Nanming Engineer

Chapter 238

This kind of mountain ambush, very sudden and unexpected, can throw a powerful army into chaos in an instant. In the era of cold weapons that lack effective means of communication and contact, it can achieve a fatal blow effect. It is as strong as the Eight Banners soldiers and cannot be organized. After a little counterattack, after a short period of confusion, it turned into a rout.

The mountain is full of rolling Qing soldiers, and there are lying corpses everywhere. Ma Zuoheng has already led the white-robed soldiers rushing down from the top of the mountain, chasing and killing the collapsed Tartar soldiers like a rainbow, while Nikan who accompanied the army was terrified. Lying on the ground, he shouted loudly: "We are Han Chinese, we are Han Chinese, don't kill us!"

These Nikans have been with the army for a long time, their hair has been shaved, and they wear rattails. It is impossible to tell whether they are Han Chinese or Jurchens from their appearance. The white-robed soldiers can only let these people lie down obediently. When the arrow was shot, the Nikans were very obedient, lying on the ground and not daring to move.

The advantage of the white-robed soldiers who are used to fighting in the mountains was vividly reflected in this pursuit battle. The slopes and steep slopes made it difficult for the Qing soldiers to stand firmly. The Qing soldiers in front scrambled and ran for a while, and the chasing white-robed soldiers caught up with them in a few vertical jumps. They raised their spears and pierced through the vest like killing a chicken, easily reaping their lives.

Two hours later, when the sky was completely dark, the shouts of killing on Motianling finally quieted down. The last Qing soldier who escaped was nailed to the ground by a screaming crossbow arrow through his chest. His eyesight was exhausted and he died, letting this one-sided battle end in the darkness of night.

Ma Zuoheng ordered the torches to be lit, counted the results of the battle and casualties, and found that 15 people were killed and more than 4000 people were injured in the battle, and there were no serious injuries. Besides, there were no casualties, while the opposing Qing army had more than [-] corpses alone. , most of the corpses were shot to death by arrows or stones, and very few were actually killed by spears and knives. From this, it can be seen that the reason why the Kuizhou army was able to achieve such brilliant results was the suddenness of the ambush. And the choice of terrain is very important.

As for the more than 1000 Nikkans who were responsible for carrying the armor and supplies, because the flying stones rolled around in the chaos, no one cared about others, and the white-robed soldiers could not distinguish between the Tartar soldiers and the Nikan soldiers before throwing stones. Many people were stoned. Stoned to death, only five hundred people survived and were captured by the Kuizhou army.

Ma Zuoheng assigned these Nikans a mission to collect the armor and weapons from the corpses all over the mountain, and a centurion supervised them, while the others withdrew to the top of the mountain to rest.

"It's the Tartars who came here. The Tartars who beat the intruders and the court officers to the north, were defeated so easily by us!"

"Hahaha, it is said that the Jurchens are invincible, judging from today's point of view, it's nothing more than that!"

"It depends on who you meet. If it is those useless imperial soldiers and horses, they are invincible, but if you encounter our Kuizhou army, Lord Wang will definitely let them come and go!"

"Kuizhou's army is victorious, Lord Wang is victorious!"

The joy after victory rippling on the faces of every white-robed soldier, especially the victory over the legendary Qing soldiers, made them even more rejoicing. The mouth of soldiers is widely spread in the land of central Sichuan. All Tartars are three-headed and six-armed, eat people and breathe fire. They are invulnerable to swords and guns and are not afraid of ghosts. It made people who had never seen the Tartars look ashamed.

In today's battle, this myth was shattered. It turns out that Tartars are also flesh and blood, and they will bleed to death. They are not gods or ghosts.

Ma Zuoheng didn't know that this battle of his own broke the myth that the Qing army was invincible and built confidence for the Kuizhou army. From then on, he no longer feared the Qing army.

At this moment, what Ma Zuoheng is interested in is the captured armor and weapons. The armored men of the Han army brought by Li Guohan, because they entered the flag for a long time, their equipment is second only to the Jurchen soldiers of the Eight Banners. Everyone has a full set of cotton armor inlaid with iron leaves, eight-petal iron The helmets, knives and guns are all made of fine steel, and the compound bow that is as long as one person is much stronger than the infantry bows equipped by the Ming army. It is well-made and of high quality, much better than the Ming army's appearance.

