When Emperor Kangxi sent to Huguang, the "most gambling" general Ezha, prepared a stud and concentrated all the elites he could use - in fact, there were not many, that is, more than 20,000 people, to smuggle across the Yangtze River, surprise attack Shimen, and prepare to copy Li Zicheng's lair, reverse the decline of Huguang in one fell swoop, and then concentrate troops to resist Wu Guogui on the southern front. He didn't know that there was another gambling friend he was very familiar with on the "card table" in Huguang, that is, Wu Yingxiong, the son of the Western Wang!

This Wu Yingxiong was also famous for his good gambling when he was in Beijing, and he was very bad luck and poor gambling skills, and he refused to play the table when he won money, until he lost everything. If his father was not Wu Sangui and his wife was not Princess Jianning, he would have lost all his family property to ask for food.

However, this Wu Yingxiong has successfully quit gambling after returning to Wu Sangui, and he has never been on the gambling table again, and he has no chance to deliberately lose some points to him.

In a very rare shooting range carved out on flat land outside Kuizhou City, the senior and middle-level officers of the six guards under Wu Yingxiong's command gathered together. All of them were neatly dressed in robes and shiny military boots, hugging Wu Yingxiong, carefully looking at the "country soldiers" lined up in rows.

It is a real "country soldier", all of whom are mountain people near Kuizhou, who were recruited as flintlock muskeers by Wu Yingxiong's son Wu Shifan at the cost of two taels of silver per month last month. didn't make many moves, a total of 100 or dozens of people were recruited, plus some of the old soldiers who could use shotguns from Wu Yingxiong's guards to serve as team deputies, platoon commanders, and shed commanders, and made up a standard "Cantonese flintlock pistol team", and the captain was of course the handsome Wu Shifan, who was a little too handsome. It's so pretty, it's not like a human king! is so good-looking, what should everyone do if he is not afraid of him when he becomes the emperor in the future?

Just when everyone thought that Wu Shifan was not fierce enough and not terrible, Wu Shifan suddenly looked at his face, gave everyone a murder, and shouted: "Lizheng!" ”

Hearing him shout like this, the group of recruits lined up with flintlock pistols immediately stood upright, and the two hundred people stood upright together, clean and neat, and they knew at a glance that they had been trained hard. And those who have led soldiers know it. Ci is not in charge of the soldiers!

This Wu Shifan can train these mountain people to this point in such a short period of time, it seems that he is still a little fierce.

"Gun under the shoulder"

Wu Shifan then shouted the password.

With a rather neat movement, the flintlock men, lined up in two rows in front and back, removed the flintlock pistols from their shoulders, muzzles facing upwards and butts on the ground.

"Load!"

Wu Shifan continued to order.

The flintlock musketeers began to reload their ammunition with their hands and feet - still with the same paper-shelled ammunition as they were used!

Wang Zhongxiao still knew that he wanted to unite against the Qing Dynasty, so he didn't engage in "keeping a hand" with Wu Shifan, and taught everything that should be taught! Of course, he is not afraid that Wu Shifan will learn real skills to fight himself - because Foshan Town, the largest iron-smelting handicraft center in East Asia, is in his hands, and he still has the stunt of mobilizing flintlock pisters in Juntiandi! These two trump cards are not so easy to learn!

In the blink of an eye, all the flintlock muskeviers had completed the reloading step by step according to the procedure they had practiced repeatedly over the past month!

This flintlock pistol loading technique seems to be quite cumbersome, but it is really the easiest of all weapons to practice, a smart one day, a stupid one day, a few days if you can't learn, then you can't get two taels of silver a month's military salary, after learning, and then train every day, ten days and half a month to be proficient.

Of course, hitting the target with a flintlock pistol is not so easy. What can be done in ten days and half a month is to load, raise the gun, and shoot. As for whether you can hit or not, then let it be!

In addition to loading, raising guns, and shooting, flintlock pishiers also need to master the two basic skills of lining up and bayonet charge.

The former is more complicated, but you can go from easy to difficult, first practice a horizontal team and column, and just be able to fight so-so. The latter is simpler, insert a bayonet and stab someone, what's the difficulty? The big deal is that people will be stabbed!

"Raise your gun!"

Wu Shifan shouted again, and all the hundred and dozens of flintlock pistols were raised.

The 100 or so flintlock musketeers were lined up in two rows, and the positions of the front and rear rows were staggered, so that the rear row could put the gun on the shoulder of the front row or stick the barrel out of the middle of the two.

