Chapter 47 Walking with friendly forces

Before dawn the next day, Li Ping led his troops out of the camp.

When they arrived at the west gate of Xiangyang after a rapid march, it was still dark, the city gate was closed tightly, and another friendly army had not yet arrived, so Li Ping finally felt relieved.

There was no clock, so time depended on estimation, and there was even no clear meeting time. He was worried about being late. It was better to arrive as early as possible than to be late.

Soon it was daybreak, a cloudy day.

Suddenly, the city gate opened slowly.

Today's city gates were obviously opened much earlier than usual. They were opened as soon as dawn. It was very unreasonable. It was probably because they had been warned in advance not to delay Zuo Mengeng's wife's schedule.

After Li Ping hesitated for a while, he simply took Ma Yong and a soldier into the city to wait. While waiting outside the city gate, he always felt that something was wrong.

But as soon as he entered the city, he saw a team with many flags coming from a distance on the main road directly opposite the city gate. This should be an army, and a regular army.

Li Ping was a little dazed. He cautiously stretched his neck and took a closer look.

There are cavalry in the front, and there is a looming carriage behind, so it should be right.

Didn't we agree to wait together outside the west gate? Aren't they also stationed outside the city? Where did they enter the city from? It is impossible for so many people to be Mrs. Zuo Mengeng's family soldiers.

But it was no longer time to think too much. Li Ping hurriedly threw the horse's reins to the soldiers, and then trotted up to meet Ma Yong.

At the front of the oncoming team were several cavalrymen wearing red leather hats (similar to the white felt Fanyang hats worn in Li Zicheng's classic image) and short-coated iron armor. In the middle was a man wearing short-sleeved hats.

A somewhat chubby guy wearing fish scales.

Cover armor is a form of Chinese armor that appeared in the Ming Dynasty. Before the Ming Dynasty, China mainly wore hanging armor, that is, it was hung on the body and fixed with a belt. Cover armor was made into clothes and worn like clothes.

, cover the body.

Generally speaking, the armor will reach to the knees and is the mainstream.

But short armor also has a big market. As a collarless and sleeveless short armor like a vest, it usually has a placket in the middle of the front and is fixed with buttons. It is a kind of light armor. It is very suitable for hot and humid weather.

It is used in the southern region, or used as personal armor for long-term wear.

As for iron armor, it is an armor covered with rectangular iron pieces. It started during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. It was named because the armor pieces resemble writing letters. It is also a very common type of iron armor used in China.

As the name suggests, fish scale armor has armor pieces like fish scales. Due to its complex production process and greater flexibility of expansion and contraction, it is a high-end armor that can only be used by officers.

The slightly chubby guy wearing short fish scale armor should be the leader.

When the cavalry at the forefront saw Li Ping running over from a distance, they all unconsciously glanced at the chubby general in the middle, and then did not slow down and continued to ride forward with a high-spirited look.

Li Ping had no choice but to run to one side, panting and bowing to the dignified general in the middle. Then he introduced himself politely and asked: "I am Li Ping, the general of the guerrilla Zhao Jin camp. I don't know that the general is the horse guarding Mrs. Zuo."

Boss?"

The general had no intention of stopping his horse. He only glanced sideways at Li Ping and said arrogantly: "So you are Li Ping, follow me!" After saying that, he ignored him and even hit the horse.

Li Ping was stunned for a moment, but he still bowed and thanked the general for leaving him on his back.

Then, Li Ping looked at the carriage behind him, hesitated for a moment, and asked Ma Yong behind him to quickly go out of the city to organize the troops, while he trotted all the way to the carriage again.

After bowing to the moving carriage, he introduced himself again in a low voice as he walked along.

As soon as Li Ping finished speaking, a soft female voice came from the carriage: "Wait a moment."

The coachman who drove the horse immediately stopped the carriage, and the small curtain on the rear carriage window slowly opened, and then a beautiful face was revealed.

Li Ping was stunned and quickly lowered his head, but his subconscious reaction was: Zuo Mengeng is a very handsome boy, and his wife is very beautiful!

Soon, the soft voice sounded softly again: "It turns out to be Mr. Li, thank you for your hard work. I got up early today, thinking that the road was far away, so I went a little earlier. I was also a little worried that you were not prepared properly. I saw you

I feel relieved. Very good, Mr. Li, you are serious."

Li Ping hurriedly bowed again and replied: "Madam, this is my duty."

With a soft "Let's go" from inside the carriage, the maid riding horseback next to the carriage gestured forward and back, and the team, which was slightly chaotic due to the sudden stop, started to move forward again.

Just as Li Ping was about to run back to the soldiers holding his horse at the gate of the city, a voice suddenly came from the carriage again: "The soap is very useful. Thank you for the soap."

Li Ping didn't know how to answer for a moment, so he could only say: "It should, it should."

Uneasy, Li Ping followed the carriage for two more steps, until he heard no more noise, Li Ping felt relieved and started to run wildly.

After leaving the city, Li Ping and his men followed the entire team very wisely and quickly started to move quickly.

That's right, the whole team started to rush soon after leaving the city.

But Li Ping didn't have time to think about this yet. His mind was filled with the abnormality just now.

It’s very interesting that Mrs. Zuo suddenly said “thank you”!

