Chapter Four Hundred and Twenty Once the strong man goes, he will never return!
As soon as Chang Pingchang's words came out, many people immediately frowned, because if you think about it carefully, it is really possible, and it is extremely likely!
And once this happens, the consequences will be extremely bad!
Tens of thousands of people have to enter the city through the small gate. No matter how fast they go, they can't get there. The whole process takes time.
Moreover, if you enter the city, you will have to walk several miles. Once you walk, the formation will no longer be able to maintain the current tight formation. By then, more than two thousand puppet Tang rebels will charge from the side and rear.
Come here, if you imagine the scene, you will know that it will be extremely tragic.
No, we must not let these pseudo-Tang thieves go around to our rear positions!
At this time, many senior generals of the Ming Army came up with this idea!
Zhu Zhihai also frowned slightly, Damn, these pseudo-Tang rebels are really difficult to deal with. There are only more than two thousand pseudo-Tang rebels, which is giving him such a headache. If more pseudo-Tang rebels come, what will happen if there are more pseudo-Tang rebels?
Wouldn't it be more troublesome?
He knew that the number of puppet Tang rebels had expanded to more than 10,000 people!
Previous reports from the remnants of the Ming Army on the North Road stated that the puppet Tang rebel army had twenty or thirty heavy artillery pieces, at least a hundred artillery pieces ranging from hundreds of kilograms, at least 5,000 gunmen, and a thousand fine cavalry.
The total strength exceeds 15,000 people.
Although Zhu Zhihai could also guess that in order to cover up the disastrous defeat of the Beilu Ming Army, they would deliberately exaggerate the number of puppet Tang rebels.
But even if this number is reduced, it is still very likely that the total strength of the puppet Tang rebel army will reach 10,000 people. As for the sharp firearms, he has known this for a long time.
But he couldn't figure out how these pseudo-Tang rebels managed to produce thousands of fine cavalry, and how they were able to cooperate with their infantry to defeat more than a thousand cavalry of the Ming Army in the North.
You know, even the Xilu Ming army he personally led did not have thousands of elite cavalry!
There are more than 38,000 people in the entire Xilu Ming Army, and only his Fubiao has 500 fine cavalry. The other guard troops will more or less have some cavalry, but they range from dozens to as many as
There are more than a hundred, but these cavalry can only be said to be mounted infantry. They can serve as reconnaissance cavalry, but if they are allowed to fight on horseback, they will definitely be beaten to ashes by professional cavalry.
Just like the Ming Army on the Northern Route who gathered all the people on horseback, even though they assembled more than a thousand horsemen, they still suffered a disastrous defeat.
Could it be said that the thousands of cavalry in the puppet Tang thief army were put together in this way?
But if they were made up of mounted infantry, how did they defeat the more than 1,500 cavalry of the Ming Army in the North Road during the cavalry charge?
He doesn't understand this!
In fact, Zhu Zhihai underestimated the courage of the North Route Ming Army to exaggerate the enemy's strength. At that time, there were only three hundred cavalry of the New Army of the Tang Dynasty participating in the war, but they were suddenly described as thousands of fine cavalry.
Therefore, even if Zhu Zhihai underestimated, he estimated that the puppet Tang rebel army would have 500 or even 800 fine cavalry, which was no less than his own number of fine cavalry.
If we encounter the main force of the puppet Tang rebel army at this time, I'm afraid it will be difficult to fight. We must enter the city as soon as possible!
Zhu Zhihai ran through many thoughts in his head, and finally said: "The main force is preparing to enter the city, and another unit will be sent to break up the rear to contain them."
Contain? Cut off?
As soon as they heard these two words, many lowly Ming army generals became nervous!
It is definitely a good thing for the main force to enter the city, but who will stay to contain the puppet Tang rebel army and cut off the rear of the army?
This kind of restraint and separation often means letting others go, while you stay and die!
Moreover, the puppet Tang rebel army is so strong. Just now Chang Pingchang led 5,000 men to attack, but in the end they all retreated in defeat, with no less than 400 people killed or injured. If it were him, without an absolute superiority in troops, he would probably be defeated.
It may not be possible to do better than Chang Pingchang.
If you stay here for the rest, it will be a mission that will lead you to death. It is not an exaggeration to say that you will die!
Everyone present naturally does not want to die!
So they all lowered their heads consciously. Even the idiot commander who just said that he wanted to lead his headquarters to pursue the puppet Tang rebel army avoided the gaze of Zhu Zhihai.
Zhu Zhihai's expression wrinkled slightly as he watched them all avert their gazes one after another and not take the initiative to challenge as before.
These slickers, when they have the opportunity to gain credit, all rush to fight, but now that they have to fight a tough battle, they all act like cowards!
The dynasty has been raising troops for hundreds of years, but it has only raised such a bunch of trash. This group of guys are timid and fearful of the enemy. I want to deal with them severely.
Zhu Zhihai now wanted to curse loudly, and even wanted to shout: I will pull them all down and chop them!
But his reason told him that he couldn't do anything. This battle had to be fought by these rude warriors who had no sense of taking the overall situation into consideration and sacrificing their own egos!
While he took a deep breath, he said silently in his heart: Don't give these warriors common knowledge. Anyway, they will either die on the battlefield or die in the hands of their own officers! Sooner or later, they will all be dead. There is no need to give them common knowledge!
After taking a few deep breaths, Zhu Zhihai finally suppressed the anger in his heart, and then looked around, preparing to select a few suitable candidates to serve as the backstop.
