On September 3, Li Zhi's entire army set out to help suppress the thieves. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 ｉｎfo

This time, Li Zhi led an army of 16,000 to the south, and his subordinates Zheng Kaicheng, Li Laosi, and Zhong Feng went out with the army. Li Xing still stayed in Fanjiazhuang, he drew 1,000 soldiers and horses from each of the four regiments, and led a total of 4,000 soldiers and horses to guard Fanjiazhuang in the rear.

The army needs food and grass to go on the expedition. According to the rules of the Ming Dynasty, this grain and grass is generally part of the land acquisition, and part of the inland states and counties are solved. However, Li Zhishi had no confidence in the bureaucrats in the inland provinces of the Ming Dynasty, and was worried that the Ming officials would refuse to supply the army in the interior.

When the time comes, it will not look good to attack the state and county for the sake of grain and grass.

Li Zhi simply hired 6,000 heavy men in one go, bringing enough food for the army to eat for five months.

Each of these heavy farmers managed a two-horse wagon, which could carry hundreds of pounds of grain and baggage. Li Zhi had captured tens of thousands of military horses over the years, and there were enough pack horses to equip more than 6,000 pairs of horses and carriages. In addition to food, the wagons were also equipped with iron pots, tents, and other necessities for the march. The baggage wagons were lined up inside the military formation and protected during the march. Items such as armor, weapons, and bedding for soldiers can also be placed on the baggage cart.

On this expedition, Li Zhi gave the heavy man a monthly salary of two or five yuan per month. The baggage truck does not need to go into battle to fight, and Li Zhi has never died a baggage man in his previous expeditions. Hearing that Li Zhi recruited people with such a high monthly money, there were many applicants. Li Zhi selected 6,000 physically strong people from tens of thousands of applicants to serve as civil husbands.

On that day, 16,000 soldiers of the Tiger Division and 6,000 people were ready to go, standing in the south of Fanjiazhuang City and waiting for the arrival of the Grand Governor. The relatives of the soldiers came to see the soldiers go on the expedition, and tens of thousands of people near Fanjiazhuang crowded to the south of Fanjiazhuang to send the army. However, everyone has confidence in the combat power of the Tiger Ben Division, and feels that the thief must be able to win the battle, and the mood is very relaxed.

In the city of Tianjin, Li Zhi wore white lacquer scale armor and said goodbye to Cui He in the room.

Cui He bit his lip and asked, "You can win this time, right?" ”

Li Zhi smiled: "I will definitely be able to win, don't worry." ”

Cui He's face was overjoyed, and he hugged his little older daughter to Li Zhi, and said, "Give you a hug." ”

Li Zhi took his daughter, touched his daughter's little face, and said, "My daughter is so good-looking, she looks like her mother." ”

Cui He looked at Li Zhi, snatched his daughter back, and said, "If I don't give you a hug, she won't hurt me if you hurt her too much!" ”

Li Zhi smiled, pinched Cui He's face, and said no more.

With a flick of his cloak, Li Zhi walked out of the General Soldier's Mansion, stepped on the horse given by the emperor, and led Zheng Kaicheng and others who were waiting outside out of the city to Fanjiazhuang.

When Li Zhi walked out of the west gate of Tianjin, gongs and drums were played on the city gate, and the defenders of Tianjin sent off the governor of the capital to fight the thieves. The Tianjin garrison, who was in charge of Tianjin's city defense, was given a look by Li Zhigao because Li Zhi allowed Li Zhi to enter and leave Tianjin City at will when Li Zhi arrested Cha Dengbei last time. The garrison was greatly encouraged, and at this time set up a gong and drum team on the city gate to send Li Zhi, hoping to make the governor happy.

Maybe as soon as the governor is happy, he will add a sum to himself when he reports his merits, and he will be promoted.

Li Jizhen, the new governor of Tianjin, led Tianjin's civil and military officials to gather outside the city gate to see off Li Zhinan, the Taibao. Everyone knows the combat effectiveness of Li Zhi's department, and no one doubts that Li Zhi can't defeat the thieves. Now everyone in Tianjin knows that Li Zhi's status will improve after the war, and no one has the heart to confront Li Zhi.

Li Jizhen is a newcomer, and he has no ability to compete with Li Zhi. He heard about the fate of the previous governor, Cha Dengbei, and treated Li Zhi with the etiquette of his superiors everywhere.

