After Xiaoxue had stopped, Jing Nan Jiedu made Song Hao's face the same color as frost and snow, and it was very cold and very heart-warming. Because since he was attacked at night outside Zhangmen Town, the army he led has been subjected to frequent harassment and sneak attacks.
And these enemies are not many in number, but they appear frequently, and the armor is quite sophisticated and highly advantageous; therefore, they not only come out sneak attacks at night; even in broad daylight, they dare to ride the wind and snow. And come to do that bluffing attack state.
Even in the heavily guarded night camps and during the midway gang, some of them came out on time to shoot arrows and set fires. Although they caused little damage and damage, the general thing is that they do not let people stop and live for a while;
Although he also ambushes his horses and dispatched horse teams to roam and wait for a while, trying to carry the tails of these thieves; and he has also successfully defeated several suspicious armed men, etc., but in addition to harvesting a hundred ragged corpses and Apart from the broken equipment, there is nothing else to gain.
And the people who were captured sporadically only knew that they had been recruited with food; as long as they followed the official army's itinerary and hid in the forest and pretended to clamor. As for the harassment, it is still annoying.
And this kind of things are all coming to clamor, under the harassment of true and false, his staff quickly accumulates a lot of exhaustion and complaints. Except for the Chenzhou Soldiers and the Taining Army, which are relatively well equipped and supplied, and have more combat experience, the other troops who followed have been left behind and fled to varying degrees.
Then, those tutu and township soldiers whose quality is worrying and uneven are the first to have problems. After many nights of shock and sleepless encounters, they clashed over the priority order of feeding at a camp, and then it turned into a mutiny without warning.
Although the Chen Zhoubing and Taining Army cavalry soldiers, who were soon waiting for the battle, were suppressed; but they chopped off hundreds of heads in one breath, and still did not stop these opposing groups and village soldiers from quickly slipping to the bottom line. Morale and fighting spirit.
Then, he made a small mistake here; when camping, he asked the united children and guards in the lower state to mix and match with the Chenzhou soldiers of the main formation to facilitate supervision and eliminate subsequent signs of escape. .
The result is that these old soldiers from Chenzhou were quickly armed and infected by these places with poor morale and low morale, and their pessimism and negative attitudes; as a result, they were invisibly weakened in response to battle and reaction to the enemy. A lot.
As a result, during a nighttime harassment, I couldn't help the thieves' provocations, and on an impulse, they entangled each other and chased them out. Then, the flaws revealed by this caused another small group of bandits disguised as officers and soldiers to sneak in, set the barn and stables nearby, and almost burned the grain and grass.
If it weren’t for Song Hao’s other subordinates who were quite experienced and quick to see the opportunity, shoveling snow nearby and throwing cloth bags to put out the fire, it would not only be the loss of hundreds of animals that flee, but the army would be deprived of food. Problem.
For this reason, he had to reluctantly behead his subordinates, including a dozen or so people, including a respected clan member and captain, and use the normal military method to follow suit. however,
Under the hindrance of these endless thieves and unexpected situations, he originally wanted to attack Caizhou and capture the rebellion marshal Wu Yuanji. Now it has become an out-and-out story. The joke and the bubble are gone.
Because the journey from Lexiang County to here actually allowed his people to walk for three days. With these three days as preparation and mobilization, he can expect that what he will encounter is the Jingmen thief army that is well-prepared and ready to be based in the city.
Therefore, although their forward position remains the same, and there are still eight or nine thousand people under his command, Song Hao's balance of victory and defeat in Song Hao's heart has become more and more dilemma and difficult. It's like a misty snow again.
. . . . . .
And on an unremarkable snow hill in the distance, an unremarkable little spot slowly wriggled out of the white background, finally revealing a face that had experienced vicissitudes and was blushed by the cold wind. It was a volunteer soldier wearing a plain white cloak and a white felt hat.
And in his hand he holds a water milled brass tube wrapped in white cloth, and he is using this thick head to look at and spy the distance, among the white and mottled wilderness roads, just as the officers and soldiers are winding. Ranks.
This is also one of the new magical equipment they have acquired by members of the expedition team and cruising team; through the two round convex polished water glaze spirits sandwiched in it, the scenes and movements in the distance can be cleared. It's generally clear when you pull it to your eyes.
