A detachment of Mongol cavalry passed through the ruined village. Pen % fun % Pavilion www.biquge.info

The ruins of the broken walls that had been engulfed in flames told the tragedy that had happened here in the wind, and even the blood directly soaked in the ground could be seen in many corners of the walls, and the shocking deep blood red and even the faintly recognizable dry bones could not bear to look at directly.

"I don't know which, but I took the lead." The Mongolian commander who led the team cursed in a low voice in Mongolian, and from the dry bones scattered among the ruins, it could be seen that when this place was looted, it was still inhabited, and inhabited meant that at least there was food and livestock, and at least the whole team could fill their stomachs.

Even if you don't have enough to eat, it's better than being so hungry that you can only drink water.

Licked his lips, there was not the slightest taste in his mouth. The last piece of jerky in the ration bag entered the commander's stomach in a few hours, but unfortunately it was obvious that this jerky did not give the commander the strength to continue to support him, and the commander's stomach was already growling.

The cavalry that followed him was also the same as on horseback, and the commander believed that if these people were not sitting on horseback, I am afraid that they would have fallen to the ground long ago. Fortunately, in this deserted field, everything is lacking, and the only thing that is not lacking is the grass that the war horses eat. These long-distance galloping and very tired war horses, as long as people can't watch it a little, they rush directly to the side of the road to gnaw grass.

In this regard, most of the cavalry actually resigned themselves to this, after all, they did not have much strength to pull the reins of their horses and drag their horses back.

This also led to the commander taking more than 900 people to escape from the pursuit of the Ming army, and as a result, there were not even 500 around him until now, and it was obvious that those people were left behind on the road in various possibilities.

The commander exhaled deeply, and wanted to beckon his men to see if there was anything else to eat, but he really couldn't kill the horse and support it, after all, the Ming army's infantry and cavalry pursuers could rush up at any time, and the five hundred people who had no strength were not as good as the two hundred people who had the strength.

If he could, the commander's green eyes shifted from the war horse to the soldiers, and if he could, the Jurchen cavalry that did not belong to the Mongol tribes could also be used as food.

Just as several Mongolian soldiers jumped off their horses and prepared to take a look inside the half-collapsed house, a muffled sound was heard.

The commander looked down at the bloody hole in his chest in some surprise, groaned lowly, and finally fell off his horse.

This muffled sound was the signal, and soon in the courtyard and the corner of the street, a series of ghostly figures appeared, and the crossbows and firearms of the gods either made a piercing roar, or made a muffled sound, and one by one the Mongolian cavalry fell in a sudden and unpreparedness, as for how many of these fallen people were hit by arrows and iron bullets, and how many were thrown off their horses in surprise and fright, it is unknown.

A Ming soldier kicked open the door of the courtyard that was only half left, the knife flashed, and a Mongolian soldier who staggered up was cut off half of his body by him, and blood gushed out. And many more Ming soldiers roared out of the ruined houses, behind the crumbling walls, and even from the cellars, and slaughtered into the chaos of the Mongol Tartars.

Originally, these Mongols were already hungry and exhausted, and the only commander who still had psychic ability for them was killed by the Ming army with a single shot, so now these Mongolian cavalry have been completely disorganized, like headless flies rushing back and forth between the chaotic family members and the roaring Ming soldiers, and they were soon overwhelmed by more and more Ming soldiers.

The mace slammed into the head of a Mongolian soldier, directly smashing the helmet and skull into a hard dent, and the red and white brains and blood spurted and splashed. The Mongolian soldier stared at the person who had killed him in front of him with wide eyes, but he didn't know if he was more angry and unwilling, or more painful.

Xu Chen didn't even look at the person who was killed by his mace, he paused and shouted: "Send a signal!" ”

The guards behind him were busy sounding the signal fireworks, this kind of signal fireworks specially improved by the Ministry of Industry for the army, although there was still only one sound, but it exploded in the sky, not to mention the brilliant colors, the fireworks were also very huge, even in the clear sky, they could be seen clearly.

