On a dark and windy night, people are killing people and setting fires.
Qining was not prepared to set fire, but was prepared to kill.
He was not the only one who committed the murder. The accompanying warriors had previously pretended to take a rest. Some of them deliberately lay down in order to show the five Han soldiers that these warriors were already ready to kill.
People follow the crowd, and if everyone stays awake, those Han soldiers will definitely not feel sleepy. But when everything quiets down and everyone falls asleep, and some even snore, those Han soldiers will not sleep even if they want to. Difficult.
When Qi Ning entered the pass, although he handed over all his bows, arrows and sabers, Cao Ying did not search everyone's body after all.
The swords and long bows were gone, but a small number of them still had daggers hidden on their bodies.
Qining's cold blade was hidden in his boots, making it even more difficult for others to detect.
Just passing the checkpoint is certainly not the purpose of Qining's personal action.
Even if the journey is smooth, if these dozens of people really cross the Qinling Mountains, what can they do in the northwest land
What Qining wants to do is to completely destroy the checkpoint and leave no one alive.
Duan Canghai commanded the elite soldiers of Chu State and was behind Qining. He set off only two days later than Qining. If the checkpoint could not be destroyed, then the soldiers and horses behind would naturally be unable to pass through Ziwu Road.
Before setting off, Qi Ning had already made careful arrangements. He waited until he led the team into Ziwu Road before telling his subordinates the detailed plan.
Although the warriors who accompanied the team were all powerful soldiers who were as strong as ten, Qining had no plan to attack the Han soldiers as soon as they entered the checkpoint.
He knew that even if the Han soldiers believed that this team was a mission to Xianyang, they would not take it lightly. In fact, as he expected, after entering the pass, Cao Ying and his group of guards did not relax their guard. If at that time If we take action, even if we can kill all those dozens of people, there will definitely be damage on our side, and at that time we did not fully understand how many people the opponent had at the checkpoint, and whether there were any hidden soldiers, so naturally it was impossible. act rashly.
Now that he has a complete understanding of the situation at the checkpoint, he can take advantage of the darkness to turn around and launch a surprise attack while the other party is negligent. In this way, the damage on his side can of course be minimized.
Qi Ning touched the Han soldiers like a ghost and found that the four Han soldiers were already asleep. However, one Han soldier turned over slightly and was not yet asleep. It was no coincidence that the soldier did not feel it. Qi Ning sneaked closer, but when he turned over, he half-squinted his eyes and saw a shadow approaching.
He is on the front line, and his alertness is certainly not comparable to that of ordinary soldiers. Although he has not seen clearly what the situation is, his first reaction is to reach out to grab the saber. As soon as he stretched out one hand, he felt that his eyes were blurred, and he had not yet seen it. Before he had time to think about it, his throat felt stinging, and the sharp blade had already penetrated directly into his throat.
The one who took action was naturally Qi Ning.
Qi Ning's martial arts cultivation today can already compete with the top masters in Jianghu Mountain. A mere soldier, in terms of martial arts, is almost no different from an ant in Qi Ning's eyes.
The cold blade cuts iron like mud. The stabbing was crisp and sharp. After piercing the throat, he quickly pulled it out. Blood spurted out from the edge of the knife. Qining didn't even look at it. After pulling out the dagger, the blade moved to the side. He slashed and instantly cut the throat of another soldier lying on the ground.
This is not a martial arts contest, and Qining certainly doesn't talk about moral principles.
Except for the first one, the five Han soldiers were aware of it. The remaining four had their throats cut almost in their sleep. Qining did it quickly and swiftly. Of course, he would not have any sympathy at this time.
After dealing with the five Han soldiers, Ji Jincai and others had already stood up. He quickly walked towards the carriage, and the soldiers also gathered around the carriage. Ji Jincai went over and tore off the seal of a box and opened the lid. It was covered with a layer of yellow silk. When the yellow silk was lifted, there was straw underneath. Ji Jincai said in a deep voice, "Everyone, get your weapons." He reached into the alley and actually took out a big knife from inside.
The broadsword has no scabbard and the blade is extremely sharp.
Everyone didn't talk nonsense and lined up to take out the weapons from the alley. The box was stuffed with straw. They were worried that when the carriage was bumpy, if there was no straw to cover it, the weapons would make a crisp sound when they collided. This would naturally happen. This alerted the Han soldiers at the checkpoint.
At that time, Qi Ning had already expected that the Han soldiers would never let the troops enter with weapons. It was a matter of course to collect the weapons, so he thought about where to hide the weapons.
Whether the Han soldiers would search the body or not, of course, could not be confirmed in advance. Even if the body was not searched, it would be impossible for those swords to be hidden in the mountains. For soldiers who dealt with swords every day, it was easy to see whether others had knives hidden on them.
Qi Ning also thought about hiding weapons in the carriage where several women were riding, but that was not safe. No one could guarantee that Han soldiers would not check the carriage.
It was Ji Jincai's final suggestion to simply put the weapons in the box and put a seal on the outside. After all, the relationship between the two countries was related to the relationship between the two countries. The Han soldiers might not really dare to open the box by force. If the Han soldiers really insisted, they could turn around and leave. Using the threat of returning home, Ji Jincai judged that a few guards would never dare to turn back the Chu mission due to their own reasons. Qining finally adopted Ji Jincai's opinion. In fact, Ji Jincai's move did work.
