dust were getting bigger and bigger, and the troops were getting closer and closer to the head of Dezhou City. Looking at the approaching team, both the soldiers guarding the city and the young and strong hearts sank to the bottom, and slowly...
The big flag appeared in the eyes of everyone from a distance.
"Sir, sir, they are our reinforcements, and our reinforcements have arrived!"
Just as the soldiers and civilians were falling into despair, a sharp-eyed soldier pointed forward and shouted, the sound so loud that people on the nearby city walls heard it.
"What, reinforcements! How is this possible? Didn't you see that the Tatar soldiers just came back? If there were reinforcements, would those Tatars be blind? Wouldn't they be able to see?" A Ming army commander
Thinking that the soldier was deceived, he scolded the soldier loudly and gave him a slap in the face.
The soldier lowered his head with some grievance: "Sir, the villain's vision is really true, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with it. Although the villain is illiterate, the villain with the character "明" has been watching at the top of the city for three or four years.
There’s no mistaking it.”
"Well!" The soldier said this. Yi Jiang and Ji Ruxing continued to look ahead with wide eyes. After a while, several soldiers also screamed: "Sir, what this boy said is right. It's really true."
Our Ming Dynasty’s reinforcements have arrived. Look, aren’t those people wearing our Ming Dynasty’s armor, and the banner in front of them is our Ming Dynasty’s flag?”
"Yes, they are really the Ming Dynasty's reinforcements! We are saved!" Ji Ruxing also saw it at this moment. The fat prefect jumped up on the top of the city as if he had escaped the gravity of the earth.
But Yi Jiang frowned and whispered to himself in confusion: "Behind the Ming flag is the flag with the word "Pang". Looking at the dust and smoke they raised along the way, there are thousands of people at least. Do we still have surnames in Shandong?
Are Pang's commanders or generals or guerrillas? Are the Tatars trying to trick the city gates into opening?"
Thinking of this, Yi Jiang shook his head again. It would be easy for the Tatars to capture Dezhou Mansion, which was currently defended by less than 2,000 miscellaneous soldiers. Why bother with such a strategy? It’s just that when did there be such an army in Shandong?
It's hard for Yi Jiang to figure it out. Aren't all the troops with some strength in Shandong heading to King Qin in the capital?
While Yi Jiang was surprised, the advancing army slowly appeared in front of everyone! Everyone on the city wall could clearly see that although this Ming army was on the march, it had clear flags, neat formations, and a strong military posture.
, the momentum is compelling.
There are dozens of cavalry around the team giving instructions and warning from time to time. At the head are the gun soldiers and sword and shield bearers. These soldiers are all in red armor, lined with mandarin duck war coats, with spears like clouds, and bird cannons.
Like rain, it looked really majestic. All the soldiers were marching at the same pace, raising a trail of smoke and dust, and they were slowly walking towards Dezhou Prefecture and Baoan Prefecture.
"Hey, where did this reinforcements come from? I have never seen such a strong army in more than 20 years of military service!"
A layman looks at the excitement, an expert looks at the door. In the eyes of Ji Ruxing and others, the army outside is just marching neatly and looks good, but in the eyes of Yi Jiang, an experienced soldier, it is completely different.
This army that followed the Tatar team from the southwest was Pang Gang and other Lingshan Guard troops. They followed Amur's team and continuously put up a pursuit posture, forcing Amur to abandon most of the loot.
The food, property, people, etc. that arrived were packed lightly, and they hurried slowly and finally arrived at Dezhou Prefecture before dark.
At this time, Da Zhuang came to report: "Sir, the Tatars have camped a mile outside the south gate of Dezhou City. Do we want to enter the city through another gate?"
There was a cold light in Pang Gang's eyes, "What a joke, this is the place where I live in the Ming Dynasty. Do we have to look at the faces of the Tatars when we enter the city of the Ming Dynasty? We will enter the city from the south gate today. We must not
Let the Tatars look down upon you!"
"Yes, enter the city from the south gate immediately!"
Da Zhuang immediately clasped his fists after receiving the order.
Watching Da Zhuang leave, Meng Qing asked with some worry: "Sir, aren't you afraid that the Tatars will attack us midway?"
Pang Gang shook his head and said meaningfully: "I am just afraid that the Tartars will not attack us!"