Here Li Yan is gearing up to show the recently high-spirited Liu Fangliang whether you, a grass-headed king, can fight, or whether I, a former thief army strategist and now a thief-suppressing general, am better, but he doesn’t know that it is hundreds of miles away to the west of Dingzhou.
There was a man who was suffering terribly.
Needless to say, it was Zhou Yuji, the commander-in-chief of the Three Passes, who teamed up with the young eunuch to defeat the enemy in Taiyuan, preventing the rebel army from moving north and making the prince's "nightmare come true".
After the bandits were defeated a few months ago, the young eunuch was ordered to return to the capital to report on his duties. He left Zhou Yuji to closely follow the movements of the bandits to prevent him from counterattack, and left nearly 10,000 Jinwu Guards to assist.
Later, the bandit army became more and more violent in the Central Plains, swept across the whole of Henan, and moved north to capture most of Hebei, approaching Baoding Prefecture, the southern gate. The imperial court was panicked and urgently called for troops to come to the rescue. However, at this time, the Ming Dynasty had a serious shortage of troops in the north. What made matters worse was that
At this moment, the Qing army moved south again in an attempt to enter the pass.
Finally, an urgent order was sent to Taiyuan, ordering Zhou Yuji to march eastward to rush for reinforcements. However, in the battle in Taiyuan, Zhou Yuji's troops were severely injured. His troops were exhausted and wounded, and there were only a few soldiers who could send troops. What was even more terrible was the serious shortage of food and grass.
However, at this moment, a wealthy local businessman suddenly offered to donate money and food, and the amount was not small. Zhou Yuji was overjoyed and quickly asked who it was, but was told by Dai Tingshu, a native of Naiqi County, that he, Fu Qingzhu and Gu Yanwu were all friends. It was said that the escort agency was originally composed of
Three people established it, but Dai Tingshu was not good at martial arts, but his descendants produced a great master named Dai Longbang, who was the founder of Dai's Xinyi Quan. This was only during the Qianlong period.
It is said that there are many rich people in Qi County, and Dai Tingshi is one of them. When the bandits besieged Taiyuan, they were led by Chang Yu to take the west road. The small group of thieves on the east road did not break through Qi County, which has high walls, thick fortresses and forests.
When the rebels fled, Li Zicheng tried to break into the city and plunder. During the attack, Chang Yu happened to lead his troops to chase him, so he fled in panic. Qixian was lucky enough to escape again.
At this time, the officers and soldiers wanted to march eastward to suppress the bandits, and there was insufficient food and grass. Dai Tingshi, who had always been loyal to the emperor and patriotic, heard from his friend Fu Qingzhu that Zhou Yuji led the officers and soldiers to defend the city with blood. He was very moved. He was also grateful. If the officers and soldiers had not rushed to Qixian County in time, he would have been like Taigu.
After being burned to rubble, he immediately took the lead in calling on the wealthy households in Qi County to donate money and food to the officers and soldiers.
After having money and food, Zhou encountered good luck but was worried about soldiers. Taiyuan suffered too many injuries after the First World War, and the border crossings could not be left without guards. After the war, they were sent back to various passes. At this time, in addition to the disabled all over the city, only one could take action.
There were nearly ten thousand Jinwu Guards left, thousands of miles away, to rush for reinforcements.
Good things always come in pairs. Because the officers and soldiers in Taiyuan fought bloody battles in the First World War to wash away the ugly behavior of the past, which won the hearts of the people. In addition, there were too many refugees after the war. Some young people enthusiastically signed up to join the army. The number of people was jaw-dropping.
But Zhou Yuji was relatively calm. He knew that bringing these vegetables over would only lead to death. He only carefully selected some of them, who were brave, tall and strong. There were more than a thousand of them to join the army. In addition, there were thousands of personal soldiers and He Chengxin and Yang Zhenwei who had come from Datong in Xuanfu to support them.
The remaining thousands of troops in the army, plus thousands of companies selected from the Taiyuan garrison, formed a force of nearly 30,000 with the Jinwu Guards and sent troops eastwards.
The war situation on the eastern front was urgent. The bandit troops were approaching Baoding Prefecture all the way north. If Baoding City was destroyed and the south gate of the capital city was opened, something bad would happen. Zhou Yuji did not dare to neglect, and marched day and night over the mountains and ridges east out of Guguan (in today's Pingding County) and entered.
