The military uniform worn by the little baby was very loose. It was obviously ripped from the body of the deceased and simply altered, but it still didn't fit properly.
Li Ting squatted down, reached over, and closed the wound in the middle of his uniform, trying to cover the whitened muscles and the torn internal organs inside. The uniform was soaked with blood and became sticky and heavy. Li Ting pulled it hard twice, and his hands were covered with blood.
"This little boy's name is Han Lai'er. He is the second son of Han Renqing, the leader of the defeated army in Guchengdian. He and his elder brother were familiar with my younger brother Li Yun... His elder brother died of illness last year. Li Yun even cried once... It seems that when the Gucheng store was attacked, Han Lai'er happened to be playing outside. He rushed back along the road, happened to bump into the enemy, and was found."
Having said this, Li Ting stood up and said, "Do you remember Han Renqing? He's from Fuzhou."
"Of course I remember." Guo Ning nodded: "We fought with him at Qingbaikou. Old Han was originally a veteran of Fuzhou's military service. He was skilled in bow and horse, and he was kind, so he was The soldiers support it.”
"Yes, he is a rare kind person."
Li Ting responded, looking at the black smoke rising in the direction of the Gucheng store, he lowered his head and looked at the body again: "This kind man's lair was raided, and his son was killed! This knife was really neat, and the person who did it was ruthless. A character. But I don’t know who he is under Yang An’er’s command.”
As he spoke, his face turned livid, and he was obviously extremely angry.
Twenty miles south of Guchengdian, to the west of Ansu County, is the Wazi River parallel to the Qihe River. The water pool formed by the accumulation of Wazi River is called Wuguandian, and Li Ting and others stopped here. Therefore, Li Ting and Han Renqing are close neighbors, and the two groups often interact with each other on a daily basis.
The life of the stragglers is not easy. It is inevitable that they will be short of food today and salt tomorrow, so they have to support each other. Over time, the two families have developed a deep friendship.
These defeated soldiers are all brave. If they really want to let go and do whatever they want, what can't they do? The reason why he lives in such embarrassment is that he wants to avoid the fighting for a little bit and live a peaceful life in this damn world for a while.
Even if some people turn into bandits. Monk Luo, for example, has no taboos in his actions, but they generally have certain rules and they will not burn, kill, loot, or attack and kill the stronghold of defeated troops.
The defeated soldiers had a difficult life, and so did the common people.
In this world, there are so many miserable people struggling to survive, so why bother your own family?
Good thing now, even this little chance of survival is almost gone!
Three days ago, Guo Ning told Li Ting that he might as well send people to pay attention to Yang An'er's actions, but at that time no one expected that Yang An'er's actions would be so violent.
Li Ting sent out five or six detectives, but most of them came back yesterday. They reported that four or five camps of broken troops had been breached, and the people in the camps had been robbed and kidnapped.
When Guo Ning and others arrived at Qiuhe River, they encountered the Guchengdian camp which had also been breached. This is a large-scale camp. There are at least nearly a hundred soldiers in the camp, and there are twice as many ordinary people!
A few days ago, Xiao Hao and Hu Nasi had killed many of their companions in Anzhou. It is roughly estimated that more than 200 people died in the five broken-down strongholds near Anzhou, and no fewer than 200 civilians, women and children were implicated in the disaster.
But after all, Xiao Haohu still wanted to serve as the commander of the Anzhou capital and had no intention of becoming the target of public criticism, so he actually acted with restraint. For someone with an ambiguous attitude like Wang Shixian, after being captured, he was only beaten severely and had one of his fingers cut off.
Yang An'er was different. He was much more powerful than Xiao Haohu, and his actions were even more intense, almost like massacre!
Li Ting walked a few steps forward and stood among the trees beside the river beach, looking out.
The remaining light of dusk gradually dissipates. Yang An'er's soldiers on the other side of the river finally walked into the shadows under the river embankment and were out of sight. Suddenly they lit up the pine torches again, and Li Ting could clearly see their retreating figures.
The light of the setting sun, the light of the torches, and the faint light of the fire in the direction of the Gucheng store were all reflected on the water, and the swaying water waves reflected wisps of red, like blood.
Maybe it really is blood.
"Yang An'er is definitely going to rebel! He is going to Shandong anyway and has no intention of staying in Hebei for too long, so he acts without any scruples! But..."
Li Ting turned back like a whirlwind and stared at Guo Ning: "According to what you said before, it will be beneficial for us if Yang An'er and his gang go to Shandong... Maybe this is the truth. But we just sit back and watch Yang An'er behave like this. Treat our Paoze brothers like this?"
