Chapter 155 154 Pursuit

Chapter 155 154 Pursuit

"Tomorrow I will be early. I will set off with your uncle, take the troops from Qianhu Station of the Rear Army to Pengze, pick up the troops from Qianhu Station of the Right Army and go directly to Nanjing."

While Wei Guangde was thinking, Wei Meng said again, "I'll leave the family to you."

Wei Guangde suddenly raised his head and looked at his father. He had never mentioned the commander's decision before, and he did not expect it to be this.

"Dad, are you Zhen Fu?"

Wei Guangde couldn't help but say.

"Yes, those who dare to escape from the battlefield will be punished on the spot."

Father Wei said pretending not to care.

"Dad, let me go with you. As the saying goes, brothers fight tigers, and father and son are soldiers in battle. You and the eldest brother are both up there. It's boring for me to stay behind."

Seeing his father's brows furrowed and his eyes staring fiercely at him, Wei Guangde hurriedly added: 'I will follow the army and will not take any risks.

I estimate that the Japanese invasion in Jiangnan is so serious. This time, the military and palace examinations, we may have to come up with strategies to combat the Japanese. If we take a walk around the battlefield, we will have something to say and it will be easier to shine. ’

Wei Guangde knew what his father cared about, and it was of course the imperial examination.

As Wei Guangde finished speaking, Mr. Wei's brows relaxed and he looked thoughtful.

"Let's talk tomorrow morning."

It took a long time before Father Wei could hold back such a sentence. He neither agreed to Wei Guangde's proposal nor denied it. He probably wanted to discuss it with his mother.

It is not dangerous to follow a large group of people to exterminate the Japanese pirates. The Japanese pirates are probably frightened now and have no intention of fighting the officers and soldiers. They just want to escape for their lives.

However, Wei Guangde was very concerned. Last time, his father and the others went to fight the Japanese pirates. This time, his eldest brother also wanted to go, so he should follow and just stay behind the brigade to see what the battlefield was like.

Wei Guangde didn't think he could become a famous general. When Father Wei asked him questions before, Wei Guangde thought that these Japanese pirates were difficult to fight and their whereabouts were too erratic.

If they really had to face them head-on, it's not like the Right Army had never fought Japanese pirates before, so the two hundred men were easily defeated.

After returning to his yard, Wei Guangde asked Zhang Ji to take out his armor.

Yes, Wei Guangde also prepared a suit of armor for himself, but it was not iron armor or leather armor, but the cotton armor worn by ordinary soldiers.

Wei Guangde's shirt was also thought of after wearing cotton armor. The double-breasted mandarin duck war jacket is just much better than the ones issued by ordinary sergeants. There are more iron sheets in the inner layer and the cotton used is sufficient.

Zhang Ji took out the folded war jacket from the cabinet and was still wondering what happened to the young master. He wanted this thing so late at night.

"Put it on for me."

Wei Guangde quickly dressed and walked around the room several times.

However, due to the weather, wearing this outfit at this time makes me feel a little hot after a long time.

As for Wei Guangde’s clothes, what does he look like?

In fact, it is similar to the armor of the Eight Banners soldiers in the braided drama that Wei Guangde saw in later generations. It looks wider when people wear it.

"cloak."

Wei Guangde remembered that he and Zhang Hongfu had been to the arsenal, and they each took out a cloak.

Strictly speaking, this cloak is actually half-length, mainly because the cloak has horse legs when riding a horse.

To be honest, the two of them were wearing battle jackets and capes while horse racing outside Jiujiang City. It was indeed quite impressive.

Perhaps it was because Wei Guangde said that the flat Japanese might be a question for the general examination and the imperial examination. Wei's mother seemed to agree to let Wei Guangde follow him to take a look, but she repeatedly asked Wei Guangde to follow his father and take care of things.

At the end of the second day, Wei Guangde asked Zhang Ji to carry the baggage and followed his father out the door, heading directly to Jiujiang Pier.

Previously, after Father Wei decided to take Wei Guangde to see the battlefield, he sent someone to inform Wu Zhankui. As the commander, he was also the commander of this group of troops.

On the dock, Wei Guangde was surprised to see Zhang Hongfu. The entourage behind him was also carrying luggage and seemed to be going out.

The two people soon stood together and started talking. When he learned that Zhang Hongfu was going to follow his uncle to see the battlefield, Wei Guangde was a little speechless.

It seems that during this expedition, Jiujiang Wei must have made up his mind not to work hard, otherwise he and Zhang Hongfu would not be allowed to follow him. No wonder his father is so easy to talk to.

Zhang Hongfu is destined to be in charge of military affairs, so it would be good for him to get in touch with him as soon as possible.

What's more important is that now he has no military position, and no one can fault him for running away immediately if the wind blows in the wrong direction on the battlefield.

