Nanming Engineer

Chapter 377 Tongguan will live and die with you

Seeing Li Yukui's expression like a chicken pecking at rice, Wang Huan pressed the table and asked again: "Master Li, how many horses do you have?"

Li Yukui looked at his son and son-in-law, and opened his mouth to answer: "Report to Lord Hou, the old man's troubles began in Lijiaji, my hometown outside Puzhou City, where my ancestral home is located. There are five hundred strong men in the clan. On weekdays, in order to prevent horse thieves and bandits, I hired a gun teacher to teach frequently, and I also invited officers under the command of the former Ningxia General Army to guide the formation of troops.

"Relying on these 500 people, the dog Li Hong first entered the city to contact the old acquaintances of the Ming army in the central plains of the city. The common people have long been poisoned by the Tartars, and they wished they could eat their flesh and drink their blood. Once the flag of righteousness was raised, everyone responded, and within three days they won 1 soldiers."

"The old man contacted his son-in-law Wang Chenglong again. He was originally on the defense of Puzhou. He was regarded by the Tartars for his bravery and was cited as the defense of Tongguan. Thousands, they are all Tongguan garrison soldiers, together with the old man's people, there are a total of 3000 people."

Li Yukui babbled so much, in fact, he could finish it in one sentence, Wang Huan heard it, he just wanted to praise his son and son-in-law in front of him, pointing out the credit of the two anyway, in the future It's also good to find a future, and to some extent erase some black history of having braids and being Tatar officials.

Wang Huan went down the donkey, smiled slightly, and said: "It is brave to let the young master take the lead and fight the enemy bravely in a dangerous place; the son-in-law judges the situation and resolutely goes anyway, he is a hero. Both of them are loyal ministers and generals of Ming Dynasty. The future is boundless, and he is worthy of Lord Li's right-hand man, and Lord Li is blessed to have such a good son and son-in-law."

Li Yukui's mind is clear, and he could tell when he heard it that Wang Huan recognized the two juniors of his family. He immediately became excited, bowed to Wang Huan again and again, and said in a trembling voice: "The juniors are stupid, and they still rely on the support of the Marquis!"

"There are only 3000 people, how many of them are available?" Wang Huan asked with a frown, turning the topic around.

"Well, the old man has a lot of people in his hands. There are five hundred strong men in his family, all of whom are from the Li family. They are skilled in swords and guns. Anyway, the more than 1000 soldiers in Puzhou City and the [-] soldiers under Wang Chenglong's command are all available." Li Yu Kui thought for a while and replied: "The others are all newly attached people. The old man distributed the weapons in the treasuries of Puzhou and Tongguan, compiled them into an army, filled the number of people with authority, and shouted and cheered. feasible."

He also knew that those ordinary people who had just cut off their braids followed him to make trouble, either because they were too poor to eat, or because they were bullied by the Qing court and were furious. Not really, it was far behind compared to the five hundred members of his tribe, let alone the army.

Wang Huan listened, and pondered: "So, you have more than 4000 soldiers and nearly [-] strong men?"

Li Yukui hurriedly said: "Exactly!"

Wang Huan looked at the map and knocked on the table: "Tongguan has a circumference of nearly 2000 miles, six gates, two water gates, and more than [-] towns and forts outside the city. The [-] people who rely on horses for balance alone are not enough. , Master Li, all your soldiers stay in Puzhou, you don’t want yours, but you want to leave five thousand of your strong men in Tongguan to help defend the city.”

Li Yukui's heart twitched, but he still agreed: "It's all up to Lord Marquis."

Wang Huan glanced at him and reassured him, "You don't need to worry too much. After crossing the river, I will be right in front of you. As long as you can guard the Yellow River ferry and prevent the Tartars from Henan from capturing Puzhou, you can rest easy. As for Tongguan, it can be handed over to General Ma."

