"Heaven is above."

In the dark night, the light of the torches that were chased was like an ocean, covering the entire field of vision, after learning about this, Xu Ping asked the staff officers to go back to the camp to rest, and after only one person was left, he lit three incense candles and respectfully inserted them on the incense burner: "The tens of thousands of people who followed me, as well as the brothers in Anqing and Luzhou City, were all said to be bandits who did all kinds of evil, rape and plunder, and every strong man who was captured in the battle before them would be cut off and hung on a high pole...... No one knows them better than I do, they are all loyal peasants, who have had to leave their homes in order to survive, and I have shared their weal and woe with them for the past few years, and I have seen them distribute their food to the hungry, take off their cotton clothes and hand them to women and children who are as poor as them, and just a few months ago, there were people who saw the injustice and stood up to stick a knife in the ribs for the people they did not know...... I have always believed that good will be rewarded, and I am convinced that they will have a way to live, in order to save the tens of thousands of soldiers in Luzhou and Anqing, I have to bring these tens of thousands of brothers to death, I can't help but think that if, if I am defeated tomorrow, then everyone will die......" Xu Ping prayed silently: "Please don't let me be defeated, at least don't let me be defeated until they have a way to live." ”

"I have nothing to pay tribute to, God has the virtue of a good life, I can't think of anything that can be used to seek victory from God, except for ......" Before Xu Ping arrived, some Shun troops were angered because the Ming army killed prisoners, so they also killed prisoners to vent their anger, although this violated the military discipline since the establishment of Xu Ping's army, but senior officers also turned a blind eye to the inmates, and Xu Ping immediately strictly prohibited this behavior after his arrival: "I will fight to the last moment of my life, and never leave my brothers alone, but I will never kill outside the battlefield, I will do my best to repay the mercy of God by mistreating any prisoners of war so that they can return home safely to their families and families. ”

……

"Dying and throeping."

The next day, facing the Shun army, which had only half of its own troops, the Ming army set up a position to meet it, and their commanders all felt this way. In order to speed up the march, Xu Ping left all the wounded and sick in the rear, and in addition to the local troops, the second-rate units in the field troops were also left in the rear, so as not to slow down the speed of the main force - Xu Ping believed that the soldiers were not much more expensive, and the combat effectiveness of these troops with them in the first place might not be much improved; secondly, Xu Ping was worried that the large number of people and the slowdown would lead to a head-on confrontation with the superior enemy army, forming a war of attrition and failing to achieve the current field goal; In the end, Xu Ping felt that he still needed some reserves to clean up the battlefield in the future, so that his main force could also rest after the battle.

However, in the eyes of the Ming army, Xu Ping only had 30,000 troops, and the 70,000 Northern Expeditionary Army was more than twice as many as him, and they heard that Xu Ping still had 10,000 or 20,000 field troops outside Anqing Mansion, but these troops could not arrive in a short time, nor did they have too strong combat effectiveness, and they did not even rush to the battlefield at all.

The enemy army on the opposite side had no fortress, there was no time to dig a long trench, and there was no baggage reserve in terms of the speed of the march, looking at the obviously much shorter array on the opposite side, Jin Qiude, Zhao Slow-bear, and the generals all celebrated: the enemy who attempted a surprise attack suffered a tragic defeat, and after exposing the target, they were caught up at the last moment by their own side who reacted quickly. Li Yunrui is also watching from the battlefield today, he has been engaged in military intelligence collection work in the rear for many years, and the last time he accompanied Huangshi to the battlefield was a long, long time ago.

"Today's achievements are not enough for everyone," Li Yunrui commented with confidence, and congratulated Huang Naiming: "But after this battle, the world's major events will be decided." ”

"It's all Uncle Kim's planning." Huang Naiming modestly gave the credit to the chief of staff, although the time was urgent, the staff officers did a very good job, ensuring that the army quickly caught up with the Shun army.

"The young marshal praised it falsely."

After giving the order to open artillery to attack, Huang Naiming asked the staff officer to record the time, and at the same time sent the time record back to Quanzhou quickly, so that the celebrities and the media in the five provinces could immediately learn about the incident: "At 8:15 a.m. on March 23, the decisive battle of the Northern Expedition began. ”

When he heard the first cannon shot, Xu Ping was observing the banner of the other party's commander: "Brother, I can't keep my hand this time." He said to himself in his heart.

