Chongzhen Sunset Song

?one

On October [-], the Ming army camp in the suburbs of Beijing.

The curtain of the Chinese military tent was lifted suddenly, interrupting the ongoing military discussion in the tent.A skinny man in gorgeous clothes stood outside the tent door with his hands behind his back indifferently.The curtains of the camp tent were dim and worn out, and the officials sitting around the long table in the tent were either wearing helmets or armor, or homespun plain clothes, which made the man in the golden brocade robe at the entrance of the tent so out of place.This person is the hand-picked supervising army who just entered the camp a few days ago.His face froze for a moment, he looked at Lu Xiangsheng on the main seat, and then looked around at the officials in the tent, and then he returned to his original calmness.

"Yo, hehe. It's better to catch up early. Our family was going to ask how the strategy of defending against the enemy is going, but it happened that you adults are here to discuss important issues." Under the eyes of a pair of direct gazes on him, Gao Qi He flicked his clothes, stepped into the tent, and sat down on the chair next to the tent door without hesitation. "Go ahead, everyone, don't mind our family."

The officials looked at each other, at a loss, and looked at Lu Xiangsheng together.With bad rumors and different political opinions, Lu Xiangsheng has always had a grudge against the military supervisor sent by the emperor, and he was never invited to attend important military meetings, for fear that he would be a hindrance.The matter discussed this time is even more confidential, but Gao Qiqian came here uninvited at this time... Lu Xiangsheng pursed his lips, and secretly clenched his fists slightly.But it was this short moment of embarrassment that caused Gao Qiqian to suddenly change his face, raised his eyebrows, stood up from the chair, and said in a strange way:

"It seems that the supervisor in our family is still unwelcome. If that's the case, our family will leave!"

"Hey, Mr. Gao, what are you talking about?" Lu Xiangsheng was startled, and hurriedly ran to the door of the tent from the main seat, stopped Gao Qiqian, and said with a smile, "Don't blame me, Mr. I was going to invite Eunuch Gao to come to discuss together, but I was afraid that Eunuch Gao was busy with affairs and his eye disease was not fully healed, so he didn't dare to bother him too much. Since Eunuch Gao is here today, there is no reason not to welcome him. Lu Kai .” Lu Xiangsheng called out.

"The villain is here." Yang Lukai who was waiting at the side stepped forward and responded.

"Go and move the chair to the side of the official, please sit down with Eunuch Gao."

"Yes."

"Come on, Eunuch Gao." Lu Xiangsheng bowed slightly and stretched out his hand to invite, "Please take a seat."

"Hmph." Gao Qiqian sneered, and he was not polite, and at Lu Xiangsheng's respectful words, he put his hands behind his back and walked swaggeringly to the top.

All the officials in the tent saw that their commander was so humble to an eunuch, they were all resentful in their hearts, but they had no other choice.After all, he is the supervisor sent by the emperor, the life and death of himself, his colleagues, the commander, and even the whole army can only be determined by his words.This teaches people how not to get angry, but in the end they have to swallow their anger.But Gao Qiqian on that side was even more resentful, he had personally appointed the supervising army, but he encountered such negligence in Lu Xiangsheng's camp, stayed in the army for many days, and few people cared about him, not even the military counselor came. Please, although Lu Xiangsheng is respectful on the surface, does he really take himself seriously? !Everyone in the account had their own thoughts, and everyone was silent, only Lu Xiangsheng looked normal, and continued to talk about what Gao Qi had discussed before sneaking into the account:

"Now that the Qing army has been stationed near Tongzhou, it is not too late. According to what I just said, it is tentatively scheduled to attack the enemy camp in four ways at midnight on the [-]th. Chen Guowei will be the commander of this night attack. Do you have any objections? ?”

"At your disposal!" All the generals in the tent responded in unison.

"Okay!" Lu Xiangsheng smiled slightly, and said loudly, "Then thank you, generals, be sure to convey the order of your commander to the soldiers of the battalion. This surprise attack is aimed at demoralizing the enemy, and those who join the battle, regardless of their position, should fight to the death. In war, the sword will be bloody, the man will be wounded, the horse will be sweating, and those who disobey the order will be beheaded!"

