Chapter 443 The Road to Suffer

Several official roads from Hejian Prefecture to Shuntian Prefecture, and from Shuntian Prefecture to Yongping Prefecture are already ruined. You should know that this is a key place in the capital of the Northern Zhili region. The quality of the official road is directly related to the speed of the army's allocation, but no one still manages it.

Nowadays, it is a blessing to be able to take good care of yourself. Who would still care about the roads in this important place in the capital? Someone asked about it that the officials of Jizhen and Yongping Prefecture are all very upbeat.

In recent years, the Tartars have come from the Great Wall Pass north of Yongping Prefecture. If we repair the official road, wouldn’t it give the enemy a smooth path? Wouldn’t it be a reward for the enemy? Once we say such a big hat, no one dares to refute and question it.

But then again, even in a good year, these official roads can only be used in dry weather. As long as it rains, it will be muddy and difficult to walk on. Whether it is the cavalry of the Tartars or the officers and soldiers of Ji Town have already found a way. Anyway, there are flat rivers everywhere west of Luanzhou, and it is difficult to walk on the official roads, so it is also possible to walk on the fields. It is just a little troublesome.

But infantry and cavalry can walk on farmland, but they can't walk on farmland with large carts with supplies. If they walk on unofficial roads, the soil of the fields will be soft and the wooden wheels will sink in, and it will be difficult to get out. Maybe they will drag down the cattle and horses that pull the cart, and damage the supplies and livestock.

It was so dying. When Zhang Kun, the deputy garrison of the regiment, arrived at the east of Lutai Town in Shuntian Prefecture, it rained for two days. Although the autumn rain was not heavy, the road surface of the official road became muddy. He calculated the time. Hejian Prefecture, which left in early August, asked to enter Yongping Prefecture before September.

But now, I can't walk much on the official road with my baggage cart in a day. At present, these 500 people can be easier with the help of the big cart, but because the big cart filled with supplies often falls into the mud, and the 500 people are much tired more than the cow and horses, and they keep lifting and pushing endlessly.

Because of the slow pace of travel, it is often impossible to reach the next station or settlement before the end of the night, and can only camp in the wilderness to rest.

Lutai is close to the Bohai Sea. The moist and salty sea breeze erodes the official road surface using soil as the foundation, and now it rains even worse.

Compared to a convoy with supplies, the situation of the light cavalry is much better. If you treat the horse's hooves a little, it is not a problem to get stuck in the mud. Moreover, it is easier for the horse to turn, so relatively speaking, you can choose those less difficult grounds.

But these light cavalry are not the light cavalry of Shandong. Since the team led by Zhang Kun passed Beitang Town, some horse riders have been cruising far away on the march, and have begun to be quite careful, and it is more appropriate to describe it with a tightening of their heads and brains.

If you find that the Jiaozhou Camp convoy notices them, you will immediately evacuate quickly. You will disappear from your sight, but the more you walk along the official road towards Yongping Mansion, the more you cruising light cavalry around you will become more arrogant and you will not be afraid of exposing your tracks. You will often get close to observe.

Although he is arrogant, he is very organized in his actions. For example, the distance is always outside the range of the six-pound cannon. Occasionally, he will evacuate quickly like a frightened rabbit. At this distance, it is difficult to see the other party's identity clearly.

As a result, while moving, Zhang Kun and the 500 soldiers led by him had to transport and push the big trucks trapped in the mud, but also had to separate some of the men to warn.

On the third day after encountering the cavalry, Zhang Kun, deputy garrison of the Hebei Legion, finally saw the dress of these cavalry with a thousand-mile mirror - cavalry riding Mongolian horses and wearing Mongolian leather robes. It seems that these people are the rumored "Mongolian horse bandits".

In addition to Zhang Kun arresting the general, there are four generals in this advance team. These four generals were privately advised by Zhang Jiang before coming. It is said that Zhang Kun's mind is prone to fever, so don't be trapped by the enemy because of impulse. After all, the main task of this team is to set up a point in Yongping Mansion, rather than destroying the "bandits" along the way. Zhang Kun is also a well-known role in the army.

When Zhang Xiucai was fighting, he became Zhang Crazy. Everyone knew a little. Seeing the cavalry cruising around the periphery, these officers were worried that Zhang Kun would rush out desperately and fight to the bandits to death. However, although Zhang Kun was crazy, he was definitely not stupid.

