Chapter 32 Encirclement and Annihilation
Earlier.
The decoy auxiliary team used thick-backed hatchets to chop at the thorns blocking the road, and slowly went deep into the forest, finally finding two large trees that could be used. Falling down a big tree is a technical job. Even a professional logger may encounter unexpected disasters at any time. What's more, these half-hearted coolies may be unlucky enough to be killed by a falling tree one day. The facts are commonplace. However, they themselves see it very clearly: the ministers are the cannon fodder of the great emperor, the generals are the cannon fodder of the ministers, the soldiers are the cannon fodder of the generals, and the auxiliary soldiers like themselves are the cannon fodder of the cannon fodder... All of these are fate.
Everyone looked up at the big tree, discussed it for a while, and then started to work.
First, you need to clear a space so that when the big tree falls, it will not be blocked by other trees, which can really kill people. No one can say how long it will hang in mid-air: maybe it will collapse with a few clicks in half a stick of incense, or maybe it will stay there for a year and a half! Should you chop down the tree that supports it or not? If you don’t cut it, all your efforts will be in vain. Cut it? Maybe one blow of an ax can knock down a big tree - if it is swept by any branch on the lush canopy, the worst case will be severed limbs and disabled for life - if a soldier is disabled in battle, the camp will support him for the rest of his life, and the auxiliary The barracks never raised disabled people, they just kicked them out and left them to fend for themselves.
Then the road still needs to be filled in. If you want to transport the grown aniseed, you will definitely not be able to drag it. You need to work together to roll the tree trunk with the branches removed onto several prepared wooden boards, put a few cup-sized wooden sticks underneath to make a wheel, and push it for a few steps. Move the free planks and wheels at the back to the front and continue moving forward. Therefore, the road should be kept relatively smooth.
Everyone was busy, cursing, and making vulgar jokes. Amidst the noise, no one noticed that dozens of officers and soldiers were approaching.
In the dense woods, you will be out of sight of your companions within a short distance. The previous hunts had been somewhat strenuous: the thieves had never gone so deep as they did today, until they reached the end of the completely dead-end trail. In order to prevent the thieves from slipping through the forest and exposing the presence of the officers and soldiers, most of the brothers had to sneak far in front of the thieves and drive them out. There were not many people outside. However, there were cavalry in the outer circle. Those who missed it would run away. If you don't reach the official road, you will be blocked by the cavalry.
Han Dong is the leader of this group of infantry. It's such a far way to get in, and there's no existing trail. The infantry will have a hard time walking through it, and the cavalry will definitely not be able to get in. The front has been completely blocked by shrubs and vines, so there is no need to worry about thieves trying to get in and not being able to escape. As long as the semicircular circle is dense enough and no one is missed and intercepted by the cavalry in the outer circle, this great achievement will be all his own!
Judging from the sound, there are quite a lot of people there, and it is very likely that the people who stayed online this time will be as good as those from the previous two times! With this great achievement at the end, Han Dong squinted his eyes and imagined that he had vaguely "saw" himself sitting majestically in the circle of horsemen beside the bonfire this evening, taking a bite of the fragrant barbecue, and even the gray-haired prefect in the county. In the Yamen Hall, the appointment of "Mr. Han Dongqian" was read out with a smile... Well, there is no rush, no matter how much this credit is, the cavalry soldiers cannot be divided!
Because they had to secretly break up the encirclement, the infantry entered the forest about two quarters before the horsemen (in ancient times, there were twelve hours a day, and each hour was divided into eight quarters, and each quarter was about fifteen minutes today). However, his position was relatively far back, and it was time to hear some movement of the cavalry behind him. Why didn't any cavalry soldiers come over to make contact?
Hum, there is no best! The two idiots are just lazy. I will let you know how powerful Grandpa Han is in a while!
Han Dong smiled evilly, put the wooden whistle into his mouth, and blew it.
Every foot soldier who heard the whistle put his wooden whistle into his mouth and blew in response. Suddenly, sharp whistles sounded one after another in the forest.
The auxiliary soldiers who were cutting wood were confused at first when they heard the whistle. They all put down their work and stood up to follow the sound. When the officers and soldiers emerged from the surrounding area shouting, they were all dumbfounded. The experienced man immediately put his head in his hands and fell to the ground as a conditioned reflex: his head is far less valuable than an ax and a saw. As long as he is not regarded as a threat, no one, whether an officer or soldier or a thief, has to kill an old man. Splattering yourself with blood, right? The worst-case scenario is that they will be taken to the other side and continue to work as coolies - everywhere they go, there are grain cakes and wild vegetable soup, so what's the difference? Some half-year-old children who had no knowledge were so frightened that they ran away. Of course, they could not run very far and were either forced back to the clearing they had just cleared by the tip of a knife, or were knocked over on the spot.
