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

Chapter 361 Zhejiang Army
The dark clouds in the sky merged, the lightning danced, and the continuous rain fell down.

It should be said that the climate of Jiaodong Peninsula is very stable and mild. There is no severe heat in summer and no severe cold in winter. , is simply heaven.But the weather this year seems to be a bit abnormal. In August, cold rains come one after another, making the roads muddy, which is really annoying.

The soldiers of the Ming army moved forward slowly along the official road. The team was messy, and each one was like a mud monkey. Many soldiers could not stand the endless cold rain and complained endlessly.The general's servant galloped back and forth on a fast horse, waving his whip to tell everyone to leave quickly, but he was cursed a lot.These troops have not eaten for a day, their morale is low, and they can't get up soon.Someone simply sat down on the side of the road and shouted: "I won't leave, I won't leave, I won't leave even if I'm killed!"The emperor is not short of hungry soldiers, they have not eaten for a day, how can they be expected to be obedient?
————Ming army’s marching ability is the same thing, mobilizing 1 people to march thousands of miles, only a few hundred servants and cronies can reach the destination within the specified time limit, and the soldiers and auxiliary soldiers will be half a year late It takes months to arrive one after another, and don't expect all the members to arrive, there are not a few people who are injured or sick along the way.Of course, the commander-in-chief will not expect the whole army to arrive on time, and the task will be completed if the soldiers and servants can be brought over. As for the auxiliary soldiers... if they can come by [-]%, their character will explode. Anyway, I don't expect them What role can it play on the battlefield.Therefore, it is quite normal for the current Ming army to behave like this. If they don't complain and don't practice foreign skills, it will be abnormal.

The Denglai rebellion lasted for more than nine months, and the reckless massacre by the rebels almost turned this rich land into a no-man's land. Naturally, don't expect the local officials to provide meals.This army has been without food for two days, and the soldiers are starving and weak from hunger. It is only because the servants' leather whips suppress them that they return without clamoring.Wu Sheng, the general who led the team, naturally knew this very well. Even though his troops had walked for a long time and hadn't gone ten miles, he didn't dare to push too much. If he urged his subordinates, he would rebel.He wiped off the rain on his face and asked the sentry cavalry: "Is there anyone in front? Can I buy some food?"

The sentinel shook his head vigorously: "Returning to the adults, don't talk about people, there is not even a live chicken!"

Wu Sheng sighed, and said: "Search carefully, even if it is a ruin, you have to search carefully. I hope you can find some food for the brothers to feed their stomachs."

The sentry cavalry clasped his fists in a salute, and galloped away.

Wu Sheng turned his head and shouted: "Brothers, if you work harder, we will reach Laizhou soon! When we arrive in Laizhou, we will have something to eat!"

The soldiers responded feebly to the young general, there was no cheering, only moaning.They have heard too many empty promises like this, and they don't take it seriously anymore.

Wu Sheng was also very helpless about this.He also wanted his troops to have enough to eat and drink, and to go to war in good spirits, but firstly, he was short of money, and secondly, the rebels killed all the people, even if they had money, they could not buy food, so everyone just Can be hungry.He wiped the rainwater off his face again, and muttered cursing: "This gang of bloody rebels!"

At this time, there was a rush of horseshoes approaching from far away, and a small group of knights in black came galloping through the rain. They were wearing strange clothes that looked like cloaks but covered their whole bodies. A thick layer of waterproof mulberry oil paper was sewn together to make the most primitive and simple but absolutely practical raincoat—this is the first time everyone has seen this thing.These knights in black galloped by the side of the road, galloping their horses and yelling in a strong Shaanxi or Henan accent: "All comrades-in-arms, please stand by the side of the road and give way, our troops will be here soon, please Stand by the side of the road and give way, let us go first!"

These soldiers were already holding back their anger, but now they have a punching bag, and they all yelled: "Let me make way for you? How old are you!"

"Don't think that riding a horse is a must, I won't let you, what can you do?"

"That's right, if you don't let it go, you won't let it go!"

Probably because he had seen this kind of thing too many times, the knight in black did not lose his temper and galloped straight to Wu Sheng. He did not dismount and salute. He just cupped his fist and saluted him and asked: "This general must be from this army." Supreme general, right?"

Wu Sheng frowned, and said, "That's right, what's wrong?"

The knight in black clasped his fists and saluted again, and said: "That's it, we are the sentries of the Heluo New Army. After receiving the order from the court, a total of four thousand soldiers set off from Nanyang and entered Shandong to participate in quelling the chaos. Now our main force is far away from here. It’s not far away. We still have a way to go, but your army is blocking the road, making it difficult for us to move forward, so our general wants to ask your army to give us a face and let us pass first. We will be rewarded heavily when we turn back."

What he said was very polite, and Wu Sheng felt comfortable listening to it. In addition, his group of unsatisfied soldiers really couldn't move anymore. It would be good to let them rest for a while. He nodded and said: "Your army Loyalty to the king, Wu admires it, making way, a trivial matter, nothing to worry about. You go back and report to your general, and I will let the army make way for you to pass." After hesitating, he asked: "Your army Are the supplies still sufficient?"

The black knight said: "Naturally enough, what's wrong?"

Wu Sheng pointed to the troops struggling in the mud and said: "Our army has been out of food for two days. We are poor and exhausted. If your army has enough supplies, can you sell us a few dozen shi of rations?" There are too many ten stones, so I will correct it immediately, "If dozens of stones are too much and you are embarrassed, we can have a meal on credit. After this meal is full, we will have the strength to rush to Laizhou!"

