From the moment he found out that the Ming soldiers of Dalan Mountain had gone to the empty building, Li Rong firmly believed that the remnants of the Ming army must have coerced the local people to go south to Tiantai Mountain to join Yu Guowang, just like Wang Yi two years ago. Later, after exploring the south side of the horse, he was even more convinced of this idea.

Although this group of cunning Ming troops did not choose the nearest road to the south, which made him take a lot of detours, but with so many personnel transfers, it is impossible not to leave any clues with the props and traces deliberately created to mislead the pursuers.

Soon, according to the traces of ruts, the scouts of the left battalion of the standard eliminated the misguidance set by the Ming army, and successfully embarked on the road of pursuing the people of Dalanshan in the south.

It was at that time that Li Rong casually found a reason to assign Wang Sheng, who was sent by Tian Xiong to lead the way, to another place, and he had no intention of letting him share his merits again.

After several days of pursuit, the scouts who accompanied the army finally found the sentinel behind the Ming army responsible for covering the line. It's just that if it weren't for the roads that were dug up in a mess, although he might have confirmed the route of the Ming army a day or two at night, it was precisely because of these roads that the Qing army's march was completely slowed down.

In this era, there was no hard pavement paved with concrete and other materials like in later generations, and although most of the escape routes chosen by the Ming army were not wide, the rammed earth roads were relatively smooth. It's just that since the Qing army went south, the south of the Yangtze River was in chaos, and these roads have never been repaired, and there are many people, livestock, carts and horses in the south, and the roads have long been overwhelmed.

Such potholed roads are nothing to the infantry of the Qing army, and the cavalry is just not easy to run wild, just an army, if only it was that simple. Baggage wagons carrying grain, arrows, gunpowder, armor, etc., gun trucks carrying tiger cannons, vehicles hauling Franc cannons, and the like, were extremely difficult to travel on such roads.

For more than ten days, Li Rong's Raised Left Battalion only marched more than a dozen miles a day, and this was only achieved by relying on the continuous advance of the auxiliary troops to repair the road. It's just that even so, the two carts each dragging a heavy Franc cannon of three or four hundred catties still couldn't keep up with the speed of the march, so they had to move slowly.

However, for Li Rong, it doesn't matter if these two cannons can keep up with it, the leading generals of the Ming army can come up with such a damaging trick, and they will not hesitate to expose their whereabouts to slow down the march of the Qing army, which is obviously full of fear for the Qing army. After catching up, although he will not surrender immediately, an opponent who has broken his courage will definitely not be able to block the thunderous blow of his raised left battalion. And after all this is over, he can take the Ming army and those Ding Zhuang's heads, goods, as well as the officials of Dalanshan and the captured women back to enjoy themselves.

Well, the key now is to catch up with the Ming army, it's that simple!

………………

On the sixth day of the first month of November, two days have passed since the Qing army's exploration horses were embellished, and after Chen Wen conveyed the news that the Qing army had caught up, although it also prompted the people who had evacuated Siming Mountain to speed up, the Qing army was not slow, and the distance between the two sides was constantly shortened, especially after the Qing army's exploration horses appeared, the destruction of the engineering team and the people became difficult, which made the Qing army's movement speed even faster.

In the past two days, although the cavalry of the Chinese army of the rear guard and the exploration horses of the Qing army did not have too many confrontations due to the problem of the road, they also confronted each other with bows and arrows and firearms, and these respects from the warriors also made the gunpowder smell between the Qing army's Zuo Battalion and the Ming army's Nantang Battalion more and more intense.

It was just close to noon, and while Chen Wen, who was pressing behind the team, was eating dry food, he also ushered in a new round of intelligence.

"Tell the general, the speed of the Tartars' march has increased sharply since this morning, and if nothing else, at the speed of our troops, they should be overtaken by the Tartars this evening."

Evening?

If you catch up in the evening, it will most likely mean an impending night battle, which is definitely the worst option for the Ming army.

The armies of this era fought in the dark of night when they couldn't see their fingers, and they didn't dare to raise fire to fight, because it would easily become a target for their opponents, and a few of them had to endure night blindness, so under normal circumstances, both sides would try to avoid fighting late at night.

