It was already dawn in June.
Liu Heng arranged for the team to light a fire to cook at two o'clock in the morning, and at Mao o'clock the team began to set out on the road under the rising morning light.
Chen Xunping, who had slept for less than two hours, looked at Liu Heng with a resentful look on his face and said, "There's no need to be in such a hurry, the genius has just dawned."
Liu Heng, who was walking in front of the team, said, "I always feel unsettled when the team stops at the handover point between Yangyuan and Tianchengwei. It's better for everyone to work harder than to lose their lives."
"Do you mean that the master is worried that the officers and soldiers of Tiancheng Guard will come to chase us?" Zhao Yutu came up.
Chen Xunping curled his lips and said, "You can't. The army suffered a big loss on us yesterday, and Shi Yunhu also had six to seven hundred people in his hands. The army didn't clear them out so quickly. Even if the army planned to send troops to chase us, they would have to We must deal with Shi Yunhu first before he attacks us."
"I also don't think the officers and soldiers will come so soon." Zhao Yutu said: "Yangyuan County is under the jurisdiction of Xuanfu, Tiancheng Guard is under Datong Prefecture, and the officers and soldiers of Tiancheng Guard want to come to Yangyuan County to pursue us and we are outbound bandits. The official documents alone cannot be completed in a day or two.”
Li Shuheng, who came back from inspecting the teams, said: "I support Liu Heng. There is nothing wrong with starting the road early. We can't place our hopes on the army. If the army really comes after us, it will be too late for us to leave." ”
Chen Xunping waved his arm vigorously and said: "Don't be afraid of them if you chase them, just go ahead and fuck them."
Next to him, Li Shuheng's face sank and he said: "Shut up, you have to remember that the leader of our team is Liu Heng. We can put forward opinions, but we cannot question Liu Heng's decision."
After hearing this, Chen Xunping lowered his waving arm, and Zhao Yutu also lowered his head and remained silent.
Liu Heng on the side smiled at Li Shuheng and said nothing. Li Shuheng's words were what he thought. Others could put forward opinions, but they could not question his decision. Since Li Shuheng had already said it for him, he did not need to emphasize it anymore. .
After a night's rest, everyone was very energetic. Not long after breakfast, everyone was at their strongest, and the team was moving faster than yesterday.
Shortly after Liu Heng and the others set off and headed south, a gathering drum sounded in an army camp north of Quanliang Mountain.
As soon as the sound of drums passed by, only Huang An, Zheng Qianhu and a few hundred households were standing on the gathering platform. Only a few soldiers in the camp appeared in the open space below the gathering platform.
"Blow the Second Tong Jujiang drum." Huang An shouted to the soldier who was beating the drum.
Boom! Dong Dong... Dong Dong Dong Dong!
After the second drum sound, a few soldiers came out of the camp, yawning and walking towards the gathering platform with the end of the spear hanging on the ground.
The sound of three-way drums passed, and finally the last few soldiers arranged their clothes and slowly walked towards the gathering platform.
Huang An didn't expect that the soldiers would be able to assemble after one or two drums sounded. He was satisfied to be able to assemble all the soldiers after the three drums sounded.
"Master Zheng, the soldiers are almost here. Should we set off south to suppress the bandits?" Huang An turned to look at Zheng Qianhu beside him.
As soon as he returned from the commander's camp, Huang An explained the commander's orders to Zheng Qianhu, and then he sounded the gathering drum this morning.
Before Zheng Qianhu could speak, a member of the Baihu household on the side spoke first and said: "Master Huang, is it a little early to leave the camp at this time? The brothers haven't eaten yet. Even if the bandits are not in a hurry at this moment, it is still Let the brothers fill their bellies first, you can’t go hungry and suppress the bandits.”
Several other households nearby nodded in agreement.
Huang An said with a smile: "You don't need to worry about breakfast. I have already arranged for everyone to prepare it. Each soldier has a piece of coarse grain pancake, which can be eaten slowly on the road without delaying the journey at all."