The black knight smiled and said: "We can't decide this, but I will report the truth to the general. With his temperament, he will definitely not let you starve, so don't worry."

Wu Sheng was extremely grateful and thanked repeatedly.The black knight didn't say much, he turned his horse and returned quickly.Wu Sheng shouted at everyone: "Brothers, there is a large army coming from behind, everyone give way first! They agreed to lend us military rations, we have something to eat today!"

Sure enough, it was the mouth of the cannibal. When they heard that the army behind was willing to borrow food, everyone stopped scolding immediately, and dodged to the side of the road in doubt, secretly praying that the officials would stop taking them for fools.Not long after, the dense sound of horseshoes sounded, and an endless black python appeared at the end of the rain curtain, waving its head and tail and meandering towards this side.The thousands of mud monkey-like soldiers under Wu Sheng stared wide-eyed, and even those servants who had always been superior were dumbfounded and speechless!

cavalry!

A cavalry of considerable size!
The cavalry lined up in two rows, stretching for several miles, one person and two riders, all of which were tall and strong horses. He wears a black raincoat cut from canvas and sewn with mulberry oiled paper. The 6000-meter-long horse lance is clamped under his ribs with one hand, and the long and tough lance slightly bends as the horse gallops. Shaking, the shiny lance head was chilling in the cold rain.This cavalry formation was surprisingly neat, thousands of people were marching, but no one spoke, and what filled the eardrums was the light sound of horseshoes hitting the road, giving people a heavy psychological pressure.From Wu Sheng down, this army of more than 1000 people was all dumbfounded, especially those servants, their eyes were glued to those horses and they couldn't move away... Horses, this fucking horse is hard to buy Lance, there is actually one cavalry unit with more than [-] soldiers?My God, Tuhao, let's be friends!
Everyone was frightened by the extremely luxurious lineup of this cavalry, and no one made any sound until the last cavalry disappeared from sight.After a while, someone asked in a low voice: "Which army is so rich? Could it be Guan Ning's army?"

Before the words were finished, camels screamed again, and an exaggeratedly long convoy was dragged by tall and strong camels, walking quickly.The soldiers were surprised to find that these carriages had four wheels, and the bodies were long and large. The axles, pins, and spokes of the wheels were all made of steel, which looked extremely strong.At first some people tried to count how many cars there were, but soon they gave up trying, too many to count!What made them extremely sad and indignant was that every carriage had a thick tarpaulin to keep out the wind and rain, and there were ten soldiers sitting in each carriage, whistling at them!Looking at those soldiers with clean clothes and leisurely clothes, not to mention ordinary soldiers, even Wu Sheng was so wronged that he wanted to cry. Everyone is a soldier, so why is there such a big difference!
A small group of knights in black, surrounded by a baby face who may not be 20 years old, galloped towards Wu Sheng. The baby face bowed to Wu Sheng from a long distance: "I am Yang Menglong, a member of the Heluo New Army. May I ask the general's name?" ?”

Wu Sheng restrained his mind and said: "Zhejiang Jinhua General, Wu Sheng!"

Yang Menglong was a little surprised: "Jinhua, Zhejiang? Are you from Zhejiang?"

Wu Sheng said: "Exactly! I am from Yiwu, Zhejiang, and these six thousand soldiers are all elites of the Zhejiang Army who came all the way with me from Zhejiang!"

The [-] soldiers of the Zhe Army who were in a state of embarrassment tried their best to straighten out their shriveled chests, and looked at the new Heluo army proudly.Qi Jiguang's Zhejiang army was the main force in the war against the Japanese. It killed the Japanese pirates and guarded Jizhen, defeating the Mongols.Later Zhang Juzheng fell, Qi Jiguang also lost power, and the Zhejiang army gradually declined, and now it has been reduced to the point where it is almost the same as the ordinary Ming army.But they have been brilliant after all, and some traditions have long been integrated into the blood of the Zhejiang Army. Although they are miserable, hungry, and complaining about the generals, they still do their best to maintain the dignity of the Zhejiang Army. The army despises itself.

Yang Menglong looked at these soldiers who were so hungry that they could hardly straighten their backs, and said, "It's not bad, compared to the garbage I encountered clamoring to go back, you are not bad...Thank you for making way for us, today I have invited you for dinner, do you think I will give you the food now, and you cook for yourself, or go with us to the campsite ahead and eat together?"

Wu Sheng pondered and asked: "How far is your army's camp from here?"

Yang Menglong said: "It's not far away, it's only five or six miles away."

Wu Sheng smiled wryly: "Five or six miles!" Five or six miles was enough for them to walk for half a day.

Yang Menglong pointed to a group of carriages and said, "These are our cooking carts. The rice and steamed buns have been steamed. When we arrive at the camp, they will be ready to eat."

It was only then that Wu Sheng realized that those carriages were weird, like a big cabinet with many drawers, steam was constantly bubbling out, and what came out was the smell of food, which made his mouth water.He struggled a bit, gritted his teeth, and said, "Even if you give us food now, we can't cook!"

Yang Menglong said: "Then you speed up, I will let the cooking soldiers steam steamed buns, buns and rice, and cook noodles waiting for you in front!"

Every time he said the same thing, Wu Sheng swallowed involuntarily, and his stomach growled louder.Seeing his distress, Yang Menglong smiled, shook the reins, and led the other knight away.

When the convoy passed by, the road was about to turn into a quagmire, and the soldiers of the Zhejiang Army complained endlessly.But when Wu Sheng told them that someone would buy buns and steamed buns tonight, the complaints stopped abruptly, and everyone screamed and ran forward, and the marching speed doubled...

(End of this chapter)