Chapter 348: Amazing marching speed

The rallying cry floated over the camp, and the barracks immediately boiled. Chen Xie looked at the map in the Chinese military tent, and his die-hard team stood beside him. Facing a stern face, Chen Xie issued a cold order: "Lin Ya, the second and fifth battalions of Jiazi are under your command, and they will set off in one hour." The 4th Battalion was led by me, and then set off. Wang Ben, the baggage of the whole army has been handed over to your fourth battalion. Time is urgent, and the baggage can only be left behind. It's nine o'clock in the morning, right time. ”

In Fengyang, the central capital, Lu Xiangsheng's troops are only 3,000, and he is still waiting for Zu Kuan, who came from Henan. The old partner Yang Tinglin absolutely supported Lu Xiangsheng's letter to Chen Xie this time, the reason is very simple, the Dengzhou camp is really reliable to fight.

When discussing military affairs, the two got together and frowned. There is no good way, the troops are scattered, and it will take time to take them back. "Xuzhou is more than 300 miles away from Zhongdu, and no matter how fast the Dengzhou camp is, it will take more than five days to walk. When I arrived in Zhongdu, I was sleepy and tired, and I didn't know if it could come in handy. Yang Tinglin's worries are not superfluous, the marching speed of the Ming army is like this, it is normal to walk forty miles a day, and walking sixty miles is a strong army.

Lu Xiangsheng was very confident in Chen Xie, and said lightly: "I'm afraid that he won't come, so if you really do it, you can get there in four days at most." You and I have seen the speed of the march of the Dengzhou battalion. After throwing away his baggage, he walked a hundred miles a day. ”

Yang Tinglin shook his head with a wry smile: "If you don't have a baggage, how can you fight this?" Henan was hit by a disaster, and the food and salary have not kept up. The details of the exiles in various parts of Jiangbei last year, and the raising of food and wages is even more empty talk. There is food in Jiangnan, and Zhang Guowei wants to raise food and salary from large households, and I think it is enough to choke. If you can make up food for ten days and eight days, you and I will steal the fun. The Dengzhou camp is fat, but unfortunately it is a feudal town. ”

Lu Xiangsheng smiled: "The feudal town is not a feudal town, say it's okay in private, don't mention it on the surface." His Majesty didn't convict him, why do we people say that they are feudal towns? Zu Dashou has been in Shanhaiguan for so many years, and no one says that he is a feudal town. ”

Yang Tinglin said: "Build a bucket." I think you're counting on the Dengzhou battalion to contribute. That's the caliber that's set. ”

Lu Xiangsheng smiled: "I know you still say? The two looked at each other and smiled bitterly, not waiting to see the Dengzhou camp in their hearts, but they were helpless. At a critical time, we have to count on the Dengzhou battalion to send reinforcements. "Chen Xie. He has a very good eye for war. Put the troops in Xuzhou early. I think he had expected the thieves to flee eastward. Otherwise, I wouldn't dare to rush him south. ”

Hearing this, Yang Tinglin nodded with deep sympathy: "Chen Sihua, it's a pity." Lu Xiangsheng thought thoughtfully. understands the meaning of this sentence, referring to Chen Xie's literary name rather than a serious literati reputation, otherwise there would be no current deadlock.

On the third day of the first lunar month, Zu Kuan finally arrived in Zhongdu, and at this time, the thieves had approached Luzhou. Lu Xiangsheng, who was still short of money and food, could only urge again, let Zu Kuan's Guan Ning army hurry up and rest, wait for the money and food to arrive, and immediately go south to meet the thieves.

Lu Xiangsheng didn't wait for the thieves, but waited for a shocking news before dusk, the vanguard of the Dengzhou battalion had already passed Guzhen, and the distance was only thirty miles away. At this marching speed, Lu Xiangsheng was immediately stunned. Follow-up asked the messenger: "Where has Chen Sihua gone?" The messenger said: "When the little one set out, I heard that the chief soldier led the Chinese army to Guzhen half a day's journey, and the baggage team was still behind, so it should have arrived in Suzhou." ”

Zu Kuan and the guerrilla general Luo Dai on the side had white faces, they were both veterans of leading troops to fight, of course they knew what this marching speed meant. Especially Zu Kuan, in terms of this marching speed, it is not much worse than the cavalry of the Guanning Army, right? You must know that the Dengzhou battalion is not a cavalry-based force.

Zu Kuan couldn't help but interject and asked, "Is the vanguard cavalry?" The messenger shook his head: "The first battalion of cavalry is in the middle army, follow the chief soldier together." The vanguard was two infantry battalions, under the command of the garrison Lin Ya, with a strength of about 4,000. ”

Luo Dai has the urge to strangle this messenger, a garrison with 4,000 people, how can you, a guerrilla general with 1,500 soldiers, be alive? Lu Xiangsheng and Yang Tinglin disagreed, they had already seen the way of the Dengzhou battalion, and a guerrilla general Chang Shiren could take seven or eight thousand people to Huguang to suppress thieves. It is not uncommon for a garrison with 4,000 men. In fact, there are two guards, mainly Lin Ya.

Smoke and dust billowed on the avenue, and the garrisons of the second and fifth battalions of Jiazi who were marching were riding side by side. Looking at the map, these two who had learned the scale showed a smug look on their faces, and Lin Ya smiled: "There are still less than fifty miles, and the herald rushed to Zhongdu to camp." ”

It was already five o'clock in the afternoon, and it was already dark. At the sound of the order, the troops prepared their torches and prepared to march overnight. The torches of the Dengzhou camp were all made in advance, and the strips of cloth soaked in pine oil were wrapped, wrapped in brown paper, and taken out and lit when needed.

