Chapter 182 Xihua
Zhang Hu felt that his whole body was light and weightless, and the surrounding scenery was unfamiliar, but it was breathtakingly beautiful. Waves of mist drifted around me, the mountains undulated in the distance, and there was the faint sound of silk and bamboo. I listened carefully, but it was all empty again. The clouds are divided into several layers, the ones high up hide the mountain peaks in them, and the ones floating halfway up the mountain are continuous one after another, like a flowing river. Looking down, I saw that there were clouds under my feet! Zhang Hu was shocked. However, the cloud held him up steadily, as if the clouds were all-encompassing. He saw a sea of flowers in the west, bright red and beautiful, and his heart moved, and the cloud carried him there. The gauze-like clouds behind the sea of flowers slowly faded away, and a beautiful picture-like scene appeared in front of Zhang Hu: pavilions, pavilions, cigarette smoke, and behind it was a magnificent palace with white marble steps as white as snow. There were two rows of young ladies standing on both sides. Looking up, he saw that they were all bowing down... Of course Zhang Hu wanted to go there, but he was separated by a sea of flowers and could not see the path at all. When I got closer, I smelled a familiar fishy smell in my nose. The smell became stronger and stronger - it was blood! Zhang Hu suddenly woke up. Look at the flower carefully. Wherever there is any flower, it is clearly a river of blood! The palace is still there, but it is separated by a river of blood, so close to the horizon. As he got closer, something was looming under the surging blood. Zhang Hu rubbed his eyes and distinguished carefully: thousands of grotesque corpses were entangled with each other, forming a corpse bridge. The palace is opposite the Blood River. The clouds under his feet floated to the river but stopped. No matter how he twisted his body, the clouds did not move at all. Zhang Hu, who was confident in his ability to kill people, gritted his teeth and stepped forward to go over. Who would have expected it? He stepped into the air and fell down from the air in a daze! Everything disappeared, and Zhang Hu, who fell on his back, could only see the blue sky without a trace of color in his eyes.
"Ah!" With a loud cry, Zhang Hu woke up and sat up suddenly with his eyes wide open. Then there was a sharp pain in his shoulder, and his body tilted and fell back into his soft pocket. The dream just now was still vivid in my mind, but now there were only clusters of treetops sliding slightly backward together.
"Brother Hu, are you awake?" It was Niu Youtian's voice, followed by a big hand touching his forehead, "It's okay, the fever is gone! Hahahaha, I will be fine for a while longer!"
Zhang Hu slowly recalled the past: he was hit by an arrow and was rushed to the old camp by several brothers. The doctor opened his shoulder and took out the arrow cluster. Niu Youtian had just burned the wound with a dagger. Fang Ge ran in and shouted to leave quickly - he had just The men scattered around were gathered together, and before they had time to put on their armor, endless broken troops rushed over from all over the mountains and plains! He fainted in a hurry. The memory of the rest is blurry. Anyway, I just kept running, and woke up in and out. I was often woken up by the pain when changing the dressing, and someone vaguely fed me some gruel...
"Where is this? What happened next?" Zhang Hu asked weakly.
"We have passed Fugou, and in front of us is Xihua." The smile disappeared from Niu Youtian's face.
"How many more troops do we have?"
"Brother Hu, just rest in peace. It's okay." Niu Youtian's unshaven smile looked far-fetched.
"Tell me the truth, how many people are there?" Zhang Hu's heart skipped a beat.
"There are...more than 30,000 people, but there are many who can fight. There are still six to seven thousand."
Zhang Hu said "Oh" and thought quickly in his mind: The six or seven thousand that Lao Niu said could fight should be the total number of combat soldiers and auxiliary soldiers. Although there are officers to control them, the discipline of the auxiliary soldiers is much worse than that of the combat soldiers. The number of those who have not been dispersed is estimated to be less than 2,000 at most, leaving four to five thousand combat soldiers. Fang Ge's five battalions will account for half of them. This is the number of direct descendants of cattle. The others, probably the family members of the war auxiliaries in the old camp, couldn't leave, so they ran with them. These people can only be used as half of the auxiliary soldiers at most. They cannot bear much food, but they are all burdens. But... we can't leave them all behind right now, otherwise the soldiers will blow up the camp.
"How much food is left?"
"Brother Hu, don't worry, there will be enough food for ten days. Lao Fang has harvested a lot from the raids in the past few days. If he can't carry it, he will put some at Tongxu's place. We went straight to Tongxu from Zhuxian Town and brought everything with us. ”
"Where's Lao Fang?" Zhang Hu was shocked again: Tongxu's food storage had to be watched by someone, and Fang Ge's five combat barracks were brought back to Kaifeng. In other words, he at least left one auxiliary barracks in Tongxu—— Who knows if they are auxiliary soldiers or newly formed combat soldiers! I didn’t even tell myself that I had saved food and kept soldiers! Moreover, even if he keeps auxiliary soldiers, these auxiliary soldiers accompanying the army may not all be his own people. What if he had any thoughts... Thinking of this, he immediately asked.
