Although the divine crossbow general Zhang Ling is sixty-nine years old, he can still draw a two-stone bow. The soldiers under his command often compare him to Old Huang Zhong and have immense trust in him. This veteran general indeed lived up to the support of his soldiers. A few years ago, She Chongming rebelled and led 100,000 tribesmen to rebel. Zhang Ling led his army to fight and joined forces with Qin Liangyu to beat She Chongming to the point where he was running away with his head covered. He was very powerful.
Although he ranks second in Sichuan, Qin Liangyu, who ranks first, is a chieftain of the Tujia people. The Han people believe that "those who are not from my race will have different hearts." Therefore, Qin Liangyu's recognition among Han officials and Han soldiers is not as good as Zhang Linggao's. , most Han soldiers believed that Zhang Ling was the number one general, and respected him more.
Not long ago, Zhu Jun's spies went to explore outside Jianmen Pass. The spies were very good at grasping distances. The place they explored was just one arrow away, and the sharp archers of the officers and soldiers could not hit the enemy that far away. Crossbow general Zhang Ling took out his two-stone bow and shot out a series of arrows, knocking down several spies easily. This made the soldiers excited when the sword gate was closed. The soldiers believed that as long as Zhang Ling, the divine crossbow general, was stationed at this pass, even if Zhu's army doubled, they would never be able to get in.
However, there was an aura of helplessness permeating Jianmen Pass today. A large group of thousands and hundreds of households, military staff, and staff all sat together dejectedly, with no one speaking. It turned out that they had received a military order from Chengdu this morning, requiring them to abandon Jianmen Pass immediately and return to Chengdu.
Zhang Ling, who was sitting in the first place, also had a tired look in his eyes. He was silent for a long time. Then he sighed and said: "Give me the order to withdraw the troops"
A member of the household came out. He knelt down with a thud: "General, this order must not be obeyed Once the Jianmen Pass is lost, the Chengdu Plain will be like a maiden who has taken off her clothes Anyone can" This Baihu is a subordinate He was born as a soldier, had never read a book, and spoke very vulgarly. He started talking about stripping off his clothes, which made the people next to him change their expressions.
Someone from the side stretched out his foot and kicked him over: "***. What nonsense are you talking about? A dog's mouth can't spit out ivory It's me." This latecomer seemed to be much better than the previous one. Yes, he said seriously: "General, the so-called generals are outside, and the emperor's orders are not accepted. Those of us who are out on the battlefield should not pay attention to the random orders issued by the losers behind. We should resolutely refuse this order. We will hold on to the sword gate. Guan, it must be right."
Someone next to him echoed: "Yeah! Those civil servants don't understand anything, they only know nonsense. Jianmen Pass is extremely important. Even if the rebel army has reached Mianyang, we can't give up Jianmen Pass. As long as we guard this place, Mianyang The bandit army is just a lone army, nothing to fear."
"General, please take back your order, let's defend here"
The low-level military attach¨¦s shouted in unison.
Zhang Ling is not as spirited as them. After all, he is a sixty-nine-year-old man and has seen too much in officialdom. Although "the general will be outside and will not accept the emperor's orders", any general who does not obey the emperor's orders and only cares about fighting on his own will not have a good end after returning. Officialdom is a very strange place. Even if the civil servants later know that their plan is wrong, they can still confuse right and wrong, forcefully say that their mistakes are right, and blame all the mistakes on the military attach¨¦s.
Zhang Ling is not worried about himself. After all, he is old and can retire at any time. Even if the officialdom can no longer accommodate him, it doesn't matter to him. What kind of future can a sixty-nine-year-old person pursue? If he was only for himself, he would really be out of town today, and his orders would be ignored.
But he is not alone. There are so many young military attach¨¦s in central Sichuan under his command. These young and vigorous young men still have a future and a future. If they disobey orders here, they will be written in a messy way by the civil servants using Spring and Autumn style. , not only are their futures ruined, but their lives may also be in danger.