The relationship between Guan Ningjun and the Dengzhou battalion is good, and when he was in Luanzhou, Zu Kuan had seen the fierceness of the Dengzhou battalion. Out of affection, he followed Lu Xiangsheng and Yang Tinglin to wait at the head of the city. The feat of marching 300 miles in three days and rushing to the battlefield, no army in the Ming Dynasty seems to be able to do it. That is, the cavalry of the Guanning Army of pure cavalry can do this, but it can't be compared.

When he saw the torches in the dark night from a distance, Lu Xiangsheng's expression became extremely stern, and he looked at the long team that was walking with fire in the darkness, like a long dragon, with rapid breathing. There was no army in the Ming Dynasty that could march and fight at night. Generally, they camp early, and it is the norm to refuse to move half a step at night. The last time in Yunyang, the Dengzhou battalion played a trick of setting off in the early morning and bypassing behind enemy lines, which was also a ruthless move to travel while it was dark. This time, when I saw the Dengzhou battalion marching at night again, I felt very uncomfortable when I thought that this army was not under the control of civilian officials.

Walking down the dilapidated city wall of Zhongdu, Lu Xiang got on his horse and slowly moved forward. The others hurried to follow, carrying torches. There was the sound of horses' hooves in front, and a horse flew over, turning over and dismounting from a distance: "Lin Ya, the temporary commander of the vanguard of the Dengzhou battalion, has seen all the adults." Lin Ya strode forward, stood up heroically, raised her hand and crossed her chest to salute.

Lu Xiangsheng and Yang Tinglin have seen it, and they didn't bother to correct this problem. Lu Xiangsheng stepped forward and said, "It's hard work, where is Chen Sihua?" Lin Ya said: "If nothing else, the Chinese army can go to Guzhen before dark." ”

"Is the juniper water dry?" Yang Tinglin asked, this is not a trivial matter, the dry river means that next year's spring ploughing will be over.

"The riverbed is cracked, and the flow has not been broken for a day or two." Lin Ya's answer was too heavy, and Yang Tinglin sighed heavily, not knowing what to say. In the past few years, Daming has been really unlucky, and natural disasters have continued.

The troops at the front stopped advancing, and Lu Xiangsheng asked curiously: "Why didn't the team leave?" Lin Ya looked back and said with a smile: "I am camping, and the Dengzhou camp has a military order, so I can't enter the city, so as not to disturb the people." Lu Xiangsheng and Yang Tinglin could only look at each other and smile bitterly, the military discipline of other troops is worth mentioning. The military discipline of the Dengzhou battalion is worrying.

"That's fine, you go back, hurry up and rest." Lu Xiangsheng had no choice but to give up, originally planning to let the Dengzhou battalion enter the central capital. Yang Tinglin asked at this time: "Wait a minute, how much food did the Dengzhou camp bring?" ”

Lin Yaleng paused for a moment and immediately replied: "Our department carries seven-day rations with us, which is the limit of individual soldiers' carrying rations." The baggage brigade lagged behind, and under normal circumstances, it should have carried enough rations for our army to eat for a month. On the Dengzhou side, before departure, a batch of rations was sent out by sea, and it should have arrived in Nanjing. ”

Yang Tinglin's eyes were red, what were the rations for the Dengzhou camp? Fried noodles! That's a real thing, it's full! In fact, he misunderstood, the Dengzhou camp does not eat this, this is for refugees. The first batch to be sent by sea were rations and ammunition for the combat units. The next batch to come by sea is fried noodles. Li Guozhu has taken over Zheng Zhilong's foundation in Dayuan and is preparing to immigrate there. But this will have to wait until Gao Yingxiang is defeated.

Lu Xiangsheng, who returned to Fengyang, the central capital, has been frowning. Yang Tinglin knew what he was worried about, but he couldn't explain him. Because he himself is also worried about this problem, the strength of the Dengzhou battalion is not a good thing for Da Ming? From the standpoint of civil officials, it is certainly not a good thing. The problem is that the storage of the Dengzhou camp objectively curbed the Jiannu and cracked down on the thieves.

From a purely military point of view, the Ming Dynasty strongly needed the combat effectiveness of the Dengzhou battalion. However, in terms of the existing ecological structure of the Ming Dynasty, the Dengzhou camp is an out-and-out destroyer. Especially in the word "li", it broke the absolute suppression of military generals by civilian officials. This kind of behavior of facing civil officials with an equal mentality is, in the eyes of civil officials, a violation of "etiquette".

On the fourth day of the first lunar month, in the afternoon, when Chen Xie led his troops to appear outside the central capital, Lu Xiangsheng, Yang Tinglin and local officials did not come out to greet him. Out of the ten miles are Zu Kuan and Luo Dai. In the face of Chen Xie, Zu Kuan's posture did not dare to be too high, Guan Ningjun was very powerful, but in front of the Dengzhou camp, he couldn't stand up.

"Lord Chen, the lowly rank was ordered to come to greet you, and it was hard work." Zu Kuan stood on the side of the road early and waited, and when he saw Chen Xie appear, he greeted him. Even if it is Zu Dashou, he has to be polite to Chen Xie, so he won't talk about him.

"General Zu, it's been a hard work. How to work for you to greet. Chen Xie's fake politeness, there is really no need to be polite to the ancestors. Guan Ningjun really has no confidence in front of Chen Xie. Luo Dai stepped forward and arched his hand, he was not Deng Xi's stunned young man, and he did a good job of Chen Xie's courtesy.

"It should be, it should be. The governor was looking forward to the arrival of the Dengzhou camp in the city. After Luo Dai saluted, he spoke cautiously. For fear of offending Chen Xie, Yang Tinglin explained, so he looked forward to Chen Xie's fried noodles. (To be continued......)