"Lao Fang is clearing the way ahead. Brother Tiger, do you want to ask him to come over?"
"Is the commander awake?" Zhang Hu was about to reply when Fang Ge had already galloped forward, "I'll be relieved that the commander is fine."
Zhang Hu struggled and forced a smile: "Thanks to Brother Fang."
"What are you talking about, Marshal? We are all brothers! We share the blessings and suffer the hardships together!" Fang Ge responded, "Commander, where should we go next?"
"Where do you want to go?" Zhang Hu asked back.
Niu Youtian and Fang Ge looked at each other: "We haven't thought about it yet. Kaifeng's dog officer army drove them all the way through Zhuxian Town, and we ran all the way down."
"Wherever you go, listen to the commander-in-chief. In front of you is Xihua. Someone's son has explored it. There are some defenders, but you can't avoid it no matter what. You must defeat it no matter what." Fang Ge continued. Judging by his expression, it was obvious that he lacked confidence.
Zhang Hu said nothing, thought for a moment, and then asked: "Have they discovered us?"
"It shouldn't be, right?" Niu Youtian replied hesitantly.
"No." Fang Ge replied decisively, "Tanma said the city gate is still open. If we find out, we will definitely close it."
"Oh? Didn't Kaifeng send them any news?" Zhang Hu asked hesitantly.
"Probably not." It was Niu Youtian who answered, "We ran almost without stopping. The news from the dog officers and soldiers in Kaifeng did not arrive so quickly." He said with a wry smile.
"Yeah." Zhang Hu thought for a moment and suddenly realized: the good news from Kaifeng Prefecture must be sent to the capital as soon as possible. Chenliu and Qixian County in the south, including Tongxu, were all washed by Fang Ge, and the inns and other things have been completely abolished. Even if there is a messenger, he should not run ahead of him.
"Send the order, the whole army stops. Don't fight hard, let's steal the city!" Zhang Hu immediately had an idea, "Brother Fang, do you remember how we captured Jianzhou?"
"Yes!" Fang Ge slapped his thigh, "The handsome man is very smart!"
At the North Gate of Xihua, several city gate guards were chatting. There was a sound of hoofbeats in the distance. Three knights in bright armor gradually approached. The city gate guards were on guard with their weapons on alert. The city gate official on the top of the city put up an arbor and looked into the distance for a while. There was no movement on the official road behind a few horses. There were only a dozen farmers walking together in twos and threes carrying baskets. He quickly stepped off the wall and stood in the middle of the road, holding his hand on the handle of the knife. Several cavalrymen galloped forward and reined in their mounts. The leader shouted condescendingly: "A certain person is Fang Wu, the commander of Xuanwu Guards. On the military order of Marshal Yang, he ordered your county to assist in the defense. Marshal Yang has defeated the thieves and ordered your county to organize soldiers and civilians to intercept them!"
The city gate official at the North Gate of Xihua is just a small flag official, and is theoretically considered to be from the seventh rank, but the military officer is from the seventh rank, and even the ninth-rank county registrar is always loudmouthed, so it really means nothing. The guard commander Tongzhi was from the third rank, and the level difference was too great. In addition, the other party said this in an arrogant manner, so he hurriedly raised his fists and saluted, then nodded and bowed and came forward: "General Fang, forgive me, I need to be examined." Lower your waist card.”
"Bastard!" Immediately after there was a loud "pop", the commanding officer's eyes widened and he whipped down his riding crop. A bloodstain immediately appeared on the little flag officer's face, "That face is... Paipai! Who do you think you are, a son of a bitch, who dares to test me?"
"This..." Xiaoqi Guan was dumbfounded. Waist badge inspection is a necessary procedure, and it is also a rule written in black and white in the Ming Dynasty. But... it is a common practice in Ming Dynasty for superiors to bully subordinates. It is much easier to use than regulations!
"Stop talking nonsense! Why don't you hurry up and lead the way? I'll kill your whole family for delaying the military situation!" Mr. Fang shouted again.
"Yes, yes. I will take the general to the county office now." The flag official responded quickly, covering his face.
"What are you going to do?" One of General Fang's personal guards drew his sword and pointed it at the other city gate soldiers who were still holding weapons, and roared menacingly, "Are you going to kill the officials and rebel on behalf of these leaderless guys?"
The frightened city gate guards immediately knelt down with Zui in their mouths. It was not until the flag officer led General Fang and others into the city gate that they hesitantly stood up with their heads stretched out. At this time, the dozen farmers came closer.
"ah."
Hearing the screams, the little flag officer turned his head suddenly, and saw those peasants, several against each other, stabbing down the last of his men. He was about to open his mouth to scream, but his heart went cold and he felt a surge in his chest. A sharp blade emerges.
There was a loud sound of hooves on the official road.
Hundreds of cavalry arrived in an instant. Dozens of soldiers dismounted and, together with a dozen farmers, rushed up the horse path to the north gate. Dozens of others, led by Fang Ge, rushed towards the county government office along the road leading to the north gate. …
Xihua County fell.