This is not because Zhang Ling is worried, but because the officialdom is so dark. How did Qin Liangyu¡¯s husband Ma Qiancheng die a few decades ago? Even because he offended an eunuch, he died unjustly in prison. Even with Qin Liangyu's ability and the unity and protection of the Tujia people, he could not save Ma Qiancheng's life, leaving Qin Liangyu orphaned and widowed for so many years. ¡
Zhang Ling sighed deeply and said: "Stop talking, I have made up my mind to withdraw to Chengdu"
The generals could not help but sigh. They did not want to listen to the orders of the civil servants, but they did not dare to disobey the orders of the old general Zhang Ling. The three thousand Sichuan soldiers began to pack up and prepare to evacuate Jianmen Pass in great depression.
Zhang Ling unfolded a map, drew on it, and then ordered: "Our goal is to withdraw to Chengdu, but Mianyang, the important town from Jianmenguan to Chengdu, has been captured by the thieves, so we can't go back through Mianyang. We have to There is no detour."
His hand drew a line on the map and said: "Let's start from Zilu, Santai, Zhong?. Take the Jintang road back to Chengdu, so that the bandits will not intercept you on the way. "The line drawn by Zhang Ling is not the main official road, but a steep and difficult road over mountains and ridges. There are some small villages and small counties along the way. It is difficult for troops from other places to take this road. , and the three thousand soldiers under his command were all Sichuan soldiers, so he was not afraid.
Zhang Lingbu packed up his luggage, quietly left Jianmen Pass under the cover of night, and then rushed to Ziluo in the south. While marching, he sent spies to monitor the movements of the bandits in Mianyang. The spies soon sent back the news that they were The bandit general's headquarters has left Mianyang and marched towards Chengdu in the south.
When Zhang Ling heard the news, his heart tightened slightly. He knew that eight thousand bandits were not enough to capture Chengdu, because General Qin Liangyu was stationed in Chengdu, but as long as the bandits appeared under the city of Chengdu, the civil servants would become nervous. After that, various memorials were flying all over the sky. Within a few days, the emperor's desk would be filled with memorials impeaching the military attach¨¦s for their ineffectiveness in fighting. And it would be fine if the three thousand Sichuan soldiers he led could return to Chengdu in time. If they couldn't, the civil servants would have no idea how much nonsense they would have to say.
Zhang Ling gave a helpless smile and urged the soldiers to hurry up and get to Zilu as soon as possible, rest there for a while, and then rush to the next station, Santai.
However, what Zhang Ling didn¡¯t know was what was happening outside Zilu City at this time. There is a Zhu army with 5,000 men lurking, led by Xu Renjie, Wang Er, Yingshanhong, Cao Wenzhao, Cao Bianjiao and others.
turn out to be. After Zhu Jun captured Mianyang, they were on the verge of running out of food. However, Zhu Jun could not rob the people's food on the spot like other bandits, so they no longer had the ability to attack Chengdu southward. They left Mianyang and sent troops southward. , it¡¯s just an illusion, after leaving the city. The army was immediately divided into two groups. Each group had only 3,000 men. They made a move to march south, opened a scouting circle, and blocked all news, so that the officers and soldiers' spies could not figure out how many people they actually had.
The other group had five thousand people, including all the generals. As well as three thousand black pole soldiers and two thousand Shaanxi soldiers, after they left Mianyang, they advanced eastward and lurked in the mountains more than ten miles north of Zilu City.
As for the five thousand white soldiers who have been following them. Zhu Jun threatened Ma Xianglin's life and ordered them to stay in Mianyang and not follow him. The white pole soldiers had no choice but to stay in Mianyang.
At this time, Zhu Jun's five thousand men were lurking in a small ravine to the north of Zilu. This ravine was very narrow. There are big trees covering the top of the ditch, so the sun can't get in. Therefore, the bottom of the ditch was very dark, and Zhu Jun was all pitched in dark green tents, so it was difficult to be discovered.
Speaking, didn¡¯t Zhu Jun enter the Chengdu Plain? This place should be a flat river with no ravines This has to start with the special place of Zilu. Zilu was originally called Nichen Mountain. It was the place where Xia Yu put the soil when he was controlling water and combing the river. I don¡¯t know if Dayu piled too much mud here, piling it up here and there, which made the terrain here more complicated. There are many mountain ranges in Ziluo such as Qiqu Mountain and Wolong Mountain, and the terrain is quite complex. Hills and low mountains account for 95% of the entire Zilu area. There is no flat land at all. There are slopes everywhere. The slope is generally between 25 degrees and 35 degrees. It can be said to be ridiculously twisted.
In a place like this, it really wasn¡¯t too easy for Zhu Jun to find a ravine to hide in.