Ma Zuoheng fondly touched the set of chain mail seized from Nikan next to Li Guohan. The armor made of high-quality stainless steel was shining silver, and it felt extremely tough. The keyholes were fine and tightly locked. The same set of chain mail is several kilograms lighter than ordinary iron ones.

As a trophy, although he liked it very much, Ma Zuoheng still followed the military regulations of Kuizhou Army and piled this set of chain armor together with other captured armor and weapons, registered them, and waited for them to be shipped back when the troops were withdrawn.

After identification of the captive Nikan, there were actually a few Jurchens among them. Their appearance was slightly different from that of the Han people. After asking a few words in Chinese, they showed their feet. Thinking, thinking that this kind of coward might be useful to keep, so he was tied up and thrown into the pile of armor to guard him.

As for those Nikan, they were basically the Han people who were captured outside the customs when the Qing army repeatedly entered and plundered the customs. They were driven into slavery by the Tartars, working as cattle and horses, farming and grazing in peacetime, and serving in the army during wartime. He was still so frightened during the battle that he didn't dare to make a sound, but now he saw that the Tartars who enslaved him had been defeated, new and old grudges erupted together, and they cried out to pounce on the living Tartars and kill them. The faces of the Tartars turned pale. Fortunately, Ma Zuoheng severely stopped this crazy behavior. The Nikans had nowhere to vent their anger. Crying and laughing for a long time, until the middle of the night to stop and rest.

With suspicious eyes, the white-robed soldiers silently watched these thin compatriots behave differently from ordinary people, and did not intervene. They just distributed them when they had vented enough and gathered together one by one, crying and weeping. After receiving dry food and water, these slaves who had escaped from the sea of ​​suffering took it and ate it with great gratitude, and then camped on the top of the mountain and fell into a deep sleep.

Even in their sleep, their tears still had a deep smile on their face, and the sense of security that they hadn't experienced for a long time was permeated on their smiling face. To be a horse, you don’t need to be unable to rest until late at night.

Ma Zuoheng sat on a stone outside the ruined temple of Marquis Wu. His simple bed was given to a white-robed soldier who was injured in the war.

Those Han people who had been rescued were sleeping on the grass not far from him, sleeping in their clothes. Ma Zuoheng looked at and listened to the snoring coming from the sleeping people for a long time, closed his eyes, and sighed. tone.

The country has broken mountains and rivers, and the city has deep grass and trees.

The people are in trouble. I don’t know how long these people have been away from their homes outside the customs. Do they still have relatives who are looking forward to returning to their hometowns?In their hearts, do they still have family members they care about?They were considered lucky to escape the sea of ​​suffering alive. How many Han people like them still lived under the whip of the Tartars?How many died in the ice and snow beyond the Great Wall?
Thinking of this, Ma Zuoheng's face with distinct features became more serious, a vein on his temple twitched a few times, and the coldness in his eyes suddenly appeared.

He stood up, flung the cloak on his body, and shouted to the white-robed soldiers gathered around him in a low voice: "Everyone, have you seen it? If we don't follow Mr. Wang to fight the Tartars, we won't be like men." From the army to defend the country, their situation today will be us tomorrow!"

The white-robed soldiers stood silently, each person's eyes were shining, and strong hatred emanated from their pupils, floating in the sky, intertwined with the pale moonlight, like invisible burning flames, It scorches their hearts.

"Join the army in all directions, just to protect our hometown!" Ma Zuoheng said in a hoarse voice: "My lord Wang said that everyone is responsible for the rise and fall of the world! A good man should use a three-foot sword to achieve immortality, and it is rumored by people outside The conquered Tartars were also killed by us today, and our Kuizhou army is stronger than the bandit army, even more powerful than the Tartars! The Kuizhou army is invincible!"

The white-robed soldiers around raised their arms and shouted softly: "The Kuizhou army is invincible!"

Ma Zuoheng gritted his teeth, and continued: "Everyone remember, we won the battle with Master Wang, and Master Wang is our god, he gave our family a stable life, let us have food and clothes, Without adults, sooner or later we will be treated like cattle and horses like them, from now on, we swear to be loyal to Lord Wang forever!"

He almost roared the last sentence, and the tone of his voice suddenly rose, causing the white-robed soldiers to roar with enthusiasm: "Allegiance to the king, to the death to the king!"

The shouts soaring into the sky startled the crowd sleeping on the ground. They opened their eyes sleepily and looked in surprise at the Kuizhou sergeant who stayed up all night and shouted slogans, feeling strange and inexplicable.

(End of this chapter)