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On the evening of the sixth day of the first month of March, in the territory of Hengzhou Prefecture, east of the Xiangjiang River

In the mountain wilderness, an army was hurrying south. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info, swords and guns are like a forest, red flags are rolling, the long marching army column stretches for more than ten miles, and there are constantly scouts riding horses to run back or set off from this formation. In the dust, the sound of the neat and powerful steps of the officers and men and the rumbling hooves of the horses intertwined, like bursts of muffled thunder rising from the flat ground, arousing all the birds inhabiting the nearby forests.

This is the soldier of Huguang Town, who set out from Changsha and headed south to Hengzhou. After nearly four days of marching, the effect of the soldiers' usual rigorous training was revealed, and the officers and men of Changde Town and Wugang Town, who served as the rear troops, had been left far behind, and almost every day the officers and men of Huguang Town had to pause for a period of time and wait for them to follow.

At this moment, at the forefront of the entire marching army column is naturally the Flying Tiger Battalion, although the number is not as large as the other battalions, but almost every officer and soldier exudes an air of confidence and bravery. As the oldest and best-equipped battalion in the town, they certainly have the capital that they are proud of.

After the whole army continued to march forward for some distance, several cavalry rushed from the middle of the line and caught up with the march of the Flying Tiger Battalion. I saw that these cavalry were well-armoured, and they were obviously all personal soldiers around Pang Yue, and they also took on the function of heralds in peacetime. They rode their horses to Shi Youliang's side, and the leader hugged his fists and said: "Lord Shi, the commander has an order, the Flying Tiger Battalion suspends its march, rests in place, and remains vigilant!" In addition, the marshal asked you to go to the Chinese army to discuss the matter later! ”

"Got it!" Shi Youliang nodded, and then gave the order to stop advancing.

In the continuous sound of the command, the officers and soldiers of the Flying Tiger Battalion who were marching grabbed the reins one after another. It didn't take long for the sound of iron hooves tumbling like thunder to cease, leaving only a large amount of dust floating in the air. Except for some of the personnel who served as guards, the officers and men jumped off their horses one after another and began to rest in place.

The rest of the battalions continued to move forward for some distance before they also stopped and moved closer to each other. What had been a slightly sparse marching column was transformed into a tight in-situ defensive formation. The troops on guard and the large number of scouts scattered formed a tight inner and outer line of defense.

After adjusting the formation of the men and horses in the headquarters, the battalion officers of each battalion went to the position of the Chinese army to assemble one after another.

……

In the open space, Pang Yue, Zhang Yunli, and the battalion officers all sat on the ground, forming a circle, and in the middle was a map of Huguang spread out.

"Your Excellency, please see. We're probably in that position right now. Zhang Yunli pointed to a certain point on the map with a slender wooden stick and said to Pang Yue. Thirty miles away from the south-west is the county seat of Hengshan, and more than one hundred and twenty miles to the south is the capital city of Hengzhou. Judging from the speed and route of the Qing captives that the Intelligence Department had previously probed, they were probably already occupying Hengshan County at this time. We don't know exactly what that will be. However, detectives have been sent to investigate, and it is estimated that accurate information will be transmitted before dark. ”

"How long will it take for the Inspector and the Chief Soldier Ma to catch up?" Pang Yue raised his head and asked Zhang Yunli.

Because of the experience of Liu Chengyin's deliberate delay in the order, Zhu Dadian was not very relieved about his Chen Youlong department, so he personally led the men and horses of the Biao Battalion to supervise their march. Since Chen Youlong and Ma Jinzhong's marching speed could not catch up with Huguang Town, Zhu Dadian naturally followed them behind.

"It's about a dozen miles away from the rear of my town. I'm afraid it will be after dark to catch up. Zhang Yunli replied.

Pang Yue looked at the sun that had set, and said, "Then let's rest here for a while, but don't be busy camping, and wait for the scouts in front to send back the news of Hengshan County." If Qinglu camps in Hengshan County tonight, then we will also camp here for a night. If the detectives know that the captives have already passed through Hengshan County, and the supervisors still haven't caught up, then we won't camp here, and rush to Hengshan County overnight to wait for them. ”

According to the reports of the sentry cavalry of the reconnaissance cavalry and the secret agents of the intelligence department lurking in the area, the Qing army has been advancing along the Xiangjiang River to the south by land and water in the past few days. It is about thirty or forty miles southwest of Huguang Town. Pang Yue didn't want to increase this distance, because if he fell too far behind the Qing army, there would be no point in going south this time, but it was not advisable to get too close for the time being, otherwise he would be killed by Duoduo. There wasn't even time to react.

Seeing that his subordinates had no opinions, Pang Yue formalized this arrangement, and then asked the people around him, "Do you feel that there are any difficulties at present?" A major war could break out again at any time, and any questions had to be raised as soon as possible. In order to solve it in time, do not hide it. ”

"Don't worry, sir. I don't know about the other battalions, but the Flying Tiger Battalion is absolutely no problem, and you can wait for the orders of the adults to fight with the Qing captives at any time" Shi Youliang's rough voice sounded first, "The only thing that makes the soldiers in the battalion feel unhappy is that they didn't get much chance to kill the enemy a few days ago, so they could only watch from the sidelines, but everyone was suffocated!" It's as if I, Lao Shi, are watching someone else's * woman on the side...... Oh, my lord, I said the wrong thing again, so I won't be an example......"

