Chapter 210 209 Dangerous

Two days later, Wei Guangde stood on Guancheng to say goodbye to Weng Pu. Also standing next to him were Si Qianshi, the envoy of the Provost and Inspector, and Li Zhen, the military officer of Miyun.

According to previous official documents sent by the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Household Affairs, the grain and grass allocated by Tongzhou were transported by the Bingbei Road around the capital. The person responsible for escorting the grain and grass this time was Li Zhen of the Miyun Bingbei Road. According to Wei Guangde's arrangement, this batch of grain and grass was transported from Juyongguan After crossing the Great Wall, go directly south to Huailai, and then transfer to Baoan Prefecture.

Li Zhen's task was to deliver the grain and grass to Baoan Prefecture and that would be it. The reason why he arranged for military preparation officers to be responsible for escorting the transportation was because the grain and grass matter at this time was of great importance and he could not be careless. Whether it was for the king's sake or for himself, soldiers from all over the country Beidao is responsible for escorting the grain and grass, so he will naturally dispatch elite soldiers and generals from the area under his jurisdiction to go there.

"You should be careful when going to Baoan Prefecture. Remember what I said before. If the time is not ripe, remember not to act rashly."

Weng Pu had already told Li Zhen about his arrangements. This time he was transporting the military supplies of the Xuanfu and sending Wei Guangde to Baoan Prefecture to supervise the war. However, before leaving, he was still a little worried and stopped Wei Guangde and whispered.

"Don't worry, sir. I know how powerful I am, and I will never move lightly if I am not sure."

Wei Guangde hurriedly expressed his position.

This time, Li Zhen brought more than a thousand men and horses. This did not include the drafted civilian husbands. Some of the grain and grass previously stored in Huai Lai also had to be taken away. It can be said that this is the most important team of grain transporters. .

"Master Li, I leave everything to you."

Weng Pu nodded, then turned to Li Zhen and said.

Li Zhen didn't dare to ask for help, so she immediately bowed in response.

Under the urban management, the gate of Juyong Pass is open, and grain trucks continue to drive out of the pass and move forward along the mountain road.

On both sides of the official road, countless refugees who had not yet been interrogated were driven to both sides of the road by the soldiers. At this time, most of them stared blankly at the carts of food passing in front of them.

Because it was wartime, these people who were fleeing had no way to prove their identity, and some of them had already passed the customs.

But when Wei Guangde saw that they were hungry and cold when they fled here, he still couldn't bear to ignore them even though he had received the education of later generations. He arranged for people to give porridge twice a day under the city, as long as they ensured that no one would starve to death here.

Not long after, the rumble of horse hoofs sounded, and a group of men and horses rushed out from the city gate. The first two people were naturally Wei Guangde, and next to him was Li Zhen from Miyun.

After leaving Guancheng, Wei Guangde just turned around and rushed to Guancheng, slightly cupping his hands, and then went forward with his guards.

Speaking of which, although Li Zhen served as the inspector general, organized the troops and prepared roads, and was a fifth-grade civil servant, he was not superior to Wei Guangde.

Although Wei Guangde was only reviewed by the Hanlin Academy, a seventh-rank official, he also served as deputy border patrol envoy. As the war began, Weng Pu, the border patrol ambassador, was changed to admiral of military affairs, and Wei Guangde was also changed to counselor of military affairs. Although There was no promotion, but the position was fixed.

It is worth mentioning that the "counselor for military affairs" is not literally a staff officer or a painter. In fact, the term "counselor for military affairs" is a unique thing of the Ming Dynasty that uses civility to control military affairs.

It was created by Zhu Gaochi, Renzong of the Ming Dynasty, and fundamentally changed the way of controlling the army.

During his reign, he established the term "counselor for military affairs" in the military. This position was usually added to the appointment documents of governors from various places, that is, the civil servants sent by the imperial court to the general military ministers' office to assist in handling military secrets, and In later generations, local leaders generally served as deputy commanders of military regions at the same level.

It's just that in the Ming Dynasty, this position had great power. Not only could it "reach heaven to listen", but it could also reach into the governor and the system. Its actual power was still higher than that of the general soldier. It was said to be "auxiliary", but in reality it was For "overall management".

So much so that within a few years of development, under the promotion of the imperial court, counselors and civilian officials from all over the country were able to command the army. They even directly bypassed the previous checks and balances of the Ministry of War and the Governor's Office and formed their own system. You must know that the governors at that time were only temporary institutions. , the power is so great.

When Zhu Zhanji, Emperor Xuanzong of the Ming Dynasty, succeeded to the throne, he played a bigger role than his father Zhu Gaochi. He made the temporary governor "permanent" and elevated him to the position above the local chief envoy, the commander-in-chief, and the inspector-general. It exists so that those who know the military cannot lead the army and have to be commanded by the governor who is written as "counselor for military affairs".

It's just that such a position is brought to Wei Guangde. The specific effect depends on the attitude of the commander-in-chief. You must know that he is completely different from a Hanlin Academy reviewer to a governor sent to various places. He still lacks the title of Inspectorate. Because a big reason why governors can usurp military power is that they can impeach military generals.

