Chapter 157 156 Discovery

After the battle, the soldiers of the rear army quickly climbed onto the carriages. With the strength of their legs, they naturally changed from the rear team yesterday to the front team and walked in the front of the team.

After Wu Zhankui said goodbye to the Liyang County Magistrate, he waved his hand, and the army started, and then drove out from the east gate of Liyang County.

Before leaving, Wu Zhankui asked the Liyang County Magistrate for a guide who was familiar with the surrounding roads. He only led the way to Yixing and then returned. If he moved quickly, it would only take two days.

After leaving the city, Wu Zhankui rode to the front team and found the guide to say a few words. After that, the Jiujiang Guard army turned halfway to Yixing and headed directly to Zhongxi Town, Wujin County in the north.

Wei Guangde saw the change in the marching route and knew that his uncle had listened to his opinions yesterday.

The Japanese pirates may seem to be fleeing southwards very close, but in fact, the risk is greater. Only by fleeing northwards can they survive. Even at this time, the government army may gather in Changxing County, Huzhou Prefecture, ready to wipe out the Japanese pirates.

Wei Guangde thought so. In fact, Wu Zhankui and Wei Meng discussed the direction for a long time last night. In the end, they chose to go north to block the Japanese pirates' escape route to the north for the sake of safety.

The reason why the north is safer is naturally because it is inevitable to be near the mountains. Yixing will enter the mountainous area not far away. Once you are a step slower and let the Japanese pirates enter the mountains, will you chase them or not?

The hundreds of people under their command seem to be ten times more than the Japanese pirates, but there are only more than 300 experienced veterans, and they are mainly the group of people who came back from Zhejiang the year before last.

The right army only added less than 100 people, because some of the good ones were taken to Jiujiang by Wei Meng to serve as the general flag of pacification, and more than ten people were selected to be the personal guards of Wu Dong and Wei Wencai.

The army suffered heavy losses in Dinghai, with more than a hundred casualties.

On both sides, there were only about 300 people with combat experience.

But once they entered the mountains to pursue, they had to guard against the ambush of the Japanese pirates.

The Japanese pirates were very cunning along the way. They dared to confront the Ming army head-on, but also hid and fled, and there was a precedent of ambushing halfway.

Wu Zhankui and Wei Meng were unwilling to take the little ones to take risks, so it was safe and secure to deploy defenses in the north. At least there was no fear of being ambushed, and there was no need to climb mountains and cross ridges.

And just as they were heading towards Wujin County, under the city of Yixing, the Japanese pirates began to retreat quickly after launching a round of surprise attacks and failing to enter the county.

After two days of stealth, they arrived at the city of Yixing today and suddenly launched a surprise attack on the city gate, wanting to rush into the city to rob, and then eat something and continue to run away.

However, just like in Liyang, the county gate was heavily guarded. When they appeared, they were discovered by the government troops on the city wall, who then dispersed the crowd at the gate and quickly closed the gate.

Once the gate was closed, there was nothing the Japanese pirates could do to this group of pirates who did not carry siege equipment.

Several Japanese pirate leaders gathered together, and after a chattering conversation, the Japanese pirates quickly withdrew and headed south.

On the Yixing city, the government troops watched the Japanese pirates leave, and many of them collapsed behind the battlements of the city wall, their faces pale at this time.

The number of Japanese pirates was indeed small, only a few dozen people, but each of them was not only fierce, but also covered in blood. How much sin must have been committed to be like this.

In fact, the clothes on these Japanese pirates were already clean. They were all robbed and changed on the way. The earliest one had been thrown away hundreds of miles away.

Recently, the villagers in the surrounding area got the news and hid themselves, leaving the pirates without food and clothes, so they could only flee in such a panic.

When the Jiujiang Guard entered Zhongxi Town, the guide from Liyang immediately said goodbye and left. They had to rush back to report since they were out of the territory. The most important thing was that in the midst of the chaos, they still felt that home was safer.

He contacted the head of the village and the head of the Jia in Zhongxi Town and asked them to prepare food for the army. At the same time, he also sent out his personal soldiers to investigate the direction from here to Yixing to prevent the pirates from really rushing out from this direction.

At this time, the policy implemented by the Ming Dynasty was that the troops of the guards were to eat all the way. Wherever they went, the local government had to prepare rations for the soldiers instead of transporting them from afar.

So Wu Zhankui and his team did not bring much food this time.

The carriage was also taken back by the guide from the county government. When the drivers knew about it, they left the soldiers in a panic and ran back in a hurry, fearing that they would be called back again if they ran too late.

Wei Guangde saw all this. He knew very well what his uncle and father were planning. He estimated that they would wait here until the end of this encirclement and suppression. Either the Japanese pirates would escape from the south, or they would directly hit them, so that the Jiujiang Guards would pick up the credit.

