Chapter 382: Seeking for battle, sense of mission, beginning of battle

When Zhao Neng led his troops from Jinan City, the public opinion, which was originally busy in Shandong Province, suddenly became quiet. The previous vocal sound of the saints had never happened.

Literatures know more about national affairs than the people. Naturally, they know the great achievements of the Tartar army over the years. The Ming army had never gained any advantage. Once they fought, even if they guarded the Tangchi in Jincheng and used Western cannons, they would often go down in one go. According to word of mouth, the Tartars became magical existences of galloping horses and galloping bows. Although Jiaozhou Camp is also powerful and has won many battles, the victory was achieved by the officers and soldiers and bandits.

Taking such low-standard troops as a reference, the combat effectiveness of the Jiaozhou Camp is also questionable. Moreover, the soldiers and horses of the Jiaozhou Camp are all not very good at thinking. Jinan City has been built in recent years, and it is still a bit safe to guard it. These fools actually ran out to fight in the field. Who has ever heard of any Ming army who has made some cheaper things from the Tartars? A great young man, he will definitely not be able to come back after he goes like this.

This situation is really dangerous. General Li Meng of Zhendong brought almost 70% of Shandong's troops to Nanzhili. It was originally a wonderful move, but now it seems that this Tartar army is the real wonderful. The time to arrive was just right, just the weakest time to arrive in Shandong.

You said it was just a matter of guarding, but you were foolishly going out to fight. This is just asking for death and no one else can blame you. Isn’t this the meat being brought up for the Tartars to eat?

The Tartar army has come and left, and then someone in Shandong, which is seriously injured, will definitely come in to replace it. Think about whether it will cause trouble after writing so many articles that praise merit. Thinking of this, almost everyone is silent and starts to study behind closed doors without asking about the world.

There are naturally images of the end of the world. There are certainly those who are passionate, but more are those who are morally corrupt and forget about their righteousness when they see profit. They are all fence-bearers. When Shandong is famous, they naturally have to circle around the flattery, hoping to gain some benefits from it. When they see the crisis, they are evading, fearing that they will encounter trouble.

Zhao Neng led a large army from Jinan and marched all the way. He arrived in Dezhou City at noon on November 20th. Within these three days, the news had already followed the Jiaozhou Camp Road, the official road of the government, and various channels for the circulation of news to various major towns in Shandong.

It was quiet and silent. Some people in Yanzhou Prefecture were even more ready to move. What made people feel ridiculous is that there were banquets and celebrations in the Confucius Mansion and the Lu Prince’s Mansion. They were also people of the Ming Dynasty. When the Tartars went south, they would also be harmed. In this great disaster, they were even gloating like this, and they always felt that this huge disaster had nothing to do with them.

In this era, these great noble families were often like this. Zhang Xianzhong besieged Wuchang and the local bureaucrats asked the King of Chu to take some money to assist the army. The prince actually pointed at the ground chairs given by Master Hongwu and said that this thing was the only thing that could be used to assist the army. It was ridiculous and sad.

After arriving in Dezhou, Zhao Neng stopped for two days. At this time, the troops he led had increased to more than 21,000. Scattered people and horses all over the way came to gather, and the team was getting bigger and bigger like snowballs. This battle that seemed to be defeated was still banned. This is probably an important place in Shandong that is different from other groups in this era. Of course, most people can't see it.

Soldiers are very fast, but preparation and arrangement in Dezhou must take time. Because marching in Shandong, a large number of food, supplies, and logistics supplies can be supplemented by transit warehouses set up on transportation routes. However, after leaving Shandong, everything will be transported by the rear area of ​​Shandong.

The establishment of a military farm in Dezhou was considered at the beginning. In order to mobilize manpower as a civilian and nurse to be responsible for the transportation of the army and various miscellaneous work during the large army's operations. When the troops arrived near Dezhou, the strong fortification barracks were prepared, the grain, weapons, gunpowder, and lead balls in the warehouse were also ready, and the war horses and animals were also placed. The so-called preparations were finally proven today.

