Cutting over the end of the Ming Dynasty: a dog-leg knife at the beginning

Chapter 233 Yang Menglong's Story of Suppressing Bandits 2
The official road was full of smoke and dust, and the main force of Wuyang Guard was advancing along this flat road at an astonishing speed, heading straight for Xixia County.The common people along the way praised it unceasingly. It is really hard to find such an active army these days!Correspondingly, the local officials are much more active than before in providing food and fodder. They are very clear that this is the only army in Nanyang that is reliable, and the leader of this army is still a super profitable master. Only by building a good relationship and making him happy will he lead them to make a fortune together!Then, a miraculous scene appeared in Nanyang: the army of Wuyang Guards was still far away from the station, and the food was already prepared there!The generosity and hospitality of the local officials and gentry really opened the eyes of the soldiers of Wuyang Guard, especially the veterans who had experienced the king of Beishangqin in the past year, and they were full of emotions.They didn't have such good luck when they went north to King Qin last year. The local officials along the way regarded them as plague gods, not to mention cooking and entertaining them, they wanted to let dogs chase people away!
One must have a conscience, eat other people's food, and have to work hard to wipe out the rogues fleeing into the Nanyang Basin, so as not to harm the people of Nanyang. Wuyang Guard still has this self-consciousness, so their speed is even faster .

Wu Yong was very satisfied with this.From his point of view, Wuyang Guard is simply extremely fast, traveling hundreds of miles a day, from receiving the order to entering Xixia County, it took only seven days, which is really too fast!Those gangsters are definitely not Wuyangwei's opponents. It is a great achievement to defeat tens of thousands of gangsters in one battle!Of course, if Wuyang Guard can arrive in western Liaoning on time after suppressing the bandits, and win one or two victories against Jiannu, that would be even more icing on the cake.

Eunuch Wu was very satisfied, but Fang Yizhi was very dissatisfied.In his heart, he didn't want the main force of Wuyang Guard to be transferred to western Liaoning.Now more and more refugees are pouring into Henan from Shaanxi, and Nanyang Basin is the first to bear the brunt—remember?I said that the four fortresses in Guanzhong are like a giant bow drawn towards the Central Plains, and the Nanyang Basin is the closest target to this giant bow. One can imagine the pressure.Wuyang Guard was able to keep Nanyang from being ransacked by bandits, thank God, how could there be any spare energy to take care of those messy things on the Liaoxi battlefield!According to his opinion, it is better for the Wuyang Guards to put in the work and do nothing, and use the excuse of suppressing bandits as an excuse to procrastinate. After a month or so, the dust in Liaoxi will be settled, and the order will naturally be gone by then. It's great to send some money to the chief political envoy and the procuratorial envoy to cover up this matter.It's not that he's selfish, it's really that fucking order, asking a guard to send [-] troops to the west of Liaoxi, what effect can it have?It's better to let them stay in Nanyang and protect the environment and the people!

But he never dreamed that Yang Menglong would be so active, and Wuyang Guard would be so active. In the morning, he received the order to rush to help Xixia County, and in the afternoon, the army left the barracks and went to Xixia!He originally wanted the army to dawdle slowly on the road, as long as it could last as long as it could, but Wuyangwei was fine, he traveled eighty miles a day, faster than Ben Lei!Why do you say you are so active?It's to fight bandits, not to grab gold!Suffering from the supervising army by his side, he had no way to teach Han Peng and the others face-to-face instructions to let them walk slowly. He was so angry that he had nowhere to vent his anger. He really wanted to strangle Yang Menglong to death!
On the eighth day, Wuyang Guard stopped to rest.After several days of high-intensity marching, both men and horses were quite tired, and it was impossible not to stop to catch their breath.Fang Yizhi secretly breathed a sigh of relief, went to find Han Peng secretly, walked back and forth, and then turned to the main topic: "General Han, our army has traveled [-] miles in eight days, and the soldiers must be exhausted. Now, in my opinion, shouldn’t we rest for a few days, recharge our batteries, and then look for opportunities to fight?”