It is also by virtue of this magical thing that is jokingly called "clairvoyance", as well as the light clippers that are convenient to shuttle on the water, the members of the expedition team and the veterans of the north who are accustomed to the ice and snow. The squad can easily deal with these foreign officers and soldiers.
After staying in the snow for a long time, he couldn't help feeling that his eyes were a little bit sore, and he quickly covered his eyes with a piece of blackened glazed glass, and looked at the distorted and dimmed things again, and he suddenly felt better. .
Then, he couldn't help but think of his early career and years in the North; the snow in that winter was really big, and it could sink people into the half-length snow nests, not the southern half. A small snowflake with a foot thick can be compared.
At that time, he was in the rebel army. Under the freezing winter in the north, everyone didn’t have enough clothes to keep warm. Instead, they used whatever they had, and even used straw and bark. Wrap your body with clods;
Many people are too tired and weak. Once they fall asleep, they won’t wake up anymore, leaving behind each other to keep warm in a group of hard corpses; and many people are not careful when they are running along and they don’t feel frozen. His hands and feet, and then when the weather got warmer, he slowly died of black hair and purple festering.
He also almost forgot how he survived, maybe by picking up tatters and stripping the clothes on those enemies, fellow robes, or corpses of unknown origin. Later, after arriving in Guangzhou, he developed dysentery and had to stay to recuperate for more than half a year. As a result, in the chaos in Canton, he became a member of the Taiping Army, who was confused and changed his name.
However, he didn't feel any regrets, and even felt that compared to those old brothers who had gone north, he had gone all his life to memorize words and finally came to work. Because in the Taiping Army nowadays, Arita has a future and it is both comfortable and hopeful.
Even if they are sent to work in the snow, they can’t help but have enough grease and rations to maintain their strength. There are thick cloth cloaks, felt blankets, and velvet sleeping bags to keep warm in the snow; it’s almost like it is. I've been enjoying the blessing for several lifetimes in advance.
Therefore, he feels that the life with the virtual leader in front of him is going well. It is too good to be good, and there is no return at all except for giving up his life, so he will never allow any existence before. To destroy and interfere with it.
As for the relationship in the past, whether it was the King Huang from the Grand General's Mansion, or the Grand General Wang Xianzhi, that was a very distant matter.
. . . . . .
The stinging wind and snow gradually ceased, and the mottled and cracked soil wall of Jingmen County had already faintly appeared in his vision. However, what surprised him even more was that most of the town squares outside Jingmen County that spread to the water's edge were still intact.
Song Hao could not help but add a bit of confidence and contempt; the grass thief is the grass thief, or the demeanor and style that he is familiar with, who is raging everywhere, but is not good at defending the way; even if there is city defense It is a place to stop the army, but does not understand the basic principles of clearing the country against the enemy.
Such a large area under the city is enough to become a source of materials for his troops to set up camps and repair the siege equipment; and those ready-made houses and warehouses have also traveled through the wind and snow. The best off-the-shelf shelter and repair place for the official army.
In spite of this, Song Hao still kept an eye on him and called his own soldier Yuhou Song Niandao.
"In order to prevent fraud, the shilling Suizhou Unity and Fuzhou Shou captured soldiers, and they went inside to investigate and defend respectively..."
"Telling..."
The soldier Yuhou suddenly clasped his fists and walked away. After a while, some people began to become noisy in the silent city under the wind and snow, and many little smoke trails appeared in it.
Song Hao couldn't help but stunned, and he suddenly cautiously wanted to order the preparation and confrontation; however, he saw that the pro-army Yuhou Songnian who was flying back was a little cheerful and said:
"Knowing Zhenshuai, there are no traces of thieves in the workshop. Instead, many abandoned firewood and rice grains have been found... Therefore, the first two state armies have already taken it, and started to light fire and cook on the spot. ..."
"Assholes, what a bunch of assholes..."
Song Hao couldn't help but use the suddenly louder curse to conceal the momentary embarrassment in his heart that failed to speculate. On the other hand, these grass thieves in the city further contempt. The generation who will only passively hide behind the wall in the Urn City and guard them is nothing more than water without a source, a wood without roots.
"Isn't it time for them to stall and form a team, fortify and stand by nearby... Is it possible to use greater movement to summon the grass thief officers in the city to ask for it..."
