In the dense camphor forest, the branches and leaves are prosperous, the climate is humid, and thin mist hangs above the treetops.
Dozens of soldiers from the Ming Dynasty surveyed the surroundings and confirmed that there was no danger, and then rested in place.
Zhu Gaojie sat next to Wu Ju, tearing the hard buckwheat pancake into small pieces and swallowing them with relish. Shadow Attendant Ah Qi stood beside him, holding the handle of the knife at his waist and closing his eyes lightly.
To be honest, this kind of rough military food does not taste delicious, but if you can have a bite to eat on the battlefield, you should be satisfied.
He is now a new recruit in the vanguard battalion of the Ming Dynasty's Southern Expeditionary Army. He led the commander Lu Chaoyang to explore the enemy's situation at the forefront of the battlefield.
Not long ago, he was the pampered Prince Qi in Jinling City, but now he has to endure the harassment of insects and ants and move cautiously step by step in the deep mountains and old forests.
In fact, Zhu Gaojie didn't have to do this. The old man asked him to accompany the army but not to be a leading soldier. With Zhang Fu's ability, it was not difficult to put down the Jiaozhi rebellion. Zhu Gaojie only had to rest in the commander's camp and do military exploits.
But if that's the case, Zhu Gaojie's visit to Jiaozhi will be in vain.
The real purpose of Zhu Gaojie's trip was to gradually take over the military power in the southwest from Zhang Fu. A useless prince who landed in the air could not convince the generals.
…
"Mr. Lu, you think this young man is not a fool when he can't live a comfortable life in the capital and travels thousands of miles to the southwest to risk his life with us, right?" On the other side, someone looked at Zhu Gaojie and said in confusion, " It’s been a long time since I’ve lived, and this is the first time I’ve seen someone with a servant on the battlefield.”
Lu Chaoyang took a sip of water from the pigskin bag and said, "What do you care about others? Just take care of yourself."
To be honest, Lu Chaoyang is not optimistic about Zhu Gaojie, whose pseudonym is "Zhu Silang".
too young.
Although age is not a criterion for judging a person, this kid really doesn't look like someone who can kill.
Noticing that there were eyes on him, Zhu Gaojie smiled shyly at his colleagues, showing no harm to humans or animals.
"Look at this kid, he's so stupid." The flag officer sitting next to Lu Chaoyang shook his head.
…
Under the shy smile, what Zhu Gaojie was thinking was: Damn, I have been acting in the capital for too long, and now I smile like an idiot when I see people.
Zhu Gaojie is most afraid of trouble. He has packaged himself in a delicate shell, making people think that Zhu Gaojie is a good and harmless person as soon as they see him.
This did save Zhu Gaojie a lot of trouble, but the disadvantage was that after acting for a long time, he got too deep into the role and couldn't change it.
Zhu Gaojiu casually pulled off the grass root and held it in his mouth. He looked at the blue sky and white clouds, thinking that he might as well bury it here in the future for peace of mind.
Feeling someone poking him, Zhu Gaojie looked at Shadow Attendant Aqi in confusion: "What's wrong?"
A Qi didn't say anything, but pointed to the weeds under the camphor tree with his finger.
Zhu Gaojie walked over, pulled away the weeds, and found half a footprint remaining in the mud under the grass leaves.
His expression changed slightly, and he waved to Commander Lu Chaoyang: "Sir! I've discovered something!"
Everyone came over after hearing the sound, and someone laughed and said, "Recruit, look at these half-footprints that scare you. They should be left by our army's scouts. Why are you panicking?"
But Lu Chaoyang looked solemn after seeing the half of the footprints. He bent down and studied it carefully. He even picked up the remaining dried grass roots on the footprints and put them in his mouth to taste.
"You're not even as good as a new soldier!" Lu Chaoyang glared at the person who just spoke, "I'm a little bit confused now, how did a fool like you survive on the battlefield!"
The man was a little confused by the scolding: "What do you mean by this, sir?"
Lu Chaoyang pointed to the half of the footprints under the weeds and said: "The remaining grass roots on this half of the footprints have slight black marks from skin friction. Only Chen Jun's people would wear such straw sandals woven with local vegetation. These are left by the enemy." The footprints down!”
The man was stunned: "No way..."
"No shit!" Lu Chaoyang said keenly, "The climate in Jiaozhi is humid, and traces like this will disappear in no more than a day, and this half-footprint has obvious outlines, and it should not take more than three hours. Go look for it quickly, they It shouldn’t be far from us!”
"But if there are really traces left by the enemy, wouldn't we be seeking death by looking for them?"
Lu Chaoyang glanced at him: "An enemy army with more than a hundred people will not clean the traces so carefully, because it will greatly slow down the marching speed. I speculate that the half of the footprints left behind are probably left by enemy scouts, Chen The army's scouts usually operate in groups of two to five. If dozens of us can't take down three or four of them, how dare you guys still survive?"
It has to be said that the commander's combat experience is top-notch, and he can guess the enemy's situation from only half of his footprints. But this also made Zhu Gaojie a little strange. The Pioneer Camp was the fastest place to get promoted. After all, the people in the Pioneer Camp were all risking their lives to gain merit, and a capable and courageous veteran like Lu Chaoyang should not just be a commander. In the end, At least he must be a garrison general.
But Zhu Gaojie didn't think so much. This was not something he should worry about.
…
In the quiet forest, only the chirping of insects was heard, and two scouts wearing straw sandals were moving forward cautiously.
Suddenly, the crossbow arrow flew out from under the cover of branches and leaves, and nailed a scout's thigh.
Another scout saw his companion hit by an arrow and ran away without thinking.
The role of a scout on the battlefield is to detect the military situation. His companion was shot with an arrow in the thigh, which is no different from death, because he will definitely not be able to escape.
Only by running away now and conveying the information back can more of his companions find a way to survive.
It is better for one person to die than for ten thousand people to die.
However, the scout who was trying to escape suddenly stopped, knelt on the ground, and loudly said in the local dialect: "I surrender!"
In the surrounding woods, dozens of soldiers from the Ming Dynasty walked out.
"Take these two down and see if we can find out anything." Lu Chaoyang said calmly.
"promise!"
Zhu Gaojie stretched out and gave a thumbs up to Shadow Attendant Aqi.
If A Qi hadn't keenly discovered the half of the footprints, it would have been difficult for them to trace the enemy scouts.
A Qi's face was as calm as water, as if everything had nothing to do with him.
As a Shadow Attendant, Aqi is the top hunter. He is proficient in various killing techniques, as well as tracking, anti-tracking, disguise and other skills. It is really overqualified to throw him to the battlefield to work hard.
After a while, the person in charge of the interrogation came over and said to Lu Chaoyang: "Sir, I asked all the questions. Even before the punishment was imposed, the person told them all in one go."
Lu Chaoyang nodded slightly and asked, "What did you ask?"
He was not surprised, it was not uncommon for weaklings like the scout he just captured.
Not everyone is Wen Tianxiang. After being captured and imprisoned for three years, he still refused to surrender in the face of coercion and inducement.
It’s only a few taels of silver a month, and the pension may not be distributed to the family after death. Why should it be an iron-clad corpse?