On the road from Beitang to Lutai, Zhang Kun was more steady than anyone else. Although the road was difficult and the official road was narrow, Zhang Kun still ordered the cart to move forward in two rows. This was one of the contributions of Oman Garris, the deputy commander of the Experimental Brigade, to the Jiaozhou camp.

A hundred years have passed since the Czech peasant uprising caused by religious reasons, the Hus War, but his chariot tactics were still effective in the Ming Dynasty. This tactic was not practiced, but was only provided as a suggestion to commanders at all levels, especially the commanders of the baggage troops.

The large chariots lined up in two rows can be connected to each other head-to-end when attacked, turning into a circular formation to effectively defend against the enemy's charge.

I don’t know if it was the enemy who saw the characteristics of this formation or was cautious and cautious. On the road between Lutai Town and Yongping Mansion, they never launched an attack.

The siege of these "Mongolian horse bandits" is not a headache. The key is that after leaving Lutai Town, it still rains intermittently, making the ground more difficult to move. This makes Zhang Kun and his soldiers increasingly tired. Zhang Kun and the four generals lifted up and pushed the carriages that were trapped in the mud at the beginning, and were also as tired as the soldiers.

Despite such fatigue, every day when it was dark, Zhang Kun and his soldiers still built camps and fortifications in a normal manner despite their fatigue, and arranged a team of soldiers to watch. The construction of camps during the marching is one of the most severe regulations of Jiaozhou Camp.

If an army does not build its own camp and station itself during the march, but goes to the private house, the punishment will be only a little lighter than escaping at the last battle.

In clear weather, camping allowed, but in such an environment, there is only the option of camping. Perhaps because of the complete camping, the cavalry who were cruising and observing outside had no major actions. Only the night before entering Yongping Prefecture.

The sky was cloudy and light. Apart from the camp's bonfires that were angry for dryness and heating, the camp was surrounded by darkness, with only the croaking of frogs and the cries of insects. The range that the soldiers responsible for guarding the night guard could see, that is, the range of the bonfires in the camp was not too far away.

The fatigue during the day made them sleepy, but their responsibilities were not careless. The cavalrymen who were swimming outside during the day would definitely not be here to protect the convoy. Everyone was looking forward to keeping a watch for an hour and resting in shifts. There was nothing to see from the sky, but it was estimated that the time would be almost until late at night.

Suddenly, the sound of frogs and insects around him became quiet and became a little scattered. The soldiers at night in Jiaozhou Camp noticed it, but after turning to that direction, they could not see anything, and the sound returned to normal. This visibility, such weather, occasional abnormalities are even more terrifying.

The man in charge of the night always stared at the abnormal direction for a long time. But in this case, who knew if he had heard the sound wrongly?

It is better to hear it wrong than let it go. This is the experience summarized by the cavalry from the land horse bandits in the Jiaozhou camp. It is also listed as one of the rules for camping at night. The proportion of the muskets of these 500 advance teams is also 50%. Almost half of the guards in the vigil are holding muskets.

Gunpowder and lead bullets were all loaded into the gun chamber, and the paper ball wrapped in ammunition was blocked in front. Although the weather was wet, it would not affect the firing of the musket. More than a dozen soldiers spontaneously ran to the abnormal direction with the musket, preparing to use the musket to shoot two rounds in a flat manner.

But at this time, the man who was on the verge of night was a little angry and scolded in a low voice:

"I'm confused, right? Look at where the bonfire is shining, then calculate where the musket in your hands can be shot, pull out a cannon and prepare to shoot flat!"

The soldiers agreed and called out several sleeping artillery soldiers in the camp surrounded by large chariots. Although there were only five hundred soldiers and more than forty large chariots here, there were ten large and large cannons. Of course, these cannons were all one-pound Flang machine and two-pound cannons designed specifically for such small troops. They were relatively light and easy to port. However, the artillery soldiers had to follow the cannons and push the carts like ordinary soldiers, but they were more tired.

For them, it was a rare rest at night, but they were called by their comrades. They were really reluctant. The two-pound cannon was also carried with iron wheels. When they were camping at night, they were placed inside the big carriage ring camp. Three people raised the cannon stand, and several infantrymen helped push it to the direction where the abnormality occurred.

Three two-pound cannons were placed on the gap between the big trucks. Several artillery soldiers were listlessly loading the ammunition, gritting their teeth and cursing:

"I don't know where the puppy came from, so I can't sleep well even if I have a good sleep. Let's blow your mother's floor!!"

The flat shooting thing only ensures a range of about two hundred steps or even closer, but it has already hit the spot outside the bonfire light. There are three dull sounds of "boom", "boom", and "boom", and the shells flew out with a sharp roar.