It's just that compared with the Qing army, the Ming army is now in a more dangerous situation. If the Qing army catches up and then fights during the day, once the Qing army's cavalry bypasses the defense line, the Nantang battalion in Chen Wen's hands, which has only less than 600 people but has to protect nearly 8,000 people, will definitely take care of one or the other, and the chaos of the people will inevitably lead to the collapse of the army.

But if it was a battle at night, although the Qing army did not dare to let the horses go around, but only by virtue of the fear caused by the night, coupled with the sound of fighting during the battle, eighty percent of the people would break away from the control of the officials of Dalanshan and flee in all directions.

It seems that there really is only one option.

"General Chuan Ben ordered, Chu Jiuru, the director of the old battalion of Dalanshan, Sun Yu, the director of the treasury department, Wu Dengke, Yin Yue, and Li Ruixin, the commanders of the cavalry team, firearms team, and engineer team of the Chinese army, as well as the commanders of the sentry posts of the mandarin duck array killer team, immediately went to the end of the team for a meeting, and there must be no mistake."

As the herald galloped away, Chen Wen continued to ask the sentinel who had returned to report the situation. After a while, the civil and military officials summoned by Chen Wen arrived one after another, and even Wang Jiang, who had just recovered some of his spirits, rushed over.

"The last general has seen the vice-constitution."

Wang Jiang did not accept Chen Wen's gift calmly, but bowed to Chen Wen in front of everyone. Seeing this, Chen Wen had no choice but to hurriedly give way.

"Vice Xian, what are you doing here?"

Chen Wen's surprised blurt out also reflected the doubts of everyone present, but Wang Jiang's words after that successfully resolved the doubts of these people.

"This gift is not only for the people who are unable to govern these days and rely on the leadership of Furen to get rid of the great disaster, but also for the fact that when the generals of Siming Mountain were excluded from you, the official also echoed it and apologized to Furen."

Apologize!

A civilian official apologizes to a military general?

A feudal society apologies to his subordinates?

A Confucian scholar with a reputation apologizes to an ordinary person who came in vain?

Although the phrase "echoing it" still touched Chen Wen's heartstrings, it was no longer important. The past has passed, he has been wronged, he has been angry, and he has regretted, but these have happened, and the generals of Siming Mountain are not so much dead from Wang Sheng's calculations as from the infighting of the Ming army's camp, just like other Ming armies in the history of the Southern Ming Dynasty.

On the night when he was excluded before the war, Chen Wen suddenly remembered what his grandfather had said to him before he died: The wood is beautiful in the forest, and the wind will destroy it; Heaps out of the shore, and the flow will be turbulent; Walk above men, and the crowd will not. It's a pity that this sentence rich in life philosophy has been forgotten in his mind for a long time, when he was in school, when he was mixed in the workplace, and when he came to this era.

Especially after coming to this era, Chen Wen often remembered the failure of the anti-Qing movement in the Southern Ming Dynasty, and how the Chinese were in dire straits for more than 300 years, and how they relied on hard work, intelligence, and even bloodshed and sacrifice to regain their standing among the nations of the world.

Every time he thinks of this, Chen Wen seems to be incarnated as a mechanical toy that has been wound, tirelessly thinking about how he can rewrite this history, tirelessly working hard to complete the plan, even at the cost of defying the law or offending others.

It's just that even so, he still didn't succeed in rewriting the fate of the destruction of the main force of the Ming army in Siming Mountain, but only turned being defeated by each one into a traitor in a big war and the whole army was wiped out. Perhaps the Qing army suffered greater losses than in history, but the Ming army did not escape the fate of defeat, and this completely shattered the plan he had previously formulated for the "Zhejiang Anti-Qing Base Chain".

However, this time the experience of being excluded by other forces in the same camp can make Chen Wen choose to be oblivious to everyone and wait for the arrival of the savior?

No way!

The wood is beautiful in the forest, and the wind will destroy it?

Then it will grow into a towering tree that can really be used with one hand, and then ask how the wind will destroy it?

Heaps out of the shore, and the current will be turbulent?

Then continue to pile up on the opposite bank of the river until the unstoppable river is completely blocked, and then how will the water be turbulent?

If you are above others, you will not be the others?

