Prodigal Son of the Ming Dynasty

  Chapter 241 Life and Death

   "Report!"

  A school captain rushed into the big tent in a hurry.

   "A large number of bandits appeared in the east, mighty and mighty, covering the sun with clouds..."

   All of a sudden, Wang Shi cheered up, bit the corner of his lips lightly, and he couldn't help sneering.

  He has figured out the route of the bandit army.

  The purpose of harassing the army before was to tire the army, and what follows is a fierce battle.

  These **** bandits!

   Fortunately, he has not been greedy for success, but tried his best to deal with the bandits, otherwise, things might go to the worst.

   "Report..."

  Another school lieutenant hastily entered the account: "Liu Qianhu came to report that the bandit army attacked our army's grain road..."

  Hoo...

   But this time, Wang Shi could no longer calm down, and his whole body was trembling. These rebels are simply hateful.

  What is the grain road? This is the source of life for the entire army to survive.

   That's it...

  Wang Shi has always attached great importance to grain roads, so he almost took out the most elite military horses for guarding, and released a large number of scouts. Once there is an enemy situation, he can immediately warn.

  But why...why do bandits appear in my rear?

   His face was ashen, he looked at the captain who came to report viciously, and asked through gritted teeth: "Why is Zhang Guerrilla so careless, where did the bandit army come from?"

   "It's Chieftain Shuidong Chieftain Liu Yanzhen!"

  Wang Shi shivered.

  Shuidong chieftain.

Not all chieftains in Guizhou joined the rebellion, and there were also many chieftains who served the court. Since Wang Shi took office, the first thing he did was to appease the chieftains, and ordered those chieftains who were loyal to the court to lead troops to help the war. Tusi, with deep Sinicization, changed his surname to a Han surname very early, and claimed to be a Han Chinese.

  Wang Shi has always been at ease with them, but he never imagined that they rebelled.

   At this critical moment, they turned against each other directly. They... and the guerrilla general Zhang Jin happened to be in charge of Liang Dao.

  Wang Shi couldn't believe it.

  How could Liu Yanzhen rebel?

how is this possible?

  Over the years, during several chieftain rebellions, Shuidong chieftains have stood by the imperial court without hesitation.

  Wang Shi's eyes were red, his face was blue, and he was clutching the copybook with both hands. Once the food road was cut off, the bandit army would be right in front of him. How to fight? If there is no food, it is a dead end. This is a complete end.

   Tens of thousands of troops are here, and there are more than 10,000 civilian husbands conscripted. Could it be that all of them will be buried here by themselves.

  Suddenly, Wang Shi shivered. He remembered one thing, which happened two months ago. The Shuidong Chieftain was drinking with himself.

  At that time, everyone had a good time talking and drinking. Chieftain Liu Yanzhen seemed a little drunk, but she suddenly asked herself, I wonder if the prince has heard of these things.

  I didn’t care about it at the time, I just smiled and told him, it’s just gossip, how can I take it seriously.

   Then Liu Yanzhen... I didn't mention it again.

  Could it be...

  Wang Shi opened his eyes suddenly, the capital... such a secret decision, actually leaked the news, those idiots of the Ministry of War!

  Reforming the land and returning it to the natives involves the fundamental interests of the chieftains. Then, it is not difficult to imagine that even the most loyal chieftain of Shuidong led his tribe to fight back.

"The Ministry of War must be the Ministry of War!" Wang Shi had heard about this matter, and deep in his heart, he also agreed with reforming the land and returning to the people. Whether it is a chieftain loyal to the court or a chieftain who is not loyal to the court, in his opinion Come on, there is no difference. As long as the armed forces of these natives are still in private hands, the imperial court in Yunnan and Guizhou will have to be constrained by these chieftains.

  Wang Shi couldn't help shivering again.

I am so cautious, step by step, even if I drive my troops here, without the slightest fault, I thought that even if there were natives attacking, it would be nothing. As long as the Ming army guarantees its own battle, any attack by the natives will be nothing Nowhere near it, but he still...

   "Decree, the rear team will be changed to the front team, and the rear team will be the vanguard!" He took a deep breath, but he knew very well that only God would know how many people would be able to return to Guiyang City alive by then.

   As soon as I thought of this, a strong sadness filled my heart. Qian Yue died loyally, and I...presumably must be a defeated general. Can I still live alone?

  Let’s take people back first, as much as you can bring back, that’s how much you can bring back, and the rest… I’ll talk about it later.

   "The bandits from the east are attacking."

   "Let Deputy Commander Deng Tong lead the camp to the rear, and tell him that if he lives, his family will die, and they must not take a step back unless they fight to the last man!"

Wang Shi issued one order after another. He had no intention of going to a decisive battle with the rushing bandit army. The most important thing now is to return to Guiyang as soon as possible while there is still the last bit of food in the army, so that one person can survive. If there is only one person alive, then the front battalion must be sacrificed, and the deputy commander Deng Tong must also die in battle.