Although they avoided the ground as much as possible, except for gunpowder, everything in the large convoy was very wet. From Zhang Kun to the ordinary soldiers below, they didn't sleep well. The three cannons sounded awakened most of the people. The tired soldiers of the advance team cursed a few times, then turned over and continued to sleep.

For them, if they need to wake up and join the battle, there will be corresponding orders issued. As for now, obviously, there is no need to be careful.

The shells flew out, and there were obvious commotion and people shouting in the darkness that had already returned to normal, and then screamed a few times.

The man on the night had already put the copper whistle to his mouth, because around the camp, you could hear a large number of people retreating. It seemed that his three guns were right.

Every team of soldiers who were on duty on the night this night were alert. Everyone knew about the fierce enemies, but these enemies actually dared to attack in the middle of the night outside Yongping Mansion and did such a secret. If they were caught in the gap and rushed in by the "Mongolian Horse Bandits" on the periphery, it would be a big and small trouble.

Although we knew that the enemy might have been injured and killed, the soldiers of the advance team did not dare to go out to check it out rashly. There are too many dangers in this darkness, so it is better not to take risks.

The next morning, Zhang Kun sent a team of soldiers to the direction where the fire last night to check, but he saw nothing else except a horse's corpse.

In the wilderness of this season, if there is a smell of blood, it is easy to attract some small animals. And those people carefully cleaned the traces last night and did not find anything. The saddle and horse harness on the horse corpse was also taken away. The horses were relatively short and looked like Mongolian horses on the grassland. Although Ji Town and Liao Town were very close to the Mongolian grassland, the land horses used were all slightly taller.

For those who know how to look at horses, Mongolian horses and Liao horses can be seen at a glance. They are using "Mongolian horses". Are they really Mongolian horse bandits?

"Damn, if the Mongolian horse bandits really had this ability, Jizhen would have been occupied by the Tartars long ago, so there is still a place for Gaodi to go."

Hearing the report from his subordinates, Zhang Kun made a vicious judgment. After the night bombardment, the next day when the convoy set off, he did not see the knights hanging from afar. He thought he was scared by the pain of last night. Who would have thought that he would follow him again at noon.

The weather was very gloomy and it was about to rain. The ground was still so difficult to walk, and the soldiers in the advance team were still extremely tired. At night, at Zhang Kun's instructions, several small cannons were loaded with ammunition before going to bed, ready to fire at any time, and then they arranged for the soldiers to go to bed at night.

That night, there was a lot more harassment outside, and it was obviously aimed at disturbing, rather than sneak attacks that were mainly attacked.

The "Mongolian Horse Bandits" were far away from the convoy and hid outside the range of the artillery as carefully as during the day. I don't know what these people thought. They made some gongs and drums, and clamored desperately, and made continuous troubles, which made the Shandong advance team unable to sleep at all.

During the day, there were extremely tired soldiers in Jiaozhou camp. If there were such disturbances around at night, the rest would be even worse, and fatigue would continue to accumulate.

Moreover, if the advance team did not shoot and shoot counterattack in the evening, these horse bandits would approach carefully. This time it was not like that night. They were always in one direction, but immediately moved to another direction after making a sound.

At night, the advance team's muskets and cannons also opened fire in scattered ways. But this time it didn't work...

Almost a pattern was formed, but the next morning the horse bandits did not appear as before. It seemed that these "horse bandits" were also constantly improving.

Zhang Kun knew in his heart that the other party’s preparation was to use the muddy roads caused by rainy days and the harassment at night to make the Jiaozhou camp advance team exhausted and choose to retreat or collapse in a sneak attack.

However, the official road on this day was much easier to walk than before, because it was only light rain these days, and the roadside was actually in the process of continuous cloudiness.

The road this day was much slower than usual. The soldiers were yawning, which was really exhausted. Moreover, the number of people who were pushing to carry carriages trapped in the mud today was much smaller, because there were special people holding weapons to prepare for alert. Today's Mongolian horse bandits are more bold than usual. Perhaps knowing that tired people will respond slowly. Some bold horse bandits would yell to run to the edge of the range of the musket. When the soldiers in Jiaozhou camp reacted, they would turn their horses and run away.

At present, the Hebei army in Hejian Prefecture does not have much spare time to provide support. According to the exhausted situation of the soldiers, the possibility of being intercepted by the "Mongolian Horse Bandits" when they walked back was very high. Zhang Kun, the leader of the advance team, finally felt embarrassed. Under such circumstances, the possibility of the entire army being wiped out.

