Chapter 444: Victory on Two Legs
Guo Xu saw this scene and said: "No, no, there are too many people, and the pursuers need light soldiers to advance." ”
"Yes," said Luckdhun, "these people are a powder keg when they come together, and they may come to us again for some reason. ”
Guo Xu said: "Guo Hu, I understand some Jurchen language, I change the order just now, you stay, take care of these guys, and let them follow me." Interpreter, you follow Akdun's side, and the pursuit of this route is responsible for Shichiro Yoshida and An Mingge. ”
Immediately, the whole army crossed the river and began the pursuit operation, Akdun led the way and led the people into a valley, while Guo Xu led the troops to chase behind.
The morale of the whole army was high, and as soon as the two sides looked at each other, the Manchurians who were famous all over the world fled, which made everyone very excited, and pursued all the way, and traces of the Qing army's retreat could be seen everywhere, including horse manure, and also thrown away sundries.
"The captives said that each of Mandahai's men had two horses, and that Mandahai ordered everything unnecessary to be abandoned. We may not be able to catch up. Luckedhun said.
"Have you ever asked, can you run a horse on the road of Huining?" Guo Xu asked.
Luckedhun hurried to ask again, but the captives did not know. It's just that Guo Hu brought conclusive news that about forty miles ahead, it is a mountainous area, and he can't run a horse, so he can only lead the horse forward. It takes two days to walk on flat land where you can run horses.
The reason why Guo Hu knew was because Mo Kuowei had come to some dynasties and people to trade, and the news they brought.
Guo Xu nodded: "Very good, since the enemy can't ride forward forever, then we can definitely catch up, even if we chase into the Chao and Xian realms, Lao Tzu will catch up with Mandahai." ”
Guo Xu has so much confidence because he has confidence in the army under his command.
The army of the Oriental Trading Company was very different from the traditional army such as the Qing army, and the burden of the soldiers was reduced.
For example, Li Zhaoji stipulated that only the headquarters above the regimental level were allowed to carry tents, and for the rest of the units, only field hospitals had tents, and there was a limit to the number of items that each officer could carry. Of course, the removal of the tent represents the speed with which the large corps marches.
And the reduction of the burden of individual equipment is also real.
The total weight of a standard musketeer is about twenty-seven kilograms, and in the case of a flintlock unit, it can be reduced to twenty-four kilograms without the arquebus.
Clothes, shoes and hats are about seven kilograms, rifles, accessories, bayonets, ammunition, seven .5 kilograms. The standard carry-on kit also included four days' rations, including four days' staple food, two days' worth of meat, and a jug of water, for a total of four kilograms. Plus spare items, such as underwear, shoes, etc., amounted to more than five kilograms.
Guo Xu ordered to give up all spare items except shoes and let the artillery take care of them, and the defenders of Mokowei came to collect them, and then the whole army began the pursuit in a marching column.
With similar equipment, the army of the Eastern Trading Company could march about forty-five kilometers in a day, but of course a similar march could only last about four days, and if it was a continuous march, it would be reduced to thirty kilometers.
As for the Qing army, it is obviously much more important, not to mention anything else, just a set of cotton armor weighs 35 catties, and many Qing troops are still double-armor configurations, a set of chain mail is 25 catties, plus spears, waist knives, bows and arrows and other cold weapons, a soldier's weapon can easily exceed 100 catties.
If there are no two horses, they can not march, and horses are not without consumption, a horse needs to consume two percent of its body weight of feed every day, including hay and concentrate fodder, except for the front dozens of miles, the Qing army can ride horses to advance at a speed of more than twice the infantry, and the rest of the way, the road that needs to lead the horse forward, the Qing army's marching speed is far inferior to Guo Xu's army.
Guo Xu's pursuit saw the results on the third day, and after entering the mountain road, he soon saw the horses that were killed due to falls, as well as the clothes and even the Eight Banners soldiers who were abandoned due to physical exhaustion. Through the interrogation of these captives, Guo Xu learned that the army led by Akdun had not appeared, and the two sides had no contact.
Therefore, Guo Xu could only continue the pursuit, and in the afternoon of the same day, he met the Qing army on a narrow mountain road.
In the valley terrain, the Qing army is not an opponent, and a few dozen people can form a wall of fire to intercept the impact of the Qing army. And Guo Xu also ordered the musketeers to beat not only people, but also horses, killing and wounding horses as much as possible, so that there would be no livestock to carry goods for them.
After the contact, Guo Xu asked Lucketthun to charge forward with the soldiers of the Chezhidan battalion, and he killed a lot of horses with all the captured captives, cut firewood, smoked horse meat into jerky, and continued to advance as a supplement to military rations.
By the time he caught up with Luckedhun, it was already two days later, and Luckedhun's soldiers were forced to stop and rest due to lack of food, and within two days, Luckedhun caught up with him twice, causing some casualties to Mandahai.
After that, Guo Xu led the Marines to take over the pursuit, and since then more and more discarded items have been found on the mountain road, not only the wounded and corpses, but also all kinds of armor and spears. In addition to dry food, bows and arrows, and waist knives, Mandahai ordered everything he had thrown away to ensure his escape speed.
When the food ran out, he ordered to kill the war horses and cut the meat to eat raw, which invisibly increased the speed of Guo Xu's pursuing troops.
After several contacts in a row, there was a scuffle, Guo Xu finally did not catch Mandahai, until Mandahai was ambushed by the mining corps near the Tumen River, and the Eight Banners of the Qing Army, which had been running and fleeing for seven or eight days, could no longer support it, or surrendered on his knees, or fled in all directions, and Mandahai finally escaped across the river with his swimming skills.