These officers and soldiers have personally experienced two killings, and their fear has almost disappeared. They are afraid that the credit for stabbing someone will be taken away by others, so they always make up for it with a knife, and then go to cut off the head. Cutting off the head is also a technical job. You need to use a dagger or a decapitating knife to cut along the seam of the cervical vertebrae. Most officers and soldiers do not have such skills. If they can't even pull the belt to cut it, they use a waist knife to cut it, leaving a mess. His face and body were also covered in blood. Finally, he tied the bun of the human head to his belt. He suddenly felt that he was as powerful as a Vajra possessed. He turned his big mouth into a figure-eight shape, held the bloody steel knife, looked around and shouted, and walked towards the open space. .
The sounds of shouting, screaming, chasing, begging for mercy, snapping bushes... gradually fell silent. In less than half an hour, the hunt was over.
More than a dozen people who either didn't run away at all or were forced back are now lying on the newly opened space. There were still sounds of people in the forest in the distance. It was the officers and soldiers who were farther away gathering here. Secretly seeing the heads hanging on the waists of several officers and soldiers, and then looking at the expressions of the officers and soldiers, an old auxiliary soldier in his fifties or sixties had a premonition, raised his head and begged: "My lord, spare your life, my lord! I You are all good citizens, sir!"
"My lord, please spare my life..." Everyone started to cry.
Han Dong laughed ferociously: "I'm going to blame you! Good citizen? Bah!" As he spoke, he spat viciously and walked towards here.
"Ah..." A scream came out.
An auxiliary soldier who also had a premonition of disaster wanted to run away. As soon as he raised his body half up, he was stabbed from the back with a sharp waist knife. He was nailed to the ground, and his hands and feet struggled in vain. Several officers and soldiers gathered around laughing, and the owner of the waist knife stepped on his back again, tightened the handle of the knife with both hands, and stabbed down harder. Another person walked up to the top of his head, leaned over and pulled out the branch holding the unlucky guy's hair in place and threw it away. He pulled his messy hair and shouted to the other person: "Look at it and chop it right." The third person responded, Holding the handle of the knife with both hands, he made two gestures on his neck, raised it high, and cut it down with a "ha" sound.
The knife was embedded in the neck bone.
He tried it but failed to pull it out, and the officers and soldiers watching burst into laughter.
The man holding the knife cursed angrily, put his foot on his shoulder and pried it hard from side to side with both hands. The man's head was lying on the ground with his mouth open. Some of the blood flowing backward from the head flowed along the severed carotid artery, and some mixed with the mouth. Foam overflowed. The exposed eye was half-opened, and a red line dripped from the corner of the eye, dripping into the soil, a mixture of blood and tears.
Another cut with the knife, this time it hit another neck bone and got stuck again. Everyone burst into laughter again.
Another knife.
The head was finally chopped off and held high. Everyone pointed at the bloody stubble of the broken bones and laughed.
On the broken neck, blood fell drop by drop, and in an instant, it was swallowed up by the ground under his feet, leaving only a red mark. It won't be long before this trace of blood will disappear. This land seems to never be satisfied. No matter how much blood is shed, it will still be the same jungle that seems to never see the light of day.
Looking around, he saw that most of the people had gathered. Han Dong raised his voice and said: "Let's finish the work first, collect the heads and go back to rest early. With these dozens of heads, it's time for us to return to the extension!" Officers and soldiers There was a roar of cheers, and the auxiliary soldiers lying on the ground began to cry and beg again.
"Shut up!" Han Dong shouted violently and pointed his knife at the headless body on the ground. "If you want to be happy, be honest with your grandpa! To avoid suffering more!"
The wails fell silent, replaced by soft sobs.
As soon as Han Dong finished speaking, he vaguely heard some strange sounds coming from the jungle in the distance. Are the two horsemen coming? However, why does it sound like something is wrong with this voice? Han Dong waved his hand to signal everyone to be quiet and listen carefully.
There was indeed movement, and the sound was getting louder and clearer.
"I'm trapped! Ah..." This very familiar voice suddenly stopped.
"Kill the dog officers and soldiers!" In an instant, as if they suddenly emerged from the ground, shouts of killing seemed to be heard from everywhere behind them!
Han Dong had never really killed anyone in his life, and he was stunned at this scene. The officers and soldiers were even more at a loss.
A guy ran away and threw himself into the bushes. He struggled forward with all his strength. His back was gradually obscured by the branches that bounced back behind him. After a while, only a small piece was left twisting. Suddenly, this small piece of armor stopped moving, and then quickly grew in size until the entire back was revealed again. Han Dong was horrified to find that a two-inch long spear point protruded from the worn leather armor, surrounded by a bright red that spread rapidly! The man struggled in vain, his hands and feet were lifted off the ground, and then two gun barrels protruded from the bushes - the other one was pierced in the lower abdomen, which may have been blocked by the pelvis and did not penetrate. The two thieves worked together to pick him up and push him out.