The fireworks exploded, and the soldiers of the Ming army roared and rushed past Xu Chen's side left and right, pounced on the Mongolian Tartars in front.

The sound of horses' hooves stomping the earth was heard, and groups of cavalry appeared on the horizon, and among these cavalry ranks, the red dragon banner fluttered in the wind.

Xu Chen subconsciously glanced at the battle situation in front of him, but unfortunately there was not much left for the cavalry to clean up. These young men who howl like hungry wolves must complain.

"Brigade commander, what about the Mongolian Tartars that you said you would leave for us?!" Saying that Cao Cao Cao arrived, a young general rushed into the village first, raised the horse lance in his hand, and looked at the one-sided battle situation in front of him with some unwillingness. At this time, the cavalry rushed over, but it was possible to cause chaos to the foot soldiers who were in the mood for killing, so the young general grabbed the reins of the horse in time, but there should be a lot of complaints on his lips, "Brigade commander, don't you talk like this?!" ”

"You kid really ate the bear's heart and leopard gall, you dare to talk to Lao Tzu like this, don't think that Lao Tzu won't dare to clean you up." Xu Chen immediately shouted without hesitation.

This young player is none other than Wang Yizhou. Because the achievements of the first brigade of the two Huai armies in the bloody battle against the Mongol Tartars in Hecai Town are enough to shine in the annals of history, the imperial court not only held a memorial ceremony in Zhongshan to erect a monument for the dead soldiers of the first brigade, but also ordered the two Huai armies to reorganize the first brigade as much as possible, and promoted all the officers and soldiers of the first brigade who survived the first battle in Hecai Town on the spot. Wang Yizhou naturally became a top ten general, and there were more than a dozen brothers under his hands.

Wang Anjie naturally did not dare to slack off on the decision of His Majesty and the Ministry of War, and soon used these surviving soldiers of the First Brigade as the skeleton, and transferred the elite and reorganized the First Brigade from each brigade to be reborn from the ashes. And although Xu Chen is still the commander of the First Brigade, he has actually become the real commander of the two Huai armies and even the ace brigade commander of the major main armies of the Ming Dynasty.

Wang Yizhou wanted to say something, but the smile on his face froze suddenly.

Xu Chen saw his expression and naturally understood why.

The houses that had been burned by the fire, the collapsed walls, the blackened dead grass, the pots and pans, farm tools and clothes used in the house, all scattered in every corner, one can imagine someone violently turning over the furnishings in the house, and then throwing all these worthless things out casually.

What is even more shocking is that the dry bones who have endured so much pain in their lives are leaning against the wall or lying on the threshold of what once existed, and the fire consumes their bodies and their souls. And many more corpses with different heads are concentrated in the alleys that line the streets, where it is conceivable that the Mongols once carried out a systematic mass massacre, with knife marks on the corpses and blood-stained red earth, silent indictments of past atrocities.

Seeing this scene, Wang Yizhou couldn't laugh out loud. All the cavalry around him also turned pale and silently clenched their horses.

Wang Yizhou and the rest of the cavalry cruised more than ten miles away from the village, waiting for a signal, so they did not enter the village at first, and did not know that there was such misery in the village, and thought that it was just an abandoned village.

"We're a step too late after all." Xu Chen sighed, "The group of Mongolian Tartars who committed the atrocities before don't know where to go. But at least we have eliminated a lot of Mongols here, and there is a thousand-commander, who can barely comfort the dead fathers and villagers here. ”

Before the words fell, Xu Chen glanced back at the captain of the guard, and the captain of the guard understood, and instructed his subordinates to go and collect the bodies of the dead villagers.

The killing sound in front had gradually subsided, and more than a dozen Mongolian cavalrymen knelt on the ground, their hands raised high, and looked at the Ming soldiers circling around them in panic.