Han Peng looked relaxed: "Your Excellency has a heart! However, our army came here on horseback, and our physical strength is not too exhausted. We only need to leave three to four hundred people to take care of the horses. The main force will rest for a day, and immediately go to the county to destroy the gang. Rogue!"

Fang Yizhi insisted: "No, no, I'm too tired to ride the carriage all the way here, let alone those soldiers? It is necessary to let the soldiers rest for a few days. You must know that haste makes waste!"

Han Peng was puzzled. In the past, when the local officials made trouble with bandits, they always urged them to fight, and they would leave early after the fight. Why are they so considerate this time?There must be something weird!He said: "My lord, the speed of soldiers is so important! Now the rogues may have surrounded the county. If we go late, the county may not be safe!"

Fang Yizhi waved his hand and said: "Although the county seat of Xixia County is not big, it is extremely strong and has a lot of food and grass, which is enough to last for a long time! You can rest for a few days first. If the magistrate of Xixia County blames it, Let them find the mansion!"

Han Peng frowned: "My lord, why are you so procrastinating? Wouldn't it be better to put down the bandits quickly?"

Fang Yizhi said angrily: "If it is possible, why is the government not willing to wipe out the rogues with the autumn wind sweeping the fallen leaves? But what about after the rogues are wiped out? After the rogues are wiped out, you will be transferred to western Liaoning to die! For decades, so many The elite teacher Po was ordered to go to Liaoxi, but how many people were able to come back alive? The government is unwilling to watch so many Nanyang children die meaninglessly in Liaoxi, and even the corpses cannot be brought back!" He slapped the table hard, Pointing at Han Peng, he said: "No matter what you think, in short, this war must be dragged out by this government. The longer it is dragged on, the better!"

Han Peng smiled bitterly: "In this way, the place will be completely destroyed, and there will be a lot of wasted food and salaries..."

Fang Yizhi said loudly: "Xixia County is poor, sparsely populated, and there are as many bandits as a cow's hair. In addition, before the arrival of the rogues, most of the people had already fled into the county. So what? Just don’t let them take down the county and continue to go deep into Nanyang! As for the food and salary, the government can afford it!”

It seems that the magistrate is determined to protect himself, and Han Peng doesn't know how to complain.This gentleman must not know that there is a famous saying in Sun Tzu's Art of War: "So soldiers have heard of clumsy speed, but they have not seen it for a long time!" Military strategists of all dynasties have only seen the simplest and most effective method to quickly defeat the opponent. It's not that there are no such bastards who deliberately fight for a long time in order to pursue exquisite command, but they all hide in the coffin and cry out.The magistrate has tried his best to prevent Wuyangwei from being transferred to the west of Liaoning, but is it really okay to let Wuyangwei play hide-and-seek with the bandits in the poor mountains and rivers of Xixia County for a month or two?

At this time, a powerful shout came from outside: "Report!" The voice was loud and cold, and one knew immediately that the scout must have returned.

Han Peng sat upright and called, "Come in!"

A scout came in hurriedly, bowed his hands to Han Peng, and without kneeling, said loudly, "Report to the general, Mr. Yang encountered nearly a thousand bandits in Yangjia Town, Xixia!"

Han Peng's heart tightened, and Fang Yizhi simply jumped up and called, "He has encountered nearly a thousand bandits? Then how is he doing now? Is he surrounded?"

The scout looked a little strange: "No, he surrounded those nearly a thousand bandits!"

Han Peng found it unbelievable: "He surrounded nearly a thousand bandits? How is that possible! There are only about [-] scouts around him!"

The scout said proudly: "Everyone in our scout squadron is an elite who counts as ten. As for those rogues, one of us can beat twenty of them. How difficult is it to surround nearly a thousand rogues with sixty people?"

Fang Yizhi said: "Okay, okay, you are all very good, okay? I won't talk nonsense to you. Tell me, how is he now? Did he escape successfully?"

