Full of Harvests

In the early morning, Li Ping stood on a section of the city wall and quietly looked down at Huangpi County, the first city he captured in his life, and the city that already belonged to him.

Pride and satisfaction filled his heart.

He really wanted to sing loudly, dance with joy, and even more wanted to imitate the great men and give them instructions and scolds.

But he endured it.

His past experiences have taught him restraint, and he doesn't want the soldiers to feel that he is not steady enough.

It's just that this kind of deliberate suppression is really not easy.

Especially the big silly guy behind him, Liu Qiang, kept giggling without knowing how to hide it, and kept talking excitedly with the arrogant little kid Dong Jiangpeng.

Strangely enough, Liu Qiang had trouble communicating with adults, but he often had lively fights with children and teenagers.

Maybe Liu Qiang is not stupid, but just a child. This also makes him feel joy from the bottom of his heart for any success of Li Ping, as if it is his own.

As for Dong Jiangpeng, it was his first time to carry out a major mission, so he was naturally very excited and wanted to share it with others.

But even Li Ping himself still doesn't quite believe what he's seeing.

Everything seems to be a dream.

Except for dozens of enemies who escaped by chance, Li Ping almost wiped out nearly a thousand veterans of the peasant army in Huangpi City and hundreds of new and surrendered soldiers who had just been recruited and surrendered.

Although the exact number of enemy annihilations is still being calculated, this is undoubtedly a shocking and huge victory.

Especially thinking about what can be gained by capturing a city is enough to make one dizzy.

However, his troops only suffered 23 killed and 41 wounded.

Li Ping knew very well that this victory against the elite vanguard of the Peasant Army and a huge disparity in casualties between the enemy and ourselves had finally restored the morale of his troops, which had been severely damaged in the Changhu Offensive.

He also clearly saw the smiles and confidence returning to the faces of every officer and soldier.

"Sir! Sir!"

While Li Ping continued to feel joy from his heart, Ma Yong jogged all the way and happily looked for him.

This guy's head is covered with sweat, and he has never been idle.

"What's so urgent? Are you so happy?" Li Ping asked with a smile before Ma Yong could stop.

Seeing Li Ping's indifferent expression, Ma Yong seemed a little embarrassed, but he still saluted first, then took a few deep breaths to stabilize his mood, and then said:

"Sir, when we were counting the prisoners just now, I learned from an enemy leader that a troop of He Jin's troops was very close to Huangpi. I wanted to ask the commander what his next plan was, and I was so early.

Make arrangements. At the same time, I also have a happy event that I want the commander to know as soon as possible."

Li Ping looked at Ma Yong with some surprise, then nodded to Ma Yong with great satisfaction and said: "I have made progress, I know I have prepared for a rainy day! You are right and very good."

Ma Yong chuckled, scratched his head casually and said, "Since Zhou Wen, Qian Dongzi, and Du Sanjiang came here, I somehow think about more things than before, and my head is no longer always full of energy.

I feel dizzy all day long, and I feel much more relaxed."

"This is the power of atmosphere. And when your subordinates can support you in everything, you will have time to think and study." Li Ping said with a smile.

He likes Ma Yong's growth. This is the ability that a chief of staff should have.

Plan ahead and don’t stick to what’s in front of you.

But he still wanted to take another test at Ma Yong, so he asked: "What do you think about the next step?"

"I?"

Ma Yong pointed to himself in surprise.

But under Li Ping's nod, he only thought for a moment and answered smoothly: "I think we need to collect the seizures and evacuate Huangpi as soon as possible. Although the people of Huangpi are unexpectedly very useful, it is not consistent with Zhou Wen's earlier judgment.

, but we still do not have the ability to hold on for a long time. Therefore, we should resolutely implement the previously established strategy of only attacking the city but not defending it."

Li Ping understood that Ma Yong must have considered it on the way here, which made him even more happy, so he happily said: "Your consideration is right, and I also have the same opinion."

Conquering Huangpi is already a great achievement and clearly shows his attitude. It is actually meaningless to defend Huangpi anymore. This situation is completely different from the situation when Li Ping wanted to defend Huangpi a few days ago.

It's okay to block the enemy's forward, but it's overestimating your ability to block the enemy's main force.

Although the hearts of the people in the city are indeed available, Huangpi is located at the protrusion of the entire Hanyang and Wuchang defense lines. Once the peasant army attacks, it may be able to defend it in the short term, but it is impossible to defend it in the long term.

And Li Ping had no intention of being loyal to the Ming Dynasty, so there was no need to seek death.

Even before, he actually only wanted to block the front line and side divisions of the peasant army to release satellites, and had no intention of fighting the main force of the peasant army at Huangpi.

"Since the chief also has the same opinion, let's make arrangements immediately." Ma Yong said with a smile on his face, probably because he was happy that he could have the rare agreement with Li Ping on this kind of decision-making.

But without thinking, Li Ping unexpectedly waved his hand to him and said, "There's no need to worry! We have just conquered Huangpi, and the bandit army will be shocked. They will be cautious without knowing the details. If they can't gather a large army, they won't be able to do it."

We will advance lightly. However, the main force of He Yilong and He Jin's headquarters are still far away from here. He Jin's light troops will not pose a big threat to us in the short term. We still have enough time to collect seizures and replenish supplies.

"

Ma Yong scratched his head in embarrassment, and then said sheepishly: "The commander is still considering everything, I'm a little impatient."

Li Ping smiled, changed the topic and said, "By the way, didn't you say you had a happy event that you wanted me to know about as soon as possible? Why haven't you said it yet?"

