North bank of the Huai River.
Two thousand Ming army infantrymen and the Shun army composed of three thousand civilians soon met.
Both sides have arranged their battle formations and are ready to go.
The Ming army's formation was perfect.
At the front of the army were the chariots.
Spearmen and sword and shield soldiers followed closely behind.
Further back are the firearms soldiers and archers.
In order to make up for the insufficient number of chariots on both sides, the Ming army deployed a large number of spearmen and swordmen on both sides.
Although the Shun army's military formation was the same as that of the Ming army, the quality and equipment of individual soldiers were much worse than those of the Ming army.
"attack!"
In the central army formation, Deputy General Wang Fei gave an order and the Ming army slowly moved forward.
At the same time, the generals of the Shun army also issued the same order.
Bang!
The firearms soldiers opened fire first.
Amid the screams, the two armies were getting closer and closer.
Buzz--
Dense arrows flew into the sky and then fell from the sky like locusts.
The Shun army soldiers raised their shields, wooden boards and even pot lids to resist.
Amid shouts and cries of killing, the two armies met.
"Kill!" A deafening shout broke out from the Ming army, followed by spears shooting out.
In the chaos of the army, corpses fell in large numbers.
The Shun army was a motley crowd, and facing the attack of the Ming army, it showed signs of being defeated.
Just then...
The sound of horse hooves rumbled from behind the Shun army.
Looking back, we saw an elite cavalry rushing out from the side and rear of the Shun army, drawing their bows and arrows and charging towards the Shun army.
"It's the Ming army!"
"We are surrounded!"
“Run!”
A feeling of uneasiness quickly spread among the army, and the makeshift team of 3,000 civilians soon fell into chaos.
The soldiers at the back fled first.
As they ran, a gap appeared in the army formation.
When the others saw someone running away, they followed without hesitation.
The defeat was like a landslide. One man led ten, and ten led a group.
The comrades who were fighting side by side the moment before became stumbling blocks on the road to escape the next moment.
Under the pursuit of the Ming cavalry, countless Shun soldiers were killed and trampled upon.
After two quarters of an hour, the battle was coming to an end.
The Ming army soldiers took out their "beheading knives" and began to cut off the enemies' heads.
The Jieshou Knife is not a long knife, but a sharp blade similar to a dagger. It is a weapon specially used by the Ming army to cut off heads.
After briefly dealing with the scene, the Ming army's infantry and cavalry merged together and retreated to Fengyang.
"Report!"
Outside Fengyang City.
In the central military tent on the bank of the Huai River, Ma Shiying's thoughts were interrupted by the shouting of the messenger.
"read."
"On his way to support Guzhen County, Deputy General Wang Fei encountered thousands of bandits and won a great victory after a hard battle."
"In this battle, we killed a thousand bandits and captured a hundred. We also seized dozens of chariots, dozens of stones of food and fodder, and hundreds of swords and bows."
Ma Shiying showed no sign of being happy. He just nodded and said, "I understand. Go down."
"As you command...I obey." The messenger left the military tent with a suspicious look on his face.
After the messenger left, Lu Jiude approached Ma Shiying and said, "I won the battle, Governor Ma should be happy, why are you so sad?"
Ma Shiying snorted coldly: "It's not like we haven't fought against Li Chuang before. His troops are quite powerful! This great victory is indeed a bit strange."
Lu Jiude nodded without comment, "Indeed, we should be careful."
As he was talking, the guards outside the door stepped in and said, "My lords, someone is coming from Nanjing."
Someone from Nanjing?
Ma Shiying and Lu Jiude stood up at the same time and walked out quickly.
Outside the tent door.
A middle-aged man in a blue shirt and a net scarf stood there with his hands behind his back.
The net scarf is a net used by adult men in the Ming Dynasty to tie up their hair.
The net scarf did not exist since ancient times, but was created in the Ming Dynasty.