This density of firepower, that's quite a lot!

At the same distance, the density of fire that an arquebus could achieve was probably only one-fifth to one-sixth of that of a flintlock musket!

This ratio alone can already determine the outcome of the battle - whoever wants to take a gun against the enemy's six guns will have to be intimidated by a super Baturu!

"Hit!"

Wu Shifan saw that everyone had raised their guns, and finally there was another loud shout!

Before his shout fell, the flintlock musketeers had already pulled the trigger one after another, and the flint clips holding the flint slammed into the iron fire sickle, and suddenly sparked, the spark ignited the gunpowder in the medicine pool, and then the propellant in the barrel was also ignited, and the fire and smoke erupted from the muzzle, and at the same time there was a series of gunshots!

As the gunshots rang out, a row of wooden targets thirty paces ahead of the line of flintlock musketeers were shot, sawdust flew and the power of the bullets tore the wooden bars and blocks in all directions, and at least a fifth of the wooden targets were punched holes.

All the officers who watched the shooting gasped.

They are all insiders, if this shot appears on the real battlefield, a volley of guns will knock down one-fifth of the enemy rushing from the opposite side, no, one-tenth, the enemy will not be able to carry it!

A volley of guns put down a tenth, and after two, three, four rounds?

The other enemies don't know, but the Manchurians will definitely not be able to bear it, because there are too few of them, and there are too many dead people in the line to shoot, which is not suitable for them.

"Ladies and gentlemen, are the flintlock pipers trained by Shi Fan still usable?" Wu Yingxiong turned his head and asked triumphantly.

"Available, so available! The second son is really talented! ”

"Second son, this is better than blue!"

"The prince of the world is like this, why worry that Manchuria will not be destroyed, and the world will not be peaceful!"

"Lord Shizi, the second son's method is too good, let's train more flintlock pikemen!"

"Yes, yes, if you can have 30,000 flintlock pikemen, you will have no problem dominating the world!"

Of course, there are a lot of sycophants in these words, but Wu Shifan's prestige still mentions a lot. Wu Yingxiong was quite proud in his heart, and when he was about to strike while the iron was hot and announce the expansion of the flintlock spear troops, Shi Wang Shirong, the head of his prince's mansion, walked quickly to Wu Yingxiong's side and muttered a few words in a low voice, and then Wu Yingxiong was a burst of wild laughter, which caused a group of generals around him to cast curious glances at him.

What happened to this prince?

What's the happy event?

Guo Zhuangtu asked: "Lord Shizi, why should you laugh?" ”

Wu Yingxiong laughed and replied: "As expected, the gambler prince of Ozha finally couldn't help but bet on his old book to sneak attack Li Zicheng's lair stone gate!" ”

When the surrounding generals and staff heard him say this, they all cast admiring glances - Wu Yingxiong had indeed predicted that Ezha would definitely not be able to help but bet on his old book!

Because this is the style of Ozha gambling!

Wu Yingxiong looked at the surrounding eyes and said with a smile: "It's not that this son is bragging, the gambling products of the popular Manchu princes in Beijing City, I all know that in order to slap them in those years, I can pretend to export hundreds of thousands of taels!"

I know too well what kind of virtue they have when they lose their red eyes! This Eza, every time I am anxious, I will win or lose at this time, and those of us who play with him will have to lose to him! ”

"Out of the old and lose?" A general who heard the gambling money and his eyebrows fluttered at this time couldn't help but interject, "Lord Shizi, did you say the opposite?" ”

"It's not the opposite, it's just a loss." Wu Yingxiong gritted his teeth and said, "He is the king of Manchuria, how dare I really let the loss be in a hurry?" I've forced him to be anxious, take the palace out and play with me, what should I do?

But this time, hehe, I'm not going to let him! ”

"The prince is right, you can't let him!" The general waved his fist and said, "Bet with him that the current amount is large, plus Li Zicheng and the third master's people, there are 100,000 troops!" ”

"Bet with him?" Wu Yingxiong chuckled, "I won't bet with him!" I'm going to cheat!

He will gamble and I will give thousands. I know all his cards! And my trump card, he doesn't even know, he doesn't even know that I will send troops! Why is he betting with me? ”

Then he said to the gambling general with a serious face: "Don't gamble anymore. Ten bets and nine frauds! Got it? ”

"I know!" Where does that gambler general dare to say that he doesn't know?

