Hao Bonian didn't know how Zeng Ziwen said it to Zeng Zisong, but judging from the expressions of the two of them, it was estimated that the conversation was not very successful.

Zeng Zisong always put on a stinky face, and even turned his head away from Zeng Ziwen.

However, Hao Bonian didn't care much about this, and after cleaning up the battlefield, he led his troops to take the prisoners and returned to the Lanjiang crossing.

And among these captives, there is naturally Zeng Zisong.

It's just that this person doesn't seem to have a good conversation with his eldest brother Zeng Ziwen, and there are signs of falling out, he has been struggling, and he has even tried to escape before.

Not long ago, Zeng Ziwen untied the rope that bound his hands, and then this person actually punched the soldier guarding him on the spot, and after the fight, he got up and ran away.

After seeing this scene, several soldiers next to him immediately picked up their muskets, and some even shouted: "Stop, run and shoot!" ”

Zeng Ziwen, who was on the side, saw this scene, his face changed several times, and then hurriedly said to the soldiers beside him: "Stop him!" ”

The soldiers around him were also the soldiers of the Ming army who had surrendered to him at the beginning, and they were quite loyal to him, and they also knew why their own adults let themselves intercept them, because if they didn't intercept them, those guards would really shoot.

After a volley of guns, Zeng Zisong didn't say that he would be beaten into a hornet's nest, but it was impossible to survive.

Zeng Ziwen's personal soldiers also acted quite fast, and after several consecutive afterburner runs, they caught up with Zeng Zisong, and then without much hesitation, they pounced directly from behind and threw Zeng Zisong to the ground.

Since someone stepped forward and knocked Zeng Zisong down, the few soldiers behind naturally did not shoot again, but stepped forward quickly.

After a few breaths, Zeng Zisong, who was still lying on the ground, was already surrounded by a bayonet forest, and the soldiers who were punched by Zeng Zisong were even more furious, and went up directly with a big slap and fell down, Zeng Zisong snorted, and the corners of his mouth were bloodstained.

The soldier was obviously also a violent temper, and he was still scolding after a slap: "Damn, you dare to beat Lao Tzu, if it weren't for Lord Zeng's sake, Lao Tzu would have shot you to death just now!" ”

Zeng Ziwen, who was behind, looked at the scene in front of him, sighed, and did not speak, but waved his hand and said, "Tie it up!" ”

This younger brother has been so stubborn since he was a child, if he left it alone, he would definitely run away a second time, and next time, those guards would not be so polite.

The Tang Dynasty captured so many prisoners of the Ming army, and never let one go alive, either he became a member of the new army of the Tang Dynasty anyway, or he became a coolie, farming or building weapons, and those who resisted or wanted to escape became corpses without exception.

Otherwise, do you think Bai Yunqi is really charming enough to be able to recover the hearts of so many Ming army captives, the way is very simple, give those captives three choices: either join the new army of the Tang Dynasty to eat and drink well, or work hard to die of exhaustion, or be killed now.

Choose from three paths!

And most people will not kill themselves, especially for ordinary Ming army prisoners and soldiers, living is the most important thing, and it would be better if they could still eat enough.

Of course, this is only the most superficial method, and there will be a series of heart-warming actions in the future, such as choosing some of the first Ming soldiers to surrender as platoon commanders, deputy platoon commanders, etc., to divide these Ming prisoners with differential treatment.

In order to stimulate their internal contradictions, when they see that their former comrades-in-arms became their bosses because they surrendered first, and their mouths were full of oil, many people would be unconvinced.

But these methods can only be used on ordinary Ming soldiers, but they can't play a big role on the officers in the Ming army.

On the one hand, they have a wide range of knowledge, and they know that sooner or later the Tang Dynasty will be exterminated by the imperial court, and joining the new army of the Tang Dynasty is not looking for death!

At the same time, they will also have some loyal thoughts, at least they know who the emperor is, and they will not be like those ordinary serf soldiers, who is the emperor cares about their.

In addition, there is a more important reason, that is, most of their officers are hereditary, and there are old and young behind them, and once they surrender, their families will be doomed.

Although they are also afraid of death, they are even more afraid of affecting the family.

Zeng Ziwen and Zeng Zisong brothers are a typical example.

Hao Bonian and they did not delay too long on the road, it only took one day to return to the Lanjiang ferry, Hao Bonian naturally reported to Li Xuan with an excited face, saying that he had annihilated the Ming army that attacked the logistics line, and captured the army's main general, that is, Zeng Ziwen's younger brother Zeng Zisong.

In this regard, Li Xuan was quite pleased, but what was strange was that even though the temporary troops led by Hao Bonian had already completed the task and returned, Li Xuan did not withdraw the troops as soon as possible and let the troops return to their original units.

On the contrary, he continued to retain this obviously nondescript mixed force, and Hao Bonian also continued to wear many hats, the deputy battalion officer of the First Infantry Battalion, the officer of the First Musket Team, and the commander of the temporary mixed unit.