……

The sun was obscured behind the thick smoke of gunpowder, which looked like a blood-colored sun, and puffs of black smoke rose from the vast battlefield, and discarded artillery trucks and guns were everywhere. In front of Xu Ping's eyes, a group of Shun artillery was happily lifting up the Ming artillery that had fallen to the ground, and after the Shun army's artillery ran out of ammunition after today's battle, they took up their weapons to join the ranks of their infantry brothers, and resolutely launched an attack on the Ming army together. No one tried to prevent these technical arms from going into battle, and no officers could stop them. The artillerymen laughed and stroked the artillery of the Ming army, laughing at the incompetence of the other party in unison.

"Failed to catch up with Qi Shizi, and most of the chief officers of Jin Qiude and the towns of the Ming army also fled." A herald of Liu Zongmin rode his horse to Xu Ping's handsome banner, saluted and reported to him loudly: "The first cavalry wing has blocked more than 3,000 Ming troops, look at the banner Zhao Slow Xiong is inside, the surname Zhao refuses to surrender, Wang Taisun has arrived to prepare to destroy them." ”

This is the largest Ming army currently surrounded, Xu Ping nodded to the herald: "Hard work." Then he flicked the reins of his horse and headed towards the stalemate, and the staff and guards behind him followed closely.

The encircled Ming army really looked like there were two or three thousand people - this was the largest enemy army surrounded by the Shun army, they were tightly grouped together, surrounded by the armored battalion troops of the Shun army, Xu Ping arrived and saw that Li Laiheng was busy pushing the newly captured cannon forward, the gunners who pushed the cannon were full of excitement and trotted all the way, and the loader followed closely behind the cannon with a shotgun and a powder keg.

"General," Li Laiheng immediately reported after seeing Xu Ping: "The last general has already been greeted, and Zhao Slowxiong refuses to surrender!" ”

Xu Ping raised his binoculars and looked at the Ming army huddled together, some of the Ming soldiers inside were still holding muskets, but most of the people in the front row were bare-handed. From the faces of these chaotic crowds, Xu Ping saw all panic and despair.

Soon the Shun army pushed all the cannons into position, and the infantry and cavalry of the Ming army in the front row tightly pressed back slightly, exposing the black holes behind them to the Ming army—it had been loaded with gunpowder and shotguns, and the gunners were holding torches high one by one, waiting for the commander's orders.

"Keep the gunners on their guard." After Xu Ping gave the order, he rode through the column of the Shun army, crossed the front line of his own battle line and walked in front of the eyes of the Ming soldiers before stopping.

The Ming army with guns in their hands aimed at Xu Ping one after another, all eyes were focused on him, Xu Ping raised a hand and said to the enemy in front of him: "Under Xu Ping!" Where is Lord Zhao Qinyong? ”

There was a commotion in the Ming army, and an elderly military general was surrounded by the guards of the squad and squeezed out of the crowd, his serious face was covered with dust: "I am Zhao Qinyong, Xu Keqin, what do you have to say?" ”

"Let your men lay down their weapons, I'll keep them safe." Xu Ping said loudly.

The other party shook his head slowly, obviously not believing Xu Ping's words, Zhao Slowxiong was not a small soldier, he remembered that after previous wars, especially in battles where fewer won more, prisoners never ended well.

"I am well aware of what you have done in Zhejiang and Nanzhili, but I will not retaliate." After Xu Ping shouted these words, regardless of the reaction of the other side, he lowered his head and pulled the sword out of his waist: "The emperor is above, the thick earth is below, I swear not to hurt anyone, if this is a deceitful word, bleed to death!" ”

Saying that, Xu Ping's left hand shook it the blade of the sword, the skin was cut, and the blood immediately splashed out, and the Ming army on the opposite side watched his every move with wide eyes, and Xu Ping raised his bleeding left hand high towards the enemy. Holding his hand in the air for a while, Xu Ping saw that the faces of some Ming soldiers had loosened, and many of the guns pointed at him began to droop slowly.