Behind him were a dozen strong and powerful men, all of whom were obviously well-chosen from the Zhang family's personal soldiers. They should be the bodyguards to protect him at all times.

The Wei family used to have twelve soldiers, four of whom stayed with the eldest brother in Bengshan Fort. This time, Wei's mother originally wanted to let them all go, but Father Wei still didn't agree.

Only six were taken away, leaving two to guard the courtyard.

Two of them, who had traveled to Jiangxi with Wei Guangde before, were also sent to his side as personal bodyguards.

Soon, the two teams of the general flag led by Qianhusuo and Wei Meng of the rear army boarded the ship. There were more than 300 people in total, but there were also a few empty ships accompanying them. They were going to Pengze to pick up the right army.

There was no conversation all the way. After the fleet set off, they arrived in Pengze in the afternoon. After a night's rest, more than 500 people boarded the ship again. At the same time, Wei Guangde's sister-in-law and her cousin took a fast boat to Jiujiang.

The men in the family have gone to the front line, and the female relatives have been sent back.

I haven’t seen my eldest brother for more than half a year. It’s the same as when I saw him during the New Year. There is no change.

The four of them got together and chatted again. Cousin Wu Dong was very envious of Wei Guangde for passing the examination, and was also very curious about what Wei Guangde and Zhang Hongfu were going to do this time.

In two days, the fleet passed Anqing and received the latest news on the way. The Japanese pirates broke out of Moling Pass and were now heading straight to Lishui.

Wei Guangde followed his uncle and father into the cabin and also saw the pond newspaper.

The defenders of Moling Pass collapsed without a fight and failed to block the escape route of the Japanese pirates.

This newspaper was sent out the day before yesterday. Counting the time between when they received the news and when it was sent out, Wei Guangde estimated that by this time, he might have escaped south across Lishui.

Soon a map of Southern Zhili was placed on the table, and my uncle and dad gathered around the map and began to ponder it.

As for whether they were considering how to eliminate this group of Japanese pirates or how to avoid this group of Japanese pirates, Wei Guangde was not sure. The latest order was for them to go ashore as close as possible and go straight to Liyang.

Wei Guangde went over and took a look. To the south of Liyang was Guangde, to the west was Yixing, and a little further past was Taihu Lake.

Are you planning to hide in Taihu Lake? Looking for a chance to escape inland again?

Wei Guangde calculated in his mind that the final outcome of this group of Japanese pirates was most likely to be wiped out. However, it was not ruled out that the civil servants would describe the Japanese pirates' escape as annihilation for the sake of face.

History is something that, to be honest, cannot be disbelieved, nor can it be fully believed.

Wei Guangde didn't say anything. He was just waiting for his uncle and father's decision, so that he could know their final decision.

Wei Guangde did not believe that his father and uncle had not discussed the strategy with Zhang Tongzhi. They must have had a plan. For Wei Guangde now, he could only wait and see how they discussed it.

At this time, cousins ​​Wu Dong, Zhang Hongfu and eldest brother Wei Wencai also came over to look at the map on the table, while their uncle and father were still discussing there, and only Zheng Yixiang, who was in the Houjun Qianhu Station, seemed to have nothing to do with him. I sat aside and didn't come up to look at the map.

Well, maybe he has discovered a long time ago that all the people in this room are actually related to each other, and he is the only one living alone.

Although he, like the Wu family and the Wei family, has long been rooted in Jiujiang Wei, he has also taken refuge with Zhang Tongzhi a long time ago. He is a close confidant, but he is not close to Wu Zhankui on weekdays.

Before coming, the Zhang family had already given him a message to act according to Wu Zhankui's orders.

At this time, he simply stood up and walked to Wu Zhankui, "Your Majesty, please go out and see your son."

"Go ahead, pay attention to comfort, and don't cause trouble at this time."

Wu Zhankui warned that Zheng Yixiang was ruthless and notoriously cruel to his soldiers.

He took away half of the money he had given for the expedition, and the soldiers at the Qianhu Station of the rear army were quite dissatisfied with this.

After Zheng Yixiang left, not long after, he saw his uncle returning to the table. Wei Wencai and Wu Dong consciously gave way to their seats. At this time, Father Wei followed behind and stood in front of the table.

"Continue to move forward, enter Lishui from Wuhu, and go directly to Yixing. Maybe we can block them. If they choose to go straight to Suzhou to expand the Japanese pirates' forest, there will be no way. We can't catch up."

Wu Zhankui stretched out his finger and pointed at the black line marked Yangtze River. There was a small black circle in front and Wuhu next to it. There were also several black lines representing waterways.

"The blockade will definitely not be able to stop them. Moling Pass failed to stop the Japanese pirates. We are destined to chase them."

Father Wei thought about it and nodded and said, take the boat straight to Lishui and get ashore from there, which will indeed save you a lot of walking.