The armed salt genies in Wucheng, Wudingzhou, Linyi, Pingyuan, and Dezhou were also concentrated in Dezhou. These military farms in northern Shandong also knew the news of the attack of the Tartar army. Moreover, their location was on the road that was necessary, and people were inevitably panic.

If there is no corresponding force to suppress the guards, there will be no chaos. For the sake of stability, second-tier troops and public security forces should come here to guard various counties and villages, which not only ensure stability, but also shock local tyrants.

Dezhou is a hub for both water and land to enter Shandong. Various information is summarized here to Zhao Neng. The Shandong army rebuilt the reconnaissance network for Hebei. A large number of reconnaissance cavalry were dispatched to search, and the news was transmitted like flowing water. After Tianjin was broken, the Tartar army was moving a little slower, but the castration was still unstoppable. After Tianjin broke the city, the Jinghai along the canal was quickly broken.

When the logistics supplies and other logistics supplies were replenished, news came again that the Qingxian County Magistrate abandoned the city and fled, and the whole city was defeated. Before the enemy arrived, the city was empty.

Jingzhou East and Dezhou North, this is already within the territory of Northern Zhili, and the soldiers and horses in Shandong have no jurisdiction at all.

Moreover, when the Tartars went south, the entire Northern Zhili except for the capital sent messengers to mobilize troops to help the king everywhere, no other instructions were issued, even if they resisted on the spot, or if the military and civilians coexisted with the city, they did not issue any other orders.

Everyone was in chaos and did their own things. The original assignment feedback between prefectures, prefectures, and counties was interrupted, and everyone was acting like a headless fly.

The same is true for Jingzhou. The magistrate and his men were already desperate. When they heard that the Qingxian County Magistrate abandoned the city and fled, they gave them a direction for officials who didn't know what to do. Everyone wanted to leave and didn't have to bear any responsibility.

There are many warehouses of all sizes along the river, and some of them are stored in some materials. The year is not good, and many people are staring at these things. When the situation is chaotic, some scoundrels will start to plunder. Moreover, the situation quickly becomes uncontrollable.

The officers and soldiers stationed in Jingzhou also participated. In addition to the warehouses beside the canal, even the civilians and wealthy families in the city began to be looted.

This place is close to Shandong, and the people are close to Shandong from top to bottom. With such chaos, no one thought of going to the court, but instead went to Dezhou to seek help.

Zhao Neng led a large army to come. It happened to be the chaos. Zhao Neng originally needed local officials in Jingzhou to provide civil servants and guides, as well as some auxiliary materials. He was about to send someone to contact him, but who would have encountered such a situation. Although Zhao Neng, the general of Dengzhou, was loyal and kind, he also followed the common methods of Jiaozhou Camp to deal with such matters.

A Qianzheng, who was sent to contact the prefect of Jingzhou, led a battalion of soldiers to Jingzhou City. Although the Tartar army would take a long time to come, the city was already like a broken city, but the place where the plunder was swept and chaotic, was the rogue in the city, and there was a chaos everywhere.

The soldiers from Jiaozhou camp entered the city from the east gate. Starting from the east gate, they washed away the family and plundered their heads regardless of the severity of the crime.

A soldier with a good voice shouted in front, "The officers and soldiers enter the city. At this time, the curfew is imposed, and no one is involved and everyone returns to their homes." The latter is a straightforward killing.

In such a situation of collapse in public security, the best way is to kill people. The troops of Jiaozhou Camp are not very loud. The east side is quiet, but the other places are still in chaos. However, two hours later, the small Jingzhou City is dead silent.

This is winter, and I am not afraid of the corpses rotting. People from Jingzhou City come to clean up these corpses, but the soldiers in Jiaozhou camp are too lazy to care about them. Therefore, the streets of Jingzhou City are full of corpses, and all the corpses whose heads have been cut off. All the people who cause trouble and some people who have not had time to go home have their heads cut off.

After seeing this, the governor of Jingzhou, the inexplicable thoughts settled down. As for why the Shandong soldiers suddenly appeared in Jingzhou without any orders or official documents, no one mentioned this unreasonable system. The request made by the Qiang General was fully agreed.

