Chapter 138: You Are the Ming Army! (Silver Alliance Leader Nuan Yang 1314 Bonus Chapter)

Yanzhou was named after the Yishui River.

In ancient times it was Xiaqiu; during the Song and Yuan dynasties it was Ziyang.

In the early Ming dynasty, Yanzhou was elevated to a prefectural city.

Zhu Yuanzhang's tenth son, Zhu Tan, was enfeoffed here as Prince Lu.

More than two hundred years later, the eleventh Prince Lu today is Zhu Yipai, who inherited the title of Prince Lu two years ago.

"Your Highness, the Great King."

On the city wall of Yanzhou City, Prefect Deng Fanxi paid his respects to Zhu Yipai: "The Jian slaves are powerful; I beg the Great King to dispatch the Wangfu's funds and grain to boost morale."

"Thus, the city may yet be saved."

"Otherwise, once the great matter is lost, regret will come too late."

"This..." With so many Jian slave camps outside the city, Zhu Yipai was also filled with fear.

He could be made to spend money and grain, but he was extremely unwilling.

"The Wangfu has no surplus grain either."

Zhu Yipai shook his head repeatedly: "With these consecutive years of natural disasters and human calamities, the Wangfu can barely keep the pot boiling."

"It is better to ask the generals to divide up and defend stubbornly, awaiting reinforcements as the best course."

Having said this, without waiting for Deng Fanxi to say anything more, he turned around and went down the city wall.

"Great King~ Great King~~"

Deng Fanxi wanted to pursue, but was blocked by the Wangfu guards.

Seeing Zhu Yipai walk farther and farther away, Deng Fanxi sighed to the heavens.

"The soldiers and civilian militia can't even eat a full meal; where do they get the strength to defend the city?"

"Great King, you keep the funds and grain without issuing them—do you intend to leave them for the Jian slaves?"

"Yanzhou City, sigh~~~"

On the city wall, the emaciated soldiers and civilian militia looked listlessly at the departing royal procession.

Their stomachs gurgled incessantly.

But at this very moment, not even a bowl of thin porridge could be obtained.

At the same time, Lin Dao's great army was disembarking and assembling in Jiningzhou, a hundred li away.

"Finally arrived."

Lin Dao, having gone ashore, stretched his arms and legs.

This whole journey by boat was truly uncomfortable.

They should have arrived earlier, but along the way they encountered windless weather many times, relying entirely on manpower to pull the boats forward.

Even more life-threatening was the great trouble they had when crossing the Yellow River.

In this era, the lower reaches of the Yellow River were a Suspended River rising above the ground.

The length of the Suspended River reached as much as over a thousand kilometers, generally rising two or three zhang above the surface.

The entire army had to transfer supplies and even carry the boats over the Suspended River—it was truly a great ordeal.

In the end, Lin Dao could not bear to watch, employed his transmigration method, and transported the boats over the Suspended River batch by batch.

The generals and soldiers of all the armies who witnessed this scene were all amazed as if seeing a heavenly being, and morale surged accordingly.

Hurrying along the way, they finally arrived at Jiningzhou.

Upon arriving here, even more detailed intelligence followed.

"The great army led by Abatai, after capturing Linqingzhou, has headed straight for Yanzhou Prefecture."

"They have now surrounded Yanzhou Prefecture; I fear the city has already fallen."

Lin Dao did not rush to send out troops, but ordered each camp to set up camp and rest and reorganize.

Having rushed and raided a thousand li along the way, they must have good rest before they can enter the battlefield.

In a guesthouse by the river, Lin Daozheng was examining the documents.

According to the records, for this Jian slave entry into the pass, the main general was the Grand General under imperial command, Duoluo Raoyu Beile Abatai.

They entered the pass through Gubeikou and Huangyakou, and within two months swept across various places in Beizhili.

Afterwards they broke three prefectures, captured eighteen states, occupied sixty-seven counties, and killed, injured, and slaughtered no less than a million.

They beheaded multiple members of the Ming Imperial Clan including the Prince Lu, and captured hundreds of thousands of common people as slaves.

Finally they retreated safely all the way, taking with them the captured men and women, livestock, gold and silver, etc., and withdrew beyond the pass.