He pointed his finger at the place in Puzhou on the map: "Puzhou Xiongcheng has a circumference of eight miles, and the wall is more than three feet high. The stone is the foundation and the green bricks are covered with soil. It is extremely strong. You have nearly ten thousand guards. As long as you don't take the initiative to leave the city There should be no worries in field battles. There are artillery in the city. If the Tartars cross the river from a distance and try to go around Puzhou and go up the Yellow River to cross the river, you only need to shoot them from a distance to block their way."

Li Yukui and his son and son-in-law listened carefully, nodded repeatedly, and believed deeply.

Ma Zuoheng raised his head, and said in a deep voice: "Master Hou, these folks are good at carrying equipment, throwing stones and rolling logs, but it will be difficult for them to be the main force of combat soldiers."

Wang Huan traced his fingers around Tongguan and said solemnly: "Of course not, the people Zhuang allocates you to assist. Defending the city cannot do without laying out troops. 5000 people will come to help you, which is barely enough. As for the battle, Bing, your 2000 men are not enough, I will transfer people from Xi'an to help you defend the city."

He slid his fingers across several ditches outside Tongguan City one after another, and then said: "You have to command these people to repair many forts outside the city, improve defensive facilities, and plan key fortification areas while there is nothing to do in the near future. The line of the ditch, passing through the Twelve Linked City and the line of Shangguan, must be guarded to prevent the Tatars from attacking the Eastern Pass and making a detour to the south."

Ma Zuoheng followed Wang Huan's fingers, calculating quickly in his mind, and in an instant he had a calculation, raised his head and said: "Master Hou, I estimate that at least [-] infantry and [-] cavalry will be enough for such a defense." , if the number of Tartars exceeds [-], our military strength must be strengthened in order to be fully protected."

Wang Huan shook his head and said, "Henan Tartars don't have that many soldiers, and 3 people are hard to come by. I can't send you another 5000 people. The territory of Shaanxi hasn't been cleared yet, and Wang Yongqiang and Meng Zhiyu's money is also a little tight." , I will give you 3000 people at most, no more."

He patted Ma Zuoheng on the shoulder, and encouraged him: "You were in Jiange, defending the city alone, and Haoge's 10 people were unable to move. Today in Tongguan, I hope you will also use your strengths to ensure that our army's food and roads are not lost. Do you remember?" Stop, if you die, you can't lose Tongguan! Otherwise, the tens of thousands of brothers in the Kuizhou army will be lost forever!"

Ma Zuoheng held his chest and head high, looked at Wang Huan resolutely and firmly, his calm face was as resolute as a rock, and said loudly: "Please rest assured, Lord Marquis, Ma Zuoheng will never take a step back!"

Li Hong and Wang Chenglong on the one side clicked their tongues, and whispered to each other: "Did you hear that? Hauge couldn't do anything to this man surnamed Ma. Hauge was the prince of the Tartars who swept the Ming Dynasty. In Shanxi during the Chongzhen period, this Hauge followed the emperor. Tai Chi entered the side wall and destroyed the city and captured the people. It is so powerful that no one can match it. It is unbelievable that even he can't beat the Qianzong below Pinglianghou!"

"Even the city wall of Daizhou was demolished by Hauge back then. Speaking of this man, all the people in Shanxi looked around in a hurry, fearing that the devil would come again. I only heard that Hauge was defeated in Sichuan, but they didn't know that he was defeated by this ugly man. Astonishingly, Pinglianghou has a lot of capable people under his command."

Li Yukui turned his head in dissatisfaction, glared at the two of them fiercely, and reprimanded softly: "Shut up! Master Hou is here, how can you speak nonsense! Kuizhou's army is famous all over the world, how can you two match it? Taking advantage of this period of time to get along with each other day and night, my eyes are wide open to see how other people train soldiers, and I can learn a little bit, so that I can have a good future in the Ming Dynasty Hall in the future!"

The son and son-in-law were obsequious, nodding their heads repeatedly, and staring at Ma Zuoheng, as if they saw his progressive thighs.

(End of this chapter)