Chapter 216 Adjutant General

Xie Zhongren finally got the title of deputy general as he wished, and was arrogantly leading his subordinates to drive towards Longli.

Not long ago, Xie Zhongren was still a general of the Tonggu Guard, and he got the title of deputy marshal because he came to help the Ming army in the battle between Pingyuewei and An Bangyan's rebels.

However, Deputy General Xie did not participate in that battle, and the Ming army also lost, losing a complete defeat, losing more than 3,000 people. It is precisely because Xie Zhongren did not participate in the battle...... Oh, well, to be exact, it was precisely because of this defeat that he was directly related to him that he was promoted to lieutenant general.

Wang Ershan spent time in Yuanjiang until June, and received a clear order from the imperial court: a multi-road army had been mobilized to Zhenyuan Mansion to assemble and standby, and Wang Ershan, the new Fu of Guizhou, should not be prevaricated and delayed. There was no reason to drag it out any longer, so after being besieged in Guiyang for half a year, Lord Wang finally led more than 6,000 people out of the rich Huguang and stepped into Guizhou Province step by step - Wang Ershan had already scraped together 10,000 people in Yuanjiang, but none of the localities that received the order to transfer troops were reluctant to hand over the elite of their own families to Lord Wang to take to Guizhou, so most of the more than 10,000 people were old and weak auxiliary soldiers, and many of them were simply farmers who were temporarily arrested to make up the number. During this period of time in Yuanjiang, more than 2,000 people ran one after another, and there were also those who died of illness and were still dying...... Fortunately, Tian Baisheng had already told Lord Wang that as long as the army arrived in Longli and sent him a message, General Tian would lead his town soldiers to meet the army.

Along the way, Wang Ershan watched the group of crooked melons and cracked dates that followed him more and more desperately, but when he arrived in Zhenyuan, he was a little surprised to see Xu Shizhen, the general of the Qinglang Guard, who was already waiting here. There are quite a few people brought by General Xu Shen, more than 3,000. According to Xu Shizhen, a great victory has just been achieved: the toast of the fifteenth cave of Qiongshui was about to move, and General Xu made a decisive attack and completely smashed its luck psychology, and now the toast has changed his mind and contributed more than 100 stones of grain and grass to the army!

More than 100 stone grains are really not much, and there are few first-level proofs of that so-called victory, but this is indeed a good sign, and it has far exceeded Wang Ershan's expectations, so he was overjoyed, and Lord Wang promoted Counselor Xu to deputy general on the spot!

Then, it angered General Xie Zhongren.

Xu Shizhen is the general of Qinglangwei and Xie Zhongren is the general of the Tonggu Guard, and the relationship between the two has always been unmatched.

The reason, of course, is Juntun.

The two guards each have their own tuntian, which was originally a well water and not a river water, but Qinglangwei was in the upper reaches of Qiongshui, and General Xu took advantage of the location. Earlier, it was a drought that had not been encountered for many years, and there was not a drop of rain in Qiandong for eight or nine months, so Xu Shizhen asked the auxiliary army to build a dam on the Qiongshui River without saying a word. The water source of Qinglang Weijuntun was solved, but Xie Zhongren's side was almost cut off, so he sent auxiliary soldiers to dig the dam secretly. Unexpectedly, Xu Shizhen had already taken precautions, and arranged a full battalion of soldiers to guard there, beating the auxiliary soldiers of the Bronze Drum Guard to the point of bleeding. Xie Zhongren, who couldn't swallow this breath, mobilized all the elites of his own soldiers, Ding Bailai, and set a fire in Xu Shizhen's field and brought back dozens of ploughing cattle - if it weren't for the fact that the matter was too big and alarmed the two prefects of Zhenyuan and Liping to come forward and force it, Xu and Xie Er would have broken out into a bloody battle! Then it was waterlogging, a heavy rain fell for more than three months, and so on this day after waiting for a long time, General Xu Shen dug a lot of flood ditches, and the rainwater was all introduced into Qiongshui, and the flood irrigated, and the military tun particles of the general were not harvested that year! In the past three years, more than 1,000 of Xie Zhongren's serf auxiliaries were starved to death, and if they hadn't finally had to open a warehouse and release more than 200 stone grains, there would be no more than a few living people left in the auxiliary soldiers who could grow grain for Xie Shenren in the coming year!

The two sides have so many grievances, and when they learned that Xu Shizhen was promoted to deputy general, can General Xie not blow up his lungs? Besides, what Qiongshui Fifteen Caves want to respond to the rebellion, change their minds, and contribute military rations, all of them are farts - that is, Xu bastard bullied Lord Wang when he first came, and he lied about his exploits! Who doesn't know that Yang Zhiqi, the head man of the cave, and Xu Shizhen are so good that they can wear a pair of pants? That bastard cut timber in Dongman Mountain and sold it privately to Huguang, which is the guarantor of Yang Zheqi's "catching white and releasing black"* for this guy!

