On September 27, the emperor's imperial edict and the Ministry of War's three-hundred-mile rush text arrived at Fanjiazhuang: The Qing army entered Seoul and the military situation was urgent. Li Zhi's troops were urgently transferred to Yizhou to listen to the Minister of War and the governor of the world to reinforce the troops. Lu Xiangsheng, who had given Shang Fang the sword, dispatched to resist the invasion.
The Qing army at the fortress.
The Qing army was approaching the border, but Li Zhi did not dare to neglect, and immediately took action to mobilize troops and prepare to go to Yizhou.
In the early morning of September 28, when Li Zhi was busy packing his luggage, Cui He sat watching with his son Li Huan in his arms, and started crying as he watched.
Li Zhi quickly hugged Cui He and said with a smile: "If you don't cry, Cui He won't cry!"
Cui He sobbed and said, "Why are you sent to fight in another place? What will happen if you lose?"
Li Zhi smiled and said: "You won't lose. Your husband is such a powerful person. How can you lose?"
Cui He wiped his tears and said, "What if? There are so many Qing troops, but you only have 10,000 people. And the Qing troops are so fierce. If they rush into your army, many people will die!" After thinking about it,
Cui He cried more and more and said: "The year before last we fought the Tatars, last year we fought the bandits, and this year we have to fight the Tatars again! We have to fight every year, so we can't live a peaceful life for a year!"
"With all the people in the nest, how can the eggs be finished?" Li Zhi wiped Cui He's tears and said, "Don't be afraid, I will stop when I see you. If I can't defeat you, I will lead my troops and flee back to Fanjiazhuang, okay?"
Cui He's eyes lit up and he said: "We agreed, if the situation goes wrong, we will escape back!"
Li Zhi nodded and said: "Don't worry, your husband wants to save the country and will not die on the battlefield."
Cui He stopped crying and stared blankly at Li Zhi packing his luggage.
Li Zhi simply packed his luggage, and the servants came in and helped Li Zhi move his luggage to the carriage outside the official hall. Cui He followed Li Zhi with his son in his arms, and followed step by step to the entrance of the official hall, feeling aggrieved.
At the entrance of the official hall, mother Zheng was already standing there with her maid. When she saw Li Zhi, she said, "My son, be careful on the battlefield and don't get hurt by the sword!"
Li Zhi smiled and said: "Don't worry, mother! I will be careful."
The news that Li Zhi was recruited by the Ministry of War had spread, and the entrance to the official hall was filled with people watching. Seeing Li Zhi get on his horse, the crowd burst into cheers.
"Go kill the Tartars!"
"The general is Dong Nu's nemesis!"
"The general will definitely kill all the Tatars this time!"
Li Xing, who was arranged by Li Zhi to stay at Fanjiazhuang, came up and said, "Brother, what will happen if the Tatars attack Fanjiazhuang?"
Li Zhi brought out 10,000 troops this time, and left more than 2,000 soldiers to stay in Fanjiazhuang, commanded by Li Xing. The soldiers left in Fanjiazhuang were veterans drawn from the other three regiments besides the Selection Group, plus 200
With many auxiliary troops and more than a hundred artillery, Fanjiazhuang has 2,400 garrison guards. The ravines outside Fanjiazhuang City are filled with traps. Even if the Qing army leads a large army to attack, these soldiers and horses should have no problem guarding Fanjiazhuang for ten days.
Li Zhi said: "Remember, if more than 5,000 Tatars attack the city, report it to me immediately and I will definitely lead my troops back to support."
Li Xing said: "Okay, I understand!"
Li Zhi bowed his hands to the crowd of onlookers and rode towards the south of the city. Halfway through the ride, surgeon Shen Yuji, who was waiting on the road, also rode over with more than 20 apprentices. Shen Yuji went out with the army to be a military doctor this time, but
He was obviously not used to riding a horse yet, and he looked very nervous holding the reins on the horse.