Then let them criticize it, the world is so jealous of the virtuous, is it because of their jealousy that they no longer work hard for their dreams? That's impossible!

Throughout the history of the Southern Ming Dynasty, a vigorous nationwide anti-Qing movement against national oppression led to failure because of those pig-like teammates, and those heroes who had the heart to turn the tide were also overwhelmed by these people who could only "not", so they did not complete the mission of saving the world.

Since everyone must not, it is better to develop on its own, until it becomes a towering tree that can shelter from the wind and rain, until it becomes a majestic embankment that can cut off the river, and until it becomes the writer who rewrites history.

It's that simple!

"You don't have to, you don't have to, it's just what the last general should do. As for the exclusion, then let them be excluded, even if only the last general is left, the last general will not forget the promise he once made. ”

Yes, since I am the only one left among the generals of the Ming army in Siming Mountain, I will never let these people be slaughtered for the Tartars!

Seeing that Chen Wen had made up his mind, Wang Jiang only sighed and didn't say anything again, but said that he would definitely abide by Chen Wen's military orders.

"According to the scout's report, the Tartars' brigade has nearly 4,000 men, and they should catch up with us this evening. At that time, if the night battle is fought together, the people will be damaged, but if the battle is repeated tomorrow during the day, the terrain south of this place will easily be bypassed by the Tartar cavalry and attack the people. Therefore, Ben decided to fight the Tartars here, and after defeating them in one fell swoop, he would continue to cover the retreat of the people! ”

"Humble (subordinate officials) obey the general's orders!"

"Mr. Li Ruixin."

"Humble duty!"

"You immediately lead the cavalry team of the Chinese army in my Nantang battalion to cover the military situation and buy time for our department to arrange the battlefield."

"Obedience!"

"President Wu Dengke."

"Humble duty!"

"Thou shalt lead the B, C, and D, and the only two teams are lined up here to meet the Tartars."

Wang Yi took away a lot of the weapons and armor of Dalanshan in order to meet the Qing army on the northern front last time, and the weapons of Chen Wen's department had already been issued, so there was no loss, but the armor that existed in the arsenal was transferred a lot, and at this time, it could only barely guarantee the armor of the soldiers of the Mandarin Duck Array Killer Team of the four sentinels of A, B, C and Ding.

Moreover, although the road here was not wide, it was not as narrow as the previous road, and the road behind it became wider due to the imminent exit from the mountain, so Chen Wen had to line up here to prevent the Qing army from bypassing his line of defense and harassing the people.

"Obedience!"

"A sentry post long building succession."

"Humble duty!"

"You will lead the people of the headquarters as a reserve, and listen to the orders of General Hou Ben."

"Obedience!"

"Mr. Qian, Yin Yue."

"Humble duty!"

"You lead the Wu Sentinel and Ji Sentinel to ambush in the bamboo forest behind the stream, and also command the six squads of the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th squads of the Chinese Army's firearms team."

The terrain in which Nantang Camp is located at this time is facing north, and on the left side is a steep cliff, although it is only a few meters high, there is no place to climb; On the right side is a stream, no more than two feet wide, the deepest part is no more than the knee, the current is not very fast, and behind the stream is a dense bamboo forest, which can barely hide some people.

Such a flow of water is enough to slow down the speed of launching an attack across the stream, and the opposite side of the stream can attack the opponent's flank with projectile weapons, so Chen Wen chose to carry out a long-range flank attack with six squads here to improve the coverage of firepower, and this is also because the Nantang battalion does not have artillery, which is not enough to provide sufficient fire support.

It's just that since it is enough to slow down the opponent's speed, it will also slow down the speed of reinforcements, the Nantang battalion is weak, and the soldiers of these two posts have no armor, once they are attacked by the Tartars across the stream, this partial division may be completely wiped out because the reinforcements do not arrive.

It's just that Chen Wen can't care about this at this time, there is no perfect strategy on the battle array, everything depends on the performance of these subordinates.

"Humble duty is not dishonoring the mission!"

"The seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth squads of the Chinese Army's firearms team are here to provide long-range fire support for the main position of our Nantang battalion."

"Inferior obedience!"

"The Chinese army's engineering team arranged the battlefield, set up horse traps and thistles to restrain the Tartar cavalry from charging."