Chang Pingchang? No, it’s not that he is incompetent. In fact, this man still has some ability. Although he failed to capture the position of the puppet Tang rebel army just now, he still managed to save most of his troops and withdraw them.
Moreover, he dared to fight and kill. The war to come would require the use of such a foolish young man, and he could not be allowed to die in vain at the hands of the puppet Tang thief army.
When he thought this way, he had actually regarded those soldiers who had been cut off as victims!
Everyone present is not stupid. Even if they have no military talent, they all know that if they cut off the queen, they will die, and they will take the initiative to ask for a fight.
When Zhu Zhihai's eyes came over, everyone lowered their heads.
However, Zhu Zhihai had already made up his mind to choose his own people. If anyone dared to disobey orders and show no respect, he would immediately be pulled out and killed.
He is a dignified governor and a feudal official. Killing a general is like killing a chicken. It is not difficult at all, and he will not have the mentality to get through.
After patrolling around, he finally laid his eyes on a middle-aged commander. When the man saw Zhu Zhihai's eyes falling on him and not leaving him for a long time, his legs and feet immediately became a little weak.
And when he heard: "Master Fang, you can lead my army to cut off the rear, and I will give you three thousand more young men!"
Zhu Zhihai chose this person for a relatively simple reason. This person was the commander of the Xinglong Guard. The more than a thousand guards he led were all scum, and their combat effectiveness was worrisome. It would not be a pity to sacrifice them.
As for the three thousand young men assigned to him, even if they all died, they would not let anyone know. Zhu Zhihai frowned. When the Xinglong Guard Commander heard this, his already weak legs could no longer support him.
He couldn't bear the weight of his body, and he staggered and fell to the ground. He kept saying: "Sir, sir, the subordinates are all old, young and weak, and they are absolutely unable to bear such a heavy responsibility!"
Nonsense, just because your troops are old, young and weak, that's why you should be used as cannon fodder, okay?
This reason doesn’t work!
So Zhu Zhihai didn't speak, he just looked at him like this!
When the commander of the Xinglong Guard saw that Zhu Zhihai was silent, he immediately changed from lying on his stomach to kneeling on the ground, and then shouted: "Sir, it's not that I don't dare to go, it's that I really can't do what I want!"
Hearing that this man continued to quibble, Zhu Zhihai immediately said: "You are so bold, how dare you disobey orders! Pull him down and chop him down!"
As soon as these words came out, Zhu Zhihai's soldiers immediately stepped forward, took off the helmet of the commander of the Xinglong Guard, and dragged him out directly!
The commander of the Xinglong Guard kept struggling: "Sir, please spare my life. Your Majesty, I have a family of young and old, I can't die!"
"Sir, please spare my life."
"Sir, I am willing to lead the army there. Please give me a chance. I am willing to go!"
At this moment, Zhu Zhihai opened his mouth slightly and said: "It's too late!"
Zhu Zhihai's soldiers continued to drag the Xinglong Guard commander out. After the man was dragged out, he continued to shout. It was no longer asking for mercy, but turned into gibberish:
"My surname is Sun, even if I die, I will become a fierce ghost!"
"I am the commander of the hereditary guard. I have served the imperial court for many generations and killed countless enemies. How dare you kill me!"
"I am an official of the imperial court, you cannot kill me..."
"I..."
The last words were not shouted out, because at that time, Zhu Zhihai's soldiers had already chopped off his head with a clean sword!
Then he walked into the tent with his bloody head!
When many generals saw this head that was still oozing warm blood, none of them dared to speak. The timid ones even had weak legs and pale faces.
It's so pitiful that most of them have never seen the heads of their colleagues so close up after taking up their military positions for so long.
They had heard about killing generals in front of the battle countless times, but they had never imagined that it would happen before their eyes!
At this time, Zhu Zhihai turned his attention to another elderly general: "Master Shen, you are the commander of the Xinglong Guard. If you are willing to lead this unit to cut off the rear, I will send an additional 4,000 young men!"
Judging from the age of this old Xinglong Guard commander, I am afraid he is almost sixty years old. In ancient times, this age was considered to be truly old.
Otherwise, I wouldn’t be talking about being in my 60s!
At this time, this man had obviously not recovered from the shock of his immediate boss being chopped off by Zhu Zhihai. Now when he heard Zhu Zhihai say this, he was slightly stunned at first, and then his dry, wrinkled face instantly became...
It became bloodless.
After swallowing his saliva, he tried to speak several times, but failed to do so. Finally, he gritted his teeth and said, "I obey my orders!"
Can you say that you don't want to?
The undesirable outcome is that he will be killed by Zhu Zhihai with a knife just like his immediate boss!
Even if the danger is great after this, the casualties will be heavy, but it is hard to say whether he will die. When the time comes, it is okay to escape first.
But if you refuse now, you will die immediately!
Faced with Zhu Zhihai's pressure, he had no choice but to bite the bullet and agree!
When he walked out of the tent, his figure looked a little lonely, which made the other Ming army generals behind him look at him with a sad feeling.
Looking at his back, a middle-aged scribe and staff member standing behind Zhu Zhihai also sighed. If anyone familiar with the officialdom of Xingquan Mansion was here, he would definitely recognize that this scribe was none other than Song Zhiwen's confidant: Wu Nuan.
Chi.
At this time, he murmured in a voice that only he could hear: The wind is rustling, the water is cold, and a strong man will never return once he is gone!