On the early morning of March 30th in the fifth year of Chongzhen, Wu Shigong led nearly a thousand cavalry to set off first according to the plan to join the main force of the Ming army.
After walking about ten miles, the cavalry all dismounted to let the horses rest and feed the horses to replenish their strength. But at this moment, the spies who came forward to inquire about the news reported the news of the Ming army ahead: The Ming army was attacked by rebels last night
The camp lost most of its supplies, food and fodder. Now the Ming army has broken camp and retreated to the rear.
This sudden news shocked Wu Shigong and others. Everything was fine yesterday, so why did such a big change happen today? Could it be that the rebels' night attack last night caused great losses to the main force of the Ming army?
It can be seen that Governor Liu Yulie made another mistake. He failed to contact Wu Shigong and Liu Zeqing's rear army in time and reported the news of the retreat of the main force of the Ming army. This made Wu Shigong and his rear army unable to control the main force of the Ming army.
situation, and cannot respond to the next situation in a timely manner.
After gathering together with his military attachés, Wu Shigong immediately sent a message to the rear army camp, asking Liu Zeqing to immediately lead his elite troops to set up a preset defense line at his current location. Wu Shigong's cavalry will move forward to understand
The situation of the main force of the Ming army corresponds to the retreat of the main force of the Ming army.
The remaining soldiers and civilians in the rear army will step up their efforts to fortify the camp.
In Wu Shigong's mind, since the main force of the Ming army retreated, it must have been defeated. Since it has been defeated, it is possible to rescue the governor Liu Yulie at least. In this case, Wu Shigong and Liu Zeqing's rear army will be defeated this time.
During the battle, there was no big guilt.
Of course, the premise of all this is to ensure the safety of the rear army. If Wu Shigong's cavalry finds that the rebels are indeed powerful, then he will definitely use the speed of the cavalry to leave the battlefield and come back to join the elite troops led by Liu Zeqing.
, and then retreated together to their own camp. Anyway, the distance here from the rear army camp is not too far, only about ten miles away.
Compared with his own safety, who cares about the life and death of Governor Liu Yulie?
It wasn't until Wu Shigong heard that Liu Zeqing had gathered more than 4,000 soldiers and started to move out of the rear army camp, that Wu Shigong led the cavalry forward again. At this time, Wu Shigong would never dare to let his troops get out of touch. Again, it's safe.
First!
Next, Wu Shigong's cavalry marched very slowly. In addition to sending hundreds of spies in front of the team for reconnaissance, Wu Shigong led the cavalry by riding a certain distance and leading the horses for a certain distance, in order to ensure the physical strength of the horses and prepare them.
Fight or flight in case something happens.
So after traveling another ten miles, it was almost noon. All the cavalry dismounted again to rest, eat dry food for lunch, and feed their horses again to build up their power.
But at this time, the spies in front reported another news: when the main force of the Ming army retreated to Shahe, the pontoon broke, causing chaos among the Ming army. The main force of the Ming army suffered heavy casualties on the east bank of Shahe.
Wu Shigong was so angry! Why was he so unlucky today? As soon as he took a break, bad news came. When he took another break, another bad news came. How many more bad news will come?
From here we need to know that there were restrictions on the transmission of news on ancient battlefields. Although Wu Shigong was only about twenty miles away from Shahe at this time, the news he received also happened an hour ago.
But Wu Shigong didn't know whether his news had expired, so he didn't dare to take risks any further. Therefore, Wu Shigong went three or four miles further and found an open place to stop.
, gathered the spies sent out, arranged the battle formation, and prepared to meet the Ming army's retreat.
Wu Shigong must have understood the saying "a defeat is like a mountain falling". Although the road from Qingzhou to Laizhou is relatively spacious, if tens of thousands of defeated troops flee, the road will definitely be blocked.
If Wu Shigong and his cavalry faced him head-on, unless it was a massive killing, the defeated troops would definitely overwhelm Wu Shigong's cavalry. Even those furious soldiers would use swords and guns to snatch the horses of Wu Shigong's cavalry.
Therefore, Wu Shigong formed a formation on that open ground, avoiding the road, preparing to let go of the defeated troops and block the pursuing rebels.
The long wait was really anxious. After another hour and a half, there were finally broken troops in twos and threes on the road.
After capturing a few defeated soldiers and learning the news, Wu Shigong finally knew that the main force of the Ming army had indeed been defeated. Therefore, Wu Shigong immediately organized the cavalry again to prepare for the possible battle.
