On the west wind of the ancient road, a troop of nearly 10,000 horses in Datong was slowly heading north. The troop was mainly infantry, with only a small amount of cavalry, and nearly a hundred carriages of baggage, including more than a dozen prison vehicles. What was even more striking was the number of people in this troop.
There are also female soldiers.
Li Yan has a black horse on his hip, which is an extraordinary horse. On the right side, he pretends to be a young woman. He is wearing armor and straddling a sword and is as heroic as a man, but it is the red lady.
The two of them stopped by the roadside and watched the long dragon move slowly.
"How long will it take to arrive at this slow pace?" Li Yan frowned.
"I'm afraid the warlord will blame me for delaying the war." The red lady also frowned.
Chang Yu said a word, and Chunxiang's eight hundred miles urgent message was sent to Taiyuan. The Jinyiwei and Dongchang men were immediately transferred away, and the prisoners were sent to the capital. Li Yan led the surrender and immediately went north to Shanhaiguan to obey orders.
In addition, Tu Yuan, Jia Waixiong and Kuang Liangliang were accompanied by two hundred elite cavalry.
Even though Tu Yuan originally belonged to the Tengxiang Guard, Jia Waixiong belonged to the Jinwu Guard, and Kuang Ren belonged to Zhou Yuji, they were directly transferred away at Chang Yu's order.
Everyone knew the reason why Li Yan was asked to go north, but they just didn't say it out loud.
It's not that Chang Yu can't trust Li Yan, but that he can't trust those soldiers who surrendered.
Shi Kefa was ordered to go south to suppress the bandits, and Zhou Yuji was outflanking him from the west. Li Yan would definitely accompany the army to help in Taiyuan, but his subordinates were all surrendered soldiers who had just surrendered, so it was okay if they were not useful, but it would be very bad if he rebelled against the enemy.
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Just in case, Chang Yu decided to immediately dispatch Li Yan and his wife to go north to assist him in defeating the Qing army.
"General Li" At this moment, Jiang Quan and several Dongchang stalls came over.
Li Yan was pardoned by the court for abandoning the dark side and defecting to the Ming Dynasty. Instead, he was made a guerrilla general (not a real general, just a title. In the Ming Dynasty, only those who were awarded the seal of the general could be made generals). Jiang Quan and others were right to call him a general.
"This march is too slow. We have something to do first."
"Please excuse me, please don't miss the Governor's important event." Li Yan knew that Jiang Quan was Chang Yu's confidant and a member of Dongchang. Dongchang had always been responsible only to the emperor for his actions. It was very disrespectful to come and say hello to him.
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Those who left first were not only Jiang Quan and his prison cars, but also Tu Yuan and Jia Waixiong's two hundred elite cavalry.
"Madam..." Li Yan hesitated.
"You go first, I will come to the rear." The wife knows her husband better than her, and the red lady knows what Li Yan wants.
The couple clasped their hands and nodded heavily.
It's spring in April, and in the south of the Yangtze River, it's already the season when the grass grows and orioles fly, but in the north it's bitterly cold, and the cold wind is biting and deep in winter.
Chang Yu rode on horseback. Although his injuries had not healed and were aching slightly, the pain he had endured for many days in the city was gone. Although there was no dazzling scenery along the way, the dead branches were withering and the wilderness villages were like splash-ink paintings, which was very interesting.
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The Sanbaigongzi Camp galloped along the official road to the north towards Ji Town, followed by the servants' detachment, then the baggage vehicles, and then...
Chang Yu was suddenly in a bad mood, gritting his teeth at the last bit of popularity.
Wuzhong, now considered Chang Yu's personal bodyguard with a sword, went north with Chang Yu to seek wealth and honor through military exploits.
When he left the capital, Chang Yu asked him if he could ride a horse. Wuzhong said modestly that he was not good at riding, but he could ride.
The ride from the palace to Anding Gate was smooth and steady. Chang Yu secretly thought that this guy still knows how to be humble.
Unexpectedly, after entering the officialdom, Chang Yu knew that this guy was indeed an honest man. He could only ride but could not run. If he was asked to let his horse run wild, he would also whip and rein in a decent manner, but he was riding a horse.
Struggling left and right, either spinning in circles, or running into the fields beside the road and jumping around, vowing to die not to let Wuzhong get what he wanted.
Seeing this guy falling further and further away, Chang Yu was a little worried, not that Wuzhong would take the opportunity to escape, but that he would be lost or be thrown to death by a horse.
I rode back to look for him, only to see this guy pulling the reins and forcefully dragging the stubborn horse forward on foot. Seeing Chang Yu coming, he chuckled: "This is a stubborn donkey!"
Fuck you, Chang Yu got angry and whipped Wuzhong's mount.
The horse was in pain, so it put down its hooves and unexpectedly dragged Wuzhong to its knees. Then it broke free and ran wildly after the cavalry.