One of the Ming soldiers hesitated for a moment, the expression on his face changed a few times, and finally hope did not replace despair, he raised his arm vigorously again, closed one eye and carefully aimed at the black-clothed cavalry again, but immediately his arm was pulled by several companions around him.

"Put down the gun!" The companions beside him and behind him shouted in a low voice: "Didn't you see General Xu swearing to the sky? ”

Xu Ping patiently waited for the wound to stop bleeding: "Put down the weapon in your hand, I promise that this will be the last bit of blood shed in this battle." ”

Seeing that every Ming soldier had their guns hanging to the ground, Xu Ping then withdrew his arm, turned his horse's head and walked back to his army: "Kill the prisoner, take your life for your life!" ”

"Find a few cavalry captives from the Ming army, give them horses, and let them go back to Quanzhou." Xu Ping then gave another order: "Let them go back and tell those newspapers in Nanming that the 'decisive battle of the Northern Expedition' is over." ”

After returning to the barracks, Xu Ping ordered the army to rest well after clearing the battlefield, and the order to the troops who did not participate in the battle had been sent quickly, and Xu Ping ordered them to immediately search for the Ming army in Anqing. The battalions of the Shun army slaughtered the cattle captured from the camp of the Ming army, and after nightfall, there were piles of bonfires everywhere on the riverside, and the soldiers of the Shun army gathered around to muzzle barbecue meat, drink the river water and boast to each other about their brave assault today, and there were songs of joy for the rest of their lives after the catastrophe everywhere.

The tens of thousands of captured Ming prisoners of war were also taken to several camps and guarded, and according to Xu Ping's orders, the guards also brought them water and food, and the officers of the Ming army were screened out and strictly guarded.

After all his men were sent to the prisoner of war camp, Zhao and the two captured Ming commanders were taken to Xu Ping's command camp, where the gloating Shun soldiers did their best to boo and ridicule the Ming commanders.

"Lord Zhao, since you are directly subordinate, we haven't seen each other for almost ten years." The last time Xu Ping saw Zhao Slowxiong was at the military exercise before sending troops to Shandong, Xu Ping invited the three Ming army generals to sit down in his camp tent, and said sincerely: "I don't know if the adults are willing to discuss today's gains and losses with the last general." ”

After discussing with the commander of the Ming army, Xu Ping ordered them to be sent to rest, and stayed alone under the lamp to review his command today from beginning to end: "Today I made three low-level command mistakes, and the other party caught one; They made seven low-level mistakes, and I hit five of them. ”

……

Quanzhou,

The good news of the recapture of Nanjing could not dilute the bad news of the fiasco of the main force of the Northern Expeditionary Army, Huang Shi read He Feihu's report, although the other party had various explanations and reasons, but still could not let Huang Shi rush to relief.

"Preservation of strength will only happen when a general treats the army as his private property and has the intention of relying on strength to seek something." Huang Shi sighed softly, He Feihu didn't have the capital and possibility to support his own troops, then he could only be for someone to preserve his strength, how Huang Shi looked at this person was like himself: "Xiao He still misunderstood what I meant." ”

Dictators are not alone, and Huang Shi knows that such people need a wide range of interest groups to maintain a position that can be dictatorial, but this interest does not need to be realized immediately, and many people are willing to accept credit and even make an upfront investment: "It seems that the time-traveling person who does not want to be a dictator is destined to live alone without being understood. Huang Shi sighed lightly again, and put the report aside, this thought was that he didn't dare to mention it to his wife, and he couldn't get anything except a fire in the backyard.

……

"I don't have rations to feed you." Nearly 30,000 Ming prisoners who had been captured were brought to the school field of the Shun army camp in batches, and Xu Ping personally preached to them: "And your number is much larger than my army, and I don't have so many troops to take care of you. ”

Ignoring the commotion of the prisoners of war after hearing this, Xu Ping stood on the review stand and shouted to the Ming soldiers in front of him: "I need your assurance, if anyone promises to never take up arms again, and never join the Ming army to fight with me again, I will let you go home!" ”

Every time he said this, Xu Ping would pause for a moment to allow the captives to digest their demands, and then put the choice in front of them: "If you refuse to make such a guarantee, I will not execute you, but will send you to Shandong to be imprisoned; If you are tired of killing on the battlefield, then you can leave by yourself or in a group, and I will give you a little money, but before you go, you must solemnly swear that as long as no one threatens you with death, you will never be the enemy of Dashun on the battlefield again. ”