Ma Xianglin was still shackled on his hands and feet. He was also in Zhu Jun's camp and shouted angrily at Cao Wenzhao: "Insidious thieves, even the marching tents are deliberately made of such colors that make it difficult to see. It's simply It¡¯s despicable.¡±
At this time, the army did not have the concept of "protective color". The Ming army all wore bright red mandarin duck war jackets, the Manchu and Qing Tatars also wore colorful armor, and the chieftain soldiers of the ethnic minorities wore their own national costumes. , Li Zicheng's bandits were even more dressed in various colors Only Zhu Jun in the world had "protective colors". Therefore, in Ma Xianglin's eyes, this method of using "protective colors" to hide the army was very despicable.
Cao Wenzhao smiled and said: "At the beginning, I also thought it was not good for Zhu Bage to make the army so dark. Wearing bright clothes and armor would help improve morale. But after following him for a long time, I understood that instead of Instead of using bright clothes and angry horses to show off your prestige and boost morale, it is better to use this deep color to protect yourself. As long as you win the battle, your morale will naturally be high. If you keep losing the battle, your morale will not be high even if you wear bright clothes and armor. . Look at our Ming Dynasty¡¯s army, all of them wear red mandarin duck war jackets, but when fighting begins, how many of them dare to move forward bravely?¡±
Ma Xianglin snorted.
Xu Renjie, who was standing next to him, smiled and said: "Not long ago, our black gun soldiers had a fight with Li Zicheng's army at night The black gun guns were almost invisible in the dark night. Li Zicheng was beaten by us until he was running away with his head covered and his hands tied. It's not even high enough. What do you think if it were replaced by a white-pole soldier?? "
A strange look flashed across Ma Xianglin's face, and then he frowned. Xu Renjie's words caused him to think deeply. What would happen if the white-pole soldiers and the black-pole soldiers met at night? Zhu Jun was wearing dark purple clothes, which were almost black at night and could not be seen clearly. The black-barrel guns cannot be seen at night. On the contrary, the white-barrel soldiers wear bright Tujia folk costumes, which are also very bright at night. The white-barrel guns are very obvious targets at night, as long as there is a little moonlight. , can make the gun barrel emit moon-white light. I am in the open and the enemy is in the dark. If the soldiers with white poles and the soldiers with black poles fight at night, there is no need to think about who will win. It will definitely be the soldiers with black poles.
Ma Xianglin had sweat on his forehead.
Cao Wenzhao sighed: "Zhu Ba is indeed a genius. I really admire a lot of knowledge in his mind. I often can't help but wonder, if he conquers the world, will the world be better than it is now?"
Ma Xiang remained silent. After a long time, he hummed: "It's useless even if you ambush here very covertly. General Zhang Ling will never be fooled."
Cao Wenzhao did not argue with him. He just smiled and said: "Whether he will come or not, we will know later"
That¡¯s it. A scout had already come over and shouted: "Report! Leaders, three thousand Sichuan soldiers led by the crossbow general Zhang Ling have appeared in the north, and they are three miles away." If they are on the plains, Zhu Jun's scouts can spread out to ten miles. Even fifteen miles away, as soon as the enemy appears within this range, they will fly back and report. But in the complex terrain of Sichuan, we can monitor up to five miles away. Moreover, they had no horses to ride and had to rely on their legs when reporting information. Therefore, they found the enemy five miles away and rushed back to report. The enemy was almost three miles away.
"What?" Before Xu Renjie and others could respond, Ma Xianglin screamed first: "This this is impossible Master Zhang Ling is a veteran who has experienced hundreds of battles. How could he not know the importance of Jianmen Pass?" ? How could he abandon the pass and come here? Thisthis is definitely the nonsense the scout is talking about."
Cao Wenzhao smiled bitterly and said: "It's precisely because he is a veteran who has experienced hundreds of battles. That's why he can see further than you!" He added seriously: "If he doesn't obey the order and come back, he and his The three thousand Sichuan soldiers are all gone. Even if he wins the battle, he will not survive If he comes back, even if he loses the battle, there will be people to help him cover it up. In the end, it will definitely not be his fault."
Ma Xianglin's eyes widened and he looked at Cao Wenzhao angrily: "Don't talk nonsense"
Cao Wenzhao shook his head and said, "Whether I'm talking nonsense or not, you have to think clearly before you argue with me."