When fighting the Tartars, no matter whether the behavior itself is wise or not, it is always full of some sacred flavor. It is always right to serve the country with loyalty. Do your best to cooperate with such things. On the surface, everyone is obliged.

Killing people to stabilize public security is a trivial matter for Jiaozhou Camp. It is too late for Jingzhou to thank him, so naturally he would not say much, but there was some unexpected lingering afterwards.

Many years later, there have been rumors that the Jiaozhou camp army was entering Jingzhou to blackmail military supplies, and the Jingzhou soldiers and civilians were powerful and could not surrender, and they fought with righteousness. As a result, the Jiaozhou camp army general was angry and led his troops to massacre the city, causing a huge tragedy. In addition, a deep pit burying a large number of corpses was found outside the city. It is really hard to explain.

On November 25, 15th year of Chongzhen, Zhao Neng was building fortifications in Anling Town, east of Jingzhou, close to the canal, but received news from the provoy that the Tatar army had already passed Cangzhou and was about to reach Banbidian.

Banbidian is already a town in the south of Cangzhou, only two days away from Anling Town. This news shocked Zhao Neng.

In other words, after a few days of slow progress, the Qing army suddenly accelerated. Could it be that they already knew that Jiaozhou Camp was waiting for defense in the south?

In theory, the richest place in Hejian Prefecture is Cangzhou, which is where Changlu Salt Administration is located. It has been a wealthy family that is rich for hundreds of years. It is really wrong not to grab one. The militia and officers and soldiers there are still some strength. The local martial arts style is very strong, and there are many armed battles on weekdays. The clans are very powerful. The combat power of the elite servants of the rich is said to be no worse than that of the general Nei Ding. The city walls and forts are very solid, and there are sufficient food and supplies. If the Qing army attacked, they would not be able to take it down in a hurry. They would always buy some time for the Jiaozhou camp team.

Who would have thought that after conquering Jinghai, the Tartar soldiers ignored the wealthy Cangzhou, but instead made their troops advance rapidly, which really caught people off guard.

However, the Dengzhou Army led by Zhao Neng and the cavalry provos sent out did not encounter the Tartars' troops, and the same was true for the hidden stakes buried everywhere. In theory, the Tartars should not know the existence of the Jiaozhou Army in front, so why are they so eager to advance?

If the Tartars army was moving at this speed, the troops led by Zhao Neng would no longer have time to build a complete defense system in Anling Town, waiting for work, and let the Tartars run wild in front of the fortifications.

In fact, the Tartars' soldiers and horses did not act in such a way. It was normal. The reason for attacking Jizhou was to attack the capital and attract soldiers and horses from all over the northern Zhili to gather in the capital area, so as to give the Tartars army a larger and more free space to act.

The reason why the three guards in Tianjin is to attack the target of the three guards in Tianjin is the firearm manufacturing craftsmen. If these people go there without caring about it, they will run away by themselves. They will not be caught when they come back.

If the rest of the world is wasted too much energy now and the large number of gold and silver and population are moving south, it will definitely delay the speed of the troops and affect the flexibility of the army.

In places like Cangzhou, it is not too late to wash away the plunder when the army returns. It has been nearly half a month since entering the pass, and the news has gradually spread in the Ming Dynasty. Shandong and other places should have been prepared, and the Ming government troops gathered in the capital should have taken some action.

During this period, I have been keeping my actions slowly and suddenly accelerated my progress. This change can make the troops from all walks of life in the Ming Dynasty judge the arrival time and place according to the speed of the past. Misjudgment occurs, so that when the army arrives, it can catch the other party off guard.

Unexpectedly and caught off guard, these two emotions indeed made Zhao Neng, a camp in Jiaozhou, feel it.

In Shandong, and even in the army, there are various evaluations of the generals of the Jiaozhou camp. Each person is in a different position and has a very different evaluation of people and places. However, among them, the evaluation of Zhao Neng is surprisingly consistent. That is loyalty and diligence.