Before that, the army must have been lying down.

That night, on the shore of Taihu Lake not far east of Yixing County, a group of people were moving quickly from south to north.

This was the group of Japanese pirates. They had previously failed to raid Yixing County, so they chose to go south, but it was just a trick to attract the officers and soldiers who were chasing them to go south to Changxing County.

They had not encountered any pursuit by the government troops in the past two days, but they knew very well that after their disturbance, the Ming army must hate them to death and would get rid of them as soon as possible, so they were cautious in every step, fearing that they would be caught.

When it was light, several war horses ran out of Zhongxi Town, each with a knight on it.

Soon, the cavalry was divided into several teams, with two riders in each team to explore the surrounding area.

The knights were all fully armed and riding on horses, but they were not very fast. The knights looked around with their eyes, observing the footprints left in the distance and on the ground.

Not long after, one of the cavalry groups was moving forward slowly. Suddenly one of them pulled the reins of the horse and stared at a small forest not far ahead.

The woods are not big, but they are very quiet.

"What's wrong?"

Another knight had already taken a few steps forward on horseback. When he found that his companion was not following, he also pulled the reins of his horse and turned around to ask.

"Why are there no birds in this forest?"

The knight couldn't focus on the small forest and made no next move.

"Sleep in."

The man in front of him replied jokingly.

"Don't go near the woods over there yet."

The knight behind said, "Let's go around first and see what's going on behind the woods."

"OK."

They were all riding horses, going around the woods, but it was just a waste of horsepower, so it didn't matter much.

"Be cautious."

The knight later warned him, and while he was speaking, he had already taken off a small buckler from his horse and held it in his hand.

Not long after, the two of them had already detoured to one side of the woods. The woods were still quiet and no birds were seen.

Perhaps influenced by the atmosphere, the knight who had been indifferent before now also picked up the small buckler and drove his horse away from the woods and the surrounding lush vegetation.

"There are footprints on the ground."

Not long after, the knight's inaudible voice reached the ears of the knight behind. The two pretended not to be pretentious and continued to move forward. After walking a distance away from the woods, they looked at the messy footprints on the ground. They looked at each other, then accelerated their horses and trotted to one side.

When Wei Guangde had just gotten up and washed up, he heard rushing footsteps outside, and a soldier quickly ran towards Wu Zhankui's bedroom.

He didn't know what happened, and Wei Guangde didn't pay attention. He was still thinking about what to have for breakfast today. After all, he was not at home now, and the town was not that big, so he didn't know what he could get.

But then, Wei Guangde heard Wu Zhankui going out and ordered: "Inform everyone to gather at the dam in front of the town."

Wei Guangde finally realized something. Was it possible that the Japanese pirates had arrived nearby?

Half an hour ago.

In front of a small forest about ten miles away from here, ten knights were divided into two teams, one with six people in each team, gathered together, very close to each other.

The other team of four people were widely dispersed, but they were standing at a distance, and they were constantly observing their surroundings. They had already picked up blunderbuss in their hands.

"Is it just this forest?"

A guard captain from the front team asked.

"So far, no birds have appeared in the forest. It's very strange."

"Yeah, I didn't see it either."

The captain was hesitant. If he were to send someone into the woods to investigate, who would he send?

"Go around the forest, prepare the bow and arrow gun in your hand, listen to my orders, and then shoot in."

The captain thought about it and said.

When the bird cannon is fired, you will know whether the forest is safe or not by seeing if any birds come out.

When they rode quickly around the woods, the people in the woods who had been observing the movement outside had also discovered this group of cavalry.

It can only be said that the two people pretended to be very similar before, hiding it from Anshao's eyes.

This may be the difference between those who have been on the battlefield and those who have not been on the battlefield. Those who have been on the battlefield will be extremely careful in their actions and actions.

In fact, if this group of cavalry had arrived a little later, maybe there would be no one in the woods.

At this moment, several gunshots were suddenly heard from the cavalry, and then two arrows shot into the woods and hit the tree stumps.

In an instant, the Japanese pirates, thinking that their target was exposed, quickly rushed out of the woods and rushed towards the group of cavalry.

"withdraw."

When the captain of the soldiers saw the Japanese pirates rushing out in a swarm, they had no intention of fighting. The Japanese pirates were very powerful individually. This was something they discovered when they were in Zhejiang. Most of the guys rushing out of the woods were short in stature. , you can tell it’s really Japanese at first glance.

The horse speed of several cavalrymen did not slow down at this moment. After hearing the captain's order, they immediately turned their horses' heads to stay away from the Japanese pirates.

When the captain was retreating on horseback, he did not forget to raise his hand to make a gesture. A rider who had been observing from a distance saw the gesture, reined in his horse and ran back.