These Mongol cavalrymen were all Jurchens, after all, the real Mongols knew that it was impossible for the Ming army to let them go, especially in such villages that had just been slaughtered and looted, so they had to resist even if they tried their last strength. The Jurchens are different, they are originally strong men who have been forcibly pulled, hungry on the plane, in fact, they have long been unable to fight, and they can still pretend to be when the Mongols are still there, and the Mongols are all killed in battle, so they naturally have no fighting spirit to resist.

After all, when everyone was hungry before, the Jurchens received far less food than the Mongols, and the eyes of those Mongols looking at the Jurchens clearly meant to eat them all.

Wang Yizhou cursed in a low voice, and was about to urge him to step forward, but Xu Chen's mace in his hand was raised violently, blocking Wang Yizhou's way.

"Brigadier Commander!" Wang Yizhou's eyes were already red.

"Brigadier Commander!" The surrounding Ming cavalry shouted at the same time.

Xu Chen Huo Ran turned around and said in a cold voice: "Da Ming needs prisoners of war now!" ”

What Xu Chen said was the truth, for the Ming Dynasty, there was no shortage of money, nor was there a shortage of elite soldiers of the Northern Expedition, but there was a lack of labor, especially coolies. Therefore, before the Northern Expedition, the imperial court had issued a clear order to capture as many prisoners as possible.

Although Xu Chen knew that these Jurchens were tigers and did bad things behind the Mongols' butts, and even sometimes the Mongols were too lazy to do anything but let the Jurchens go. So there is not a lot of blood of the Han people in the hands of these Jurchens, not to mention that Huaxia and Jurchen are originally a century-old feud!

But Xu Chen couldn't kill them, and even sent people to escort them back, because these people would contribute to the construction of the Ming Straight Road and the dredging of the canal.

was shouted by Xu Chen, although Wang Yizhou still wanted to argue, a sentence was stuck in his throat, and in the end he didn't say anything.

And at this moment, one of the soldiers standing on the roof and looking out shouted: "Someone, cavalry!" ”

The soldiers of the Ming army who were cleaning the battlefield in the village were all taken aback, and they raised their blades one after another.

A group of 100 cavalry rushed towards the village, while a red dragon banner fluttered in the wind among the cavalry. Seeing this red flag, the soldiers immediately breathed a sigh of relief, but Xu Chen frowned and glanced at Wang Yizhou.

Wang Yizhou didn't care about anything else, nodded and beckoned his soldiers to follow.

As the elite of the two Huai armies, the First Brigade naturally acted as the vanguard of the Northern Expedition, and even entered the Mongol-controlled state capital before the Northern Expedition began, clearing the way for the two Huai armies. Therefore, the First Brigade was the most advanced of the two Huai Army, and the Second Division on the left flank and the Third Division on the right flank were actually dozens of miles away from the First Brigade, and even if they marched to catch up, it was impossible for these two divisions to send more than 100 cavalry to advance.

After all, cavalry is still a good thing for the Ming army, unless 100,000 are urgent, no one will be so violent. Once more than 100 cavalrymen were discovered by the Mongol Tartar brigade, even if they wanted to flee for their lives, most of them would inevitably be eaten.

Therefore, the cavalry of the Ming army that appeared at this time was real or false, and it was really difficult to distinguish.

This is also why Xu Chen asked Wang Yizhou to go and find out. Wang Yizhou, this kid is brave, not to mention, he has also inherited the intelligence of Wang Jian and Wang Anjie, and he is very clever, so Xu Chen believes that if something is wrong, Wang Yizhou can see it at a glance.

And the surrounding Ming cavalry also secretly sighed. The first brigade of the two Huai armies is elite, which is reflected in many aspects, and one of the most important aspects is that the first brigade is the brigade with the largest number of cavalry in the two Huai armies, with three or four hundred people. Even if there were hundreds of Mongolian Tatar cavalry coming from the opposite side, the First Brigade was confident that they would not be able to eat and walk around.