Zhao Neng was older than Li Meng. Before joining the salt pole, he was just a honest farming and salt-boiling military household. He was not a general, had no influence, had no tradition, no military quality or command skills, and even had no concept of training troops, but he was very diligent. After Li Meng understood what he had done, he continued to execute meticulously.

Zhao Neng is lacking in judging the general trend. He judges the situation of the enemy and makes decisions in the face of the enemy. However, his diligence in training and his military strength are strong enough; he is also very cautious in using troops, and the camp he sets up is strong enough, and is often criticized as a waste. These qualities can make up for a lot of them.

Moreover, Zhao Neng will basically not let him take on one aspect when he participates in the battles in the ground. He can only execute it faithfully under the direct command of Li Mengdi. This time he will be allowed to stay. There are several big figures on it who can judge the command of the ground. As long as Zhao Neng is loyal and obeys the orders.

But the current situation is unexpected. It is said that Sun Chuanting should have come in person, but the defense of Jinan Prefecture and Dongchang Prefecture also requires the dispatch and command of this military-capable "Mr. Gongsun". He cannot go. Zhao Neng must make this judgment himself and command himself.

"I heard that the Tartars came this time with the general's cannon. The cannon is probably not inferior to our twelve-pound cannons. Even if we guard this town, we may still let the other party blow it away!"

"I'm afraid of her mother, let's go out and fight. Who's the Jiaozhou Camp's square formation afraid of!!"

"Are you sending someone back to Jinan City to ask?"

"Ask a ghost, I'm afraid that when our messenger arrives in Jinan City, the Tatar army will come!!"

In the military camp commander's tent outside Anling Town, Zhao Neng and Qianzong of each battalion were among them. Everyone argued in a group. When it comes to artillery, everyone was worried because most of the battles were in Nanzhili and Henan, and most of the artillery in the Weapon Manufacturing Bureau was for the needs of the old camp and several places in the south.

The artillery production of the Weapon Manufacturing Bureau is insufficient, and the equipment of each unit is seriously insufficient. In this southern expedition, most of the artillery were taken away. Moreover, most of the artillery brought out of Shandong were excellent and good artillery. This time, the Dengzhou army attacked Dezhou, and the heavy equipment was not supplemented at all, and they were all the original equipment.

For the safety of Jinan, some of them are left to serve as city defense weapons for Jinan City. At present, the Dengzhou Army's own artillery has only ten, six three-pound cannons, and four six-pound cannons. Although it is used for field battles, it is light and convenient, far better than the heavy twelve-pound long cannons, but this time the opponent is the unparalleled Tartar cavalry in the field. They run like thunder and go out to field battles, but if they fight in the camp, their opponent's giant cannons are hard to match.

There is a sense of the Tartar soldiers and horses outside the pass, from Li Meng to the non-commissioned officers below. The Tartar soldiers and horses are brave and elite, but their equipment is much inferior to the Jiaozhou camp. Muskets and cannons are all the advantages of the Jiaozhou camp. The "Jinan Military Proposal Book" once mentioned separately that the advantage of our Jiaozhou camp is firearms, and we must maximize this advantage in combat.

When they left Jinan City, they thought so, so Zhao Neng took the initiative to express the artillery that was left for Jinan City.

Who would have thought that as he marched northward, he met the land-breaking refugees and spies who were inquiring about the news, the information of the Qing army became clearer.

A large number of horse teams, including Jurchen Tartars and Mongolian Tartars, are the same in the past. There are generals and gunmen, which is something I have never heard of before. If this army was following the previous speed of travel, Zhao Neng might be able to draw firearms from Jinan.

But the other party's sudden acceleration had completely eliminated this possibility. Zhao Neng knew that he had insufficient judgment, and the officers of each battalion who had experienced personal military camps might have a deeper and more accurate judgment. It would be better to call them all for discussion. Perhaps they could get a result.

However, Li Meng and the officers around him were lacking in this regard. He led the thousand generals of the local camp in the personal military camp and could he be strong there.

There were endless disputes and debates in the military tent, but no useful conclusions were drawn. Zhao Neng was extremely irritated. After an hour, the discussion was terminated and the officers returned to the camp to wait for orders. Zhao Neng drove everyone in the military tent out and worried himself in the military tent.