Of course, he was not as comfortable as Guo Xu and others thought, he fled into the deep mountains and old forests, could not discern the direction, and finally found the village inhabited by people, but it was the dynasty, the Xian people, at this time the Qing army has conquered the dynasty on a large scale, Xian, burning and looting in this country, many routs fled to the north, and met Mandahai is also chasing and fighting.
When Mandahai ran out of pursuit and found the Qing army in Chao and Xian, the snow in the first year of Hongguang had already fallen, and his escape lasted for half a year.
There are 400 people in Mandahai, and more than 200 coats accompanying him, chasing and killing all the way, arresting more than 300 people, killing more than 70 people, which can be described as a full return, and the biggest gain is that Ningguta is the commander of the garrison, Jia Lazhang Jinghaise, this guy ate too much raw horse meat, and he didn't stop straining, and finally did not escape the pursuit of the marines.
By the time the pursuing troops returned to Mokowei, it was already half a month later, and An Hai prepared a big gift for everyone.
All the utensils of Mokowei, the wooden basins, the barrels, and even the stone troughs for feeding the horses, were all cleaned up, and the cauldron boiled hot water, mixed with the cold water inside, so that the soldiers returning from victory could burn their feet and pick out the blood blisters on the soles of their feet.
"It's no wonder that when the big shopkeeper was training the army, he ran around the school field, ran, and ran and ran every morning exercise." An Mingge picked up the blood blisters on the soles of his feet and couldn't help but say with emotion.
Guo Xu also nodded again and again: "Running is more important than anything else, this time the victory over the Qing army is not based on muskets and artillery, but on these two legs of the brothers." ”
At this time, Luckedhun also put his stinky feet in the manger after taking off his shoes, and he glanced at his brother Bargan beside him, and said, "Balgan, you can also take a dip." ”
"The minions don't dare." Bargan took two steps back.
Guo Xu laughed: "Balgen's minion can't be changed." ”
Lucked said helplessly: "Lord Guo, after nearly a month of traveling, this battle is over. I should also go to the Americas, and I saw that there was no foreign Yi at the door, and that was Tasman, who had come to urge me to get on my way. ”
Guo Xu said: "Well, you set a date, and I will arrange someone to give you a good gift." The prisoners of this battle, whether they are Manchurian Eight Banners or Jurchens, you can choose. ”
"Thank you very much, but I have one more thing I want you to help me with." Luckedhun said.
"You say yes, this battle defeated the Manchus. The Qing court was east of the Songhua River, and there was no longer a force to threaten me, and the next development was both safe and economical. Thanks to your help, you say, if you want money, I'll give you money, and if you want someone, I'll give you someone. Guo Xu was in a good mood at this time and said.
"I don't want anything, this time I'm going to America, I'm going to America for years, and I want to entrust Balgan to you, and he doesn't have to follow me to America." ”
"Master, where you go, the minions will follow." Bargan knelt directly on the ground, his eyes instantly reddened, and pleaded.
Luckedhun lifted him up and said, "Balgen, I grew up eating your mother's milk, and you and I are like brothers, suffering from self-suffering, and being abandoned by others, but you are not. In my heart, I don't treat you as a slave anymore, but if you follow me, you will always be a slave.
Moreover, I don't know whether I am dead or alive, I have heard people say that I will have to wander for four or five months to reach my destination at sea alone, which is a place that is inaccessible, and I don't know how many disasters I will suffer, I may not be able to come back, if I die, you are gone, who will take care of my wife and son?
I can only entrust you alone, and I don't want you to be just a loyal servant, you are very brave, not stupid, and you will definitely make great achievements in the Oriental Trading Company. ”
As he spoke, Luck Deckhon grabbed Bargan's shoulders, who were kneeling on the ground, and dragged him to his side, and before he could react, he drew his dagger and broke the pig's tail braid at the back of his head.
Luckedhun said to Balgen: "Balgen, from today onwards, you can no longer keep the pigtails of the money rat tail, and you are not allowed to speak Manchu again, you can only speak Chinese again."
If you don't like the Han Chinese hairstyle, and you don't like the broken hair in the army, you can comb a braid on the left and right. ”
Guo Xu looked at everything that happened to the two of them in surprise, and Luckedhun said to Guo Xu: "Lord Guo, Balgen is a Mongol, he is not a Manchurian, nor is he a Jurchen. ”
"Oh well, Balgen is a Mongol." Guo Xu knew that Luckedhun's Manchurian status had made him suffer a lot in the Oriental Trading Company, and obviously he didn't want Bargen, who had lost his protection, to suffer these grievances. And Bargen, indeed, was a Mongol.
Guo Xu understood Luckedhun's good intentions, and said emphatically: "From today on, Bargen is a Mongol, and he is no longer your Luckedhun's minion. By my side, he was the sworn brother of my like-minded partner, Luckedhun.
I'll treat him like my brother. ”
"Thank you, Lord Guo Xu." Luck Dehun solemnly thanked, perhaps he delayed the time at the beginning and transferred the military force of the American Pioneer Team to help Guo Xu, just so that he owed himself a favor so that he could use it to settle Balgan.
"No thanks, Balgan is a simple and pure man, and he deserves my trust." Guo Xu said.
Luckedhun nodded: "Then I don't have any more worries, and I'll leave by boat tomorrow." I guess you're going to Xingkai Lake too. ”
When Man Dahai went to admire the black silk, he accidentally learned of the existence of Mo Kuowei, and he stayed behind dozens of people to guard the stronghold of Xingkai Lake, and most of the goods of the black silk were also there.
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