Wu Yingxiong nodded, and said to the left and right: "Let's go, let's go back to the city first and discuss how to fight the battle of Xiangyang?" ”

On the 22nd day of the first lunar month, the capital of Changde Prefecture, the small Wuling City, had been surrounded on three sides by the left, right, and rear battalions of the Fengtian Army under Li Zicheng, leaving only the side next to the Yuanjiang River and had no way to surround it.

The middle camp led by Li Zicheng was placed in the Bailu Temple at the foot of Yangshan Yumai, six or seven miles north of Wuling City, and the 2,400 people in the front camp of the Fengtian Army led by his nephew Li Laishun did not appear outside Wuling City

At this time, Li Zicheng was immediately on the high ground north of the White Deer Temple, surrounded by three white-bearded and tall generals who broke into the camp, and there was a circle of soldiers in green cloth and white hats, armed with spears and shotguns, and they were on guard.

These three elderly generals who broke into the camp turned out to be Li Zicheng's most confidant guards, one surnamed Tian, one surnamed Miao, and one surnamed Fan, all of whom became monks in Jiashan Temple with Li Zicheng, and now they are finally suffering. At this time, he had taken off his robe and put on his battle robe again, looking eager to try.

That Huang Zhisheng, the governor of Lizhou, is now also a cadre in the camp, wearing a green cloth robe in the style of the Ming Dynasty, shaking a paper fan, standing beside Li Zicheng, and is suggesting: "The king, the minister and the Xue prefect of Changde are old friends, and he bought the silver that the Changde prefect lacked was lent to him by the minister." As long as the minister comes forward, he will definitely surrender. ”

"Must surrender? Okay" Li Zicheng nodded again and again, "But it's still early, wait." ”

"Wait? Without further ado, my lord! Huang Zhisheng said, "If you wait any longer, I'm afraid that the Tartars in Jiangbei will cross the river in a big way and attack the old camp in Shimen." ”

"Yes, sneak attack on the old camp!" Li Zicheng smiled, "It's not a secret, I have been in Jiashan Temple for so many years, and I often dream of Tartar soldiers coming to sneak attack. Oh, I also dreamed of a comeback, and I also dreamed that the Great Shun Army chased the Tartars all over the world! Huang Taishou, tell me, is your dream accurate? ”

"Quasi" Huang Zhisheng didn't understand what Li Zicheng meant, but he still said a quasi-word.

"Okay," Li Zicheng nodded, "Since it's accurate, it should come true!" Now that you have persuaded that person surnamed Xue, won't your dream not work? ”

What are these words? Is this Li Zicheng a monk and dizzy, how did he become chattering?

"King," Huang Zhisheng thought for a moment, and then asked tentatively, "Do you want to use the trick of luring the enemy in?" Lure all the Qing troops in Jiangbei to Jiashan, and then set up an ambush to wipe them out? ”

"All in one?" Li Zicheng smiled coldly, "Why do you want to help Wu Sangui wipe out all the tartars. Wu Sangui has an army of 80,000 here in Huguang, and the amount is only 15,000! ”

He looked back at Huang Zhisheng, and his gaze suddenly became cold: "Huang Taishou, in the past two days, I have dreamed that Wu Yingxiong succeeded in stealing Xiangyang, and Wu Guogui succeeded in seizing Changsha. Then the two of them pressed towards the forehead together, and wanted to destroy the old king of E! ”

Huang Zhisheng's body shook: "King, then what do you plan?"

"Of course I have a plan!" Li Zicheng said with a smile, "It doesn't hurt to tell you, I don't plan to stay here all the time in Lizhou, Jingnan, and Changde, and sooner or later I will be squeezed to death by Wu Sangui, and I have to jump out and go to a place far away from Wu Sangui to open up a situation!" ”

Li Zicheng had already seen through Wu Sangui. He has died once because of Wu Sangui's "rushing to the crown and being angry", if you can't see through it again, won't you be a fool?

"My lord, where are you going to jump?" Huang Zhisheng asked.

