On the beach of Beacon Hill, groups of injured, injured, and exhausted soldiers formed an orderly formation, waiting for the empty ship to dock at the berth, and then board the ship immediately.
However, the scene was very orderly, and the soldiers who had formed a team did not crowd the trestle too far in advance.
They were all ordered to continue working and were only allowed to put down their work when they were about to board the ship.
The pier can only dock four large ships at the same time, and each ship can hold about a hundred soldiers, so only 500 people queue up on the pier in advance for each round.
The remaining work in the water stronghold is still very arduous. First of all, everyone must take away the armor and other valuable ordnance as much as possible. It is not that Chen Shuren lacks this equipment money, but that the Tatars must be weakened as much as possible and cannot be left behind.
Capitalize on the enemy.
Nowadays, almost everyone of the elite cavalry of the Eight Banners has Tiezha cotton armor. After fighting for so many years, their war equipment has become very sophisticated. Most of them were captured for nothing after the Ming Dynasty's repeated defeats.
It is rare for the Ming Dynasty to win a battle and clean up the battlefield. Of course, it must weaken the Tatars as much as possible.
Secondly, the corpses of Tatar soldiers and traitors must be casually pulled aside and exposed in the wilderness. This does not mean collecting the corpses for the Tatars, but to avoid spreading the virus during the final blockade and clean-up stage, which will affect the Ming Dynasty soldiers.
.
So, just throw it a little far away and don't die in the position.
Our own soldiers who died in battle were also collected, their remains and wood were burned on the spot, and their ashes were taken away.
The army had to stand still for more than an hour, and while the troops were slowly being connected and loaded onto the ships, the fire could be finished even if it was burned with firewood.
It's not that Zheng Chenggong lacks the tonnage to transport the corpses, but he doesn't have enough lime to pickle and disinfect the corpses. If a plague breaks out at sea, it will kill all living people.
Zheng Chenggong and Zhang Mingzhen also learned this from Shen Shuren, who always attached great importance to military health work.
Cao Bianjiao and Li Fuming had never been with Shen Shuren, and they didn't quite understand how easy it was to get infected in a confined space on a ship during sailing. They were a little intolerant at first.
After all, these soldiers had broken through to the dock and died here in a bloody battle overnight. Not being able to return home would inevitably affect the morale of the army.
After Zheng Chenggong explained this to them, they said nothing more. Especially when Zheng Chenggong agreed to take away the disinfected ashes, it was considered benevolent and righteous.
In addition, in the process of cleaning up the aftermath,
Cao Bianjiao and others also discovered a sign, that is, Zheng Chenggong's troops took away many small wooden plaques hanging on necklaces from the Shen family servants and sailors who died in the battle.
Although the appearance of the sign is different from that used for sacrificial offerings, it still looks quite delicate and solemn. There are carved patterns on the side with the serial number and name written on it.
There is no doubt that this is another innocuous little optimization made by Shen Shuren, a time traveler.
Shen Shuren watched too many American blockbusters in later generations and knew that every horse in the United States would have an iron sign. It would be easy to identify the bodies after being blown up, which would be helpful for the refined management of battle damage.
Nowadays, when fighting in the late Ming Dynasty, there is no need to stick to the material of the sign, because there are not so many hot weapons now. Even if the sign is made of wood, there is not much risk of being burned, and the durability is not important.
The use of wood is more in line with the country's sacrificial tradition. It is simply smaller in proportion to the sacrificial tablets and removes the base.
In order to prevent soldiers from feeling sick while alive and being constantly reminded that they feel unlucky, these brands are not hung on chains around the neck like American horses, but are sewn directly into the soldiers' armor.
The iron-clad cotton armor that became popular in the late Ming Dynasty was originally made of laminated cotton cloth as the inner and outer lining, and then slit the iron wire in the middle. When sewing the iron wire, multiple wooden boards could be inserted on top of a certain piece of iron wire without increasing the workload.
When a comrade died, the person who collected the corpse would just use a knife to cut open the cotton lining on the chest of the cotton armor and take away the wooden sign on the iron piece.
…
In addition to cleaning the battlefield, the soldiers waiting to board the ship also had to temporarily strengthen the defenses, at least clean up the collapsed areas, and reinstall the defensive wooden structure bunkers.
Of course, time is tight, so soil work such as trenching is omitted, and only simple tasks such as transportation are done. The workload is also arranged fairly - those who can be prioritized for boarding and evacuating have to do more heavy work, all the time
Work until you get on board.
Those who are scheduled to be discontinued can rest for half an hour first to recharge their batteries and regain their physical strength, as well as have food and drink supplies.
Half an hour passed quickly, and hundreds of ships took turns docking for loading. More than half of the 20,000 people jammed on the dock had been transported away.
