The Red Mansion: From a Small Pawn to a Leader

After Niu Ben surrendered, the capital became a target of the rebels. They rebelled for money and women, and without the threat, their true nature naturally showed.

The vanguard troops of Prince Nan'an burned, killed and looted along the way, bringing heavy disasters to the people along the way. At the same time, their marching speed was greatly slowed down. They led cows and drove donkeys one by one, and each of them robbed a large amount of property. Many of them even carried women on their horses and moved forward slowly like a snail.

They were happy with the looting, but the Prince of Nan'an and other rebels behind them were unhappy, especially the Prince of Nan'an. He was worried that "the longer the night, the more trouble there would be", so he issued three edicts in succession, ordering the vanguard army to abandon their property and women and speed up the march, but no one obeyed the orders.

The Prince of Nan'an was furious and killed the commander of the vanguard army and more than a hundred soldiers. The vanguard army was frightened and dropped all their belongings. They began to speed up their march, rushing towards the capital day and night, and finally arrived at the junction of Baoding Prefecture and Shuntian Prefecture before dusk the next day.

Looking at the collapsed stone bridge in front of him, the new vanguard commander frowned.

At this time, a spy came riding up and reported to him: "General, we have found out that this bridge has been in disrepair for a long time and collapsed at the beginning of this month. According to the villagers, there is another stone bridge ten miles upstream."

Ten miles?

The leader of the vanguard army looked up at the sky. It was just getting dark when the army arrived there. After a day and night of travel, everyone was a little exhausted. It was just right to set up camp by the river to rest and cross the river tomorrow morning to enter the territory of Shuntian Prefecture.

Thinking of this, he immediately ordered the army to change its route.

Amidst the shouts of men and the neighing of horses and the flickering light of torches, the vanguard army arrived at the stone bridge upstream.

The commander of the vanguard army rode on his horse, looking at the woods on both sides of the post road. He felt a little uneasy. The stone bridge ahead was narrow, and there were dense forests on both sides, which was a good place to set up an ambush. However, his worry was only momentary, because there were no government troops in the capital anymore.

The vanguard troops were already exhausted, and without waiting for his orders, they began to look for a place to set up camp and rest. Some even walked directly into the woods, sat down against a big tree, and took out their hidden wine to drink.

Just when everyone relaxed their vigilance, a low horn sounded from the woods on both sides, followed by the sound of arrows piercing the air, and screams and wails immediately rang out over the post road.
Three days later, the main force of the rebel army led by Prince Nan'an arrived here. At this time, there were more than a dozen simple floating bridges on both sides of the stone bridge.

Prince Nan'an nodded with satisfaction, and his dissatisfaction with the vanguard army was reduced a lot.

Looking at the army that continued to cross the river, Prince Nan'an was full of confidence but also filled with hatred.

Li wiped out his entire family and sent people to hunt him down. This feud is irreconcilable!

He had already made up his mind that after taking the capital, he would kill all the members of the Li family according to the imperial edict from the Ministry of Clan Affairs, and then grind the bodies of Emperor Yongchang, Emperor Yongxing and Emperor Tianyou, three generations of ancestors and grandchildren, which were kept in the Shouhuang Palace in Jingshan, into ashes to relieve his hatred!

Just as he was thinking about it, Old William came over and said to the Prince of Nan'an: "Your Majesty, heavy artillery cannot pass through this stone bridge."

The Prince of Nan'an frowned and asked Niu Ben behind him, "Prince Shunyi, do you know if there is a stone bridge nearby that can carry heavy artillery?"

Niu Ben thought for a moment and replied, "There is a stone bridge downstream, but it is only fifty miles away." At this point, he smiled and said, "The Arms Bureau has plenty of artillery, and it is more powerful than the Western barbarians' artillery." Then he looked at Major William behind Old William and said, "You should know this."

Major William nodded.

Niu Ben said to the Prince of Nan'an: "Your Majesty, there are no more Dashun troops in the capital. The little emperor and the imperial seal are in our hands. All the places in Shuntian Prefecture will surely surrender. Without the encumbrance of these artillery, we can reach the capital in two days."

He paused, "With 10,000 elite vanguards blazing the trail ahead, there won't be any problems. Even if there are some who are blind, they are like a mantis trying to stop a chariot and overestimating their own capabilities!"

Prince Nan'an thought for a moment and said to Old William: "Let's follow Prince Shunyi's advice. Send those artillery..."

Old William interrupted the Prince of Nan'an: "Those six-pound guns can pass over the stone bridge."

