Chapter 249
Although Pang Jun was not forced to change his mind, many wealthy people in Minggu City stopped working and were no longer in a hurry to migrate when they saw that the Grand Protector had no intention of leading troops to pursue the matter. Some even ordered all the property on the vehicles to be taken back after returning home, intending to welcome the Japanese again when they came.
However, there were also some people with insight who saw that Pang Jun had other plans and did not dare to neglect him. After returning, they accelerated the pace of moving and planned to leave with Pang Jun.
Seeing this, Pang Jun ignored them and prepared to evacuate on his own.
After noon, all the guards in the City Lord's Mansion were mobilized. Pang Jun, dressed in military uniform, mounted his horse at the gate of the City Lord's Mansion. Facing the guards who had been prepared long ago, he waved his hand and ordered, "Let's go!" With the order, they rode their horses ahead, and the guards followed closely behind in an orderly manner. Cai Lianqing and her daughter, who were sitting in the family carriage, had already been intimidated by the military appearance and did not dare to show their heads.
Seeing that Pang Jun really no longer paid attention to them and set off directly, Zheng Zhong asked Zheng Yinglin in a low voice: "Master, what should we do?"
Zheng Yinglin clenched his fists, his teeth were almost broken by his teeth, and he said bitterly: "What else can we do? Follow me, the Japanese are not good men and women. This time, Liu Jun tricked me. I don't know if the Japanese will believe me. Anyway, we haven't been exposed yet. If we don't follow Liu Jun and arouse his suspicion, it will be our own negligence."
After hearing this, Zheng Zhong nodded knowingly and began to work on the relocation of the Zheng Mansion.
"What?!" When Xiyuanji Maehisa heard the news from the people sent by Zheng Yinglin that Pang Jun suddenly ordered to evacuate Minggu City today, his face changed drastically and he jumped up from his position. In order to be able to surprise Pang Jun as quickly as possible tomorrow, he went through a lot of trouble and secretly dispatched troops from all over the place to gather in Minggu City. In order to hide his whereabouts and avoid the scouts of the Liaodong Army, he even allowed the troops to march only at night and hide in various jungles and valleys during the day. After much difficulty, he managed to gather 25,000 people and arrived at a place dozens of miles away from Minggu. He was preparing to do a big fight, but who knew that Pang Jun would not follow the plan and run away ahead of time.
He drew his sword and almost wanted to kill the servant who came to report the news, but seeing the servant begging for mercy pitifully, Xiyuanji Zenhisa let it go. After all, the other party had passed the news over, and even if he killed the servant, it would be of no avail. The only thing to do now was to show his whereabouts and attack Minggu City directly. Anyway, the main force of the Liaodong Army had already withdrawn, and Minggu was an empty city. After occupying Minggu, troops would be sent to expand the results of the battle. Pang Jun could not be allowed to retreat to Guijin easily. He must let his subordinates cut a piece of meat, so he immediately ordered everyone to march quickly and head towards Minggu City!
One hour after the Japanese set up camp and moved out of their stronghold, a spy from "Sui Feng" came to report to Pang Jun: A large number of Japanese troops were discovered forty miles east of Minggu City, including a large number of cavalry, with a number of more than five thousand and a total strength of nearly thirty thousand!
After hearing the news, Pang Jun frowned and thought to himself: Are the Japanese spies so capable? The order was issued in the morning, and there were only two hours left. At most, they could walk fifty miles in two hours to avoid the pursuit of the scouts and walk in the snow. This did not include the time it would take to go out of the city from the west gate and bypass the entire Minggu City. There were only two possibilities. One was that the spy was a martial arts master with great Qinggong skills, and the other was that there was a secret passage in the city that led directly to the east gate!
But now is not the time to dwell on this matter. He rode his horse to Qi Lin's side and asked in a low voice, "How much fighting power do our troops have left while ensuring the order and progress of the people and baggage?"
Qi Lin bowed and said, "Your Excellency, we mobilized 25,000 men in this battle. After we captured Guijin, we left another 5,000 men to garrison. After we captured Minggu City, we lost a total of about 3,000 men. In the past three days, we have allocated another 3,000 soldiers every day to maintain the order of migration and transport supplies. Now, not counting the cooks, including your own guards, we still have about 7,000 men available for combat."
Pang Jun nodded. Since it was winter and there was heavy snow, there was no need for heavy cavalry that were good at fighting on flat ground for a surprise attack. So this time, there were only one thousand heavy cavalry and two thousand light cavalry following Pang Jun. Due to the evacuation, a part of the light cavalry was separated. The current seven thousand combat forces were one thousand heavy cavalry, one thousand light cavalry, and five thousand infantry.
Thinking of this, he had an idea in mind, and said to Qi Lin: "Pass the order, the heavy cavalry hide in the designated location, the light cavalry guard the rear, and everyone enters a state of alert. The migrating troops and civilians must speed up. The Japanese are coming soon. At the current speed, the Japanese army will catch up before dark!"
When Qi Lin heard the news from the Japanese, he was shocked. He bowed to Pang Jun, then immediately rode his horse forward to give orders.