After everything was arranged step by step, the generals and officers were actually free. Zheng Chenggong and Zhang Mingzhen quietly checked on the side, thinking about how to make Cao Bianjiao and Li Fuming as soft as possible——
Zheng Chenggong and others had some idea of Shen Shuren's intention in doing this. They knew that Shen Shuren did not just want to do chivalry, but wanted to save more troops and go to the south to annihilate Zhang Xianzhong incognito.
This is not because Chen Shu people are poaching the Ming Dynasty, but because of the previous command of Chongzhen and Hong Chengchou, these tens of thousands of people will be completely wiped out sooner or later. Even if Chen Shu people do nothing, these people will never be able to do anything again.
How long have you been helping the Ming Dynasty resist the Tatars?
However, things progressed much more smoothly than expected. Even Li Fuming and Cao Bianjiao, two generals at the general level, came back alive. The final division of the spoils was prone to accidents.
If he wanted to pull all the troops away, there is no doubt that he was relying on his own troops and had evil intentions. Shen Shuren had spent so much energy to create the image of Ming Zhongliang, but he could not overturn at this point.
Therefore, Zheng Chenggong and others also knew in their hearts that if Li Fuming and Cao Bianjiao were reluctant to give up their posts as commander-in-chief and wanted to return to their posts, it would be inevitable to at least divide a few thousand remaining soldiers and let them take them back for business.
If Shen Shuren can win 73%, the Shen family will take 70%, and 30% will be given to the court to show off their merits, this is already the best situation.
If you deduct too much and leave nothing to the court, then you are a gangster.
(From Chen Shuren's point of view, the most cost-effective thing is actually to keep the troops but not the generals, only to defeat the troops without the generals to form an organized retreat. Then no one will know if he swallows them all. But people like Cao Bianjiao are also considered loyal to the Ming Dynasty. Since
If he came out alive, Shen Shuren would definitely not be able to harm Zhongliang)
Therefore, taking advantage of the opportunity to organize troops to load ships and defend, Zheng Chenggong and Zhang Mingzhen had to invite Cao Cao on the sidelines, while Li Erjiang drank some wine to relieve his fatigue and test their attitude.
Both Cao and Li were Shanxi generals. Cao Bianjiao was originally from Datong, while Li Fuming was from Liaodong, but his hometown had been occupied by the Tatars and he was homeless. His current official position is "Shanxi General Soldier".
Therefore, both of them safely stated that if the court had no other orders this time, they should take the troops back to Shanxi. If the court had other appointments and asked them to stay near Shanhaiguan to assist in defense, they would have no choice but to stay.
Zhang Mingzhen knew that he wanted to keep two general-level soldiers for his personal appointment. Shen Futai's current energy was far from enough, so he didn't think about it again.
Then, they turned to think about how to prevent Cao and Li from knowing how many troops were rescued last night so that Shen Futai could seize them——
There should have been 6,000 people who escaped from Li Fuming last night, but these 6,000 people did not arrive at the same time. There were also people who were killed in the bloody battle last night and came one after another. On Cao Bianjiao's side, 12,000 people should have survived, and 10,000 people should have survived.
But many of these ten thousand people were also washed away.
Therefore, according to their own estimates, the number of people who followed them closely and rushed out was only three to four thousand to six or seven thousand respectively. Nearly half of them were not included in the accounts.
Zhang Minzhen thought for a while and suggested: "It's better to do this. We have to hold on here. Azig's men and horses may arrive first in a while. Although the Eight Banners cavalry is brave, it is our army's turn to wait for work and defend according to danger.
There are remnants of the water village that can be used, so it should be no problem to withstand a wave.
After carrying that wave, you, Cao Junmen and Li Junmen, are also tired. Later, we will replace our troops to guard the water stronghold. You all can get on the boat. We will wait as appropriate to see if more stragglers from the rear army arrive.
Save more if you can."
To be honest, Zhang Mingzhen's suggestion was indeed not for the overall interests of the Ming Dynasty, but to maximize the interests of Shen Shuren's small group in the subsequent division of the spoils. However, the court system was such that these dramas had to be done.
After removing the two generals, we can persuade the bitter junior officers under them to see who is willing to "pretend to be dead" and go south.
Those who are reluctant to part with their current status are often those who already have higher official positions in the Ming Dynasty. If they pretend to be dead and change their status, they will have nothing.
But if they are just ordinary soldiers, or those with worthless official positions below the rank of President Qian, they will have to work as soldiers to feed themselves wherever they go. Who wouldn’t want to go to the south?
To do this thoroughly, we must take advantage of the inconsistent interests of the generals and soldiers.
Cao Bianjiao and others didn't know what the plan was, and thought Zhang Mingzhen was showing sympathy for them, so they said they would fight hard. If they could defeat Azig once, all their senior generals would withdraw.
However, what everyone didn't expect was that just to delay the show for a while longer in order to divide the spoils, the Ming army soon discovered some new anomalies.
…
An hour passed quickly, and the sky was completely bright and the sun was shining. It was almost half of the hour, which was almost eight o'clock in the morning.