"Wait." Before the generals could respond, Gao Qiqian interjected in a high-pitched voice, "Master Lu's strategy is really not a joke? Hehe... our family only heard the allusion about going to Caizhou on a snowy night. I have never heard of a precedent for a moonlit night attack." Gao raised his submerged eyes and squinted, the corners of his eyes and brows were full of disdain, "Dare to ask Mr. Lu, the night sky is so clear these days, why did you sneak attack under the bright moonlight? The road is far away, and why? It is better to fight with surprises? It is better to have fewer troops than to have many surprises. Master Lu's four-way attack is better than ten-way attack, and the secrets are leaked early and quickly."

"You...!" The military general named Chen Guowei couldn't help standing up abruptly, and the faces of other officials were also red and white, with angry expressions all over their faces.Lu Xiangsheng's gaze swept away, shocked everyone, and pressed his hands again, motioning Chen Guowei to sit down, calm down, and said kindly to Gao Qiqian: "Gao Gonggong's words are reasonable, and this night attack is indeed not at the right time and place. However, perfect opportunities are rare. If the right time and place are not used for marching and fighting, I am afraid that this opportunity will be missed. The Qing army has just arrived, and its foothold is not stable. At this time, a sneak attack can most dampen its spirit. The battle is also very beneficial, I wonder what Eunuch Gao thinks?"

Gao Qiqian only has a superficial understanding of military affairs, so how can he compare to Lu Xiangsheng, who has led troops for many years and has experienced many battles.Seeing that Lu Xiangsheng's attitude was very polite, he couldn't think of words to refute for a while, so he snorted and kept silent.Gao Qiqian no longer obstructed, Lu Xiangsheng also secretly heaved a sigh of relief, and immediately made a sneak attack plan, encouraged the generals, and then left.

two

Three days passed in a hurry, and in a blink of an eye, the fifteenth day had arrived.In the evening, all the soldiers who participated in the sneak attack were gearing up, waiting for the command of the commander to attack.As the commander-in-chief, Chen Guowei didn't dare to neglect. He wrote and drew on the table with his fingers, rehearsing the battle strategy discussed with Lu Xiangsheng over and over again in his mind.At this time, a small soldier suddenly opened the curtain to enter the tent, saluted and said:

"General Chen, the High Supervisor has a request."

"Why is he looking for me?" Chen Guowei looked annoyed, "Go back to him and say that the big battle is coming, Chen has no time to fight, so it is inconvenient to go."

"This..." The pawn looked up at Chen Guowei tremblingly, not daring to agree.

"..." Chen Guowei sighed helplessly when he saw the pawn's embarrassment, put away his temper for a while, and his tone softened, "Forget it, forget it, you go back and tell him, Chen will pass right away."

"General Chen!"

In the other tent, Gao Qiqian sat high in the middle, looking at Chen Guowei who had just entered the tent with a half-smile.

"Eunuch Gao has something important to do. I must call the subordinate officials to come here at this time." Chen Guowei saluted hastily, and said with suppressed anger, "The time to leave is approaching. Tell Eunuch Gao if you have something to do. Go back and stand by."

"General Chen, don't be in a hurry." Chen Guowei's attitude was disrespectful, and Gao Qiqian was not annoyed, but said calmly, "Our family is sending a message for Master Lu. In this night attack, Master Lu temporarily decided to General Chen was transferred to the vanguard of the East Road, and the post of commander-in-chief was taken up by someone else."

Chen Guowei was stunned for a moment, then he sneered and said: "Since Master Lu is the commander-in-chief, why didn't he personally summon the officials to go, and he has to inform through the mouth of Eunuch Gao."

"Lord Lu has so many things to do, I can't get away." Gao Qiqian twisted the hat string in his hand, and said word by word, "Why, Master Chen doesn't trust our family?"

"I dare not. It's just that if I hadn't listened to Mr. Lu himself, I'm sorry that I would be hard-pressed to follow orders." Chen Guowei's words were neither humble nor overbearing.

"Hmph." Gao Qiqian narrowed his eyes and pulled the corner of his mouth, "General Chen means that you only obey Master Lu's orders, and our family's orders don't count?"

"This..." Although Chen Guowei really thought so in his heart, the eunuch in front of him was the emperor after all, if he answered yes directly, he would be suspected of committing a crime, so he had to keep silent.

"Whether it's Master Lu's order or our family's order, what's the difference to General Chen?" Gao Qiqian said casually, leaning his body on one side, "It's an order, so the general will not be disobedient. Could it be that General Chen is I want our family to say this to the emperor—Lord Lu Xiangsheng is incapable of governing the army, and all his subordinates are arrogant, arbitrary, and despise military orders..."