Every time he heard this, the prisoners of war in front of Xu Ping would start to talk to each other, making buzzing discussions, and after the voice fell silent, Xu Ping's lecture came to an end: "If you face the threat of death and have to pick up a gun against me again, then you are not unrighteous or untrustworthy." ”

One after another, batch after batch, a long line formed in front of the desk of the clerks of the Shun army in the prisoner of war camp, and the Ming prisoners of war loudly swore to the officers of the Shun army that they would not step into the battlefield again, and then left in groups of threes and threes.

Under the banner of the commander of the Shun army in the distance, looking at this long procession Chen Zhe, Zhou Dongtian, and other generals of the Shun army all shook their heads vigorously, this big victory made Xu Ping's prestige even higher, but despite this, the Shun army was still complaining about this order.

"Even sending them to Shandong to work and farm for us is better than letting them go for nothing." Chen Zhe knew that Xu Ping's determination not to kill prisoners of war was unshakable, but he strongly recommended the establishment of a group of slave labor camps.

"Zhong Fangfang will give them the least food to eat, do the heaviest work, and will not give them cotton clothes and charcoal fire in winter, let alone give them medical treatment and medicine, and they will all die in the end." Xu Ping shook his head and said, "What's the difference between that and me killing them with my own hands?" ”

"There are so many soldiers, if they go to the battlefield again......" Liu Zongmin felt that there was nothing wrong with killing them all, for the prisoners of war who were more than their own army in the past dynasties, they had always been killed and then fast, and they could not even consider absorbing them into their own army.

"Did any of them lie to you?" Xu Ping suddenly asked Liu Zongmin.

"Of course not."

"Then why does Brother Liu think they will lie to us?" Xu Ping pointed to the southerners who staggered away: "Most of them are honest farmers, if a person has never deceived us, we shouldn't suspect him of being a liar for no reason, right?" ”

Xu Ping's words made Liu Zongmin laugh twice, he felt that Xu Ping was quibbling, but he didn't know how to refute it for a while.

"Forget it, what the general said, but Ren is not in charge of the troops." Although Li Laiheng did not agree, he did not oppose Xu Ping's decision, and he comforted everyone that this would at least weaken the fighting spirit of the Ming army in the future.

"No, that's not what Ren doesn't mean by being in charge." Unexpectedly, Xu Ping didn't buy it, he retorted: "I know that the Ming army does not leave prisoners, but for the sake of victory, I still take the army to a place where it cannot escape if it is defeated, and I will not give up the opportunity to win because I am worried that my brothers will be captured and killed. There is no selfish grudge on the battlefield, killing or being killed is willing to gamble and lose, and now the captives have put down their weapons, and it has nothing to do with Ren not being in charge of the army. Xu Ping pointed out that he really did not have the rich materials to support so many prisoners of war, and if he didn't kill them, he could only release them - these prisoners of war were the same as those he had met before, they were not willing to fight as soldiers all their lives, let alone join the Shun army to attack their hometown.

"How could Huang Qubing not send them back to the battlefield?" Zhou Dongtian couldn't imagine that the Qi State Guild would not need tens of thousands of well-trained veterans who had seen the battlefield.

"I don't know about the others, but Gong Qi is different," Xu Ping explained as best he could, "I guess the Qi Guild has reached this tacit agreement with me." I have questioned countless captives these days, and the Duke of Qi has taught them to fight to defend their land and defend themselves...... Well, the one who didn't pay taxes for the right to vote, and many others, although the Duke of Qi went down the evil path to use those merchants, I think the Duke of Qi still loves the people, and he will want me to continue to do this, and let the prisoners of war go back to be common people instead of killing them. ”

"Even if it's a defeat?"

"Yes, I can bet with you."

"Don't bet with the general, because your little money is not enough to lose, and we don't want to see you become a liar who pays off your debts. Anyway, as long as you can win, what does the general say? That is to say, the crow is white and you can do it. The generals of the Shun army reached a consensus and no longer argued with Xu Ping, who was strong and reasonable.