"Obedience!"

"Director Chu and Director Sun will assist Vice President Wang to lead the people to continue south."

"The subordinate obeys!"

The combat tasks have been assigned, but the Geng Whistle and Xin Whistle of the Mandarin Duck Array Killer Team have not been assigned tasks, which makes the sentry commanders of the two posts already a little anxious, but because Chen Wen did not speak, they are not easy to ask, but Chen Wen's words behind them really surprised them.

"Geng whistle, Xin whistle, cover the people to the south."

Yes?

The opponent is close to 4,000, and the Nantang battalion has less than 600 soldiers in total, and the disparity in strength is so great, but Chen Wen still chooses to divide his troops to protect the people, which makes everyone feel incredible.

"General, the two of us are willing to lead the headquarters to fight side by side with our comrades here."

"Yes, Furen, this official can recruit some people and soldiers who fled back before to protect the people, and will not let the front-line soldiers have worries."

The soldiers who escaped from Wang Jiangkou's mouth were the defeated soldiers of the Battle of Siming Lake that Chen Wen had contained before his departure, and there were as many as two or three hundred people, but the officers such as General Qian and General General were almost dead, and these soldiers no longer had the cohesion necessary for an army, and they had no combat ability.

Listening to the words of persuasion, Chen Wen shook his head, he knew that the terrain here could not deploy more troops, and the combat effectiveness of these two outposts was also the weakest, neither as a backbone nor as a reserve, even as reinforcements from a partial division It was difficult to assist due to the problem of streams.

Therefore, instead of having nothing to do here, it is better to continue to cover the people going south and protect their safety. If the operation behind the palace of the Nantang camp fails, these two outposts can also delay some time for the people to escape.

"The purpose of this battle of our department is to protect the people to the south, if there are still Tartars on the way south, but all of our troops remain behind the temple here, are you ready to hand over the lives of the people to those deserters?"

Those defeated soldiers are indeed not enough to trust, but these two sentry commanders still can't tolerate the bloody battle between other comrades and the people behind the palace to cover themselves, while they continue to go south with the people, isn't this no different from deserters?

Seeing that these two officers were still a little resistant, Chen Wen had no intention of wasting time any longer, and blew the two officers away with a sentence of "immediately execute the order", after all, the military law in the Nantang camp is strict, and it is wartime, even more so.

Seeing that everyone had carried out the military orders according to the plan, Chen Wen stopped Sun Yu, who was about to leave, and took out a letter from his arms and handed it to him.

"Brother Sun, if I am defeated and die, I beg you to hand over this letter to the Marquis of Weiyuan in Fujian, it will be to help me Chen Wen fulfill his last wish."

Yes?

Sun Yu never thought that Chen Wen would say such a thing at this moment, he didn't know that Chen Wen's move was on the one hand to hope that he could continue to live, and on the other hand, to introduce Qi Jiguang's art of war battle array to Zheng Chenggong, if Zheng Chenggong could use this to improve his strength faster, it would not be in vain for him to come to this era. It's just that Sun Yu still chose to respond to the matter of being loyal to others, after all, the gap between the strength of the two armies of the Ming and Qing dynasties was too large, and the Qing army was still a standard battalion that won the first battle.

Seeing that Sun Yu should make this matter, he felt that there was nothing more to explain, so he asked Zhang Jun to find a piece of cloth, and the right to treat it as a temporary general flag.

I saw that after Chen Wenbi walked the dragon and snake, the side of the flag close to the flagpole was written with the seven slightly smaller words of "Dalan Mountain Old Camp Garrison", and the middle of the flag was a big Chen character.

"General, is this really the only way to go?" Zhang Jun obviously understood Chen Wen's intentions, but he had never experienced such a fight at a young age, and he was extremely nervous at the moment.

"Yes, the brave wins when they meet on a narrow road!" Looking at the soldiers of the Nantang Battalion who were preparing, Chen Wen's chest couldn't help but swell with a burst of pride.

I have been preparing for a long time, although I was not able to participate in the battle on the shore of Siming Lake, but if I can protect the lives of the people here, it will not be in vain.

"Let's see which of the small garrisons of this general and Li Rong, the deputy general of the left battalion, can live until tomorrow's sun!"