"You...!" Knowing that this was a threat, but Chen Guowei was also afraid that he would really annoy him, so he really did such a despicable thing.So despite the anger rising in his heart, he had no choice but to swallow his breath, at least follow the eunuch first. "Eunuch Gao has already arranged the candidate for the commander-in-chief."

"General Chen doesn't have to worry about this, our family has its own arrangements." Gao Qiqian saw that Chen Guowei finally gave in and the calculation was almost done, a satisfied smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.

"Then who is the commander-in-chief? I need to explain the combat matters to him." Chen Guowei said sullenly, holding back his anger.

"There is no need for General Chen to worry about this." Gao Qiqian glanced arrogantly, "Since the staffing has changed, the battle plan has naturally changed a little, General Chen only needs to lead the vanguard on the east road and lead the battle according to the original plan. "

"This... no, this is how the next official can leave the position of commander-in-chief without worry..."

"General Chen, please go back. Come, send General Chen back." Before Chen Guowei could finish speaking, Gao Qiqian forcibly cut off his words, lowered his eyes and fiddled with the ring on his hand, ignoring the bragging in front of him. General with beard and stare.

Anyway, he still hopes to win this battle.For the sake of adults, for the sake of the whole army, it is better not to confront him head-on at this time.Chen Guowei thought to himself, suppressed his anger, gave Gao Qiqian a fierce look, shook his cloak, and left his tent.

three

The night fell quietly.A full moon glowed with gentle silver light, hanging high in the dark night sky, without a cloud to block it.In the camp of the Qing army, the campfire was lightly ricocheting. Several teams of soldiers in battle armor patrolled through the tents. The guards standing in front of the tents were extremely tired. In the woods not far away, an unexpected crisis is quietly approaching.In an instant, a gust of wind whizzed by, instantly suppressing the campfire, and loud drums of war suddenly sounded from the east and west sides of the camp, which suddenly shattered the silence of the night.The two groups of the Ming army appeared from the forest together like heavenly soldiers, brandishing swords and rushing into the camp with loud shouts.The soldiers of the Qing army who were sound asleep were suddenly awakened by this sudden change. They put on their armor and grabbed their weapons in a panic, and rushed out of the tent to fight in a hurry. The Qing army camp was in chaos immediately.The moonlight was still as peaceful as before, but in less than a moment, under the moonlight, it had become a Shura field full of clanging swords and splashing blood.

Lu Xiangsheng waved a big knife in his hand, and led the vanguard of the West Road to the front. Before the fierce battle, many people had already been killed by his hands, and blood was splashed all over his body. The white-faced King of Hades had a fierce face, as if possessed by a god of war, he became more and more courageous as he fought, his silver blade gleamed, and he didn't stop for a moment.Yang Lukai followed closely behind Lu Xiangsheng, and when he saw a Qing army soldier attacking the commander from behind, he yelled, raised his saber, and beheaded another person immediately.Looking around, all the soldiers of the Ming army were extremely brave, rushing into the regiments of Qing soldiers without leaving a retreat, and no one flinched.But helplessly, the vanguard troops were not strong. When the Qing army finally stabilized their morale and raised their flags and drums to fight with all their strength, they gradually lost their initial vigor and fell into a disadvantage.

"Where are the support troops!"

The scuffle continued for a long time, until the clear night sky was filled with thin clouds.Lu Xiangsheng spotted the gap, pushed the Qing soldiers away from him, and shouted back to Yang Lukai.

"Chen Guowei's support team hasn't arrived yet!"

"Master! I haven't seen you yet!" Yang Lukai replied loudly.

"This Chen Guowei! What the hell are you doing!" Lu Xiangsheng cursed angrily, raised the big knife in his hand, and slashed at the soldier who rushed forward.

Time flies by minute by minute, without waiting for anyone. "My lord! If General Chen doesn't come again, we might not be able to support him any longer!" Yang Lukai brushed away the hair that was sticky with sweat and blood in front of his eyes with one hand, and kept blocking and chopping with the other hand.

Lu Xiangsheng looked at the more and more Qing soldiers gathered around him, and at the soldiers of his own army who fell next to him. His mind sank and he had to make a decision.He closed his eyes, gritted his teeth, raised his hand and swung the big knife, and swiped fiercely in front of him.As the blade passed, the wind roared, and a circle of enemies couldn't dodge it, and fell down in response.

"Order! Retreat!"