Wang Ershan sat in Zhenyuan, taught Xu and Xie Er to go to Pingyuewei first, and when they had a firm foothold, Lord Wang took his 6,000 "male soldiers" to converge. The reason for this plan is because Zhang Fang and Huang Yuanqing came to aid Guiyang on the line of Caotang, Huangping, and Pingyue, and there was no danger along the way. Wang Ershan estimated that An Bangyan's rebels would concentrate in the east in Leping, Xiaoping, and Pingzhai to block reinforcements, and in the south, Shangmaqiao, Dachengfan, Weifan, Wolongfan, and Dalongfan...... Look at these place names on the map, thieves are indispensable!

So Lord Wang decided to come to avoid the truth and make it false.

And then it overturned.

In fact, Wang Ershan's judgment is really not bad. Because he deliberately let Zhang Fang and others go through once before, An Bangyan felt that it was unlikely that the reinforcements would admit death and go to the dark, so he did not release many soldiers in Pingyue, only Yang Yisi's old man brought seven or eight hundred people to watch over his family there. If nothing else, the reinforcements may really bypass the heavily guarded east road set up by An Bangyan and go straight to Longliwei from the Xintiansi!

Since you say "if", it means that something is really wrong.

And twice.

There is such a big grudge between the two generals, so naturally they can't go together, Wang Ershan is alone and can't be separated, since he wants to sit in Zhenyuan, the front army can't suppress these two civilian officials. The army drove to Duyun Mansion, and Xie Zhongren took the lead to occupy Qingping, and then stopped and did not leave. In the evening of that day, someone saw two men dressed in ordinary people hurriedly coming out of the camp and going west, looking vaguely like Xie Zhongren's personal guards, but on the west side was Yang Yisi, who was attached to An's rebellion, and such things could not be talked about, so no one dared to mention them until the end.

At noon the next day, when Adjutant General Xu's team drove over, almost all the nearby places where the troops could be formed and stationed had been occupied by the men and horses of the Tonggu Guard, and the only one or two places left, a few floating corpses were also thrown into the wells. The most important thing for a large army to be stationed is to secure a water source, and if it is polluted, it will definitely not be left to wait - throwing corpses in the well is the easiest and most effective way.

Xu Shizhen had no choice but to continue to move forward. Fortunately, the reconnaissance cavalry reported that there was no trace of the enemy in front of Pingyuewei and Yangchang Pass, and seven or eight fishing boats had been intercepted on the Maha River, which could be ferried by the army. Vice General Xu pondered for a while and decided that the whole army rushed to cross, crossed the Maha River, and spent the night in Pingyue City!

Qinglangwei's scouts were right, there was indeed no trace of the enemy ahead. They even rode their horses into the woods on the slopes to explore, and if there was a large force of enemies, they would not be able to escape their well-trained eyes.

However, the Scouts had to be wary of a large group of enemies - they didn't notice a few pairs of vigilant eyes staring at them from deep in the woods.

Pingyuewei is also almost an empty city. However, if the scouts galloped a few miles further, they would find that in addition to the seven or eight hundred Miao soldiers in Yang Yisi's place, the men, women, and children in the surrounding villages had also been gathered, and there were as many as two or three thousand people—they seemed to have received some news in advance!

When Xu Shizhen's forward battalion began to cross the river, someone in the forest rushed westward. When they ran out of Lixu, it was estimated that the Han soldiers crossing the river on the bank could not hear it, they stopped, put their hands together on their cheeks and let out a series of "Ou Luo Luo" shouts.

The same response sounded in the distance, then farther away, and then farther away......

When the message reached Yang Yisi, the old man waved his hand, and the Miao soldiers quickly and silently drove towards the Mahajiang River, followed by the old and young Miao women, following them closely.

Xu Shizhen had three battalions under his command, two battalions were the first to cross the river to guard, and then the grain and grass of the Chinese army. So far, everything has gone smoothly, but when loading supplies, the boats are too slow, either they can't get ashore for half a day, or they row the boats into the whirlpool, and just drag out this and that one and sink in, and it takes too long to see that the sun is approaching the top of the mountain to the west, and all the supplies are transported. At this rate, the battalion that was broken off would not be able to cross until dusk. But it doesn't matter, anyway, when the last soldier comes ashore, these boats will be killed with a knife - Vice General Xu has already thought about it, and he will live comfortably in Pingyue, and then Xie Dog will not be able to cross the river for a long time, and he will be on the wrong for two or three days, so he must be cured of the crime of fearing the enemy like a tiger and delaying the military plane, and clean it up fiercely, so that he will have to take off a layer of skin if he does not die! As for killing Zhouzi, escape from the battle, prevent leakage of military information, and Miao Yi's meticulous work...... There are many reasons!