This day was August 12th. From morning to afternoon, Zhang Kun, the deputy garrison of the advance team, looked as gloomy as the sky. When it was dark, Zhang Kun laughed loudly in the camp. The wind was blowing and the sky was clear...

The moon on August 12th is already quite large. In the clear night sky, the moonlight can shine on many things. The camping on this night is much easier than usual.

Under the moonlight, the Mongolian horse bandits who were leaning over in the night had nowhere to hide. Even outside the bonfire fire, the shadowy horse bandits' movements were easily discovered.

The weather in Northern Zhili in autumn is changing. The continuous rainy days I encountered after leaving Hejian Prefecture finally cleared up on August 12th and the wind began to rise.

A good night of light makes the enemy unable to attack at all, while sunshine and wind can make the wet and muddy ground dry faster. People's calculations are not as good as the sky's calculations, so I guess that's what it means.

That night, the horse bandits who were adventuring were hit by artillery twice, and then they did not dare to harass them another time. The next morning, the bodies of four horses were found at the shelling place, and the bodies of the knights were all secretly taken away.

The road was dry all night, but the road was much easier than before. The advance soldiers who had been resting for a night were also more energetic than in the previous few days.

The horse bandits who were cruising around appeared very late this time, perhaps because of the losses last night. Or because of such weather conditions, the convoy from Shandong would definitely be getting easier and easier, without any fatigue or slackness.

By August 14th, the cart could advance smoothly for several consecutive days, and the soldiers basically didn't have to worry about the cart falling into the mud.

Perhaps even these Mongolian horse bandits were going to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival. They did not appear on the night of August 14th, and did not appear on the two days of August 15th and August 16th.

The advance team had already entered the territory of Yongping Prefecture. On this official road, the first big city to arrive was Yongping Zhongtun Guard. After the advance team arrived at this ward with the official documents of the court and Li Meng, they could take over the defense of the ward according to the rules.

Of course, the Yongping Zhongtun Guard would not accept the order so obediently. There will be many tricks, but what actions will happen after entering the garrison are completely different from what actions you have outside the garrison.

After entering the city, if there is any adverse action against the advance team, it will be naked provocation and confrontation. Moreover, the people from Yongping Mansion and Ji Town also know that Shandong must have installed spies in Ji Town. The news cannot be kept secret. At that time, it will be given a reason for Li Meng's army to attack.

If you take action on the official road outside the city, all the problems can be pushed to the so-called Mongolian horse bandits. Perhaps this method cannot be delayed for too long. However, it will take a moment to delay it. Anyway, Mongolian horse bandits cannot be eliminated. You can continue to do such a few more times.

The advance team's journey became easier and easier. The soldiers could even take turns to the cart to rest during the day and enjoy the autumn sunshine. In Shuntian Prefecture, they have always followed the horse bandits who have not relaxed. They have disappeared completely in the past few days. This trend even made Zhang Kun feel that they are really horse bandits from Mongolia.

I only realized the benefits of Shandong when I went to other places. What I walked along the way was considered a key road. But I couldn’t see any relays and post stations. I also had to thank the big cart to pull the military supplies and bought a lot of them in the two towns of Beitang and Lutai. This is what it supports until now.

According to the report from the people below, Zhang Kun didn't care if the materials could last for about two or three days. Anyway, he would be able to go to Yongping Zhongtunwei in one day, so he would just add more supplies at that time.

Yongping Prefecture is the only way for the Ming Dynasty soldiers to leave the pass. When the soldiers passed by, the people along the way naturally complained. Moreover, the Qing army entered the pass in the recent times. In addition to the big city, Yongping Prefecture's villages and settlements scattered in the wild suffered a catastrophe.

As a result, when walking on the official road, the environment along the way seemed to be on the prairie, and there were no people at all, but wolves often ran by.

Moreover, it is called the official road. Since Lutai, Zhang Kun found that he had not found any peers, nor any merchants coming towards him.

It’s really different from Shandong. If you want to see such a situation on the water and land routes in Shandong, you can only be able to see the Chinese New Year. Zhang Kun thought to himself, what kind of disaster has the place outside Shandong suffered to have such a desolate scene.

But on August 17th, when Zhang Kun had just finished organizing the camp and cooking in the camp, he had no time to sigh. In the east direction of the official road, smoke and dust surged, and the water surface of the soup pot on the fire pit began to ripples, and a large group of cavalry rushed over...

"After holding it in for so many days, I still can't help but take action!!"
Chapter completed!