Just based on his position, Li Zhen is really under the control of Wei Guangde now. After all, he is just an official in the war zone, so he is naturally under the command of the admiral military affairs officer, and Wei Guangde, the counselor of military affairs, can naturally do the same.

When Wei Guangde came out this time, in addition to taking Zhang Ji and Li San, the cavalry team sent from Jizhen to protect them was also leaving. At least in Wei Guangde's view, the cavalry from Jizhen was probably better than the cavalry from Jingying. The combat power is much stronger.

The leader of this cavalry team is called Dong Yiyuan. He has had a lot of contact with Wei Guangde in the past month. Wei Guangde feels that this person is quite reliable, at least not a greedy person.

Dong Yiyuan also has an older brother named Dong Yikui, who is now serving as a guerrilla general in Xuanfu. This is because his older brother inherited his father's position, and he could only start as the general manager, and he only got this position because of his connections.

It’s just that although Dong Yiyuan is only a captain now, he is doing the work of a guerrilla general. This time he is in charge of two cavalry teams, nearly 400 people.

He has lived in the military camp with his father, Datong Lieutenant General Dong Yang, since he was a child. Naturally, he is very familiar with military life and is fully capable of commanding a team of soldiers.

Dong Yiyuan was sent to protect Weng Pu this time, so he naturally did not dare to neglect him. However, he was still very upset when he saw that Wei Guangde, who was several years younger than him, was already a deputy envoy and a rookie in the officialdom.

It was only later that Wei Guangde asked Zhang Ji to deliberately make friends with them, and then he knew that Wei Guangde was from a garrison and had fought against Japanese pirates on the battlefield, which changed his opinion of him.

However, in their hearts, the northern border troops looked down on the southern garrisons.

It was nothing else. What kind of people were the Japanese pirates? They were short and stout. They couldn’t even deal with such a small guy, which was a disgrace to the Ming army.

Fortunately, Wei Guangde was from Jiujiang Guard. It is estimated that only Jiujiang Guard in the south can still fight. In any case, the Japanese pirates who invaded Nanjing were wiped out by them.

The court's praise for Jiujiang Guard was issued by a clear edict. Naturally, the local government in the Ming Dynasty knew about it, and the border towns in the north also knew about it.

As for the description of the Japanese pirates as the legend of special forces in later generations in the battle report, neither Jiujiang Guard nor Wei Guangde and Zhang Ji would tell the truth. They were actually a group of poor pirates. If they really told the truth, they would be nakedly inviting disaster to themselves and offending the entire Jiangnan officialdom.

Because of the exaggeration of the battle report, Dong Yiyuan was a little skeptical about the fact that this group of Japanese pirates could actually catch arrows with their bare hands and even throw them backhanded with a power similar to archery, but he had to believe it. Naturally, he also looked up to Wei Guangde, who participated in the battle to suppress the Japanese pirates and "killed" a Japanese pirate with his own hands.

Wei Guangde wanted Dong Yiyuan to go with him this time. The reason was very simple. He had a good relationship with Dong Yiyuan. He could see that Dong Yiyuan had ideals and ambitions. He was a good young man of the Ming Dynasty with great ambitions. He was also capable and could command them.

Another reason was naturally because of his brother Dong Yikui. Although he didn't know whether Dong Yikui's team had been transferred to Bao'an Prefecture, at least there was such a relationship in it, and it was much easier to talk to those guerrillas in private.

Along the way, Dong Yiyuan's team acted as scouts for the caravan. A dozen cavalry formed a reconnaissance team to go back and forth around the caravan to investigate the enemy situation. They did encounter several Tatar scouts, but they were all driven away by Dong Yiyuan's cavalry brigade in time. They didn't dare to let the Tatars find out that there was a huge caravan here with a huge amount of food and supplies.

After leaving Juyongguan, the whole caravan was running desperately, for fear of being exposed on the road and being attacked by the Tatar cavalry. The hundreds of cavalry and more than a thousand infantry could not resist it at all.

Fortunately, on the evening of the third day after leaving the customs, the convoy finally arrived at Huailai Guard safely.

After a day of rest in Huailai Guard, the baggage to be taken away was loaded again and prepared for shipment. This time the convoy was even longer.

Wei Guangde wanted to draw troops and horses from Huailai Guard for guards, but seeing that there were only a thousand people in the guard post, and the others were scattered in other military forts, he still could not give this order, but temporarily drew 300 people from the remaining soldiers in the guard post to fill the guard team.

From Huailai to Bao'an Prefecture, it would take at least five days to get there according to the previous speed of advancement, and this place is closer to the garrison of the Altan tribe, so it is the most dangerous moment.

On the night of arriving in Huailai, Wei Guangde summoned Li Zhen and Dong Yiyuan to his room to discuss. In fact, there was nothing much to say, just arrange for Dong Yiyuan to send someone to Bao'an Prefecture to deliver a letter first, and it would be best to find Dong Yikui, so that Dong Yikui can find some people to lead the team out to meet.