The battalion had just crossed the halfway point, and Yang Yisi's Miao soldiers came out of the forest shouting from the sky and launched a surprise attack.

Regarding the enemy's crossing of the river, the Ming army had clear regulations: the reconnaissance cavalry crossed first, then the forward battalion formed a guard, followed by the auxiliary soldier Ding Zhuang with armor on his back, and the auxiliary soldiers dug trenches to resist the horses to build simple fortifications, followed by the horse team, after crossing the river, they crossed the fortifications before one to three miles out of the warning circle, and if they encountered an enemy attack, they should counterattack as appropriate, so as to gain more time for the main general, and then the Chinese army's baggage. However, Xu Shizhen is a guard soldier, and it is very commendable if he does not fall behind, how can he use this standard to demand them?

The Miao soldiers had no armor, and the guards marched across the river without armor, one side came prepared, and the other side was attacked in a hurry, and the battlefield advantage was obviously on the side of the Miao people. What's even worse is that on the mountains behind the forward of the Miao army, although it has just reached dusk, several winding fire dragons have appeared! The scattered torches were lit one after another, and at a cursory glance, there were probably not as many as four or five thousand, flickering towards the Ming army - the Miao thieves had been in ambush for a long time, and they were already ready to fight at night in the dark!

Xu Shizhen, who was terrified, ran back with his henchmen and guards, and when he arrived at the riverside, he saw that those boats suddenly showed their daggers and overturned the soldiers around them, jumping into the river.

"It's over, it's a trick!" As soon as this thought came to Vice General Xu's heart, the small circle around him was crushed by the chaotic army - the main general fled, who would be stupid and desperate with Miao Yi! The soldiers of the company, the auxiliary soldiers, and the civilians captured along the way, all turned around and crowded to the river, and the materials that had just been unloaded were piled up in a mess, which further aggravated the confusion, and in an instant the formation of the troops no longer existed, and everyone screamed and ran around like headless flies.

Drums rumble.

On the east bank of the Maha River, a Ming army with bright armor drove over, and Xie Zhongren, who was riding a flower horse under the command of General Zhang's second staff, looked high-spirited.

At last a few soldiers from small boats managed to get ashore as hard as they could, but they all landed on the east shore. The soldiers who got off the ship ran to the horses of the general and knelt down, pointing to the west bank, thinking that they were begging him to come to his rescue. Following their fingers, although across the river, Xu Shizhen clearly saw Xie Zhongren grinning at him, and then swiped his hand on his neck, making a head-killing motion! Then he gave the order, and the soldiers of the Brass Drum Guard formed a formation to outflank the panicked half of the battalion that they had left on the east bank......

This was the last scene Xu Shizhen saw.

Xie Zhongren watched with satisfaction as the big enemy on the other side, Xu Bastard, had the tip of a spear on his chest and planted it under the horse, and another Miao soldier stepped forward, cut off his head like a Han soldier, and raised it provocatively and threateningly at himself...... General Xie not only responded with a warm smile, but also raised his arms together and raised two big fingers at the guy to show praise - that guy was stunned on the spot, holding his head and froze on the spot!

Qinglangwei was almost completely annihilated. The old man told the old and young people in each village to carry two torches to smash everyone's will to resist, and thousands of people died along the Maha River: less than half of the hundreds of Miao soldiers were killed, and most of them trampled on each other and ran into the river to drown.

Wang Ershan was shocked when he received the news that Deputy General Xu was greedy for merit and the whole army was annihilated, but fortunately, Xie Zhongren Lao Cheng held on to the battalion step by step, and even gathered hundreds of Qinglangwei's rout, and the strength of the defeated army did not decrease but increased. In order to stabilize the army and boost morale, the disloyal and unkind General Xie became the deputy marshal of understanding.

* The so-called Dongman is today's Dong people. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, various ethnic groups in the southeast of Guizhou lived together, with different customs, and at the same time influenced each other. There is a part of the Miao people have the custom of "washing the Miao bones": after the death of a loved one, a simple ceremony is held to bury the coffin hastily, and the next year the coffin is opened and the bones are washed. If a family member is sick, they will attribute it to "the unclean bones of the ancestors, and they still take them and wash them again." The Yao people also have a similar habit, and the Dong people who are close to them have developed the trading rules of "catching white and releasing black".

The Qingjiang area is rich in forest resources, and most of the Dong people are engaged in planting trees. Giant trees are not needed in mountainous areas, and they are often transported to Han land by Han people for trading, and they are very profitable. In order to maximize efficiency, the wealthy Dong merchants would guarantee that the Han merchants could leave with as much timber as they could. If the Han merchants do not return, the Dong forest owners who do not understand Chinese and cannot go out of the mountains to pursue will adopt this method of "catching white and letting go of black", digging up the tombs of the ancestors of the Zhongbao, and holding their white bones to ask the guarantor for payment.