After a while, the first defeated Ming army arrived. As expected, it was the team that escorted the governor Liu Yulie's escape. This really understood the essence of "leaders go first"!
Liu Yulie and the others would definitely not turn a blind eye to such a large group of cavalry as Wu Shigong's being on the roadside. In addition, Wu Shigong's cavalry was arranged in a fighting formation, which made Liu Yulie's retreat frightening. You must know that the costumes of the rebels were similar to those of the Ming army.
The costumes were basically the same. From the appearance, it was impossible to tell the difference between the Ming army and the rebels. Liu Yulie and the others were afraid that a rebel army would steal their retreat.
But by the same token, Wu Shigong was not sure whether the defeated army was faked by the rebels. Otherwise, if he let this fake rebel army pass, his rear camp would be in danger. Therefore, Wu Shigong must also
To determine the identity of this defeated army.
So under Wu Shigong's order, Wu Shigong's cavalry picked up the weapons in their hands and slowly pushed towards Liu Yulie and the others. Seeing this situation, the defeated soldiers around Liu Yulie also looked panicked and guarded them with their weapons.
Next to Liu Yulie.
Suddenly, General Liu Shen of the Shenji Battalion next to Liu Yulie shouted loudly: "Commander Wu! Mr. Wu Xiaohou! It's my family! This is the Governor! Don't be unreasonable!"
Liu Shenjiang happened to know Wu Shigong. After all, Wu Shigong was a famous figure in the capital at that time. Besides, Wu Shigong's father-in-law Xue Lian was in charge of the capital camp at the time. As a general of Shenji Camp, Liu Shenjiang had of course met Wu Shigong.
Several sides.
Wu Shigong had no impression of General Liu Shen. However, several officers around him who were former guards of the Xue Mansion also knew General Liu Shen. After the introduction, both parties felt relieved and knew that they had met one of their own.
So Wu Shigong came forward with dozens of guards to pay homage to Liu Yulie, and General Liu Shen also took advantage of this short time to introduce Wu Shigong's identity to Liu Yulie and the staff and military attachés around him.
Wu Shigong rode up to Liu Yulie, and bowed to Liu Yulie on horseback. Just when he was about to speak, he heard a staff member beside Liu Yulie shout: "Commander Wu! Your Majesty, the governor is in good health. Please quickly bring your cavalry to protect you."
Stay with the Governor."
In the introduction just made by General Liu, the staff member also knew Wu Shigong's identity. Of course, General Liu did not know Wu Shigong's detailed resume, so the staff member still called Wu Shigong's official position in the capital - Commander Wu.
In the mind of that staff member, the situation has now reached a point of urgency. Where will there be time to discuss the red tape with Wu Shigong? And the addition of Wu Shigong's cavalry to guard Liu Yulie's escape can also increase Liu Yulie's safety when he escapes.
Coefficient! Just give this order to this soldier.
But being waved around by that staff member, Wu Shigong felt a little unhappy. So Wu Shigong said coldly: "The last general is guarding Runing. He is just to meet the army and return. Governor, please rest assured, there is a way out.
We have been cleared by the last general, and there is no enemy. There is more than ten miles behind, and there is support from General Liu Shen. Your Excellency, you can rest assured. But the last general still needs to move forward. As for giving up the robe, the last general can do it.
Not coming out."
Wu Shigong made a small mockery of Liu Yulie's behavior of escaping first regardless of the safety of the army. Of course, in Wu Shigong's previous battles, he had a very good relationship with Qin Liangyu and Liu Zeqing. Therefore, Wu Shigong is here to give up his comrades.
I still can’t do it at that time.
Of course, Wu Shigong is not a noble person. For him, being able to collect more defeated troops will also help the defense of his rear army camp. After all, the rebels have defeated Liu Yulie's main force of the Ming army. In order to ensure his rear army
For the safety of the camp, it is always better to have more troops.
Of course everyone understood the meaning of Wu Shigong's words. However, compared to the blushing of the staff member, Liu Yulie looked calm. He said: "That's exactly what happened. Then I can only ask Wu Shoubei!"
After saying this, Liu Yulie pulled his horse's head and ran away without even looking at Wu Shigong.
After walking for a while, the staff member Tima approached Liu Yulie and said quietly to Liu Yulie: "That soldier is too presumptuous. How dare you be so rude to your Excellency!"
After hearing this, Liu Yulie smiled slightly and said, "There is a long way to go! I am still the governor now."