The Red Mansion: From a Small Pawn to a Leader

Chapter 29: Defeated in One Battle
On June 14th the moon was already full, and when it rose above the eastern wall it was just getting dark.

The moonlight shone quietly, and the entire vanguard camp was shrouded in peace.

All the soldiers were dressed in military uniforms and armor, standing in line in the camp, waiting for orders. Their heads were covered in sweat, but they made no sound.

The lights in the big tent were on brightly, and Li Hu and the others' faces were wet with sweat, their armor soaking through.

Duke Shan Guo Shi Guangzhu closed his eyes slightly and sat cross-legged in front of the desk in the middle.

Perhaps because he was panicked, or perhaps because he wanted to quickly quell the rebellion in Shaanxi, Emperor Yongchang personally appointed Duke Shanguo, who was from the lineage of the four kings and eight dukes, to lead the suppression of the rebellion.

One has to admire these old guys, they are really good at using troops. Shi Guangzhu predicted all the strategic intentions of the rebels in advance and made correct deployments quickly.

Suddenly, a burst of rapid horse hoof sounds came in, and stopped outside the big tent. Then a spy ran in and knelt down to Shi Guangzhu: "Report! The rebel reinforcements from Hanzhong Prefecture have arrived at the rebel camp!"

Shi Guangzhu still didn't open his eyes, but blurted out two words: "Explore again!"

The spy said: "Yes!" and ran out again.

The big tent fell into silence again.

After an unknown amount of time, another spy ran in and knelt down before Shi Guangzhu: "Report! The rebels have started to light a fire and cook!"

Shi Guangzhu opened his eyes suddenly: "Let's eat!"

His captain of the guards hurried out.

After a while, a team of personal soldiers came in carrying trays full of food. They placed a bowl of meat soup and two meat patties in front of Shi Guangzhu, and placed the same food in front of Li Hu and others.

Shi Guangzhu picked up the broth and said, "Let's eat." Then he took a sip himself.

Li Hu and others picked up the meat soup together, and the big tent was filled with the sounds of drinking soup and chewing meat patties.

After swallowing the meat pie in his mouth, Li Hu took a sip of the meat soup. He was a little confused. Shi Guangzhu had already guessed that the rebels would come to rob the camp, but not only did he not take preemptive action, he also allowed the Hanzhong rebel reinforcements to come to support.

The number of rebels is not 80,000, but there are still about 40,000 or 50,000. Together with the reinforcements from Hanzhong, it is estimated that the number can reach 60,000 or 70,000.

You know, after several battles, the army had less than 15,000 people left to participate in the battle. The difference in numbers was a bit big, and it was a hot summer day, so it was too risky.

Thinking of this, Li Hu's eyes lit up, unless the Zuoye Army and the Youye Army came to support.

After a while, Li Hu put down his bowl and chopsticks, Xie Jing and others had finished eating, leaving only Shi Guangzhu still eating slowly.

Everyone sat there waiting, no one said a word, so the sound of Shi Guangzhu chewing the meat patty and drinking the broth was particularly loud.

Li Hu held back his laughter. Shi Guangzhu was really amazing. At first, he ate and drank with big gulps, but now he was using a spoon to scoop the food into his mouth bit by bit.

Finally, Shi Guangzhu finished the remaining soup in one gulp, picked up the face towel on the table to wipe his mouth, and said, "Xi'an's mutton is unique, fat, tender and fragrant, with its original color and taste. Tomorrow when we enter the city, I will treat you to a meal. All you can eat is enough."

Everyone laughed when they heard this.

Tsk, Li Hu narrowed his eyes. He didn't take the rebels seriously at all. How could he be so confident?
There was the sound of footsteps, and then a herald came in and announced loudly: "General, the army has..."

Shi Guangzhu raised his hand and said, "Stand by."

The herald replied, “Yes.” and hurried out.

Shi Guangzhu stood up and walked to the sand table.

Everyone followed over.

Shi Guangzhu spoke up: "According to the news from the Northern Pacification Office, the rebels are killing the gentry in Hanzhong, dividing up the land and grain, and inciting the common people to rebel. The number of people following the rebels has reached over 200,000."

Li Hu and others opened their eyes wide and took a deep breath.

Shi Guangzhu continued, "The emperor and the Ministry of War have re-drafted the military strategy. Sichuan and Hubei provinces sent troops at the same time to help our army clear out Hanzhong Prefecture." At this point, he turned his gaze to the crowd, "In addition to the rebels on the opposite side, there are still a large number of rebels in the various prefectures in Guanzhong that need to be cleared out. It is difficult to quickly quell them relying solely on the Xi'an General's Mansion, so..."

Everyone understood that they wanted to keep some soldiers to cooperate with Xi'an General's Office to eliminate the rebels in various prefectures. But compared with Hanzhong Prefecture, this little military achievement was just a drop in the ocean. Who would be willing to stay?
Shi Guangzhu was also in a difficult situation, but someone had to stay.