Hundreds of people from the Ming army who had been dispersed last night came to gather in batches. Seeing that the fleet was still waiting, they were grateful and immediately joined the battle queue to accept the temporary reorganization.
Anyway, it is impossible for them to find the original troops. Every person who comes here is a supernumerary and belongs to the pure profit earned by the Shen family army. Unlike the troops that retreated as an organized unit before, some of them are fake.
The “cost” required.
With the Ming army's morale high, Azige, the late leader of the puppet Qing prince's banner, finally arrived at Bijia Mountain with his troops.
However, the scale of Azig's troops was surprising.
Originally, the main generals of the Ming army estimated that Azig would appear together with two Jia La from Jir Harang, with a total of 7,000 cavalry.
But at this moment, the Tatars in front of them have shrunk by at least half as much as expected. No matter how you look at it, they only have three flags at most.
Moreover, according to the colors of the eight flags, it seems that there is only one Jia La belonging to Azige's flag, but two Jia La from Jierhalang came and were temporarily controlled by Azige.
Faced with the strategic support of the dilapidated fortress of the Ming army, the number of Ming army on the shore was at least twice that of the Eight Banners soldiers, and there were so many warships on the sea to provide flank fire support. Of course, the morale of the Ming army was greatly boosted, and for a while there was no one
I feel like I can't hold the camp.
Azig did not know that the Ming army's warships at sea were equipped with Hongyi cannons. He came in a hurry and did not fully understand the enemy's situation. He only saw the Ming army on the shore still guarding the water stronghold, which was already very dilapidated.
It is not impossible for war horses to directly jump over trenches and wooden stakes to prevent the horses from rushing in. As long as they are willing to pay casualties and open a slight gap.
Azig was afraid of long nights and long dreams, so he quickly ordered his troops to organize a tentative charge in order to recapture the water village in one fell swoop and at least destroy all the Ming troops who had not yet boarded the ship.
Azig was there hurriedly preparing to attack. Zheng Chenggong and others on this side couldn't figure it out either, so they asked Cao Bianjiao:
"Cao Junmen, we just calculated that if Azige's reinforcements arrive, they will be at least 7,000 cavalry. Now look at it, why is it so small? Is it some other deception? Or is there something unexpected?"
Cao Bianjiao was the one who fought the most bloody battles with the Tatars among the generals in Liaodong. Although he was not good at strategy, he had a good understanding of the enemy.
After some thought, Cao Bianjiao suddenly thought of a possibility: "Is it possible that after the Tatars saw us running away, they were afraid that Commander Hong of Songshan would also want to run away, so they divided the main force to strengthen the siege of Songshan?
After all, in the eyes of the Tatars, we are all small fish and shrimps. If we are caught in an accident, we will lose it if we lose it. Governor Hong is the biggest fish, and there is no room for any mistakes. Moreover, the soldiers and horses in Songshan City are
, more than Tashan and Xingshan combined. I estimate that Governor Hong has 30,000 soldiers and horses, including the strong men guarding the city."
After Zhang Mingzhen and Zheng Chenggong were reminded, they also realized that this possibility was very high.
But Zheng Chenggong thought for a while and felt that it was unlikely: "If we just strengthen the siege, it is just a temporary measure, there is no need to rush.
As long as the Tatars assemble the troops of the two banners of Azige and Jilhalang today, even if the commander Hong is sent out of the city to come to Bijia Mountain, the distance from Songshan to here is far away, at least nearly a hundred miles, and the two banners of the Tatar cavalry are fighting in the field.
, can definitely annihilate Governor Hong's tired soldiers, why should the Tatars be anxious for these two or three hours?
In my opinion, Cao Junmen said that the Tatars retained their troops for the sake of Governor Hong, and I believe this. But if they stayed in such a hurry, it was definitely not for the purpose of "siege the city" or "field encirclement and annihilation of the breakout troops." Maybe it was because the Tatars had
More radical plans!”
Li Fuming on the side listened, and he still agreed with Cao Bianjiao's view. He felt that Zheng Chenggong was too young after all, so he couldn't help but remind:
"What more radical plan could the Tatars have? Is it possible that the Tatars are just one day away from gathering so many troops? Do they want to attack Songshan City by force?"
The Tatars have been sieging for more than five months and are not in a hurry. Now that they have finally endured the lean period, Commander Hong's troops will soon starve to death on their own, but the Tatars can't bear it any longer?"
Zheng Chenggong: "I don't know about this, but I feel that the Songshan defenders may not be able to survive until the day they starve to death. Maybe they are on the verge of collapse at this moment? Is it possible to succeed in a strong attack?"
Of course, if you, Li Junmen, want to come up with other explanations as to why the Tatars were so hasty in dividing their troops and could not even wait a day or even a few hours, then I will listen to you."
Li Fuming was dumbfounded. After thinking for a while, he really couldn't think of any other explanation as to why Azig only brought so few people to besiege Beacon Mountain.
When all possibilities are eliminated, the last remaining option, no matter how unreasonable it seems, seems to have no other choice.
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