At this time, Xu Renjie was giving orders to the people next to him: "Give me the order and act according to my previous plan"
Zhu Jun coaxed and dispersed. They dispersed according to the ambush locations arranged by Xu Renjie in advance. Cao Wenzhao also raised his two-foot-long steel spear and prepared to fight.
A flash of panic flashed in Ma Xianglin's eyes. But it was inconvenient to speak.
Cao Wenzhao then smiled and said: "Want to go and see it? Then let's go together!"
Ma Xianglin was not reserved at all. He nodded quickly and followed Cao Wenzhao. Even though his hands and feet were shackled, he was not necessarily slower when walking. It was just a little inconvenient when he ran.
After a long time, Zhang Ling came to a complex ravine. Zhang Ling, who was getting stronger and stronger, looked up to the south and said, "Climb over these hills and you will reach Zilu City. Take a rest there and then go south. .¡±
The generals next to him responded without any objection. Although there is a ravine with complex terrain ahead, the military attaches of the Sichuan Army do not care because their scouting circle is also wide open. It seems easy to be ambushed in the dangerous mountains in the middle of Sichuan, but there are experienced scouts ahead. Clear the way, they don't believe that any bandit army can escape their eyes and ambush them.
At this moment, the scouts in front turned around and reported urgently: "General, two thousand bandit soldiers were found on the hill in front. The flag is from the bandit army Yingshan Hongbu."
Zhang Ling was slightly surprised: "Yingshanhongbu? Two thousand people?"
His mind was spinning rapidly. After all, Zhu Jun and the imperial court had been fighting for many years. It was impossible for the imperial court to still not figure out the generals in Zhu Jun's army. Zhang Ling knew very well that Yingshanhong was Wang Er's wife and was considered a third-rate general in Zhu's army. If she leads two thousand people, it is almost reasonable. But what does she mean by showing up here to stop him?
Zhang Ling frowned and asked, "Besides her, is there anyone else?"
The scout reported: "I don't know, because Yingshanhong's two thousand people blocked the way forward, and we can't go around it, so we don't know if there are any enemies behind her"
Zhang Ling suddenly hesitated. As the saying goes, "Only when you know the enemy can you win every battle." He couldn't figure out the opponent.Without reinforcements, it would be inconvenient to fight with them. If he relied on his usual maturity and prudent attitude, he would now order the camp to be set up and find out everything before fighting this battle. However, he also had the order to return to Chengdu as soon as possible, but he could not contact the rebels here, otherwise it would be difficult to explain to his superiors, so he had to order the scout: "Find a way to go over the mountain and get behind her to spy on her. Are there any other thieves behind?"
Before this scout had time to run out, another scout ran back and reported: "General, the two thousand thieves in the Yingshanhong tribe are all Shaanxi soldiers. They also discovered us at the same time. They looked very scared. Start to back away.¡±
One of Zhang Ling's army staff members was overjoyed when he heard the news: "The rebel army is all Shaanxi soldiers? Afraid? Back off? Hmm I understand! The rebel army should be divided. They should capture Mianyang this time with 8,000 soldiers." The people must have divided the army into four groups. One of them was the Chinese army's three thousand black pole soldiers, located in the middle, walking from Mianyang to Deyang to attack Chengdu. One thousand Shaanxi soldiers were in the vanguard, two thousand on the left wing, and two thousand On the right wingthe force in front of us must be the two thousand Shaanxi soldiers responsible for the right wingbecause they only have two thousand people, so they feel scared when they see us."
The analysis of this staff officer is in line with strategic common sense. It is very reasonable for the rebel army to divide its troops and advance in multiple directions, occupy a large area at the same time, and finally meet under the city of Chengdu, and then capture the city in one fell swoop. If you follow his analysis, these two thousand Yingshan Red troops were specially sent to attack Zi Lu, but they happened to run into Zhang Ling's army.
The staff officer said happily: "If that's the case, it would be easy. Zilu must still be in the hands of the imperial court. There should be three hundred defenders in the city, as well as many rural warriors organized by the country gentry. The total number should be no less than a thousand. If our army attacks The thieves, the defenders in the city are not fools, they will definitely come out of the city to attack from both sides, maybe they can swallow up these two thousand thieves in one fell swoop."