"Master Huang, you can't say that. If you don't eat well, how can your brothers have the strength to go on the road." Another hundred households said, "If you don't let your soldiers eat well, it will easily cause a mutiny on the way. Master Huang still shows his dignity. Let the people below you eat and drink first before going after the bandits."
Another hundred households next to him also said: "Master Huang, you don't know. These soldiers are very difficult to serve. In normal times, it's okay. But when you are marching and fighting, if you don't let them fill their stomachs and don't help you at all, they will Afraid of encountering bandits, I ran away before being beaten."
Huang An frowned when he heard these evasive words.
He also knew what these hundreds of households were talking about, but the commander was pressing hard, otherwise he wouldn't have beaten the general drum to summon all the soldiers early in the morning.
When Huang An was in trouble, Zheng Qianhu finally said: "Master Huang, I think it's better to let those soldiers eat first. You and I are both military commanders. We know best the virtues of the soldiers below, so we won't let them eat." It’s delicious, these people will never sacrifice their lives for us.”
Even Zheng Qianhu said so. Huang An knew that he could only obey everyone's opinions. Although he was anxious and worried that the bandits would take the opportunity to escape, he also knew that pressing too hard could easily cause riots. Several hundred households had expressed their opinions. dissatisfied.
However, he was unwilling to let the soldiers who had just gathered disperse, so he arranged for his soldiers to deliver the meals directly to the Gathering Platform.
Soon, baskets of coarse grain cakes were brought up and distributed to each soldier on a head-by-head basis.
The soldier at the back saw the people in front eating pancakes, but it was never his turn. He couldn't wait any longer, so he left the team and went to get the pancakes from the basket. However, his move caused others to follow suit.
For a time, people were crowded around several baskets, and some of the thin soldiers were pushed to the back, while the strong soldiers were holding pancakes in their mouths and holding a piece of pancake in one hand.
Some people took more, while others couldn't eat it. It didn't take long for the pancakes in the basket to be empty. Those soldiers who didn't get the pancakes saw that someone was holding a few pancakes to eat, but they didn't have any. Without saying a word, they went to grab those pancakes. Soldiers with cakes.
You rob me, I rob you, and the soldiers in the entire camp quickly became a mess.
Seeing this scene, Huang An and Zheng Qianhu's expressions became gloomy, and even the faces of those hundreds of households were hard to look at.
"What the hell are you doing standing there? Go and drive these rebels away quickly. No one will be able to survive once the camp roars loudly." Huang An asked his own soldiers to suppress the rioting soldiers.
Not only Huang An, but Zheng Qianhu also assigned personal soldiers to drive away the soldiers who were fighting in a group below.
Several hundred households were not idle either. They rushed into the soldiers with their men and waved their whips and scabbards to drive them away. At the same time, they swung their whips at those soldiers who were still taking action.
A few irrational soldiers wanted to fight against the soldiers and the hundreds of households, but were killed on the spot. Blood flowed all over the ground, and the pungent smell of blood filled the air.
The intimidation of blood and human heads had an effect. The soldiers who were fighting slowly calmed down and took the initiative to retreat to the side without being driven away. They were as honest as quails.
More than half an hour passed from the time the soldiers fought each other to being restrained, and the light beams on the ground became brighter and dazzling.
Ying Xiao was suppressed by the bullets. Zheng Qianhu looked at Huang An with an ugly expression, "Sir Huang, I will report this matter to the commander today, because your forcible dispatch of troops caused Ying Xiao to occur in the camp."
Ying Xiao was a big deal, and he might be beheaded. Zheng Qianhu was definitely not willing to take the blame.
Huang An looked bitter. He just wanted these soldiers to finish their meals and go on their way quickly, but he didn't expect that something like Ying Xiao would happen.
Don't talk about chasing the bandits at this time. If the matter of Ying Xiao cannot be solved, his position as the fourth-level commanding officer will be considered complete.