In addition, Dong Yiyuan was naturally required to follow the previous operation and arrange enough scout teams around the convoy to block the news of the convoy as much as possible.

The next night, when Wei Guangde called the two again to discuss the departure of the team tomorrow, Dong Yiyuan suddenly clasped his fists towards Wei Guangde and Li Zhen and said, "My lords, I talked with the people of Huailaiwei today. They suggested that we cross the Sanggan River to the west and then go to Bao'an Prefecture, and then cross the river there."

"No, if we want to cross the river, it will take at least two days, and it is still very risky to cross the river again after reaching Bao'an Prefecture."

Li Zhen objected after a little thought. After all, the main force of this team is still a grain transport convoy. Li Zhen's words have a great influence. After all, most of the grooms and guards are drawn from Miyun.

It is a good idea to use the river to block the Tatar scouts, but it would be fine if there were not so much grain and grass brought from Changping.

The mission was important because Li Zhen and his team not only transported some food from Tongzhou, but also received a large amount of food in Changping that should have been transported to Xuanfu. If this batch of food was shipped before the Tartars entered the pass, their caravan could be reduced by at least half.

Now, the food that was originally transported two or three times was transported at once, which naturally increased the risk. Both Li Zhen and Wei Guangde were sweating for this mission.

The key is that Xuanfu is short of food now, especially the troops transferred to Baoanzhou, who did not bring much food with them and were waiting for supplies here.

"It is not advisable to cross the river and take a long detour. It will take too much time. We can't afford to delay in the wild."

Wei Guangde shook his head and still felt that what Li Zhen said made sense.

Speaking of the lack of water in the north, when he arrived here, Wei Guangde found that the water network here was not bad. There were actually two rivers converging here, namely Yanghe River and Sanggan River.

When Wei Guangde initially planned the route, he also considered starting from Huailai Acropolis and going to Huailai County first. Although the distance was closer, it was also defended by two thousand households of the Huailai Guards Front Army and the Zuo Army, so it was relatively safer. Closer to the Tatar sphere of influence.

From Huailai County to Bao'an Prefecture, it would take three days if the road outside was fast. Even if Bao'an Prefecture sent troops to respond, the risk would still be great because the convoy would lack protection for at least two days.

Wei Guangde and Li Zhen both had the same idea, so in the end they chose to bypass Huailai County and go to the outside. Although it was farther, it was better than being further away from the Tatars.

As for Dong Yiyuan's proposal just now, it would take a long way around.

I just thought of the news sent by Huailaiwei today. A large number of Tatar reconnaissance cavalry appeared again in the north of Huailai County, and the frequency of activities was also very high. This sign may show that the Anta Ministry has begun to pay attention to the movement of reinforcements in the direction of Datong, and has increased the number of troops. The intensity of investigation in the direction of Huai Lai.

For this reason, Wei Guangde called the two of them here tonight. In fact, he had a not very mature idea, that is, since it has become extremely dangerous to send grain and grass to Baoan Prefecture, why should he send so much grain and grass to Baoan Prefecture? Go out, the sheep enters the tiger's mouth.

Indeed, they had two tasks this time. One was for Wei Guangde to go to Baoan Prefecture to supervise the battle and have the Xuanfu army dispatched to fight the Tatars, and the other was to send food and grass to reassure the troops.

The food was stored in Huailaiwei, or even in Huailai County, which was not far from Baoan Prefecture. It is expected that the Xuanfu army would not be in commotion due to lack of food. On the contrary, if the food was lost during transportation, the consequences would be disastrous.

Wei Guangde opened the map he carried with him at this time. Maps are not a common commodity these days, and ordinary people cannot see them.

Wei Guangde had not noticed Huailaiwei and Huailai County before. Even when he arrived in Huairou, he thought the two places were one city. It was not until he entered Changping that he discovered that the two cities were not under their control.

Huailai Guards was in charge of the city, and Huailai County was under the jurisdiction of the magistrate. Huailai Guards only placed a thousand-household station there, and after the Tatars invaded, another thousand-household station was dispatched to support.

"You should all know the news from Huailai County today. I estimate that if nothing unexpected happens, Tatar reconnaissance cavalry will appear outside Huailai Wei tomorrow."

Wei Guangde spoke loudly at this time. Although his thoughts were not yet mature, he still wanted to hear the opinions of Li Zhen and Dong Yiyuan first.

"That's what I'm worried about too."

Li Zhen said without hesitation that crossing the river would increase the risk of exposure. From the news coming from Huailai County today, he also keenly realized that the Tatars may have sent additional reconnaissance forces to the southwest to explore the direction of Datong. Military intelligence.

At this time, Dong Yiyuan rubbed his hands and asked, "Do you have any ideas, Mr. Wei? You might as well tell me and let everyone know more about it."

Wei Guangde suddenly mentioned the Tatar reconnaissance cavalry in front of them. They naturally knew about it, and Dong Yiyuan was also very sensitive. He was already aware of the danger of this trip, so he naturally took the opportunity to bring it up.