Hearing this, a burst of laughter suddenly erupted around, and Fang Cai's tense atmosphere was also enlivened a lot.

"Zhou Ming is really hard to change, and he has been thinking about it every day since he left his sister-in-law." After Pang Yue finished laughing, he said to Shi Youliang, "However, I hope you can vent this grievance on the battlefield at that time, and don't just pay lip service." The Flying Tiger Battalion didn't suffer much damage a few days ago, but not necessarily next. Alright, stop talking about these useless topics and get down to business. ”

Shi Lang thought for a while and said, "My lord, my subordinates feel that the biggest difficulty for our army at the moment is the loss of personnel. In the previous battles, although our army annihilated a large number of Qing prisoners, it also suffered a lot of casualties. Let's take our broken barracks as an example, the firearms team is better, and the number of swords, shields, and pikemen in the other two teams is nearly 30%, and a considerable part of them are veterans such as the chief and the chief. If it had been placed in other military towns, the entire team would have collapsed a long time ago, that is, our Huguang Town could still maintain stability. A few days ago, I went to inspect and found that there were only half of the soldiers left, and the chief became a captain, and even the commander and the commander died at the same time, so I had to urgently promote some people from the ordinary soldiers to serve as the commander and the commander. The lack of this part of the soldiers, greatly affected the whole battalion platoon and combat strength of the play, a few days ago in Wanshou Bridge with the pre-built fortifications to fight a defensive battle can still hold on, but once in the field battle with the Qing captives, I am afraid that the evil consequences will be revealed. With all due respect, it would be good to be able to exert half of the combat power when I first set out on the expedition. ”

After Shi Lang finished speaking, all the battalion officers and Pang Yue present couldn't help but look solemn, everyone knew that although Shi Lang spoke straightforwardly, what he said was basically true. At present, except for the Huashan battalion, almost every battalion has suffered losses of more than 10 percent, especially the Gangfeng, Pojun and Taishan battalions. The loss of a large number of combat backbones will inevitably bring about a decline in combat effectiveness, and when facing the Qing army again, it will definitely suffer greater pressure than before.

Pang Yue pondered for a moment, feeling that he should encourage his subordinates again: "The Marquis is right, but as a Ming soldier, we have no choice. The Qing captives bypassed Changsha to the south, and their true purpose was undoubtedly revealed. The safety of the Son of Heaven is related to the Ming Dynasty, no matter how many difficulties and obstacles lie ahead, we all need to do our duty as courtiers. It can be said that the next war is related to whether the Han family can continue, and whether the people of the Ming Dynasty and even all the Han people can live with dignity, rather than being forced to abandon the clothes and hairstyles left by their ancestors, keep ugly money rat tails, and become a clothed Aha driven by the insults of Jiannu. ”

……

It was soon dark. At this time, a group of scouts who had gone out to reconnoiter also rushed back one after another, and reported the results of the reconnaissance to Pang Yue: The Qing army had captured the county seat of Hengzhou this afternoon, and after a lot of looting and massacre, they continued to go south, and there was no sign of camping, and it seemed that they were going to rush overnight. At present, Hengshan County has almost become a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood.

After learning of this situation, most of the generals in Huguang Town were filled with righteous indignation, and they asked Pang Yue to fight, hoping that they could not immediately catch up with this deep hatred, and all the previous worries had disappeared.

At this time, Ma Jinzhong's department and Chen Youlong's department, which Zhu Dadian personally supervised, were still behind and did not follow.

Since the arrangements have been made in advance, there is no need to hesitate now, Pang Yue immediately gave an order: "Don't wait for the superintendent to supervise them, set off immediately and rush to Hengshan County overnight!" ”

Knowing that the Qing army was in such a hurry, Pang Yue didn't want to delay here. He knew that if he delayed for a moment, Emperor Longwu and the ministers in the court would be in more danger. Moreover, Zhu Dadian also gave himself the right to respond to the situation in advance, and he led the army to set off first, and then sent someone to inform him.

After Pang Yue's order was issued, all the soldiers of Huguang Town once again began to march in the direction of Hengzhou County. As it was already dark, torches were lit, dotting the entire marching column into a fiery dragon and stretching forward. Bands of sentry horses were scattered far away, tasked with pathfinding and guarding the perimeter.

Pang Yue was not afraid of being ambushed by the Qing army on the way to Hengshan County, and the previous multiple teams of scouts had already found out that the Qing army had all driven to the south of Hengshan County. If there is anything strange about it, it is that the Qing army actually rushed non-stop after slaughtering Hengshan County, and they had nearly 50,000 horses, were they still afraid that they would not be able to catch up with the Ming army?

After thinking about it, Pang Yue had already vaguely guessed a possibility, but at least there was no danger before he arrived in Hengshan County, so he was ready to rush over first.