Immediately, the next sentence revealed his true intentions.
"All the things that are available in the city square need to be collected and dispatched separately by the main formation.. Not soon let the loyal soldiers of the main formation go to count and carry... Then let the Taining cavalry be responsible for the peripheral police patrol and The bounce is done..."
"This... It's got order"
The soldier Yuhou Songnian hesitated, but turned around quickly;
He naturally knows that he wants these frozen bodies and snow-soaked armors to be baked after the fire has just risen, and serve as officers and soldiers who cook hot food. It is not a simple matter to let go of the things that have already been obtained. ；
However, as the core and main force in the army, the Zhongwu Soldiers/Xuzhou Army who also trudged all the way through the wind and snow, are also eager and need these things to restore their physical strength and vigor. This is not something to discuss. You can only grievance these first The local army is out.
Then Song Hao, who continued to patrol and stab the city underneath the city, knew even more about the enemies in the city; he specifically chose to send troops on this snowy winter day, and he fought in the north, which is accustomed to wind and snow. The strength of the landman's pawn is to control the ideas of these thieves from outside the southern ridge.
Now it seems that he, they are even more unbearable than they thought, and they have actually given up most of the city patrol under the wind and snow.
After another half-hour, the rustling noise in the city square became increasingly violent and yelling. If you look down from above, you will see many officers and soldiers under different flags in groups. Confronted each other.
In more cases, the local officers and soldiers with swollen noses and bloody heads were driven aside, while daring to be angry but not saying anything, the healthy pawns from the loyal military army occupied or removed them grandiose The fire and hot food and soup have been made.
Then came the late military officials and military officials; compensatory handed out some cold cakes, cold balls and the like that would not break down for ten and a half months in this weather. of. Although no one spoke for a while, but holding this cold cake and dumpling, faint anger spread in the bottom of my heart.
At this time, Song Hao was able to move into the new Central Military Account, a fairly tidy, grass market tax office. At this time, the grass thief on the far head of the city still did not move; only the forested flags were swaying alone in the wind.
At this time, someone asked for instructions again
"The Taining Ma Jun at the outposts knows that they have requested to be repaired in batches to restore horsepower.
"It's time..."
Song Hao couldn't think about it because of the large charcoal fire. After all, this Taining army is his only cavalry force. Even if people don't have to rest, the horses on the mounts must drink and feed as well as clean their fur to ensure that they will not be injured or sick and will not lose weight.
"Let the people from Fuzhou and Suizhou, who have been resting for a short half-day before, take over most of the Taining Army's defense line..."
"Let the rest of the state soldiers separate their hands, first dig out the outer camps and defense trenches before dark..."
At this time, someone in the account felt that something was wrong, but was held back by his companions due to the current scene; and watched the decision passed on.
Then, a little bit resentful, he broke free and walked out, shouting to his companion:
"You know there is something wrong with this matter, why don't you let me say it... You should know the truth that there is no inequality in the army..."
"Even if something is wrong, it is not something you can care about and dismiss."
Companion is persuasively.
"There is no such thing as equality in this world. Even the handsome guys are not close to each other, so why bother with the disappearance of these promises?"
While talking, the raps and noise in the distance suddenly turned into a series of shouts and dusty fighting movements. Then several military academies who looked panicked rushed over and shouted:
"It's not good, the Suizhou soldiers resisted orders, and even coerced Lu Lang to take away the military resources and ran away loudly..."
"The Fuzhou soldiers and the Taining army are fighting for the camp on the street, and the fire has merged..."
With these shouts, the flames and plumes of smoke rising in the city square slowly spread. But when Song Hao was surprised to stand tall above the Drum Tower in Caoshi City and looked into the distance, he suddenly yelled:
"No, it's unusual to raise the fire..."
Before he finished his words, he saw the blowing snow in the wilderness suddenly become fierce; and the indistinct flood of large swordsmen in the blizzard was already in the upper hand like wings. The general accelerated culling came over.
And the originally silent city head also seemed to wake up all at once, but in the midst of the tumultuous sky, many arrows were shot out, and there were shooting stars-like fireballs.
"This is the trap and ambush for the grass thieves... Our army is also alive."
At this moment, Song Hao only felt that his chest was hammered heavily by the invisible forehead force, and he was almost about to fall from the drum tower. (End of this chapter)