Li Zhi raised his hands and said to Shen Yuji: "This expedition will cause trouble to Mr. Shen and all the disciples!"
Shen Yuji said: "In three months in Tianjin, Shen learned so much knowledge from the general. It was really enlightening. It was all thanks to the general's guidance that Shen was able to get started in medical skills. Thinking back,
Shen is really a humble boy from the countryside! The general can be said to be Shen’s mentor again, so what’s the trouble?”
Li Zhi smiled and led a group of people to the military camp south of Fanjiazhuang City.
Walking to the south of the city, the soldiers in the military camp and the temporarily hired baggage men had already lined up. As soon as they saw Li Zhi coming, they lined up and joined Li Zhi's team. Ten thousand soldiers carried their bags on their backs and followed Li Zhi bravely.
Behind Zhi, they led 3,000 baggage men, escorted 3,000 baggage carts and 140 artillery carts, and followed Li Zhi to the south gate in a mighty manner.
When we arrived at the south gate, we found that the city gate was already crowded with people inside and outside to see Li Zhi off. The people held rice wine and well water in their hands to see Li Zhi off.
"General, kill a few more Tatars for us and other people this time!"
"Drive the Tartars out of the Wall!"
"Let the Tatars never come back!"
People who were seeing off their brothers or sons were crowded outside the city gate. The relatives of these soldiers were either in high spirits, full of expectations, or worried. They could not walk into the queue of soldiers, but kept waving their hands from a distance.
Watching my brothers and sons go to the battlefield.
Shen Yuji looked at the people seeing him off, took a deep breath, and suddenly sang the military song of the Red Scarf Army: "Look at China, the people are suffering, and the fertile land for thousands of miles is barren. Look at the world, there are only barbarians, and every man can make up for the incompleteness of the way of heaven."
A good man, regardless of his parents, only cares about the common people and not the master. Holding a ninety-nine steel knife, he will kill all the beauties before he stops."
Li Zhi laughed loudly and said: "Good song, well sung, I will stop after killing all the Hu'ers!"
Li Zhi waved his hand and shouted: "Go to war!"
The horn of the Chinese army sounded, and 10,000 soldiers and horses released their scouts and marched towards Yizhou in neat formation.
####
After six days of walking, the envoy sent by Li Zhi to Yizhou came with news: Lu Xiangsheng had led Xuanda and Shanxi troops to defend the capital, and asked Li Zhi to go directly to the capital. Li Zhi abandoned Yizhou and went to the capital.
.
As we approached the capital, we could feel the chilling atmosphere of an imminent war. The Qing army had obviously invaded the outskirts of the capital. Many villages had been plundered by the Qing army, with people and animals taken away, leaving them deserted. Some barns and houses had been cleared.
The army set fire to it, leaving only ruins.
The suburbs of Beijing were plundered by Tatars twice in two years and were in dilapidated condition.
Li Zhi sent out a thousand scouts to carefully inquire about the Qing army's situation nearby, hoping to penetrate from areas without Qing troops and join Lu Xiangsheng's army.
####
Hua Zhang, commander of the first platoon of the fourth company of the third battalion of the Selective Regiment, took a platoon of thirty soldiers to hide on a hill, hiding in the bushes on the top of the hill, observing the surrounding enemy situation with binoculars.
This time Hua Zhang led his troops deep into Tongzhou and Hexi, and went fifty miles away from the Qing army's camp to spy on the Qing army's troop arrangements. The area around the hilltop was already under the control of the Qing army, and from time to time there were small groups of Qing troops galloping back and forth. Those Qing troops were
The army was composed of one to two hundred men, but Hua Zhang's platoon of thirty men could not defeat them, so they could only hide on the top of the mountain and peek.
Hua Zhang looked through the telescope for a while and cursed: "Eight thieves are dead, there are so many Tatars coming!"
A squad leader said from the side: "I'm afraid that 50,000 Tatars are coming?"
Another squad leader said: "Fifty thousand people have this momentum? I think there are 100,000 Tatars!"