Wu Zhong got up, with a look of astonishment on his face, glanced at Chang Yu, and then chased after him, shouting: "Straight bitch, I don't believe in evil anymore..."
That's a horse, not a donkey!
The little eunuch roared.
In the end, the Gongzi camp marched first under the leadership of Fan Jiaqian and Li Tiezhu, and Hu Ling led the servants to guard. Chang Yu looked at Wuzhong training donkeys with a dark face, oh no, it's a horse!
Jizhen, one of the important towns on the Ming Dynasty's nine borders, was originally established to contain other border towns and the capital camp in the nine borders and play a role in preventing rebellion. It was also an important line of internal defense against the Manchus and Mongols, and the capital's capital.
The camps look after each other.
This defensive front starts from Shanhaiguan in Qinhuangdao in the east and ends at Juyongguan in the west, including Changping, Pinggu, and Miyun. It has a very important position because it protects the capital from the east, west, and north. Juyongguan, the west gate of the capital, is far away from the capital. The ancient iron gate of the capital is
The north entrance is two hundred miles away from the capital, so Ji Town is dangerous, and the capital is known as frightening. Among the nine borders, only Xuanfu and Datong can compare with it.
Because of its importance, it has always had a strong garrison, with a peak of more than 100,000 during the Wanli period. There was one chief military officer and three deputy chief military officers of the Association. For example, Tang Tong was the chief military officer of the Zhongxie in Jizhen.
Ji Town has produced many general officers with great achievements in battles, including Qi Jiguang and Yu Dayou. However, today, not only are there only a few troops stationed in Ji Town, they are scattered at various passes, and there is also a vacancy of general officers. Tang Tong is the boss here.
Before midnight (eleven o'clock), Gongziying arrived at Ji Town first, and Chang Yu arrived with his servants less than half an hour later. Only the baggage vehicles were still ten miles away.
Immediately, orders were given to rest on the spot, and the servants began to make preliminary preparations to set up camp and light a fire for cooking when the baggage train arrived.
Santunying (now Qianxi County, Tangshan, Hebei Province), where the government of Ji Town was located, was still a little over 200 miles away. There was no large military camp for them to stay at night, and they couldn't expect anyone to take care of their food.
Camping in the wilderness
The banner of Gongziying was rustling in the cold wind. There were hundreds of military tents around, bonfires were crackling, and the eunuch soldiers gathered around to eat silently or whisper in low voices.
Under the flagpole, Chang Yu was sitting by the tent chewing a roasted hare, which was very delicious. Not far away, Wuzhong was squatting on the ground, pulling the horse's head and muttering something in its ear. Occasionally, his eyes turned to Chang Yu.
He held the hare in his hand and licked his lips.
After Chang Yu finished eating the roasted rabbit, he retreated into his tent and closed his eyes to meditate. The mountain wind roared outside and he heard the sound of flying flags. His mind was filled with thoughts of fighting and iron horses. Thinking about going north to resist the enemy, he was a little excited, a little nervous, and even a little nervous.
Fear.
The noise outside gradually became smaller, and my eyelids became heavier. I turned over and saw a figure reflected in the tent. I suddenly turned over and stood up. Who is it?
A sharp blade passed across his neck, chills penetrated his skin, and goosebumps suddenly appeared all over his body. Chang Yu was frightened, kicked the black figure over, and shouted: "There is an assassin!"
The black shadow immediately rolled out of the tent, and there was a panic outside. A large number of people gathered around to catch the assassin!
Where is the assassin?
Li Tiezhu, Fan Jiaqian, Hu Ling and others frowned and looked at the frightened Chang Yu in front of the tent.
Wu Zhong walked slowly with a long knife and a murderous aura: "Where is the assassin? You may have had a nightmare."
Chang Yu's tent was under a military flag, and the military flag was in the middle of the camp. Not to mention that there were both bright and dark sentries on duty outside the camp, and there were three of Li Tiezhu's confidants patrolling inside. Not to mention that there was a sword in hand beside him, and the Yellow River was cut off.
In Wuzhong, where ghosts and ghosts are difficult to approach, what kind of assassin could touch his side without being noticed?
Could it be that I have done too many bad things, I am suspicious, or maybe...
Li Tiezhu and others looked at Wuzhong, and the hand holding the knife slowly tightened.
Chang Yu shook his head gently, Wuzhong had no reason to kill him, let alone be so sneaky, and the assassin was thin.
Search the whole camp!
Chang Yu didn't believe in ghosts or gods, let alone a nightmare. The cold sword energy that penetrated his body was still fresh in his memory.
After a lot of trouble, the entire camp was turned over three times, and finally gave up after finding nothing.
But no one noticed the vague black shadow on the top of the flagpole that was integrated with the flag.
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Chang Yu went north and was short of military rations. Please ask for tickets (to be continued)