Li Zicheng smiled and asked, "How is Wuchang?" He first asked Li Laishun to dismantle the pontoon bridge that crossed the river from Tartar, and then used the big boat with the pontoon bridge as a warship to attack Yuezhou downstream. The spies reported that the Oza had ordered the men to intercept many grain ships from Hankou back to Hunan in Yuezhou, and they were all detained in Yuezhou. If you get these ships, you can take the whole army and your family to the south along the Yangtze River and go straight to Wuchang City! As long as you can capture Wuchang City, the chess will be completely revitalized, you can occupy Dabie Mountain to the north, you can take Jiangnan to the east, you can also take Jiangxi Huang Taishou to the south, and take Wuchang in equal amounts, how about making you a governor of Hubei? ”

"Chen Zhisheng, thank you for the king's kindness!"

When Huang Zhisheng heard this, he immediately became energetic! It's not because Li Zicheng promised him a governor of Hubei, but because Li Zicheng's strategy of jumping out of this narrow area west of Dongting Lake is really promising!

He saw Li Zicheng very hard in Lizhou, Jingnan, Changde and other places, and thought that this Li Zicheng had decided to be a coward west of Dongting Lake for the rest of his life!

It's not impossible to sit on the throne, it's just that the hatred between Li Zicheng and Wu Sangui is too deep, although Wu Sangui is pretending to be confused now, when Li Zicheng doesn't exist, but that's just a temporary policy, once Wu Sangui takes over the vast number of Hu, he will definitely encircle and suppress Li Zicheng next!

Therefore, Li Zicheng has no way out if he stays west of Dongting Lake. And to the north into Jingzhou, and then north to Xiangyang is not very good. Because in this way, a situation will be formed in which Li Zicheng is in the middle, Kangxi is in the north, and Wu Yingxiong and Wu Guogui are in the south.

At that time, Li Zicheng will be attacked by Kangxi and Wu Sangui in the north and south, and there will be no good end.

And once the eastward march to Wuchang is successful, the situation will be bright.

After Wu Sangui took the lands of Shaanxi, Gansu and Jingxiang, he would definitely regard the attack on Beijing as his main goal, and he would only use a small number of troops to contain Li Zicheng, who was entrenched in Wuchang and occupied Jiangxi.

On the Qing side, Li Zicheng will definitely not be regarded as the main opponent, and the most important thing is to recapture Shaanxi or hold Henan and Shanxi, followed by the land of wealth in Jiangnan and Jiangbei.

As for Wang Fuchen and Wang Zhongxiao in Guangdong, and Geng Jingzhong in Fujian, not only will they not become enemies with Li Zicheng, but they may also form an alliance with Li Zicheng to fight against the powerful Wu Sangui and the Manchu court

On the second day of February, the dragon raised its head.

The spring rain in Jingzhou is sparsely coming down, this rain is a little fierce, but a bit like a summer rainstorm, when the rain is the heaviest, standing on the bank of the Yangtze River, it is a white expanse, dozens of feet away has disappeared, everything seems to be hidden in a heavenly river flowing from heaven to earth.

In the midst of this vast white and foggy expanse, groups of officers and soldiers, wearing hats, cloaks, and carrying flags and weapons, drove out of Jingzhou City in a steady stream and headed towards a pontoon bridge across the river that had just been built at the mouth of Shashi.

There are quite a few people in this army, the front team has already arrived at the mouth of Shashi, and stepped on the pontoon bridge in an orderly manner, and the rear team has just pulled cannons and baggage vehicles out of Jingzhou City!

The king of the Great Qing Xin County, the general of Fuyuan, Oza himself, was also in this brigade. However, he did not ride a horse in a robe, but sat in a spacious two-wheeled carriage with Cai Yurong, the governor of Huguang.

The carriage was very well built, and it was raining so hard outside that there was no leakage on the inside. And there is also a brazier in the carriage, which is warm and very comfortable, and you can't feel the dampness and coldness of Jingzhou spring at all.

Oza looked in a good mood, humming a little song while swaying forward in the carriage. However, Cai Yurong beside him always looked a little sad, and he would sigh softly from time to time.

"Ren'an, what are you sighing for! It's a good rainy day. The white and foggy are just covering our army to cross the river, and when Li Zicheng's people find out, we are almost at Shimen! Oza smiled and said, "This one is a winning hand, this is Tianhu's hand!" ”

Listening to Eza's words, Cai Yurong could only squeeze out some smiles to deal with it.

This prince treats the war as gambling, but when he gambles, someone coaxes him, the war is real, what is deceitful, yin and bad, all together, Li Zicheng is so cunning and a thief, can he really catch the way of this gambler prince?

It's a bit hanging!

(End of chapter)