Ma Yong was stunned for a moment, then slapped his thigh and said, "Oh! Sir, I almost forgot if you didn't tell me. The captured war horses and large animals have been counted. I think you must really want to know them early."

"Oh! How much is it exactly?"

"217 war horses, 112 draft horses, 175 mules and horses, 136 donkeys, and 27 oxen."

"So many?" Li Ping was shocked.

Li Ping had taken a quick look at the collection of seizures before and had a rough estimate in his mind, but he didn't dare to estimate too much.

"That's right, sir! Although they say there are many rebels, horses, and large animals, I didn't expect there to be so many. For this reason, after my subordinates reported the numbers to me, I even counted them myself to make sure there were no

Wrong." Ma Yong also sighed with emotion.

The large number of peasant armies was a major feature of the wars in the late Ming Dynasty.

Many historical books have recorded that at that time, the official army usually had very few cavalry, but the peasant army often had a lot of cavalry. Even the official cavalry basically consisted of one person and one horse, while the peasant army cavalry could often have two horses per person or three horses per person.

horse.

Hong Chengchou, the governor of the three sides who encircled and suppressed the peasant army for the longest time in the Ming Dynasty and had the most remarkable achievements, once said in a memorial: "The thieves all have good cavalry, or they may ride on two horses, and the officers and soldiers will have three steps and seven steps, so it will be difficult to chase them."

"The Biography of Zuo Liangyu in the History of the Ming Dynasty" also says: "The thieves gallop on horseback for hundreds of miles a day and night. I have many infantry but few cavalry. After traveling for dozens of miles, I often get tired, so I am afraid of thieves."

Volume 6 of "Ping Kou Zhi" records: "There are many horses in the bandit camp", "Since there are so many horses, a big horse can feed a dou a day, and a medium horse can eat six liters, so full"; "In a decisive battle with cavalry, one soldier must Two or three horses can gallop more quickly without dying from exhaustion."

Give another example.

In the Battle of Sanshui in the 11th year of Chongzhen, Sun Chuanting defeated the peasant army with 3,346 people and beheaded 623 people. On the battlefield alone, he captured 727 horses and mules, 185 pieces of armor, and 1,652 weapons. Afterwards, 3,050 peasant troops were surrendered. But he also donated 3021 horses and mules.

Isn’t it shocking!

In fact, Zuo Liangyu was able to lose more than 7,000 horses and mules in the first battle in Zhuxian Town only because he had previously raided Li Zicheng's storage base in Linying and seized a large number of horses and mules.

Then why do the peasant army have so many war horses?

This has a lot to do with the fact that most of the peasant army originated in Qin, that is, northern Shaanxi.

In the Ming Dynasty, the main economic pillar of northern Shaanxi was not agriculture but the livestock industry. "Dreams in the Pine Window" written by Zhang Han of the Ming Dynasty mentioned that the main economic products of Shaanxi were "lots of land, donkeys, horses, cattle, sheep, muscles and bones."

Furthermore, northern Shaanxi was the border area between farming and nomadic herding during the Ming Dynasty, and had a natural and huge advantage in obtaining horses and mules. Moreover, because it was far away from the war zones of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, it became the most stable area in the interior for obtaining horses and mules. It is still an area controlled by various peasant armies, large and small.

All of this makes the number of horses and mules in the peasant army really large.

In addition, the peasant army's series of great victories in Henan concentrated most of the horses and mules that the official army had on them.

In this way, it is not surprising that He Yilong's vanguard force, which already has higher requirements for mobility, has many horses. What's more, after occupying Huangpi, they gave top priority to searching for horses and mules.

"This really solves a big problem! With so many horses, we can do a lot of things. And with so many horses and mules, the support camp will be easier in the future. That boy Song Baolai will probably die of joy."

Li Ping finally couldn't help but became excited, with a smile on his face.

"Yes! Yes! Especially after we exited Xiangyang, there were many places to use horses. The lack of horses is really uncomfortable. This time, a large number of the women in the support camp will be able to ride on the cars in the future. You don’t have to work hard on two legs with old men like us every day." Ma Yong also echoed.

"There are 217 horses. In addition to supplementing the agencies and reconnaissance companies, the remaining ones are enough for us to form a cavalry company!" Li Ping quickly entered into a happy imagination, and at the same time, the scene of thousands of galloping horses began to appear in his head.

"Sir, you are right! We do need a dedicated cavalry company. Otherwise, the reconnaissance company will have to serve as both cavalry and reconnaissance sentries, which will be difficult to cope with."

"That Zhang Qing is pretty good, he should be qualified for this job." Li Ping had an idea.

"Zhang Qing?"

Although Ma Yong Minghuang paused for a moment, he quickly followed Li Ping's leaping thinking and said:

"Zhang Qing is indeed good. He has served in the Liaodong frontier army for many years. He has served as a sentry at night, a cavalry captain, and killed Tatars. I am far inferior to him in both riding and archery skills. These days I

Judging from his excellent nature and a good man who values ​​love and justice, he is indeed the most suitable candidate."

"Ye Bu Shu" is said to be a unique title for scouts or spies in the Liaodong frontier army in the Ming Dynasty. However, in fact, this word was widely used in the Ming Dynasty. In many cases, it did not refer to scouts, and was even referred to as a place name.

But the word "far sentry" in front of it is basically a definite professional scout who enters the enemy camp.

"Talents are hard to find! We have been short of people who are proficient in cavalry like Zhang Qing. His willingness to join us has indeed solved our big problem. His two brothers of the opposite sex are also good, and they can be considered for use." Li Ping said seriously.

Get up and say.

Zhang Qing and his two brothers had a deep impression on Li Ping during this period, and asked Li Ping to pay special attention and observation.
To be continued...