Within Zhending Mansion, the scouts quickly reported that Zhending Mansion had fallen into the hands of thieves, and the bandits were heading north to Baoding Mansion.
When Zhou Yuji heard this, he was very anxious. He couldn't let Li Zicheng take Baoding City, he had to arrive before him. But what should he do now that Zhending Mansion has been trapped by the bandit army? Fighting over, there is no point in all the effort and trouble.
Even so, we just walked around, so we ordered to go north along the mountains and bypass Zhending Prefecture. However, the bandits were densely packed for hundreds of miles around, and they were eventually discovered. They were lying in Zhending Prefecture City (Dingzhou) playing with women.
Ren Jirong and Ma Shiyao, who were drinking and eating meat, heard that they were his men and immediately became furious and led their troops to pursue them.
The pursuit led to the Ci River in the southwest of Dingzhou, where the two armies engaged in a fierce battle. Zhou Yuji went north, not wanting to engage in a stalemate with the rebels, so he relied on Jinwu Guard's cavalry to match the rebel army and crossed the east side of the river while the rebel army retreated several miles to rest.
Ren Jirong and Ren Jirong were furious when they saw each other. They wanted to run away without deciding the winner. They chased him all day and night to the bank of the Dasha River in the west of Dingzhou City. There was another fierce battle between the two sides. Even if the rebel army used cannon fodder, they still couldn't do anything to Lao Zhou.
The two sides faced off for a day. Zhou Yuji wanted to cross Hedong to capture Dingzhou City. The spies reported that Dingzhou had fallen into the hands of thieves. Lao Zhou frowned and said, "You can't go or stay. It would be bad if you are attacked from both sides." So he ordered his troops to follow the Dasha River.
Go north.
After walking for half a day, he was chased by Ren Jirong. What's more terrible is that Luo Hu, who came after hearing the news, finally arrived. The enemies were extremely jealous when they met. When the rebel army was defeated, Zhou Yuji fell into Luo Hu's trap when he chased Li Zicheng. In the end, if not
Li Yan betrayed him and almost killed the young eunuch!
Let's see who will save you this time!
Luo Hu's Zhenshan camp is said to have the most powerful men and horses in the bandit army. With three thousand cavalry, Mount Tai collapsed in front of them without changing their expressions!
The two armies joined forces to attack. The rebel army was in high morale for the home battle. The officers and soldiers were guests from afar. They were frightened and tired from the journey. After fighting for half a day, Zhou encountered an unfavorable situation and led his troops to retreat north along the river.
The thieves and soldiers were in hot pursuit, and Luo Hu took the lead, vowing to kill Zhou Yuji with his own hands. When he saw that the officers and soldiers were about to be defeated, a man rushed out from the group of rookies of the New Army and rushed into the Zhenshan Camp. He actually shot Luo Hu.
After dismounting, the soldiers were frightened and rushed forward to rescue him, but the man killed more than ten people in a row and ran away. The rebel army was too timid to pursue him.
The officers and soldiers took the opportunity to retreat northward along the river. They ran for twenty or thirty miles in one breath before resting. At this time, the detective horse came to report that they had reached the northwest of Dingzhou and there was Quyang County a few miles away. There were no bandits entrenched. Do you want to enter the city?
Zhou Yuji and his generals discussed and decided not to enter the city. The reason was very simple. Quyang County was too small to be defended. If it was surrounded by thieves, the city would be in danger.
If you don't want to enter the city, you still have to go, because Quyang is close to the Taihang Mountains and there are vast mountains to the west and north. There are several big mountains just outside the city. You only need to find some terrain to defend against the enemy, which is far more appropriate than entering the city.
After the agreement was reached, Zhou Yuji led his troops north along the Dasha River to Heishan in the west of Quyang County. The mountains here are undulating and are the source of the Dasha River. They have criss-crossed canyons and are easy to defend but difficult to attack and can also ambushe troops. So he ordered to rest on the spot.
Unexpectedly, after a day's rest, the bandit army arrived again. It turned out that Li Guo came from Baoding Mansion to find a young eunuch to avenge his godson. He was shocked when he heard that Luo Hu had been stabbed off his horse. When he entered the camp, he saw that the eunuch was alive and well.