  He gave the order ferociously to make people prepare.

The shouts of killing everywhere made him feel confused. He hurriedly started to write this half-written memorial, which roughly explained the current predicament, and finally came to the conclusion: "In Guizhou Province, corruption only occurs today , the villages and states around Guiyang will be lost, and the old minister will never dare to live alone in the world. He is willing to take the guilt and bring his children back to Guiyang first. I implore Your Majesty, and then choose a good general. Thank you with death."

  Taking a deep breath, he calmed down, handed over the memorial to the guards, and ordered them to break out overnight.

"Do everything possible to send orders to Guiyang and tell them that if they don't see my army, they must not open the city gates, and they must not send a single soldier to help our army. Guiyang is my last hope in Guizhou. No mistakes are allowed, even if we are here and we are all wiped out, Guiyang, we must never send troops to rescue, anyone who disobeys my order will be killed!"

We can't send reinforcements, we can only rely on ourselves. The rear battalion may be completely wiped out. What we won is only a chance for the three armies to retreat. If we can't retreat, we can only die. But Guiyang has to stay, and there are still many monks and lay people there. , once the city is broken, it will be beyond redemption!

   After all, it was all screaming for killing, and the rebels seemed to expect that the government and the army would try their best to retreat after they ran out of food.

   It's just that they didn't expect that the retreat of the officers and soldiers was not just a large-scale rout, but a very well-organized retreat of each battalion alternately, which made this fight extremely tragic.

The deputy commander led the soldiers and horses to the rear, and was surrounded by the bandits. Almost every moment, a large number of people died under bows and arrows. They howled unwillingly, mixed with their last nostalgia for this world , roaring.

  Deng Tong already understood his fate, and he must persevere until his death.

  When the governor ordered him to die, he knew that he had no other choice.

  He is a veteran of Guizhou. He has been stationed in Guizhou and inherited the military position of a hereditary thousand households.

   But all of this came to an abrupt end.

   "Damn it!" Deng Tong spit on the mound, looking at the bandits all over the mountains and plains.

   "I hate it. I didn't spend a few more cups of tea on Xiao Taohong's belly before leaving the city..." He was heartbroken, pulled out his knife, and shouted loudly.

"Don't rush to shoot arrows, don't rush to shoot arrows, these traitorous dogs are close to shoot again, we are not robbing military merits, and we will not enjoy it if we rob, today is dead anyway, we are here, we are the queen, and we are buying time , Give the army a little life, defend it for me, if you can't hold it up ahead, then retreat to the second line, if you can't hold it anymore, keep retreating, don't rush to send your life away."

   Then, he seemed unwilling to reconcile: "Damn it, Wang Shi, I x your ancestor, why is Lao Tzu in the rear!"

  …

  The captain who sent the order hurried to Wang Shi who was about to retreat.

   "Reporter, Prince, Deputy Commander Deng, is determined to fight to the death. He will definitely protect the safety of the army and try his best to buy time..."

  Wang Shi nodded heavily, and then his eyes fell on the captain, and he said lightly: "I told him, will the old man ask for credit for him?"

   "Say it!" There was too much shouting and killing nearby, and there was a lot of noise everywhere, the captain shouted: "He said don't forget..."

"What did you forget?" Facing a deputy commander-in-chief who was about to die loyally in battle, even though it was at the last moment, Wang Shi still wanted to seriously write down the last instructions of the deputy commander-in-chief Deng, so he stared at the captain, Ask word for word.

"He said that he would recite poems when he was dying..." The captain shouted hysterically: "He said that the soldiers around him might not be able to escape, and this poem might not be passed on, so we had to Please ask the prince to play for Chen."

   "What!" Wang Shi felt crazy, and couldn't help frowning, what? At this time, you are still very poetic.

   "Loyalty perseveres in the daytime, and self-reliant strength... The deputy commander-in-chief reminds me, don't forget this matter, he will definitely read it when he dies in battle..."

   "..."

   "Withdraw!" Wang Shi got on his horse. This poem was somewhat familiar, as if... He had heard it in a certain epitaph.

  But now...he can't allow him to think too much. At this time, retreat is the most important thing, and other things can be ignored. Wang Shi took a deep breath, and immediately looked back, seeing that the countless soldiers and horses were already fighting together, and the surrounding area, the mighty Chinese army, had also set off, and countless dejected soldiers and horses were rushing towards Guiyang. Direction, move forward slowly.

  Wang Shi looked up at the sky. At this moment, his heart ached. He couldn’t help but close his eyes. It’s so secretive. At the beginning...he should have thought that the **** military department must be unreliable. He was so cautious, but he was still...negligent...

   It was just this negligence, but it was thousands of lives. Thinking of this, he felt that he couldn't breathe. He opened his eyes suddenly, glanced at the place where the melee was fought, and finally gritted his teeth: "Let's go!"

  …

   Ask for support.

  (end of this chapter)