The Ming Army, however, merely watched and waited, escorting them out of the pass all the way.

This truly was: come when they want to come, leave when they want to leave.

Lin Dao, after looking over these matters once, no longer paid attention to them.

What he paid attention to was the number and deployment of the Jian slave troops.

The information on this was quite chaotic; some said a hundred-thousand great army, others said thirty or fifty thousand.

Lin Dao did not believe there could be a hundred-thousand great army.

How many able-bodied men did the Jian slaves have in total? They had just finished the Songshan Battle, and yet sent a hundred-thousand great army to rush several thousand li?

How could that be possible!

If they had such national strength, the Great Ming would have perished long ago.

Lin Dao believed even more in another set of information.

Each company regiment produced several White Pai Ya La, and Red Pai Ya La, that is, ten armored men and twenty infantrymen.

This was the standard convention of drawing one out of three able-bodied men; each company regiment had one hundred fighting soldiers.

The four hundred-plus company regiments of the Manchu, Mongol, and Han Eight Banners combined, plus the surplus idle able-bodied men who voluntarily followed the army to seek military merit, amounted to about twenty thousand cavalry and infantry.

This was the core force Abatai brought into the Pass this time.

Besides them, there were unarmored Bondservants slaves, half-armored auxiliary soldiers, and the Mongol Vassal Army that always followed along.

There were indeed thirty to fifty thousand men and horses.

After confirming the enemy's numbers, Lin Dao began to tally his own forces.

When leaving Jinling City, he had brought fifteen thousand men.

At Zhenjiangfu, he fought the local tyrants and divided the land, recruiting three thousand Regular Soldiers.

Upon reaching Yangzhou, he trained six thousand Cao Workers, with another three thousand Salt Households to follow.

After leaving garrisons at Zhenjiang and Yangzhou, his Regular Soldiers numbered just over twenty thousand.

Fortunately, there were not a few Auxiliary Soldiers—those who voluntarily followed, plus the one thousand Salt Workers conscripted—totaling over twenty thousand.

Lin Dao wanted to laugh: "The numbers are actually about the same?"

"If Chuang King and the others heard this, wouldn't they laugh their teeth off?"

"When they fight, when is it not mobilizing hundreds of thousands of troops?"

Though they were not superior in numbers, Lin Dao was nonetheless full of confidence.

In Yonghe Spacetime, the invincible Jiehu and the world-shaking Murong Clan Armored Cavalry had all fallen beneath his wheels.

These mere Wild Boar Skins, among the Hu captives of every dynasty, couldn't even rank.

The army rested for two days, eating and drinking their fill and sleeping soundly.

After recovering their spirit and strength, they all tied on their leg wraps and assembled to march out.

"Eight Banners Iron Cavalry?"

"Such a great reputation!"

"Let me weigh your quality!"

Within the horizon, as far as the eye could see, all was barren.

The land was bald, a sheet of gray mist.

The mountains were bald, and not even a few blades of grass could be seen.

Years of natural disasters and human calamities had long exhausted the last bit of strength of this land.

After the autumn harvest, as far as the eye could see, all was yellow and gray, not a trace of green.

The official road was damaged, the water channels collapsed, the riverbeds dried up, and the land remained only a desolate wasteland.

On a desolate mountain slope, a troop of Zhenghong Banner cavalry was gazing at the distant formation.

"Where did this Ming Army come from?"

"Don't know, haven't seen their flag before."

"Why care so much? Just charge in one wave."

"They have so many large carts; their supplies must be rich. We couldn't enter Yanzhou City to make a fortune, so we might as well make a bundle here."

In Chongzhen Year 15, the Later Jin troops, who had won battle after battle, had already become arrogant to the extreme.

They regarded the Ming Army as nothing, and dozens of them dared to charge a formation of a thousand men.

This wave of Later Jin scouts numbered only a few dozen, yet facing a formation far exceeding their own scale, they still arrogantly charged straight over.

Lin Dao's troops lacked nothing except horses.

There were still some mules and donkeys, used to pull carts.

Cavalry was extremely rare; only Lin Dao's personal guard had over a hundred horsemen.

