The officers and soldiers stationed in Mengjin were finally about to move out. A total of about five thousand soldiers and horses gathered in one place, and the sound of gold drums resounding in the north of Luoyang.
Li Xianfeng, the governor of Henan Province, was wearing a red bullfighting uniform specially given by ministers of the third rank and above, showing off his style. Behind him were four boys holding fans standing in attendance. On the right were two staff members, Chen Xin and Chen Kexin, who were respectively wearing blue and
Wearing a green collared shirt and a round hat, he was waiting for Master Futai's orders.
Behind Chen Xin and other staff and secretaries, there were some people wearing green clothes and hats. They were engaged in delivering orders and guarding the ceremony. Some held placards, some conveyed orders, some led horses, and some were people.
Holding a ceremonial sword, spear, sword and halberd.
Further forward are the deputy general Chen Yongfu and the guerrilla Gao Qian. Both of them are wearing golden armor and red smocks. Chen Yongfu has a broad forehead and a big face, and he looks very loyal. He wears a golden cap.
The helmet has a bunch of red tassels rising up high on the top of the helmet. The helmet is painted with the pattern of the God Liujia and has a small statue of Emperor Zhenwu.
This kind of hat that resembles a flying saucer hat is called a "hat," and there are many of them in the Ming army. Guerrilla Gao Qian is also dressed in a similar way, but his helmet does not have a small statue of the Zhenwu Emperor like Chen Yongfu.
Behind Gao Qian, there is another row of order soldiers. The order soldiers only wear red or green smocks and a waist-length armor. They hold a small triangular flag with the word "order" written on it, and a red "order" with yellow characters on the chest.
Word round sign.
After the order soldiers came the elite soldiers who actually fought in the army. There were about dozens of people, all of whom were elite servants raised by Chen Yongfu and Gao Qian with generous bribes. Everyone wore helmets and armor, wore white hoods, held long knives, and had an elegant temperament.
Completely different from others, he is Li Xianfeng's true support in regaining Luoyang.
Ordinary soldiers of the Ming army mostly wore bright red and dark red cloth smocks, and some wore red and blue cloth armor outside the smocks.
The elite servant troops wore white fish scale armor, while only the generals at the top level wore zhajia and mountain armor, which were called "Mingjia" by the people at the time.
The military flags of the Ming army, except for the generals who used large flags with their own surnames, in most cases used star charts representing the five elements, or mythical beasts representing metal, wood, water, fire and earth.
From the north bank of the Yellow River, a majestic wind of late spring blew, and the flags were fluttering. The golden, white, blue and red armor also had a sparkling feel under the sun, which made Li Xianfeng optimistic about the prospects of his official career.
, which increased a little confidence.
"The bandits have gone south to Ruzhou. They are blocked by Songshan Mountain and will never be able to return to Luoyang in a short time. The bandits are robbing and killing people in Luoyang, driving the people like ants, and the people are unbearable. Everyone believes that there are thieves and no self.
As long as we wait for the imperial army to arrive, the gentry and giants in the city will definitely respond in large numbers. Breaking the city and killing the thieves will be no more than a slap in the face!"
Chen Xin first stood up to encourage the generals, and then the governor Li Xianfeng also formally swore: "You will kill the thieves with all your strength, and do not let down the imperial court. As soon as the army recovers Luoyang, I will definitely guarantee that all the generals will be sealed and opened like Zuo Shuai."
Mansion!"
Chen Yongfu was a loyal man. After Chen Kexin's persuasion, he had already made up his mind to contribute his modest efforts to suppress the bandits, and he immediately responded with cupped fists.
Gao Qian thought more. He knew that Li Xianfeng's official career was very slim after the fall of Luoyang, but he and Gao Mingheng had many conflicts. If Li Xianfeng fell, Inspector Gao Mingheng would most likely replace him as governor of Henan. At that time,
It's even more troublesome, so considering my own future, I can only do my best to fight for Li Xianfeng now.
After Li Xianfeng took the oath, the two groups of soldiers blew their horns, and five thousand soldiers and horses, led by the generals and officers, chanted the slogans "Kill the thieves with all your strength" and "Kill the thieves with all your strength".
It's a pity that the scene was well done, but everyone had their own plans and thoughts in mind.
The officers and soldiers marched south from Mengjin. The officers and soldiers of Chen Yongfu and his colleagues marched from the road east of Gucheng Mountain and Hangu Xinguan, while the officers and soldiers of Gao Qian and his army marched from the road on the west side of Beimang Mountain.
The intruders seemed to have insufficient troops and did not deploy their troops in the Xin'an and Yanshi areas to control Luoyang's left and right flanks, allowing the imperial army to move south unimpeded. Li Xianfeng was half-hearted after seeing his officers and soldiers quickly occupy the new pass in Hangu.
I gave up half of it and felt that at least regaining Luoyang shouldn't be a big problem.
Chen Kexin also looked at Guancheng and said to Chen Xin: "Brother Wang Chen, the intruders really don't know how to use soldiers. They guard Luoyang but not Xin'an and Yanshi. If you say the intruder is Zhu Wen, that's just a high-level argument."
After looking at them, at best, they are only first-class in Fang La."
Chen Xin shook his head and said: "I heard from the refugees that the invaders only have one thousand to two thousand troops in Luoyang at most. Their troops left in Luoyang are stretched thin, and they really don't have the spare strength to divide their troops to defend Xin'an and Yanshi. If they really divide their troops, they will fall into the trap."