Just as the Prince of Nan'an was about to speak, Old William spoke again: "With the artillery, once the army is attacked, it can help the army repel the enemy and stabilize the position."

Niu Ben interrupted: "There are no more Dashun troops in the capital."

Old William: “What if?”

Niu Ben stared at him: "Nothing can happen!"

Old William wanted to say something but was stopped by Major William. Then he realized that Prince Nan'an's face had turned gloomy, so he had to shut up.

At this time, a deputy general came on horseback, ran to the front of the Prince of Nan'an, pulled the reins, jumped off the horse, and reported loudly: "Your Majesty, the scouts reported that the flags of our Dali have been raised all around Fangshan!"

Prince Nan'an was overjoyed: "Great! Where is the vanguard army?"

The deputy general said: "The vanguard is marching too fast, and the scouts haven't caught up yet. But according to the magistrate of Fangshan County, the vanguard is heading towards Liangxiang."

The Prince of Nan'an nodded with satisfaction and said to Niu Ben and others: "It is better to strike with a knife than to explain the truth a hundred times." Niu Ben and others laughed. The vanguard army was obviously scared!
Suddenly, a horn sounded from the other side of the floating bridge.

Everyone understood that the front troops had all crossed the river.

Prince Nan'an waved his hand and said, "Cross the river!"

Fangshan's terrain is high in the northwest and low in the southeast. The northwest is a mountainous area and the southeast is an alluvial plain.

Niu Ben followed the Prince of Nan'an and stood on the high ground, looking at the plain in the southeast. They saw thousands of horses galloping, battle flags fluttering, and dense forests of guns flashing brightly in the sunlight, full of murderous aura.

Looking at the unstoppable Dali army, Niu Ben's resentment disappeared, and he even felt secretly happy that his choice was wise.

The Prince of Nan'an put down his telescope and asked Niu Ben, "Prince Shunyi, how are the troops of Dali?"

Niu Ben replied with a smile: "Of course it is the heavenly soldiers who came down to earth."

The Prince of Nan'an asked again, "What about the troops of Dashun?"

Niu Ben: "The soldiers are weak and the generals are incompetent, a mob."

The Prince of Nan'an was stunned at first, then burst into laughter.

Old William, his nephew and the generals of Dali all laughed, but their laughter was full of ridicule and disdain.

Niu Ben blushed, but pretended not to hear, and raised the telescope to look into the distance.

The Prince of Nan'an naturally heard the sarcasm in the laughter, frowned, and was about to speak.

At this time, a burst of hurried horse hoof sounds came over, and everyone looked over.

A general came over here at the whip of his horse, and when he reached a high ground, he jumped off his horse and ran towards the Prince of Nan'an while shouting "Your Majesty".

Knowing that it was not a happy occasion, the Prince of Nan'an stared at him.

The general ran to him and knelt down, reporting: "Your Majesty, we have spotted the Dashun army in front of us and on our right wing. Judging from the flags, it is Li Hu, the Prince of Zhenbei!"

When these words were spoken, Niu Ben was the first to be stunned.

Prince Nan'an and others were also stunned.

At this moment, a spy ran over and knelt down before the Prince of Nan'an: "Your Majesty, the floating bridge in the rear has been burned, leaving only a stone bridge."

Someone shouted, "Oh no! We've been tricked!"

Everyone reacted immediately and realized they had fallen into Li Hu's trap, and a commotion broke out immediately.

Prince Nan'an's face darkened: "Silence!"

The high ground soon became quiet.

The Prince of Nan'an's eyes flickered as he thought to himself: How many people does Li Hu have under his command? At most, there are hundreds of thousands of people! With such a small number of people, he dared to split his troops into two groups and surround his side from both sides? Is Li Hu too confident? !

After a moment of silence, the Prince of Nan'an turned his gaze to the general again: "What other information have you found out?"

The general said: "The front is infantry and cavalry, and our right wing is full of Mongolian cavalry, a black mass, some of them have tens of thousands of people."

Mongol?
The Prince of Nan'an smiled again and said to everyone, "The Mongols are just chickens and dogs! If Li Hu can beat them, we can do the same!"

As he spoke, he pointed at several generals and ordered loudly: "You lead the main force of the cavalry to charge the Mongolian cavalry on the right wing, defeat them, and then go around to Li Hu's rear wing and cooperate with me to encircle and annihilate Li Hu's main force!"

The generals responded loudly, "As you command!" They drew their swords from their waists and rode away on horseback to their respective camps.

Prince Nan'an took a deep breath and said, "Let's go and meet Li Hu." (End of this chapter)