Guo Ning pondered for a moment and sighed.
Since that big dream a few days ago, Guo Ning has had a lot of new insights and ideas in his mind. Because of his increased experience, he increasingly felt that the situation in front of him was both sad and absurd.
The stragglers distributed in the armies of various states in Hebei were originally the backbone of the imperial army. Everyone has combat literacy, experience in military command, and the tenacity to contend with powerful enemies. Reduced to this point, each of them is filled with strong resentment at being abandoned by officials and generals, and is full of despair about their poor life.
Yang An'er's troops stationed in Dingxing County used to be law-abiding people. They were squeezed to the point where they could no longer survive, so they fought against the imperial court at all costs.
Strictly speaking, the defeated soldiers and Yang An'er's troops should not be enemies. The two could have collaborated or even merged.
The sufferings suffered by both parties actually all stemmed from the obsessive rule of the Jin Dynasty, the increasingly fierce ethnic conflicts within the Jin Dynasty, the economic collapse, the decline of people's livelihood, and the incompetence of foreign wars.
The Jurchen aristocratic group wantonly occupied the land, and the corrupt officials carried out harsh inspections and excessive recruitment; the imperial army generals regarded the soldiers as cattle and horses, and treated them as nothing more than grass and grass. They single-handedly created the current predicament and created a world that makes it unbearable for people to live. They are the real enemies.
But the airs of the Dajin court are still there, and the huge political power spanning thousands of miles of territory has not yet fallen. Although they have suffered heavy losses, countless recruitment departments, military unification departments, Xuanfu departments, and general administration offices are still there, and countless meng'an soldiers, defense forces, bodyguards, and Yi troops are still there.
Since Dajin is the imperial court, it is natural for the imperial court to do evil. For hundreds of years, the Khitan people have been like this, and the Jurchens have been like this, everything is normal. The defeated soldiers fought for their lives in mountains of corpses and seas of blood, and suffered countless hardships. However, no one thought about the key issues, or did not dare to think about them.
Tens of thousands of brave warriors struggled to survive with their heads and eyes covered. The most courageous ones are just planning to join the Mongols and eat some of the remaining carrion.
After all, Yang An'er, a rebel with many years of experience, is smarter than ordinary soldiers.
It seems that he has a broader vision and loftier ambitions, so he knows who the enemy is and wants to fight against him.
However, they do not know the correct method and can only act within the scope of their own understanding.
They only regard the defeated soldiers all over the mountains and plains as strong men who are easy to take away, and fat meat that is easy to be slaughtered. So, relying on the thousands of years of bandits' tactics of holding people hostage, they swung their swords and killed the same poor people first until their heads rolled and their blood flowed like rivers.
Those they slaughtered and kidnapped were all Guo Ning's comrades!
Without Li Ting's urging, Guo Ning couldn't sit idly by.
"Since we are here, we have to do something. However, Yang An'er's troops can easily defeat the Gucheng Store, so there must be a lot of troops. Let the archers spread their guard, and the other soldiers will rest here for a while. The few of us will cross the river to explore Check it out. I remember that there is a wooded slope east of Gucheng Store, which is very suitable for exploring the situation... That place seems to be called Gaolin Slope, right? "
Li Ting said quickly: "Exactly."
"Let's go to Gaolinpo."
"good!"
Guo Ning turned around and looked around, and asked in a deep voice, "Has Master Huifeng arrived?"
In the dark wilderness, Monk Luo's thick voice sounded: "Here he comes! The Sa family is here!"
"The enemy is not an ordinary bandit. We must set up scouts and secret sentries near the Gucheng Store. Master Huifeng, please go out and grab a tongue and come back for questioning."
Monk Luo chuckled and said, "Okay, okay."
Li Ting couldn't help but be surprised when he heard Guo Ning's instructions.
He was not familiar with Monk Luo. In recent days, he had seen the fat monk's footsteps pounding wherever he went, like a mountain of flesh. How can this be the kind of material that can do fine things?
Just as he was surprised, he saw Monk Luo taking off his broad robe and only wearing a dark gray short jacket. He nodded slightly to Guo Ning and jumped into the forest beside the road. The figure as huge as a bear swayed very lightly, and Li Ting's eyes blurred. At first, he saw a bald head flashing, but then he lost sight of it.
"Master Huifeng is extraordinary and has his own abilities. Li Erlang, let's go and check it out ourselves. Don't worry."
"What a skill! What a skill!" Li Ting was stunned for a long time. Seeing that Guo Ning was already heading towards the river beach, he quickly rushed to catch up.
