In the dark barn, the eldest prince Jiang Shan looked at the open space in the distance through the gaps in the wooden boards with a thirsty mouth.
The guard beside him heard the sound and subconsciously covered the eldest prince's mouth. They have been hiding here for two days. During these two days, they only drank some water and didn't even eat anything.
Yesterday, a group of Tang troops passed by here, with five tanks and seven or eight trucks, followed by dozens of soldiers. They were so frightened that they climbed onto the rafters and had to wait until midnight before coming down.
Because of the war, this barn has been abandoned for a while. No one came, and Tang Jun did not search the place carefully.
In fact, the eldest prince and his guards were overthinking it. Instead of rushing to Beiyuan City to join the battle, the Tang army was not interested in capturing him, the eldest prince of Qi.
If Qi State is still resisting effectively, then catching the eldest prince of Qi State can definitely be done, at least it can bring some benefits.
But now, Qi State has become history. What is the use of arresting another Qi State prince?
Therefore, Tiger, who was responsible for the main attack on the eldest prince's headquarters, did not issue an order to capture the eldest prince at all. The grassroots troops also searched symbolically and continued northward if they did not find him.
In fact, it is no wonder that the soldiers of the Tang Army did not seriously look for the eldest prince of Qi State, but they still needed to clear up the chaotic Qi State's defeated troops, collect prisoners, and restore regional security. They were already very busy.
It was impossible to capture the tens of thousands of prisoners of the Qi army scattered in various areas. It was obviously too inefficient to deliberately capture the eldest prince of Qi. This is a serious matter, so let’s leave it to the intelligence agencies.
Soon, both men discovered that it was a false alarm. No one cared about the dilapidated barn and there were no enemies around to capture them.
After heaving a sigh of relief, the eldest prince Jiang Shan weakly pushed away his subordinate's palm with his hand and complained: "I think it's better to surrender. Where can I escape now?"
"Your Majesty! The people of Qi State still support you! As long as you return to the royal city and contact the old ministers of the kingdom, your Majesty, you can still do a lot!" His subordinates quickly consoled him.
As he said that, he looked outside. Yesterday evening, Qin Xiong said he was looking for food and left with two people. They haven't come back yet. I don't know if something happened or they got lost.
There were hundreds of them when they fled, and they even had radio stations, military horses and cars.
But all the way down, they were chased and intercepted by the Tang army. Some people surrendered and ran away with their belongings. In the end, only 5 people were left, and even the horses were gone.
The car had been abandoned on the roadside because it ran out of gas, and the war horse had been stolen long ago because it was valuable. The radio station had no carriage or car to transport it, and it was too heavy to carry.
In the end, the long guns were discarded because they were inconvenient to carry-all the way to the barn, they only had pistols and bullets.
"It doesn't matter! As long as you can escape from this dangerous area! There is still a chance!" This subordinate obviously hopes to hold on to the big prince's thick legs and fight for a bright future for himself.
He knew that Qi State was now finished, so it was impossible for him and the eldest prince to make a comeback here in Qi State. However, if he could escape to the Dahua Empire, he would be able to rely on his status as the exiled crown prince of Qi to live a prosperous and wealthy life - which is why he has not escaped until now!
In fact, the eldest prince also knows what these subordinates are thinking. Isn't it because he still continues to insist on it because there is still such an illusory hope?
As the prince of Qi, he also knew that it was a fantasy to restore Qi by his own strength. But by escaping to the Dahua Empire, there is still some hope.
As long as he cooperates with the Great China Empire and keeps causing trouble for Tang State, he will be treated politely by the Great China Empire. Even if the Great China Empire just wanted to disgust the Tang State, it would raise him until he was fat and white, wouldn't it?
Just as his subordinates kept pouring chicken soup to Jiang Shanmeng, the eldest prince of Qi, three figures appeared outside the barn.
The three men pushed open the closed barn door, and then carefully closed it again. Then with the light coming from the collapsed roof, Qin Xiong found a comfortable haystack and sat down: "Your Majesty! Fortunately, I have lived up to my command."
The two soldiers who followed him back held noodles in their hands and handed them to Jiang Shanhe, the guard who stayed to protect him.
The eldest prince took the bread and ate it hungrily. He had been hungry for two days and finally got something to eat today, so naturally he didn't care about his image at all.
The guard next to him was not much better. At this time, he kept stuffing pancakes into his mouth, and even choked himself until he rolled his eyes.
Qin Xiong handed his kettle to the eldest prince, and the other guard also handed the kettle to his companion. The two people quickly drank some water, and then they felt a little more energetic.