The migrating people of Minggu soon discovered the unusual movement of the troops, and then heard the news that the Japanese were going to attack. At this time, they seemed to understand why Pang Jun was in a hurry to evacuate today, and they immediately panicked and became agitated. But when they wanted to make trouble, the Liaodong soldiers around them drew their cold swords at the same time, and they shrank back. They had no choice but to make up their minds and go all the way to the end, speeding up their journey, hoping to reach Guijin before the Japanese arrived. However, they had only walked less than twenty miles, but the road between Guijin and Minggu was a full eighty miles.
The only good news is that in order to relocate the people of Minggu, Pang Jun specially sent people to clear the snow on the official road between Minggu and Guijin. In addition, a large number of people had walked on it in the past two days, so the official road is now flat and spacious, much easier to walk on than the previous two days, and the speed is also much faster.
Zheng Zhong, who was in the crowd, whispered to Zheng Yinglin, "Master, it seems the Japanese have already set off. Should we..."
Zheng Yinglin shook his head imperceptibly and said, "We have already left the city. If we are caught up by the Japanese, there will be chaos and those soldiers won't recognize us. If we are killed by mistake, no one can save us. Let's leave as soon as possible."
More than an hour after the camp set out, Tachibana Sorin, deputy commander of the Western Route Army of the Japanese Army and commander of the cavalry, arrived at Minggu City with a large cavalry unit. At this time, except for those who could not leave, the rest of the people in Minggu City were wealthy gentry who were unwilling to leave. Seeing the thousands of black cavalry, they were so scared that their legs went limp, and they quickly ordered people to open the city gates to welcome the arrival of the Japanese.
Seeing the empty Minggu City, he felt as if his powerful punch had hit cotton. Retaking Minggu City was like getting a piece of stone field with great effort. Tachibana Sorin thought of the loss he had suffered at the hands of Pang Jun before, and he couldn't help but get furious. If his deputy general hadn't stopped him, he would have wanted to kill the local gentry who came to greet him to vent his anger.
Knowing that Pang Jun had left Minggu for more than two hours, and looking at the sky, it was about to enter the night, Tachibana Sorin gritted his teeth and ordered: All cavalry, take a short rest, let the horses eat enough grass, and set out immediately to hunt down Pang Jun! From Minggu to Guijin, it only takes two hours to get there by horseback. According to the current marching speed, it will take about an hour to catch up after resting for half an hour. By then, these more than 5,000 cavalry, even if they can't catch up with the migrating people, can completely entangle Pang Jun's troops. As long as the large force of Saionji Maehisa behind them catches up, they can lay the foundation for victory!
On the other hand, not long after Tachibana Sorin entered Minggu City, Pang Jun also received the news that Minggu City had fallen. He asked Sun Zihan, the scout leader of the Liaodong Army, "Zihan, where are we now?"
As the leader of the scouts, Sun Zihan already knew the surroundings of Guijin and Minggu. He looked around and replied, "Reporting to the Lord, this is the area of Chihuling, about 35 miles away from Guijin City. It is now the evening hour, and the temperature is starting to get colder. The people have been running around all day and are exhausted. The speed of travel will be greatly slowed down. It is estimated that we will reach Guijin at midnight. If we continue to move forward, I am afraid that people will die."
Pang Jun shook his head: "There is nothing we can do about it. Either we freeze to death or we die of exhaustion. Or we wait for the Japanese to arrive and get killed by the chaotic soldiers. We can just accept our fate. Also, how are the traps set to hinder the Japanese advance?"
Sun Zihan replied, "We have already prepared the pits for horses and the barriers for horses. Unfortunately, we don't have enough pig iron, otherwise we could have arranged some caltrops."
"Okay," Pang Jun nodded and asked, "Where is the main force of the Japanese now?"
"About twenty miles away from Ming Valley."
"I understand. Pass the order. If you want to go first, keep going. If you want to rest, rest first and set off again in half an hour. The whole army should rest!" After calculation, Pang Jun found that under the premise of protecting these civilians, they would be caught up by the Japanese no matter how they marched. This battle was inevitable. Instead of being caught up in a desperate situation, it is better to rest and recover some physical strength to meet the enemy. What's more, he had already given the order to mobilize Guijin's troops to come to support, and it was expected that when the Japanese caught up, the support troops would arrive.
After giving the order, he came to the warm carriage. In the carriage, Cai Lianqing, her mother and daughter saw Pang Jun coming in, and immediately smiled like flowers: "My daughter greets daddy."
Pang Jun ignored their words and asked with a smile: "The Japanese are coming soon, are you scared?"
Zheng Guanyin said, "My daughter has long been yours. Moreover, you are a hero. With your protection, a mere Japanese person is not worth mentioning."
Zheng Shuyin also said, "My daughter is not afraid. Dad will surely win the battle. Now I am only thinking about how I can serve Dad well with my sister and mother after arriving in Guijin and make him happy."
The two daughters expressed their feelings. Cai Lianqing was not willing to be left behind. She came close to Pang Jun and asked in a charming voice, "My daughter cannot speak. She only knows how to serve daddy. Why don't I use my mouth to make daddy feel refreshed so that he can kill the enemy with a refreshed mind." After saying that, her jade hand reached towards Pang Jun's crotch.
Pang Jun certainly would not indulge in lust at this inappropriate time. He stopped Cai Lianqing's teasing and said, "I know what you are thinking. Take good care of yourself. When you get to Guijin, you will have a happy life."
The three girls were very happy when they heard this. This meant that when they arrived in Guijin, they would be very favored for at least a period of time. As for Zheng Yinglin, he had long been forgotten by them.