"Hang them and see where they go."

After running away, the captain of the soldiers reined in his horse and gave instructions.

Seeing that they could not catch up with the cavalry, the Japanese pirates immediately stopped and began to retreat.

They knew that this group of cavalry were scouts. With them coming and going, they naturally knew that there were Ming troops around. If they didn't leave now, they would wait.

But this small group of cavalry stuck around them like marshmallows, following them from a distance.

In Zhongxi Town, the war drums sounded, and the soldiers of Jiujiang Guard ran out of the vacated houses in the town and quickly lined up according to the team flag.

The sudden sound of drums also woke up the residents of the town.

At this time, word had spread in the town that Japanese pirates had arrived nearby.

Those who had the means had already run into the county to escape, while the rest had nowhere to go and could only stay in fear.

The sudden sound of the drum frightened them half to death.

Those who were more daring could quietly climb up the wall or open a small half door and look outside. The soldiers over there had already formed a team and were waiting for orders.

"Zheng Qianhu, you lead the front team. Don't be reluctant to fight. You just need to find them and set up a formation."

Wu Zhankui gave orders to Zheng Yixiang expressionlessly.

Zheng Yixiang opened his mouth to say something, but in the end he remained silent and followed the order with his fists clasped.

"Wu Dong, form your team, keep up with the rear troops, and be careful to break up the formation at any time."

Wu Zhankui ordered his son Wu Dong.

Wu Dong didn't say anything, but he still followed the military regulations and clasped his fists to receive the order.

Soon, the two teams of soldiers drove out of Zhongxi Town one after the other. The last in the queue were naturally the guard commander Wu Zhankui, the guard pacifier Wei Meng and the pacification general flag.

The hundreds of infantrymen marching forward naturally did not have as much impact as the cavalry galloping.

When the soldiers of the rear army's Qianhusuo caught up with the personal soldiers observing in front, they also saw the Japanese pirates not far ahead.

There were indeed only fifty people, not many.

Zheng Yixiang rode on a horse and immediately ordered the team to disperse and start to form a battle array.

Wu Zhankui did not issue an order to fight. Although he wanted to rush up and chop off the heads of these Japanese pirates, he had also been to Zhejiang, so he naturally saw that this group of Japanese pirates was not easy to mess with.

Unlike the Japanese pirates encountered before, the majority of this group were real Japanese, and there were very few fake Japanese. Perhaps they had been beheaded by the Ming army in the previous battles.

The Ming army behind caught up, and naturally the approach of the rear army was also discovered by the fleeing Japanese pirates.

The enemy may not have many people, but there must be a steady stream of government troops coming from behind.

Seeing that more than 200 Ming soldiers were following behind them, several leaders of the Japanese pirates immediately gathered together to discuss.

"Go back and kill this team of soldiers, so that the ones behind them will not dare to chase."

"I second the proposal. If we kill the front team, we will be afraid of the ones behind."

"Kill"

(Simultaneous translation)

There was no fierce debate. Several leaders decided on the strategy in a few words, and turned back to fight for a while and defeated this group of government troops.

Seeing that the fleeing Japanese pirates in front suddenly stopped, Zheng Yixiang knew that it was not good. Looking behind him, the right army had not come up yet.

In order to prevent being ambushed, Wu Zhankui stretched the distance between the teams longer, so that even if the Japanese pirates ambushed, they could only kill one team.

This time, it should not be like this, but no one mentioned it, and they still used the previous queue to move forward.

"Arrange the formation."

Zheng Yixiang did not dare to retreat at this time, and hurriedly gave orders.

The two hundred-household teams of the rear army's thousand-household unit quickly began to spread out horizontally, preparing to deal with the next attack of the Japanese pirates.

Sure enough, the next moment, dozens of Japanese pirates took advantage of the opportunity of the Ming army to set up their formations, howling words they could not understand and rushed over like crazy.

At the same time, more than ten arrows flew out from the Japanese pirate team and shot straight at Zheng Yixiang on his horse.

To capture the thief, first capture the leader. The Japanese pirates seemed to be very familiar with the tactics of the Central Plains, and they directly attacked the leader of this group of official troops.

The sudden change scared Zheng Yixiang half to death in an instant. He did not dare to stay, and turned over and got off the horse and hid behind the horse.

"Huhu. Puff"

Several arrows flew over his head, and two arrows shot at his warhorse and the warhorse of a personal soldier. The warhorse screamed in pain, and ran back with four hooves spread out like flying.

Just as he was about to get on the horse of a personal soldier next to him, he heard the personal soldier shouting, "Be careful."

Another arrow flew out from the Japanese pirates, and they were determined to shoot him, a Ming army official.

Zheng Yixiang had no choice but to run into the queue, yelling and scolding the soldiers to line up.