"Is there a river nearby?" After drinking the water and feeling the coolness, the eldest prince didn't bother to wipe the scum from the corners of his mouth and asked.
"We asked farmers to ask for it." Qin Xiong recalled the process of obtaining food before, with a dull look in his eyes.
In order to hide their whereabouts, they killed the only farmer they found, dragged the bodies of these people to the backyard, and buried them hastily.
Then they took away the noodles that a dead Qi farmer family had prepared to take with them when they fled, and then got clean water from a nearby stream before returning to the barn.
To be honest, Qin Xiong is not a good person. He and the eldest prince robbed the friendly forces of food and ammunition and fled here. Naturally, he didn't care about killing a few farmers.
What he was worried about was the Tang soldiers he saw on his way back - they were completely different from regular combat troops. These people were obviously here for something!
Therefore, when Jiang Shan finished eating the noodles, he immediately said: "Your Majesty! It is not appropriate to stay here for a long time! We saw some Tang Army soldiers on the way back! They may have been sent to find us!"
In fact, they left many traces along the way. Cars abandoned on the roadside, as well as deserters if caught, could reveal their whereabouts.
And as long as it is judged that they have no cars and horses, it is easy to determine the approximate location of their hiding place.
As long as a search team is sent out to keep searching, they are likely to be captured. The Tang State's intelligence department would obviously not miss such an opportunity. They did not need to rush to the front line like the regular army.
"You said it's not safe here anymore?" The eldest prince was stunned when he heard Qin Xiong's words, and his voice trembled when he asked.
"They are holding hounds and may find our traces." Qin Xiong explained: "Let's go! Leave here and go west first."
The eldest prince, who finally had a full mouthful of food, had to stand up even though he had a million reluctances, and said: "Then leave quickly!"
Qin Xiong also stood up, and without taking a rest, he opened the barn door again and took steps towards the distance.
Just as they stepped onto the roadbed and were about to walk into the woods, a shout suddenly sounded from behind them.
Not far away, soldiers from the Tang State intelligence department came to search for and hunt the eldest prince. They saw them with submachine guns and hounds. The leading Tang officer asked loudly, his voice resounding in the sky: "Who is this person?"
After hearing the scolding, the eldest prince and others suddenly panicked and quickly quickened their pace. They climbed over the roadbed and ran towards the woods on the other side.
The Tang army following them was faster. They let go of the hounds in their hands, and while chasing after them, they shouted loudly: "Stop! If you run away again, we will shoot!"
"Bang!" A Qi guard turned around and fired.
"They have guns! Be careful!" Tang Jun who was following behind all shrank their necks. Then, they pursued them even more resolutely: "Catch them! Anyone who resists will be killed without mercy!"
Even though they were shouting like this, they still wanted to catch someone alive, so after climbing up the roadbed, they still shouted loudly to the group of people who were about to escape into the woods: "Stop!"
"Bang!" Qi's guards opened fire again.
"Damn it! Fire!" This shot finally annoyed these Tang Army soldiers who were chasing them. The leading officer gave an order, and everyone picked up their Thompson submachine guns.
"Thud, tug, tug!" In the next second, seven or eight submachine guns opened fire at the same time, and bullets rained down on the five fleeing people.
…
"What? Beat him to death?" Holding the phone in his hand, Leo couldn't believe what he was hearing.
News just came back from the front line. A search force killed the escaping prince of Qi State, and also killed Qi State general Qin Xiong...
He was originally very confident to capture these important people alive and then send them to His Majesty King Tang Mo.
It's a pity that who would have thought that the search team who originally opened fire to scare people, performed beyond their abilities, and the first one they killed was the most important Prince of Qi.
As a result, Qin Xiong and others turned around and tried to save people, but they were all beaten to death. In the end, only two guards were captured, which confirmed the identity of the deceased.
Things were really embarrassing: there were five people on the other side, two guards, a captain of the guard, a general and a prince.
As a result, three were killed, namely the prince, the general and the captain of the bodyguard...
The bullet seemed to have eyes at this moment, killing the three most important people so willfully, as if it was intentional.
But when Leo cautiously reported the truth to Tang Mo, Tang Mo didn't think there was anything wrong with the matter.
He ordered Leo to be praised and rewarded, and to be promoted. The eldest prince of Qi was really a dispensable existence to him.
With the killing of the eldest prince and his party, the Qi State was completely destroyed in a sense. Today's Beiyuan City is nominally the territory of the Mirage Kingdom, and the Qi Kingdom... no longer exists.
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Two updates today and one more tomorrow.