Li Xuan didn't revoke it, and the others didn't know what Li Xuan thought for a while, but most of them had already guessed that he was paving the way for Hao Bonian, so they all consciously kept their mouths shut, and no one mentioned that the temporary mixed troops should be revoked and the troops would return to their original establishments.

Two days later, the baggage battalion delivered a batch of food and weapons from Xikou Village, and the weapons and food were normal, but there were more than 100 newly recruited recruits who came with the baggage team.

Although the Datang New Army has gone out to fight, the recruitment points set up in Liushazhuang and Xikou Village have not been revoked, but continue to recruit soldiers.

According to Li Xuan's order, the recruited soldiers were sent to the Lanjiang ferry after gathering enough 100 people.

These more than 100 people were originally scheduled to be supplemented to the 2nd Infantry Battalion and the 3rd Infantry Battalion, but for some reason, Li Xuan personally ordered more than 50 of the more than 100 people to be added to the 1st Infantry Battalion.

And where did the shortage of more than fifty people in the 1st Infantry Battalion come about? It was because three platoons of musketeers were taken away.

This has replenished the new recruits, so it is naturally impossible for the three platoons of musketeers who were transferred away to return to the 1st Infantry Battalion.

At this time, many people reacted that their emperor wanted to treat the temporary mixed army as a fixed establishment.

Not to mention, Li Xuan really thinks this way.

After this incident of the Ming army's attack on the logistics line, it also made him realize that the current establishment of the Datang New Army is insufficient, that is, the current units of the Datang New Army have no independent combat capability, and they need to cooperate in order to give full play to their maximum combat effectiveness.

Originally, Li Xuan's idea was to temporarily divide a part of the troops to fight when needed, and this situation should not be many, and it will not affect the operation of the main force.

But now it seems that the army is going to confront the main force of the Ming army on the opposite side at the Lanjiang crossing, and the rear also needs to have a standing force to defend the rear, whether it is to deal with the Ming army that is smuggling across the river, or to deal with the Ming army in Zhengtai County and Longhua Town, it must have a force with acceptable combat effectiveness.

The combination of many factors made Li Xuan make this decision to keep the temporary mixed troops first!

Soon, he gave this temporary mixed force an official nickname "The First Mixed Battalion of the Datang New Army!" ”

The official establishment has a musket team, a spear team, an archer platoon, a sword and shield platoon, a baggage platoon, and several scouts.

The total number of people is about 250.

And the commander of the mixed battalion is still Hao Bonian!

In order to make Hao Bonian the battalion officer of this officially mixed battalion, Li Xuan also specially raised his military rank to major.

Li Xuan's establishment of the first mixed battalion is naturally impossible to encounter any opposition, anyway, Hao Bonian's ascendancy. It was not Huang Xueren, Fang Dongquan, and Wang Danxu who were squeezed out, but the newly established units.

At the same time, although this mixed battalion has a complete range of arms, its total strength is only more than 200 people, which cannot be compared with a regular infantry battalion of more than 400 people.

The generals' reaction was also within Li Xuan's expectations, if he wanted to let Hao Bonian and these young officers take the position, it would be impossible to squeeze out Wang Danxu's position in a short period of time, otherwise, the new army of the Tang Dynasty would be chaotic in an instant, in order for his old and new replacement plan to be smooth and fast, he planned to set up more battalion-level units.

After the troops led by Zeng Zisong were annihilated, the logistics line of the new army of the Tang Dynasty calmed down again, and the Ming troops in Zhengtai County and Longhua Town hid in the city every day, and even the patrol team did not dare to line out on weekdays, waiting for the Ming army in Fucheng to come to the rescue.

And the Ming army of Fucheng is still waiting on the east bank of the Lanjiang ferry, and there will be no change for a while.

Therefore, the Datang New Army entered a rare period of calm in the next period of time.

But everyone knows that this kind of calm cannot last long, because the Ming army on the other side of the river is not idle, and they are cutting wood and making rafts every day.

When their large number of rafts are made, crossing the river is inevitable!

And Li Xuan and they naturally couldn't let them prepare, and then cross the river to attack themselves, Li Xuan sent people by boat almost every day, what did they do when they crossed the river? Naturally, it was not to kill people, but to destroy their rafts, and one night, they even burned down more than 20 rafts that the Ming army had managed to make.

But after this day, the Ming army also learned wisely, and sent heavy troops to guard those rafts, and the lights were even brighter at night, so that the new army of the Tang Dynasty had no chance to continue burning ships.

As time passed, the recruits of the Datang New Army were gradually formed, at least the left and right were clearly distinguished, but the gradual formation of the troops did not make Li Xuan feel relieved.

Because no matter how fast the training progress of the troops is, it can't be faster than the speed at which the Ming army on the opposite side makes rafts.

According to the current speed of the Ming army's raft making, it will not take them ten days to make a raft that is enough to transport more than 3,000 people at one time.

When the time comes, a life-and-death battle will inevitably break out between the two sides!