The scout disdainfully said: "Get away? Do we need to get away? When the humble officials came back to report, those gangsters had already decided to surrender to Master Yang. Master Yang sent the humble officials back because the manpower was too small to see so many Prisoners, let the humble staff bring some people over to help!"

Fang Yizhi and Han Peng's eyes widened: "Surrender...surrender!?" It's unbelievable. It's common for dozens of people to surrender to nearly a thousand people, but it's very rare for nearly a thousand people to surrender to sixty people. Could it be that Yang Menglong knows magic and can capture the souls of those gangsters and make them surrender obediently?
Without thinking too much, Han Peng personally brought 300 people to Yangjia Town overnight.When they arrived, they saw that the dilapidated Yangjia Town was bustling with people, and the originally quite spacious temple square was filled with ravenous bandits.These rogues were making noise, holding bowls, bowls, and other food-holding things in their hands, and lined up in a long line, none of them was holding a weapon. Xu Gong and Zhong Ning led people to patrol the middle of the line with dark faces, and found that If children and women were pushed to the back, they were pulled to the front, and when young and strong men were found jumping in line, they were carried to the back of the line without saying a word.At the front of the line were a few big pots, the fire was raging, the water in the pot was boiling, and some scouts threw their bread, fried rice, jerky and other dry food into the pot and stirred vigorously. , making a mess.Nearly a thousand bandits twitched their nostrils desperately, drooling, and green light came out of their eyes, which was scary.Han Peng was dumbfounded. These guys are rogues?Why does it look more like a refugee?
It is rare for Yang Menglong to cook by himself. Next to him is a large pot of steaming rice. The pot in front of him is actually half pot of broth. Now he is picking up potatoes and pumpkins from some unlucky house. Chop it up and throw it into the pot, and you are very busy.Seeing Han Peng coming, he smiled happily: "You are finally here, I am almost exhausted!"

Han Peng frowned and asked, "My lord, what are you doing?"

Yang Menglong said: "Cook! Cook for these guys, don't let them eat enough, how can they have the strength to walk back to the prisoner camp! Stop talking nonsense, have you brought dry food? Take it out if you bring it, I will take the whole town It's not enough for them to put their teeth between them after digging up and down to find such a little thing!"

Han Peng was about to go crazy: "Master, they are bandits, we are soldiers! We are suppressing bandits!"

Yang Menglong said: "I am suppressing bandits! Look, they all surrendered to me!"

Han Peng's temples throbbed: "Why did they...why surrender to you? You only have five or sixty people, but they have nearly a thousand people!"

Yang Menglong said: "It's simple, I took out dry food and threw it at them, and they rushed away immediately, and then I told them that as long as they surrender, I promise to let them eat such delicious dry food every day. They surrendered without even thinking about it!" Pointing at the children, "Look, they're still chewing!"

In the place closest to the pot, several three- and four-year-old children each held a small piece of bread, and looked at the pot eagerly while nibbling. Still reluctant to eat it.A stout, dark-skinned peasant woman shouted in a rough voice: "My lord, when will the meal be served? The dolls are starving!" That attitude was like asking the children to make a bowl for themselves at home. Same rice!
Yang Menglong shouted in a hurry: "Okay, it will be ready soon! I will add some meat to the pot... there are a lot of wild vegetables and potatoes, and no oil or water can be seen. Han Peng, why are you still standing there? Put the meat you brought Bring it to me!"

When the Wuyang Guards went out to fight, each soldier usually brought a catty of dried meat and four to five catties of fried rice or flour cakes. This was a three-day ration, and Han Peng was no exception.Being yelled at by Yang Menglong, he could only take out the dry food bag with a wry smile, took out the dried meat from it, pulled out the dogleg knife, chopped it up and threw it into the pot.Many soldiers also went to the stove one after another, chopped up the jerky they carried and put them into the pot. Soon, the steam rising from the big pots was filled with a strong smell of meat, making the rogues salivate The flow became more severe, uncontrollably squeezed forward, and the scene began to become chaotic...

(End of this chapter)