A Cantonese who had just walked out of the prisoner of war camp looked in the direction of Xu Ping's handsome flag in the distance, and whispered to a few fellow villagers around him: "Am I right? General Xu is a kind-hearted and good man. ”

"Indeed," several fellows admitted that the man was right, they had heard similar comments from this fellow, and that he had taken the lead in surrendering to his pursuers after the defeat, but at that time the others had only taken his word for desperation - they had seen the attitude of the Ming army towards the Shun prisoners of war along the way: "But how do you know? Do you know General Xu? ”

"I've stayed in Guangzhou all my life, how can I know him?" The Cantonese man said in a lower voice as he walked: "My third brother knows him, and before he came out, my third brother told me that if I really can't do it, I will surrender, and I will definitely be able to save my life." ”

"Your third brother knows General Xu?" There was a look of disbelief on the faces of the people around him.

"Of course, in fact, ......" The Cantonese people couldn't help but be angry when they saw that the villagers were looking at them with deep suspicion: "If General Xu wasn't a kind-hearted person, my third brother and sister would have been Princess Wu." ”

"What!?"

......The astonishing secret confided by the people of Guangzhou has become a hot topic on the way home of these former Yugoslav soldiers.

Many of these southern soldiers (including the Jiangxi soldiers) who escaped death made up their minds not to report to the Jiangxi military and political departments, but absconded all the way back to their hometowns. After stepping into the friendly territory of Jiangxi, most people either fell to the ground and shouted the Bodhisattva's blessing, or burned incense to every temple they came across.

After letting go of the Ming prisoners, Xu Ping began to release the captured Ming officers, who had refused to release them for fear that they would be able to organize the troops again immediately. The released officers were also released in batches from low to high, and all the low-ranking officers of the Ming army who were caught this time had read Xu Ping's textbooks, and Zhou Dongtian laughed and said that they were all betrayed guys like Xu Ping.

In the end, Xu Ping let Zhao Slowxiong and other senior officers go, and when he explained to the others why he didn't sacrifice these people to Beijing, he said: "We haven't defeated the Duke of Qi yet, and it is not wise to force the generals of the Ming army who meet us in the future to fight with us, and to force their men to fight with us, I believe that the Lord wants the world, not a few Ming generals." ”

Xu Ping allowed all the Ming generals above the school officer to lead a horse away, and he apologized to Zhao Wanxiong: "We also need war horses, so I can't give horses to officers below the school officer, but they can take their swords and handcuffs with them on the road for self-defense." ”

Qi Shizi and a group of division commanders fled back to Jiangxi with thousands of remnants, and the ninth town outside Anqing learned of the defeat and abandoned their baggage overnight and fled westward, and was chased by the defenders of Anqing to take advantage of the victory, and now the second-line troops of the Shun army are still searching for the rout of the Ming army, and if they are willing to swear that they will be released after being caught. It was suggested that Xu Ping go to intercept the Tenth Town, which had not yet escaped from Nanzhili, but Xu Ping flatly refused.

"There is no need to waste time, we will return to Jiangnan immediately, Nanming seems to occupy a large territory, but now Zhejiang and Nanjing have been subdued by the Ming army and the militia must be ready to move." In order to concentrate troops on the front line, the Northern Expeditionary Army appointed a large number of generals and officials to govern the rear, so that they could make meritorious contributions, for example, Hangzhou is now led by Yu Dong, the former governor of Jiangbei who surrendered back to the Ming side, led by the old department, Xu Ping did not believe that they would be loyal to the Nanming at all, and those Jiangnan Shilin who surrendered to the Nanming to persuade the Duke of Qi to take the throne, Xu Ping knew better that they were all grass on the wall, and the soldiers would definitely compete to persuade the defenders to surrender to seek the leniency of the Shun Court: "After learning that we returned to the division, these guys must have attacked the new officials of the Southern Ming Dynasty. The Sixth Army of the Southern Ming Dynasty was alone! ”

"After the Sixth Army of the Southern Ming Dynasty is eliminated, we will be able to recover Zhejiang and come to Fujian again!" Xu Ping did not think at all about continuing to pursue the defeated army or attacking Jiangxi, and all the field battalions of the Shun army that were originally pointing to the west were redirected to the east: "Our goal is Quanzhou. ”

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