Deep in the grass and trees further behind, there are figures, sword lights and shouts everywhere!
When the other person saw this, he shouted "My mother", dropped the knife and turned towards the densely packed bushes blocking the way back. There were thieves everywhere in the open space. Several thieves walked slowly behind him, holding knives and looking at the figure stuck in the thorn branches with interest.
"The gun is coming, the gun is coming!" someone shouted.
"Coming, coming." Someone responded.
"Give way." A thieves spearman squeezed over, took a bow, took aim with his spear, and thrust forward. The tip of the spear pierced the leather armor, and the bushes in front of it were too soft to bear the force. It didn't penetrate, and the man jumped forward, but it sunk deeper.
"Stick the legs, stab the legs!" The people holding the knives shouted excitedly - there was no protection on the legs.
The gun retracted and slowly extended again. "This one, or that one?" The tip of the spear was lighting up both legs in turn, teasingly. Feeling the touch, his legs twisted wildly in despair, and the tip of the gun slipped from time to time. The people around were cheering excitedly, just like the officers and soldiers watching the beheading just now, they were also enjoying the scene in front of them as if they were watching a drama.
The man trapped in the bushes finally became exhausted. His kicking and twisting became smaller and smaller, and the tip of the gun finally rested on one thigh.
"enter"! A thrust.
"Ah... Ouch!" A series of screams sounded.
Han Dong looked at all this stupidly.
"Early surrender, early surrender!" The shouts of hundreds of people rang around.
"Clang". The knife in Han Dong's hand fell to the ground, and a warm current gurgled down his thigh. A moment later, the dark wind in the forest blew by, making his crotch feel cold, and Han Dong shivered.
From time to time, shouts came from the distant forest. It was the thieves who were searching and killing the officers and soldiers who had not had time to return to the team.
But Han Dong couldn't think about that at this time. He knelt down and cried, "Master, please forgive me! I surrender, I am willing to surrender!"
Another scream sounded in his ears.
A young auxiliary soldier picked up the discarded knife on the ground and slashed at the guy who had just slashed someone - presumably some relative of the deceased. The person who was slashed instinctively raised his hand to block the attack, and half of his palm was lost. A bit of flesh drooped down, and he fell to the ground. He pressed the severed palm back with his left hand in vain, rolling around and wailing. The young man chased after him, slashing him with one knife after another. With his limited strength, he had to chop more than a dozen times before the man on the ground stopped rolling and curled up twitching on the ground.
Gao Tengdou tied up his horse outside the forest and had already walked over at this moment. After watching for a while, he stepped forward and patted the boy: "Good boy! Follow me from now on!"
The young man raised his head and looked at Gao Tengdou, his tears still unable to stop the flames of hatred in his blood-red eyes. The young man nodded solemnly and was about to kneel down. Gao Tengdou grabbed him and said, "There will be times when you kneel in the future. I will teach you. 'Stab to death and chop to death,' do you understand?"
The young man shook his head confusedly.
Gao Tengdou said: "Are you fighting? If you want to protect yourself, you have to make the thieves lose their fighting power. Slashing has a large defensive range, so it is used more, but it is very labor-intensive. If you keep doing this, you will soon lose your strength. Even if you chop someone , is often just a skin injury, it will heal after a few days, and it won’t be a problem. If you want to kill someone, you have to spot the opening and stab it with one knife! As long as you stab it accurately, the dog thief will die. If you miss the vital point, it will be seriously injured, so you need to stab it again. He’s dead too! Try again.”
The young man nodded, held the knife, got close to the still twitching body, raised his sleeve to wipe away his tears, and stabbed the back of the heart...
The auxiliary soldiers who just a moment ago were lying on the ground with weeds on their heads and tears on their faces were transformed in the blink of an eye. They vented their anger on the officers and soldiers who were kneeling or lying on the ground with everything they could pick up.
Gao Tengdou raised his voice and said: "Just give them a few hits to calm them down! Don't beat them to death, don't take advantage of these thieves! Take them all away!"
The soldiers tied up the officers and soldiers with bruises and swollen faces and dragged them out of the forest. Along the way, the auxiliary soldiers would use fists, kicks and sticks on the prisoners when they had time, and the escorting soldiers did not do much to stop them. There were already many people on the official road outside the forest - except for those who were killed on the spot, the lone officers and soldiers were all captured and tied up, kneeling on the ground with bruises and swollen faces.
Knowledge points in this article:
The origin of "a quarter of an hour": We usually call fifteen minutes "a quarter of an hour". The "copper kettle drip" is a timekeeping tool invented by our ancestors. The specific method is to set a benchmark in a leaky copper kettle with equidistant lines engraved on it. As the water drops drop, the water level in the pot gradually lowers, revealing the scale. There are twelve hours every day, and each hour has eight marks. It takes about fifteen minutes for the water level to pass through one mark.