What's more, around here, most of the Mongolian cavalry is actually already Jurchen, Tang Wu, and even Bohai people, and the real Mongolian cavalry is difficult to find, not to mention the elite of the Mongolian cavalry and the cowardly Xue army.

After Wang Yizhou and the leader of the team talked for a few words, he immediately led people back.

Xu Chen breathed a sigh of relief, Wang Yizhou is obviously a token that has experienced the other party, this kid is from a family of generals, and is actually a half-hung relative of the emperor, he is naturally very experienced in this regard, he thinks that the right token, naturally there will be no mistakes, Xu Chen trusts Wang Yizhou at this point.

"Brigadier Commander, Your Majesty's Edict!" Wang Yizhou rushed over breathlessly, "This group of cavalry is from the Praetorian Guard. ”

"Janissary people?" Xu Chen was stunned for a moment, the Praetorian Guard is His Majesty's pro-army, and His Majesty used his own pro-army to deliver the edict, which shows that this edict is really the most important thing.

"Brigade Commander Xu is really heroic and abnormal, and the brother who killed him is easy to find, but I didn't expect Brigade Commander Xu to rush here." The Praetorian Guards were all hearty men, and they stepped forward from behind Wang Yizhou, and said loudly at Xu Chen.

Although the other party is just a small capital, but this momentum battle does not seem to be mortal, Xu Chen also knows that the Praetorian Guard is the elite selected from the major main battle armies, and some people are even willing to demote themselves in order to enter the Praetorian Guard, so don't look at the small capital in the Praetorian Guard, maybe even a brigade commander once became.

Xu Chen didn't dare to slack off at the moment, and returned the salute.

"Your Majesty's edict, Xu Chen takes the decree!" Dutou took out the envelope from his bosom.

The surrounding Ming soldiers hurriedly dismounted, and Dutou also turned over from his horse and handed the envelope to Xu Chen: "Brigade Commander Xu, please also check the fire paint." ”

The guard next to him handed over the knife, Xu Chen took the envelope and read it over again, turned off the fire paint, unfolded the edict inside, and just roughly swept it, Xu Chen's face changed, and he immediately shouted loudly: "Take the map!" ”

Taking advantage of the fact that the guards were taking the map, Xu Chen held the edict in both hands and nodded at the head: "Brother of hard work, this edict really has a thousand weights." ”

Du Tou bowed his hand: "Your Majesty has an order, please set off immediately after receiving the edict, and all the other hundred and ten people under him will also obey Brigade Commander Xu's dispatch!" ”

Xu Chen snorted, his face was more solemn, obviously he had understood what heavy responsibility he had to bear, and he was not surprised by the addition of hundreds of elite Praetorian Guard cavalry.

The map unfolded, Xu Chen glanced at it, closed his eyes and pondered for a moment, before turning his head and shouting loudly: "Pass on a certain order, and set off immediately!" ”

One of the leaders hurriedly said, "Brigade commander, what about the prisoners?" ”

Xu Chen didn't think about it, and said coldly: "The military situation is urgent, and one less person will weaken the combat power." These prisoners of war were all killed on the spot, and there were five or six hundred war horses left by the Mongol Tartars, so it was really impossible for two people to take one horse, and the cavalry also divided the auxiliary horses for riding, and set off immediately! ”

The cavalry's secondary horses, which are generally used as replacements, are all taken out at this time, which obviously really shows that the military situation is urgent, and the first brigade is needed to carry out a long-distance attack. And looking at the direction of Xu Chen's reversal of the horse's head, it is to the north. The 1st Brigade was the northernmost part of the main armies of the two Huai armies and even the main battlefields, and if it continued to ・・・・・・ north, it would go deeper into the heart of the Mongol Tatars.

All the generals shivered and did not dare to slack off.

They know very well that some of this battle has been fought.