"You have all seen the watchtower of the checkpoint." Qining gathered everyone and whispered: "The first thing we have to deal with in this operation is the guards on the watchtower to prevent them from sending out signals."
"Sir, I have carefully observed that there are torches on the watchtower. If it is during the day, it should be a sign of fireworks." A soldier nearby who was over thirty years old and looked quite mature said: "Other than that Outside, at the north corner of the watchtower, there is a horn. If nothing unexpected happens, the horn is also used for signaling. No one sees the beacon smoke at night, so they can definitely blow the horn to notify the next checkpoint. "
Another person said: "Sir, I have seen the horn horn guy before and heard people talk about it. Once you have enough strength to blow it, the sound can travel very far."
"That's right." Qi Ning patted the man on the shoulder and said, "So we can't give them a chance to send the signal." He asked, "The Ban Taishou said that there are a few of you who are very good at archery and can always hit the mark. Who are they?" ?”
The man who spoke earlier had already said: "Sir, the commander of the squad sent the young man here to take on the task of shooting the sentry. His archery skills are not perfect, but he made an estimate over there before, within two hundred steps. , the villain has the confidence to shoot the sentry on the watchtower."
Qi Ning smiled and said: "So your archery skills are very good. That's right. What's your name?"
"Young man Qin Jian!" the man said hurriedly: "But it's not an arrow from a bow, it's a sword from a long sword."
Qi Ning smiled and said: "This name is quite murderous."
"The villain's father is a blacksmith." Qin Jian scratched his forehead and said with a naive smile: "On the day the villain was born, his father just made an iron sword, so he named the villain Qin Jian."
The action was imminent. Although the soldiers fought bravely and fiercely, they were still a little nervous. When they suddenly heard Qin Jian say this, everyone smiled and the atmosphere suddenly became more relaxed.
"Who else is confident in their archery skills?"
The soldiers looked at each other, were silent for a moment, then squeezed in a man from behind, held his hands to Qining and said, "Sir, Lu Kang is willing to serve."
Qi Ning looked at the man and said with a smile: "As long as you take action, nothing will go wrong."
However, Lu Kang and Qining recognized this. When Qining took over the position of commander of the Black Scale Battalion and reorganized the Black Scale Battalion, Duan Canghai immediately summoned the remnants of the Black Scale Battalion. The Black Scale Battalion fought a bloody battle with the Xuelan Army under Beitang Qing, and almost all of them were killed. The army died in the battle, and there were only a few dozen people left. These surviving warriors were properly arranged by the court and assigned to serve as generals in various places. Duan Canghai sent out a summons letter, and the old members of the Black Scale Battalion immediately resigned from their posts and gathered together. Follow Duan Canghai and Zhao Wushang to rebuild the Black Scale Camp.
This Lu Kang was already a captain in Changshui. He also resigned and returned to the Black Scale Battalion. He has been assisting Duan Canghai in training the soldiers of the Black Scale Battalion.
This time Qi Ning came to Xichuan, Duan Canghai transferred a hundred elites from the Black Scale Camp to accompany him, and Lu Kang was also among them.
Qining led the team into Ziwu Road with forty people, half of whom were local officers and soldiers selected by Ban Yun. These people had experience in mountain warfare and were very brave, so they were incorporated into it, while the other half The people are from the Black Scale Battalion, and those one hundred people are the elite of the Black Scale Battalion. Duan Canghai took Qining's safety into consideration, so the twenty people he selected from the one hundred people are even more elite among the elite.
Lu Kang is an old member of the Black Scale Battalion. He fought countless bloody battles on the battlefield. Those who were able to be recruited into the Black Scale Battalion back then were all good at riding and shooting, and were proficient in swords and guns. Many years have passed, and although Lu Kang is nearly forty years old, he has a lot of skills in his hands. The effort was not wasted.
Lu Kang raised his hand and smiled at Qin Jian: "Brother Qin, there are two people on the watchtower. When the time comes, you and I will take action at the same time, and each of us will kill one without giving them any chance."
Qin Jian knew that Lu Kang was brought by Qin Ning from the capital, but he didn’t know that Lu Kang was from the Black Scale Camp, and he didn’t know about Lu Kang’s past experiences. However, he knew that Lu Kang was not a simple person at the first glance, and he gave up. He said: "I will follow your orders." Knowing that Lu Kang was from Qining, of course the soldiers in his own place could not compare with him, so his words were very polite.
"You two, the bows and arrows are hidden in another alley." Ji Jincai said hurriedly. He also knew about tonight's action. Shooting the two sentries on the watchtower was a matter of success or failure. Since the task fell on these two people, for this The two of them seemed quite polite.
Qi Ning saw that Ji Jincai was also holding a knife in his hand and said with a smile: "Master Ji Bo, you and the girls will stay here. I will leave you two more people to protect you. Everyone else will follow me to capture the checkpoint. "
"Sir, although I am a civil servant in my humble position, I still practice some sword skills on weekdays." Ji Jincai said immediately: "We only have so many people. One more person will help us more. This humble position...!"
Qi Ning smiled and said: "Everyone performs their duties. Master Ji, please don't misunderstand me. It's not that I don't look down on your martial arts, but you are pretending to be a messenger. There is still a long way to go. If you make a mistake, you will be hurt. There is some trouble, we will raid tonight, we have enough manpower, don’t worry.”
Ji Jincai knew that Qining was also doing it for his own good, so he nodded and said: "The humble post is here waiting for the lord and you all to return in triumph."