His gaze slowly swept across everyone's faces, and finally fell on Xie Jing and Li Hu, one and a half of his own people.

Xie Jing was anxious: "Old Master."

Li Hu felt relieved because unlike the rebels on the opposite side, most of the people in Hanzhong were ordinary people.

Shi Guangzhu made up his mind: "Xie Jing, you lead..."

Li Hu spoke up: "General, I am willing to lead our troops to stay here."

Shi Guangzhu was surprised: "Oh? You are willing to stay?" Li Hu answered loudly: "No joking in the army!"

Shi Guangzhu: "Okay." He suddenly remembered, "How many soldiers do you have?"

Li Hu: "Excluding the wounded, there are still more than 2,000 soldiers who can fight."

Shi Guangzhu nodded. When attacking Huazhou and Weinan, Li Hu's troops were organized into the first echelon, so it was normal that there were some heavy casualties.

Shi Guangzhu thought for a moment, then said to Xie Jing, "Gather 300 sword and shield soldiers for Li Hu." He then said to Li Hu, "All the wounded soldiers will be left to you."

Li Hu was delighted: "Thank you, Marshal!"

Xie Jing was also happy: "Yes."

There was the sound of horse hooves, and then a spy ran in and shouted, "Report! The rebel vanguard has left the camp!"

Shi Guangzhu: "Let's go!" and strode out.

Everyone followed him out quickly.

At this time, the bright moonlight shines on the earth, making the earth as bright as day, and everything on the earth can be seen clearly.

Under the moonlight, a large group of rebels rushed towards the government army camp from the other end!

Li Hu was slightly stunned. This was not a robbery at all, it was clearly a blatant sneak attack!
Different from the rebels in the previous few days, these rebels were like ants, and it was unclear whether they were bandits or hungry people. They had no flags, were disorganized, and rushed up in a swarm.

The well-trained musketeers have formed a battle formation!
The self-propelled muskets manufactured by the Firearms Bureau can effectively strike enemy targets at a distance of about 180 to 240 steps when firing horizontally, but it depends on luck to injure the opponent.

Two hundred steps, one hundred and eighty steps, one hundred and fifty steps! The ferocious faces of the rebels were clearly visible.

The horn sounded!

Flames spurted out from the muzzles of each gun. The rebels who were rushing in the front had obviously made arrangements in advance. Their shields lit up at the same time, and almost all the bullets hit the shields, causing countless flames to burst out again!

Through the monocular telescope, Li Hu saw the rebel archers hiding behind the shields.

The second row of musketeers opened fire at the same time, and the distance was closer. The shields and the rebels holding them were pushed backwards by the powerful impact force.

At this moment, the musketeers in the third row fired their muskets, and the exposed archers fell down under the firelight!

More and more rebels rushed up and were getting closer and closer.

Shi Guangzhu sneered and raised his hand.

It was obviously arranged in advance. Dozens of trumpets were blown at the same time, and the "woooo" sound echoed tragically at the foot of Mount Li.

The musketeers retreated, revealing the black muzzles of their guns.

The sub-cannon was improved upon the Portuguese cannon of the Ming Dynasty. The barrel is five feet eight inches long and weighs eighty-five pounds. There is an open powder chamber on the rear belly of the barrel for placing sub-cannons. The sub-cannons weigh five pounds and there are five sub-cannons. When firing, the sub-cannons are placed in the powder chamber, and the firing rate is very high.

The maximum range is three hundred and fifty steps.

The mother-and-child cannon is installed on a four-wheeled vehicle and can be pushed or pulled to move.

When he saw these cluster guns, Li Hu was also surprised. He did not expect that Shi Guangzhu would transfer thirty cluster guns from Tongguan. This thing has a large killing area. One shell carries 500 projectiles and can block a 50-step wide front. One shot can clear out a large area of ​​people.

The rebels are gathered together again at this moment, and the result is predictable!

Black holes of fire were gushing out from the muzzles of the guns!

In Li Hu's clairvoyant eyes, broken limbs and arms were flying all over the sky, and blood was pouring down to the ground, instantly dyeing the entire earth red.

After the sound of artillery fire, there were countless rebels’ screams and cries of fear!

The rebels' front army collapsed and they began to retreat wildly towards the central army!
Shi Guangzhu said calmly: "Adjust the muzzle."

The "woo woo" horn was immediately blown, and the gunners adjusted their gun positions and aimed at the rebel center three hundred steps away.

One after another, the cannons spewed out large balls of fire, some of which exploded on the heads of the fleeing soldiers, while others fell into the vanguard of the rebels' central army, causing waves of blood rain.

Cannon is indeed the god of war!
The rebels' battle formation was in complete chaos, with rebels running around in panic everywhere.

At this moment, three signals from the rebels' right rear wing shot straight into the night sky, exploding three times in the air and emitting brilliant sparks.

The Left and Right Ye troops have arrived!

Li Hu put down the telescope, it's over!
(End of this chapter)