If you take advantage of them, they will be defeated one by one by Futai."
What Chen Xin said made sense, but Chen Kexin had an old grudge against the intruders at Yiling and had deep prejudices in his heart, so he still despised the intruders' use of troops. Soon the scout horses and vanguard troops in front came back and reported the situation in the area around the stone tablet concave
Traces of the bandits were discovered.
The Stone Tablet Concave is located in the northern suburbs of Luoyang. It is the last remaining vein extending eastward from Gucheng Mountain. It stretches across the road from Mengjin to Luoyang. The terrain is quite steep. The bandits held on to the danger and relied on the hilly terrain to the east of Gucheng Mountain.
Close to the mountains and rivers, several camps and wooden villages were built at an angle to each other, and troops were stationed for defense.
The place name of Shibei Ao comes from the tombs of Shi Baoxing, the famous general of Xiping County in the early Song Dynasty, and his brother Shi Baoji. In front of the tombs, there are two connected steles and a Shinto stele that is more than five meters high.
Shi Baoxing and Shi Baoji were both the sons of Shi Shouxin, the sworn brother of Song Taizu Zhao Kuangyin. However, the magnificent Shinto monument had long been torn down by thieves and used for construction of fortifications.
After Chen Yongfu, who was bold and careful, discovered the steep terrain of the Stone Stele Aomu Village, he asked Li Xianfeng, the governor of Henan Province, for instructions: "Since the Henan Army left the provincial capital to pursue Xiao Yuan's thieves, they have not fired a single arrow or fired a sword. They have wandered around.
Mengjin and Huaiqing have been here for almost half a year. The soldiers are not sure about the foundation and depth of the bandits. They only know that the bandits have conquered Luoyang, so they are afraid. Please order Futai to attack this small village first with the force of a lion fighting a rabbit.
To strengthen the courage of Yu soldiers."
After Li Xianfeng thought about it for a while, he also believed that the terrain in the area around the Shibei Concave was dangerous. Although the art of war had the principle of "don't attack a small city". However, since the Henan officers and soldiers were brought to northern Henan under the banner of chasing Yuan Shizhong, they had indeed not been able to do so for a long time.
After the battle, I happened to use this small village to test the sword and increase the morale of my army.
"Okay! The general is brave and brave, and he is thirsty for enemies. This time Lu Bu is so fast, I will definitely show my merits to the general!"
Chen Yongfu immediately asked his son Chen De to lead 50 capable servants and 500 officers and soldiers as the vanguard to climb the hills and attack Shibei Ao Village. However, not long after the troops were sent out, there was a rear guard with stamina.
The team messenger rushed to the central army and reported to Li Xianfeng that the rear team was suddenly attacked by intruders.
Li Xianfeng and the army staff secretaries Chen Xin and Chen Kexin all looked at each other. Chen Xin quickly asked: "The bandits are all in Luoyang, how can they attack the rear of our army? Don't make a mistake and start fighting with your own people."
!”
The ordering soldier repeatedly confirmed that it was correct, and reported back that the intruders had set up another camp in Huang'ao in the northeast behind the officers and soldiers. Since Huang'ao Village was not located where the army must pass when heading south, and there were few soldiers in the camp, they were not captured.
The officers and soldiers noticed that it was not until most of the Yu soldiers passed by that the intruders took the opportunity to attack a rear group of soldiers and horses.
People in Henan pronounce "ao" as "wa", and so-and-so concave refers to a depression in the hilly land. Li Xianfeng estimated that these may not be intruders, but may also be some local bandits who took advantage of the chaos to gather in the mountains and forests, so there is nothing to fear.
.
But before Li Xianfeng could feel relieved, another messenger arrived and said that there were rebel troops forming a stronghold in Xiaoqiao Valley behind the official army. As soon as the official army's troops and horses passed by, the rebel army came out of the stronghold and counterattacked.
Plagiarize, plagiarize the army's retreat.
Chen Kexin was greatly confused and said: "What kind of military strategy is this? The use of troops is so strange!"
But Chen Yongfu, who was experienced in military affairs, looked very bad. He quickly sent someone to contact his son Chen De, who was attacking Shibei Ao Village, and asked for the specific details of the battle.
"Report to the general! The intruders are defending the wooden village. There are two trenches dug outside the wooden village. Bamboo sticks and wooden thorns are placed in the trenches. After the trenches, there are low earth walls and parapets, both of which are equipped with muskets.
Eyes and muzzles were bombarded with bullets like rain. Our troops climbed up and attacked, lacking protection, resulting in heavy casualties!"
Chen Yongfu's face became even more ugly. He said to Li Xianfeng: "Futai! The intruders have built strongholds all over Beimang. They want to defend themselves in the strongholds, divide our forces, and take advantage of the situation to attack and plunder. If you want to break the intruders' formation, please help me."
Concentrate the artillery in Taiwan to destroy the intruders' wooden stronghold, leaving the thieves with nothing to rely on, and then the thieves will destroy themselves!"
Before Li Xianfeng could answer, he rode up with his horse again overnight. Before the horse could stop, he jumped off his horse and said, "The soldiers of Gao Town were ambushed by thieves in Yegou. They suffered heavy losses and lost a lot of military supplies and equipment.
First retreat north to the area around Yao'ao Village and hold on!"