Zhao Jin has always handled the communication with the soap as a gift. When they asked for the soap, they only said it was made in Zhao's guerrilla camp. They had communicated on this issue and had always maintained the same tone. But this

Zuo Menggeng's wife actually knew that he was from Li Ping's camp. This news was easily leaked!

Fortunately, this was not a big deal. After all, the group of people were not close to each other. Li Ping thought about it and let it go.

However, they set off early? This is very interesting for Mrs. Zuo, and what she said is even more interesting.

Indeed, the city gate opened as soon as the genius showed up, and they walked to the city gate within a few minutes. It must have been before dawn, and they set off. It was very easy for the soldiers and horses who came to meet up to miss it.

Yes, after all, marching at night is always taboo these days.

Is it a school entrance examination?

Or is it really just a temporary decision to leave early, and I want to see if the power of his new confidant is reliable?

Or are there other factors?

How did General Ma Ba's troops enter the city? It was impossible to open the city gate in the dark, unless they entered the city on the first night.

The more Li Ping thought about it, the more headache he got and he couldn't figure it out. Then he simply stopped thinking about it.

There are two roads heading west out of Xiangyang. One is to walk directly along the river for dozens of miles to the mountains in the west. The other is to walk along the river for a short distance and then go south along the road between Yanggu Mountain and Wanshan Mountain, which is equivalent to bypassing the

The river runs approximately parallel to the long strip behind Wanshan Mountain and then to the west.

Mrs. Zuo Menggeng chose the second route, which means that the small temple is in the southwest of Xiangyang.

Soon after passing Wanshan, they left the official road. The road became increasingly difficult and the carriage was no longer convenient. So Mrs. Zuo quickly got out of the carriage and put on a horse very vigorously.

horse.

Looking at Mrs. Zuo's bright red uniform, she was obviously prepared for it. But what shocked Li Ping even more was her ability to control horses. She was very skillful and worthy of being a Jurchen.

At this time, although they had been walking for a long time, the team did not stop to rest and continued to march at a high speed. Although it may not have reached the level of a rapid march, it was certainly not slow.

Li Ping was a little surprised. Although this went against the common sense of properly organizing rest during the march, the friendly forces in front were still subverting his view of the uselessness of the defeated Xiangyang soldiers, and also subverting his view of Fang Guoan. He began to get more and more

Come and observe them more and more carefully.

They do have some characteristics.

This is a typical official army team. Although there are only more than 200 people, there are nearly 30 flags alone.

This is an obviously elite force. Not only do they have distinctive uniforms and armor, but the soldiers are generally relatively strong. The most outstanding thing is of course their ability to walk.

Their infantrymen were basically all wearing red felt hats, which was obviously different from the southern troops who often wore turbans or rattan hats. However, looking at their faces and body shapes, it was obvious that most of these soldiers were southerners.

The leading cavalry generals also wore hats. Although they were made of leather, there was something unusual about the iron pointed helmets that were the same as the other cavalrymen.

They seemed to be deliberately showing their lineage with the northern army.

Each of them has armor, of course all short-covered armor, all light armor. Except for the cavalry, which all wear short-covered iron armor, the infantry all wear short-covered cloth armor (a type of cloth sewn with dozens of layers of cloth).

A).

There is no full body armor or long hood, so he should have been prepared for it.

Moreover, whether it is all the iron armor of the cavalry or all the cloth armor of the infantry, they are a bit luxurious, and it is really difficult to buy them all in one. At least Li Ping knew that cloth armor was not cheap, in any case, it was more expensive than cotton armor.

In ancient times, troops often marched without armor, or at most wore light armor. Basically, no full-body armor or heavy armor was worn. Full-body armor and heavy armor were usually carried on other mules or horses or carried by auxiliary soldiers. Of course, some also carried them on their own.

of.

This is easy to understand. After wearing full body armor or heavy armor, movement is naturally limited. Except for slow movement, it is impossible to march long distances, because basically no one can endure it from a thermal dissipation perspective.

Their weapons are mainly knives. Even among the infantry, there are not many who hold spears, but there are not many infantry who carry shields. And troops like them should not be without shields. It is probably for the convenience and ease of marching.

weight.

However, there are a lot of colors of military uniforms shown on the limbs outside the short hood. Although they are roughly divided into groups by color, there are only more than 200 people in total, and there are several red, blue, yellow, white, etc.

The colors make it feel a bit colorful!

Li Ping wondered if it was because Ma Ba always had a special preference for colorful things.

In fact, most of the time in ancient times, people had a clear preference for colorful and flashy clothes. This may be a specific aesthetic created by the lack of abundant materials in ancient times.

In the army, it is normal to divide troops according to colors when there are large numbers of people, but it is abnormal to divide troops into many colors when there are few people. Once a battle occurs, too many colors can easily cause difficulty in identifying ourselves and the enemy, and will also interfere with command judgment. This

It shouldn't be the behavior of an old general.

But no matter what, it is certain that the equipment of the friendly forces in front is very high, and the training level is probably not low, but I don’t know what their combat skills are?

Compared with friendly forces, Li Ping's troops were a bit shabby.

The eight-petal wide-brimmed iron helmet on Li Ping's head (official: Ming Iron Helmet. Also called Maoer Helmet among the people, shaped like a flying saucer. There are four, six, and eight petals) is their only helmet, and everyone else
To be continued...