This was unavoidable; Lin Dao could bring all sorts of vast quantities of supplies.

Only living beings could not be brought.

Even if forcibly brought over, they could only serve as food.

The horn sounded, and this convoy of several hundred men quickly circled the large carts.

They all donned armor and took up their weapons and strong crossbows.

"Huh?"

The vanguard officer (Niu Lu E Zhen) leading the charge showed an expression of surprise.

This Ming Army actually did not flee; this was truly a rare thing.

What he did not see was that the people in the convoy, watching their figures, were all glowing red-eyed.

The Marshal had already posted a reward.

One True Tartar head, reward silver one hundred taels! Plus Military Merit Five Turns!

Military Merit Five Turns can be exchanged for one mu of premium paddy field worth fifty taels!

All told, one True Tartar head is worth up to one hundred fifty taels!

Still the same saying: as long as the money is right, even the Heavenly King and Old Father can be killed.

This was one hundred fifty taels of silver, a truly huge sum.

'Bang!'

Over a hundred crossbow bolts flew out, felling two cavalrymen and downing three horses.

The officer flew into a rage, nocked his arrow, and roared, "Charge in!"

The Jurchen cavalry loosed two waves of arrow rain, then closed in on the convoy, leaping over the carts on horseback and jumping into the convoy.

This combat style, which looked too reckless, was a very popular tactic among the Jurchens at this time.

That is, to charge heedlessly straight at them.

Once they charged in, the enemy army would collapse.

After so many years of countless battles, almost without exception it was always like this.

However, the scene of the Ming Army collapsing as imagined did not appear.

The Ming Army inside the Car Formation not only did not collapse and flee, but instead actively thrust their spears forward.

The Jiannu Cavalry wore Cotton Armor, Chain Mail Armor, and other heavy armor, believing their defense to be astonishing.

But unexpectedly, the spearheads on the Ming Army's Long Spears were extremely sharp, piercing deeply through the heavy armor and into their bodies.

There were fierce and brave Soldiers who leaped down from the wagons, directly pouncing the Jiannu Cavalry to the ground.

Several people pounced on top to pin them down, took Hammers and smashed wildly at the brain, face, joints, and other places.

Once the Jiannu stopped struggling, everyone drew their sabers and began cutting off heads.

There was even a fierce argument that broke out over seizing the heads.

If not for Military Law strictly forbidding private brawls, with violators beheaded, they likely would have drawn blades against each other.

On this side, a Zongling pierced with several Blood Holes struggled and screamed, "Which Ming Army are you from, let me die understanding~"

"Pah!"

A Soldier stepped forward, raising the Hammer in his hand, "You're the Ming Army! We are the Righteous Army under the Commander's command!"

*Bang! * The Hammer smashed onto the skull, and the Zongling expired on the spot.

To his death he never understood who the Commander was, or what the Righteous Army was.

The scale of this vanguard battle was very small, not even worth mentioning.

But the matter was nevertheless reported to Lin Dao.

"Several all claim it as their own kill, causing a scramble?"

"Then count it as collective merit; Military Merit One Turn converts to ten Taels, everyone splits the Silver together."

What Lin Dao cared least about was Silver.

One hundred fifty Taels to buy a True Tartar head, that was truly a huge profit.

There were only a few True Tartars in total; even spending tens of millions of Taels would be of no concern.

Not to mention in the Modern World, the terrifying output of tens of thousands of Tons per year.

Just on the Great Ming side alone, years of trade surplus meant Silver inflow reaching hundreds of millions of Taels.

If the Great Ming's national power could be fully mobilized, the petty Tartar bandits would rise and perish in a flash.

Jiningzhou is truly very close to Yanzhou Prefecture.

After a day's march, by Afternoon the vanguard was only twenty-odd Li from Yanzhou City.

The Various Departments began building Camps, moving in one after another and cooking meals.

In the distance, scattered Jiannu troops appeared, peering left and right, watching from afar.

Inside Yanzhou City, Abatai, who was directing the Massacre in the Lu Wang Fu, immediately gave an order upon hearing the news.

"The Ming Army dares to come for a field battle?"

"Send Troops tomorrow, annihilate them!"

(End of Chapter)