I don’t know what to do with such a situation in front of me. Zhao Neng had no choice but to think so. He was blessed by the great commander. At this moment, he could not afford to lose his life...

"Mr. Mr. Ou asked for a meeting!"

The personal soldiers outside the tent spoke loudly to preach. Zhao Neng was stunned and then realized that "Mr. Ou" was the foreigner Garys Oman. Before leaving, he and the experimental camp stayed in Jinan to experiment with various tactics. Their status was equivalent to that of the deputy general of the experimental camp, but the experimental camp was directly under Wang Hai, and the foreigner was vaguely the leader of the experimental camp.

This time, the troops were pieced together to send troops. The experimental camp was all veterans and the most elite. Naturally, they had to be sent together this time. The debate just now was a matter within the Dengzhou army. Oman was the old camp system and a foreigner, so naturally he did not invite him.

Who would have thought that this foreigner actually came to the door with his own initiative? Zhao Neng was irritated and had no intention of meeting him. Moreover, he had been guarding the land of Denglai for a long time and had very little dealing with foreigners. He instinctively felt a bit disgusted. But after thinking about it, Oman had a similar status as Mr. Gongsun after all, so he should not refuse rashly, and said reluctantly, "Please."

Oman walked in with great strides in the armor of the Qianzheng system of the camp. Jiaozhou Camp attached great importance to military appearance, but this old mercenary from the German region had the same view. He believed that in order to cultivate a soldier's sense of honor and belonging to the army, military appearance and discipline were a very critical factor.

Jiaozhou Camp's training in this area made him feel that the choice was correct, so he didn't have long been in the army, but he tried his best to connect and imitate. In addition, he was really well-known in Europe.

After coming in, according to the current officer class, Oman stood at attention and saluted with his left fist and saw the other party's behavior. Zhao Neng felt very comfortable, and even with the disgust, he spoke:

"Mr. Ou, what's wrong with coming here?"

"General, according to Mr. Gongsun's opinion, we must hold back the barbarian army and cannot defend this Anling Town, but take the initiative to fight!!"

In today's debate, this is the first person to give a clear judgment. Although this person is a foreigner, Zhao Neng still feels refreshed.

"General, such a plain is more than any of the countries I have seen in my hometown and the surrounding areas. The only thing that can be compared with this is probably the only land east of Poland."

The general translator on the side lowered his head and stood respectfully, but kept adjusting the non-Chinese vocabulary and abnormal word order in Oman's discourse and speaking it out.

"In such a vast plain, even tens of thousands of cavalry can make large-scale maneuvers without considering the limitations of the terrain, Mr. Gongsun's order to our legion was to drag the large barbarian troops. But if we were in this town, we could not resist the opponent's heavy artillery, and the other was that the opponent could completely ignore us, bypass us, and run to a safe distance."

Oman's identity as a gentleman allows him to know some information that officers of this level cannot know, and also allows him to make a more comprehensive analysis.

After following the army to Jinan Prefecture and marched to Northern Zhili, Oman was greatly shocked, not for the army and the situation, but because of the terrain.

Europeans in this era could not imagine the hugeness of the Ming Empire. The provinces of the Ming Empire were already the size of the German region. Many small countries and even the provincial prefectures were in the size of the provinces. Fujian was mountainous, and the hills in Shandong and the large plains in northern Zhili were completely different.

Sun Chuanting's judgment naturally needs to be corrected by Oman, according to his observation. After Zhao Neng's army came to Anling Town, he had the intention to be prepared to defend. In Jinan Prefecture, Mr. Gongsun's judgment and command were not wrong, but when he arrived at the scene, he had to make corrections based on the specific situation.

"Our soldiers and officers are in Shandong, behind us. If the barbarian army bypasses Anling Town and enters Shandong directly, even if they want to turn back to fight, their morale will be reduced because they are worried about their relatives, and even riots will occur."

Zhao Neng was so proud that his views on Omandi disappeared, and he asked in a solemn voice:

"Mr. Ou, what should we do!!"
To be continued...