Li Jizhen saw Li Zhi riding over and shouted:

"I wish the Metropolitan Governor success!"

The other officials shouted one after another: "I wish the Metropolitan Governor a complete victory!" ”

"I wish the Taibao lord a great thief!"

Li Zhi smiled, too lazy to be polite with these Ming officials, and rode in front of the Tianjin officials on horseback. Those officials didn't care about Li Zhi's cold posture, and they all clasped their fists and bowed to Li Zhi.

Li Zhi traveled to the south of Fanjiazhuang, and the 16,000 army had been waiting for a long time. When the army saw the commander coming, they shouted in unison:

"Wan Sheng!"

"Wan Sheng!"

Li Zhi nodded, waved his hand, and shouted, "Go on the expedition!" ”

Sixteen thousand soldiers shouted in unison: "Tiger! ”

The sound of the "tiger" was extremely neat, and 16,000 voices converged into one sound, and the momentum was overwhelming. Seeing that Huang Gonggong, who was following Li Zhi, his body shook.

In the eyes of the relatives, the 16,000-strong army marched out, released a thousand scouts, and drove south along the official road.

Huang Gonggong, who had been following Li Zhi, breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that Li Zhi had finally sent troops. He didn't delay any longer, so he said goodbye to Li Zhi and went to the capital to report the news.

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The army marched all the way south, forty miles a day. After walking for two months, I arrived at the boundary of Xiangyang.

Before the army reached Xiangyang City, and there were still ten miles away from the city, I saw thousands of villagers on both sides of the road, welcoming Li Zhi's reinforcement army. Several gong and drum teams lined up along the official road, and when they saw Li Zhi's army coming, they beat gongs and drums to welcome the tiger master. There were also strong men carrying freshly killed pigs and sheep waiting on the side of the road, obviously preparing to reward reinforcements.

Ten miles away from the city, "Wuyingdian University Scholar, Prince Taibao, Bingbu Shangshu, Pingkou Inspector, Cishang Fang Sword" Yang Sichang led the Chinese military officials of Xiangyang City, standing on the official road and waiting for Li Zhi's arrival.

Yang Sichang waited for a while, and then saw that in the sound of the gong and drum team, a male army marched neatly towards his side.

The soldiers of this male army are wearing red concise military uniforms, which are different from the Mandarin Duck battle jackets of the Ming army, and are buttoned with buttons. The cuffs of the uniforms are small, and they look very spirited. The uniforms of the non-commissioned officers were red, and the officers were crimson.

At this time, it was autumn, the weather was slightly cool, and the military uniforms of the soldiers were all long-sleeved woven with two layers of cotton. Obviously, this well-equipped unit also has winter and summer clothes. The soldiers wore long leather boots on their feet, which were very durable and suitable for long marches.

The soldiers were marching at this time and were not wearing armor. But Yang Sichang's eyes were sharp, and he saw that the baggage carts of this army of soldiers and horses were tied with armor one after another. Some of the armor was a kind of cuirass that Yang Sichang had never seen: those breastplates had no scales, and they were forged as a whole, looking like the heart guards of Mingguang armor, but they were larger than the heart guards, and they were obviously able to protect the entire upper body. Looking at the cold and shining appearance of those breastplates, Yang Sichang suspected that those breastplates were steel armor and not iron armor.

And next to these breastplates, there are also arm guards, shoulder pads and skirt armor that are also sparkling with cold light. Obviously, these armors combine to form a set of full-body armor that can protect the whole body.

Yang Sichang has been riding horses for decades, and he has never seen a Ming army equipped with such well-equipped steel armor in batches. The border armies of the Ming Dynasty were generally equipped with iron-inlaid cotton armor, and the officers and troops in the interior did not even have cotton armor. I've never heard of an officer armed with steel armor. How strong must a soldier in such steel armor be?

In addition to this kind of steel armor, Yang Sichang also saw a large amount of chain mail on the baggage car, more than that kind of full-body steel armor. The appearance of those chain mails made Yang Sichang's heart tremble even more - Yang Sichang recognized the system of these chain mail, this was not the chain mail of the Ming army, this was all chain mail captured from the Tartars!

How many Tartars do you have to kill to capture so much chain mail?

Yang Sichang looked at Li Zhi's soldiers and horses, and his face turned pale. I am a Ming dynasty and there is such a unique strong army.