On the fourth day of the first lunar month in the first year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang proclaimed himself emperor in Nanjing and named the country Ming and the reign title Hongwu.
After becoming emperor, Zhu Yuanzhang issued an edict to ban Mongolian clothing and restore Han Chinese clothing.
The standard of Han people's clothing is the crown and clothes.
Because traditional crowns and robes were divided into noble and humble types, Zhu Yuanzhang made some changes to them.
Remove the hat from the crown costume and replace it with a net scarf.
The net scarf could be worn by everyone, regardless of status, including the emperor and common people.
Thus, the most characteristic headgear clothing of the Ming Dynasty appeared in history.
Influenced by the Ming Dynasty's scarf culture, countries such as Vietnam and North Korea also imitated the use of net scarves.
Many people see that net scarves are used very frequently in Korean costume dramas and think that it is a feature of Korean clothing.
Little did people know that it was passed down from the Ming Dynasty.
After seeing the man's appearance, Ma Shiying and Lu Jiude stepped forward at the same time and bowed deeply: "Why did Eunuch Han come in person?"
The eunuch Han they were talking about was none other than Han Zanzhou, the eunuch garrisoning Nanjing.
The garrison eunuchs were personnel dispatched by the Imperial Household Department and were stationed in Nanjing City, Tianshou Mountain (the location of the Twelve Ming Tombs), Fengyang Ancestral Tomb and other places.
Theoretically speaking, they have more power than the Jinyiwei and the Eastern Depot, and are equivalent to the emperor's clones.
Han Zanzhou showed an air of superiority and said in a hoarse voice, "Why, you are not welcome?"
"Welcome! Mr. Han, please come in person!" Ma Shiying bowed his head and moved forward.
Lu Jiude did not dare to neglect him. Although they were both eunuchs, the other party's status was much higher than his.
He bowed and said, "Eunuch Han, you are joking. Please come into the tent and talk."
Han Zanzhou was very satisfied with their performance. He stood there with a serious expression, "The Crown Prince has issued an order."
Ma Shiying and Lu Jiude knelt down immediately.
Han Zanzhou paused and said, "I heard that Li Chuang is heading south with great force. Although our Ming Dynasty has many soldiers and generals, they are scattered all over the country and have different powers. For this reason, I have specially appointed Ding Kuichu as the governor-general of the support and suppression. All units are under his control and must obey his orders. Otherwise, they will be punished by military law."
"Also, in order to protect Fengyang, Ma Shiying is ordered to immediately gather all the troops and station them in Fengyang to await reinforcements."
"I obey your order!" Ma Shiying and Lu Jiude stood up after receiving the order.
Ma Shiying asked first: "Eunuch Han, do you have any other wishes?"
"No."
"Ding Kuichu...?"
"Ding Kuichu was recommended by Ruan Dacheng, and it was also the result of a discussion between His Highness and the ministers in the court."
Ma Shiying was stunned at first, but then he understood the reason.
Ruan Dacheng would definitely recommend him first, and only after encountering opposition would he recommend Ding Kuichu as a second choice.
Okay.
Ding Kuichu has a close relationship with him. He might cheat others, but he would never cheat him.
"Eunuch Han, please come into the tent and have a rest. I'll have someone prepare some wine and food. We won't leave until we're drunk!" Ma Shiying said flatteringly.
Han Zanzhou shook his head with a look of contempt. Before Ma Shiying noticed, he chuckled and said, "Forget the wine and the food. I will leave immediately to go to Fuyang to convey the emperor's order."
"But before I go, I have something to say."
"Please speak, sir."
"If Fengyang is lost, the consequences will be at your own risk. See you later!"
After Han Zanzhou left, Ma Shiying realized the seriousness of the problem. He immediately beat the drum and went to the tent to mobilize all the troops that could be mobilized.
"Order all the troops in Huainan and Fuyang to be transferred back to Fengyang for garrison, quickly!"
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