It just means that there is a brave general among the officers and soldiers who is invincible.
Li Guo changed his color, could it be the young eunuch?
Luo Hu shook his head. He also knew the little eunuch who turned into ashes. Even the fierce generals under his command had met him before, but this man was very unfamiliar.
It was difficult for one person to turn the tide. The officers and soldiers were tired at this time. When they were victorious, they pursued and annihilated him. Li Guo immediately ordered to take advantage of his illness to kill him. He led his troops to come and was blocked by Zhou Yuji's troops at the mouth of the canyon.
There was another fight. The officers and soldiers relied on the advantage of the terrain to attack several times but failed. They were supposed to rest for a night before fighting again. Unexpectedly, the next day they found that the officers and soldiers had escaped during the night. That's right, Zhou Yuji led his troops along the canyon at night.
The retreat actually went around to an unknown large lake just north of Quyang and west of Tang County to camp.
This lake is in the mountains, surrounded by more than a dozen hills. Zhou Yuji smiled bitterly. He never imagined that he would chase thieves all his life, but now he was chased deep into the mountains by the thieves. He was in a very embarrassing situation. It was really thirty years to the west of the river and thirty years to the east of the river.
But in any case, fortunately, we finally got rid of the pursuers, and the camp was well hidden in the mountains. The terrain was easy to defend and difficult to attack, and there was no shortage of food and drink. It was also safe, so the soldiers who were tired and restless along the way finally breathed a sigh of relief and could sleep peacefully.
But Zhou Yuji couldn't sleep, so he summoned his generals to discuss what to do. They couldn't hide in this paradise and watch the excitement while the fight was raging outside.
The scouts have returned from the investigation. Ten miles east of this place is Tang County, which is already occupied by the enemy. If you go further east, you will find yourself in a den of thieves, because they have entered the territory of Baoding Prefecture!
"A few dozen miles to the northeast and north of Tang County is Shunping, and then another eighty or ninety miles to Baoding City. However, the bandits are everywhere on the way, making every step difficult." Zhou Yuji took a tree branch and scratched it on the ground: "This place is more than a hundred miles to the west.
Li is that Fuping County is located in the deep mountains, and a hundred miles to the northwest is Daomaguan. These two places can be used as escape routes, but where should we go now?"
"General, there are thieves all the way out of the mountain and to the east. Our troops will be eaten if we can't get close to Baoding City. We definitely can't go east!" Niu Yong, the general, said with a solemn expression, and everyone nodded in agreement.
"Go north and capture Fuping. The city is not big and there are not many troops stationed there. It is less than a hundred miles away from Baoding City. If we capture it, we can advance or retreat." Yang Zhenwei suggested, and the generals thought it was feasible.
Zhou Yuji frowned in thought and looked at the four commanders of the Jinwu Guard. Their opinions were very important because this group was his main battle force at this time.
Lu Xing, Zhang Ji, Dong Haicheng, and Liu Suiping looked at each other, then lowered their heads and muttered for a while, and then said to Zhou Yuji: "I feel that it is better to bypass Fuping and continue northward to fill the city with Chen's troops."
Everyone raised their eyebrows, and then their eyes lit up.
Mancheng is more than thirty miles northwest of Baoding City, but the small city is close to the mountains. If you retreat, you can go into the mountains to hide at any time. If you enter, it is only a stone's throw away. What's more important is that the four people believe that Shi Kefa will inevitably send troops to the north of Baoding to confront the bandit army when he goes south.
In this way, they are close to friendly forces and can join forces to defend against the enemy. (They did not know that Shi Kefa was besieged in Baoding City at this time.)
It is much easier to follow the army advancing from north to south than to fight your way from south to north alone. The bandits are densely packed on the east, west and south sides of Baoding. If you go deep alone, you will only die. You may be dead before you even touch the city wall of Baoding.
The army was destroyed.
All the generals thought it was feasible, so Zhou Yuji ordered a night's rest, and sneaked northward along the foot of the mountain to capture Mancheng in the morning. At this time, Chang Yu was winning the battle with Huang in Jizhou City, and Gao Jie discussed a large-scale march to the west tomorrow morning.
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