As for whether he can catch up or not, that depends on God's will.

Yes, it is difficult for a military attaché to resist the temptation of meritorious service, especially if he can perform meritorious service and has a big shot behind him, so he is not afraid of being greedy for his merit.

At the Jiujiang Prefecture Command Envoy Si Yamen, Zhang Tongzhi called Zhang Shigui and Wu Zhankui together to discuss the pros and cons of this battle.

In fact, everyone with a discerning eye knows that this group of Japanese pirates are already frightened, but no one expected that they would be bold enough to actually go to Nanjing City to commit suicide, and even swagger through the city in red clothes and yellow caps. Isn't this forcing the court to kill them?

Not to mention elite, this group of people is indeed elite, but they are already exhausted and have lost all their energy. It is the time to beat the fallen dog.

After the two reached an agreement, they naturally did not seek other people's opinions. Here, they represented the Wei Commander Division and Zhang Tongzhi's will.

Why did the front army belong to the right army and the rear army's Qianhu Station? Isn't it because these two thousand households were Zhang Tongzhi's people, and the two thousand households had to take care of each other.

Well, at this time, the Ming army had already had precedents of betraying teammates. Especially when they were suppressing Japanese invaders in Zhejiang, they had heard of many cases where they only cared about themselves and ignored their friendly forces.

The commanders of Jiujiang Guard are naturally good at learning and must not make such a mistake.

As for the solution, it's easy to do, that is, to combine people and horses who are integrated into each other. You can't control whether you take care of your own family or not.

The fleet continued to go down the river, and soon turned into Lishui at Wuhu until the ships docked, and the army began to disembark in an orderly manner.

The place where they disembarked was called Guangtong Town, which belonged to Gaochun. When the Japanese pirates went to Nanjing City, they passed by its border, but they did not stay here. Therefore, when Wei Guangde and others disembarked, everything in Guangtong Town was the same as before.

Although the houses in the town are intact, there are few pedestrians on the streets and it looks very depressed.

Obviously, after the trouble caused by the Japanese pirates, the people in the town were already panic-stricken and did not dare to go out and walk around.

Now, the doors or windows of many houses near the dock are slightly open. It is obvious that the homeowners are peeking at their group of officers and soldiers from behind the doors.

Thanks to the fact that I went to Zhejiang to suppress Japanese invaders the year before last and passed by Nanjing when I came back, the Ministry of War allocated a mandarin duck war jacket to each of them.

After the military households discovered that these batches of war uniforms were of high quality and not the low-quality goods usually distributed, they all chose to keep them at home. Who knows when they will go to the battlefield again. With a better cotton armor, the chance of saving their lives is greater. Up a few points.

Naturally, Wu Dong and others would not object to the military household taking off the new uniform and still wearing the original shabby clothes. In fact, their thoughts were the same as those of the soldiers under their command.

During this battle, the military households naturally took out their war jackets and wore them, which also made them feel more secure.

However, at this time, the appearance of such an army still affected the people in the town.

Not long after, Li Zheng and Chief Jia from the town came to contact him.

In fact, when they saw this Ming army, they also guessed that it was an army coming to suppress the Japanese.

Looking at their clothes, they were very different from the Ming soldiers they had seen before.

Soon, Li Zheng and Chief Jia organized some meat to be delivered. It was not much, just enough for one meal, but it was not bad.

When the soldiers started to bury pots to make rice, Wu Zhankui was understanding the situation with Li Zheng.

"On the map, there should be a canal leading directly to Liyang. We didn't see it when we came along the road. What's going on?"

"Sir, that's Lao Huangli. There used to be a canal here, and it does lead to Liyang. However, I have never seen that canal. It has long been unusable due to the accumulation of silt, and it has become useless over time."

"Is this place fifty miles away from Liyang?"

"almost."

As they talked, Wu Zhankui learned not much information. After all, ordinary people these days cannot travel dozens of miles, so they naturally don't know much about their surroundings.

"Leave immediately."

After asking for the direction, Wu Zhankui did not intend to delay the march.

Although this battle can be fought or not, it is indeed an opportunity to make meritorious deeds.

Since it is possible to win, naturally we still have to fight for it.

"Let's go to Liyang first to see if the Japanese pirates have left. Anyway, our goal is to catch up to Yixing. If we can't stop them, forget it."

Wu Zhankui said to Zheng Yixiang and Wu Dong that they were from Qianhu, and they were leading the main force in chasing the Japanese pirates this time, so naturally the order had to be given to them, even though Wu Dong was his son.

"As commanded."

Both of them acted according to military rules and accepted orders respectfully.

The two left and returned to their troops to prepare for departure. However, after Zheng Yixiang turned around and left, he had no idea that a pair of eyes behind him were staring at him.