A group of captured cavalry quietly arrived at the foot of Suidi City. When they saw the sporadic firelight in the distance, they looked at each other, gently reined in their horses, slowly rolled off the saddle, and lay down on the withered haystacks. Take a closer look.
"Did you see clearly?" A soldier hit his companion on the head with the handle of his sword. "How many people are there in the city? What weapons are there?"
The man replied: "I have seen everything clearly. There are about a hundred people, and their weapons are only swords, guns, swords and halberds. No one is seen with firearms... However, there are a few cowhide hanging on the wall for no reason, which is very suspicious."
"Don't worry about it. It's probably to prevent us from attacking the city," another person said with a sneer. "When the time comes, we can burn it down with fire."
"It's a pity that the rocket was not prepared."
"It's just a few skins, is it worth such a big fight? The Nan soldiers have always been cowardly, they can kill them all, so why worry! Just go back and report."
The man reluctantly nodded, then remounted his horse with him, and hurried back to report to the Lu chief. The Lu chief didn't take it seriously, so he gave an order and led a large force directly to the city.
He stretched out his head and looked out in the sparse moonlight. After observing the situation for a while on the horse, he suddenly took out the scimitar at his waist and waved it vigorously into the sky. The black cavalry beat the war drums, raised their flags, and slowly marched toward the city. Heads close together.
"The enemy cavalry is coming!" The soldier holding the torch suddenly discovered the traces of the captive soldiers, turned around and shouted loudly. The entire city's defenders immediately became alert, and there was a burst of hurried footsteps and constant noise all around.
"How close is it?" Du Qing shouted to the soldiers responsible for reconnaissance while commanding the deployment.
"About...about fifty steps!" a nervous voice answered.
"Wait a moment..." Du Qing muttered to himself as he still stared into the distance.
"Forty steps!" The voice began to gradually get louder. Du Qing's palms were sweaty.
"thirty……"
"Already thirty steps!"
Before he finished speaking, Du Qing's eyes suddenly opened as big as wheels, and the pieces of cowhide fell off in unison!
The captured cavalry were about to launch a charge, but suddenly rows of muskets appeared in front of them. There was no doubt that the black muzzles were all pointed at their heads!
The few soldiers who were charging ahead were shocked. Before they could rein up their horses to get their bows and arrows, they heard a "bang" and fell to the ground.
Immediately afterwards, the battlefield was filled with flames and thick smoke. Dozens of bird cannons were fired one after another, and lead bullets fell like raindrops. Wherever they hit, people fell on their backs, and screams and wails filled the field!
Before the leader could react, two more teams of cavalry came out from both sides of the city gate. They cut down everyone they encountered and shouted to kill, frightening him into chaos. Just when he was about to retreat, the troops from the front fell like a mountain, and the morale of the army was in chaos. , people trampled on each other, no longer able to fight, fled in groups.
Seeing that the time had come, Du Qing led the old army and the new army to pursue him along the road, across the valley, and destroyed the camp he had built. He pursued him to the bottom of Xuanhua City and stopped. Seeing that the city wall was too high to attack, he returned to the army and won.
Ye Yongjia waited impatiently all night. He was restless and wandering in the military tent. Seeing that the hour was approaching, he became even more worried. He glanced at Cai Xianqing and asked, "Why hasn't Governor Du come back yet? What if he is ambushed..."
Cai Xianqing had been squinting his eyes as he listened to his question, then he opened his eyes and said, "Tinglong, don't worry. The barbarians were not in good order last night, so what chance would there be to lay an ambush? They may be besieging Xuanhua today, which is definitely not bad news." .”
Ye Yongjia still had questions, but there was cheering outside the big tent. He quickly walked out and took a look.
"Master Ye, Governor Du Du Zhang Sheng Gu has returned!" A soldier stumbled up to him, pointing to the outside of the city with one hand, and he was very excited.
This sentence confused Ye Yongjia's head. He couldn't believe it and asked again: "Really?"
"Really!"
Ye Yongjia just woke up as if from a dream, his face gradually glowed with joy, then he slapped his forehead and laughed, and ordered: "Bring me a horse, I will go out of the city to meet you!"
Ye Yongjia urged his horse to go out of the city gate, and saw Du Qing riding a tall horse with his head held high in front, and behind him were escorted by several groups of ragged prisoners, which made him seem to be infinitely beautiful.
Ye Yongjia quickly dismounted the horse with his legs, and the horse took a few steps forward and reached Du Qing.
"General Du, you fought so bravely last night!" Ye Yongjia jumped off his horse with a smile, raised his hands and said, "With this battle, the country's new policy can be preserved! Please ask the governor to dismount!" As he spoke, he held the bridle for him with one hand and helped him dismount with the other.
Du Qing hurriedly retreated and said sternly: "How dare Du, a martial artist, do this! If it weren't for Ye Shangshu devoting himself to the New Deal and running around to make guns, I would not be as glorious as he is today! If you insist on doing this, I forgive you for not being able to dismount." "
Seeing his refusal, Ye Yongjia stepped aside and watched him holding the saddle and slowly falling to the ground.
"Yesterday, we killed nearly ten thousand enemies and annihilated all the bandits, all thanks to the power of this shotgun. This thing is very powerful. If ordinary bows and crossbows were used in battle, it would never be possible to win so happily. It's just that it's easy to explode, and the number is small. Less, so you need to be careful when using it.”
"Yes," Ye Yongjia sighed while stroking his beard, "if the entire army can be equipped with such weapons, the border defense can be permanently peaceful! There are not many artillery here. You can ask Fan Shang to cast a few more to assist in defending the city."
"Are you going back now?" Du Qing raised his head and asked seriously while walking.
"Yes," Ye Yongjia couldn't help but smile when he thought of the scene of returning to Beijing. "With this great victory as proof, who else in the court is opposed to the New Deal? I plan to continue to implement it. It is best to use the opportunity to impress the court and cast guns independently... In that case, it will not only be a matter of regaining the lost territory, but also the strength of our frontier army will be just around the corner!"
After Du Qing heard this, he immediately stopped and looked at him with admiration: "I have seen many people from the imperial court before, but I have never seen such an ambitious official like Shangshu who cares about the country and the people. With you. After working together for so many days, I deeply admire you from the bottom of my heart. I hope you have a safe journey here. I hope that you, Minister, can save this sluggish country." After that, he slowly bowed down and the sun shone brightly. His armor gleamed.
Ye Yongjia was moved by his kindness. With red eyes, he took a long breath and said softly: "I will definitely live up to the general's instructions. Take care."
"Take care. Okay, I won't say any more," Du Qing dusted off the dust on his armor, turned around and shouted, "Come here, escort Ye and Cai on their journey!"
Ye Yongjia got on the horse again, tightened the reins with Cai Xianqing, turned his back towards Du Qing, and embarked on the way home.
