Zhang Cheng's breath gradually became evener, and the complexion on his face gradually returned to normal. He sat on the saddle and said to Chen Zhong beside him:
"See how those injured brothers are doing, make statistics on the battle situation, and report back to me."
Chen Zhong said, "Yes." He turned around, mounted his horse, and rode away with several guards.
Zhang Cheng then ordered Chen Zheng to keep an eye on the prisoner who was hit by Chen Zhong's mace and vomited blood, and try to prevent him from dying.
Naluqi had been hit with a mace and his internal organs were damaged. He would definitely not survive, but he could not die for a while. However, he could not be forced to ask him about the situation of the Tatars in Mafang Village.
After a moment, Chen Zhong and the sentinel Hu Dake rode back together. Hu Dake was still holding a small braid like a mouse tail in his hand, with a bald head attached to it. He was the one who finally escaped to the north. The Qing soldier had a head on his waistcoat.
"Master, we have them all taken care of. Not one of the ten Tatars has escaped."
Hu Dake came to Zhang Cheng and threw down a bloody Tartar head, got off his horse and continued:
"I wanted to catch him alive, but I didn't expect that this guy was so fierce that he injured three of my good soldiers. In the end, I had no choice but to kill him."
Zhang Cheng nodded to him and asked with concern: "How are the injuries of the brothers?"
"It's okay, it's just a skin injury." Hu Dake answered, then approached and asked with concern: "Brother Zhong said that the boss is injured?"
"It's okay, it's okay." Zhang Cheng replied, then turned to look at Chen Zhong and asked, "How is it?"
Chen Zhong cupped his fists and replied: "Reporting to President Qian, our unit killed nine bandits and captured one alive in this battle. He was seriously injured. I'm afraid he won't live long."
In addition, five captive war horses were seized, and nearly 250 taels of silver were found. Two of our troops were killed and seven wounded, one of whom was seriously injured. "
Zhang Cheng thought for a while and said to Chen Zheng beside him: "I have ordered your outpost A and B teams to stay here and rescue the injured brothers. You must keep an eye on the captives and keep their mouths shut. You must not teach them." He is dead."
Chen Zheng responded: "I accept your orders."
Zhang Cheng continued: "Every department will take a short break and set off after a cup of tea.
You can take the lead with your rear guard, my troops in the middle, and Chen Zheng behind bars, letting everyone out in the night. This place is not far from the horse farm, so don't be careless and disturb the Tatars. "
Everyone took the order and went to make arrangements. Zhang Cheng, accompanied by Chen Zhong, went to visit the four injured people.
Only the one with the arrow in the abdomen looked the heaviest. At this time, like the other three, the bleeding had stopped. However, the arrow was only cut off with a sharp blade. He could only take it out after returning to camp. After a little comfort, he ready to go.
…………
More than four miles north of Mafang Village, a not very wide road runs through a willow forest, barely enough for four horses to walk abreast. Thirty-three knights, wearing helmets and armor, galloped southward.
It was the Zuo Shao B General Team A of the Cavalry Thousand Headquarters under Xuanfu Town General Zhang Yan who was responsible for exploring the road ahead. In order not to collide with each other, they rode in parallel and were roughly divided into three waves.
There were ten riders in each of the two waves, with thirteen riders in the middle, more than forty steps apart. About half a mile behind them, the sound of hoofbeats rumbled, and more than eighty knights were also galloping towards them.
The sun drew an arc from the horizon, and now hung lazily in the western sky. The feeble sunlight shone on the yellowing leaves that had begun to fall off, reflecting a golden light.
But they had no intention of watching, and their horses were rushing forward. The first wave of ten Ming army cavalry had already entered Liulin.
It turned out that Zhang Guangda led the left sentry and found no trace of the Qing army's sentry cavalry near Tangshan, so he followed Zhang Cheng's military order and led his troops to assemble in the direction of Mafang. As a result, he met the messenger sent by Zhang Cheng halfway.
He immediately gathered his troops, still with one team in front. He personally led most of the troops behind and rushed straight to the horse farm.
I thought that all the Qing troops were gathered in the horse stable to rest at this moment, but because Zhang Cheng was worried that he would make a mistake in the horse stable, he did not dare to take into account the strength of the horses' legs, so he tried his best to drive the horses under his legs and gallop all the way.
The second armor of Team A of the Zuoshao B Team, led by Liu Quan, the captain of the team, rode their horses about fifty steps behind the first armor and galloped into the road among the willows.
October has already entered autumn, and the cold wind is howling, especially in the north.
The icy cold wind blew wildly at the yellowed dead branches and leaves, colliding with each other. The sound of "wow...wow...wow..." resounded all over the place. The sound is particularly loud, interspersed with the sound of the cold wind blowing the pages, intertwined into a beautiful movement.
Some withered willow leaves have accumulated on the road, and the horses' hooves make a crisp sound of "click...click...click...click..." one after another, forming a continuous sound.
There were no frightened birds in the willow forest. They must have all flown south to spend the winter. There were no small animals scurrying around.
Except for the sound of the cavalry marching, there was no other movement, and it was as terrifyingly silent as a dead land.
To be on the safe side, Liu Quance shouted an order on his horse: "Pull forward and backward, keep one horse's distance, pass quickly, and pay attention to the movement in the forest!"
The originally compact cavalry team became looser under his orders, but their speed increased.
There was still no sound in the willow forest, but Liu Quan felt a strong sense of oppression, making the hairs on his back stand up.
He couldn't help but shiver all over his body, feeling vaguely uneasy. His eyes moved like a revolving lantern, carefully observing the deathly silent willow forest beside him.
As soon as the peripheral vision of his left eye swept across the willow forest to the east, he suddenly saw a few cold stars appearing among the golden patches illuminated by the sun.
"Whoosh...whoosh...whoosh..." Immediately afterwards, the sound of arrows piercing the air was heard coming from the forest.
"Enemy attack..."
Liu Quan discovered the enemy's situation and shouted loudly to remind the knights of Erjia. He himself immediately turned his head and looked carefully at the willow forest to the east, only to see a cold star heading straight towards his door.
With an instinctive flash, an arrow grazed his left ear and took away a piece of flesh from his earlobe. Donating blood immediately stained his left shoulder red.
"ah…"
Then there was a scream. A knight in armor on Liu Quan's right, slightly one horse head behind him, was shot through the ear guard by a heavy arrow, entering from the left ear and exiting from the right ear.
He only yelled half a cry before he fell off the horse, making no sound at all. The horse lost control, raised its hooves and galloped forward, leaving its owner behind and escaping from danger alone.
"Dismount and kill the slaves." Liu Quan continued to shout loudly.
At the same time, he immediately turned over and dismounted, not forgetting to hit the horse's butt with a three-eyed musket to inflict pain so that he could sprint out of this dangerous road.
He dismounted his horse and rolled toward the willow forest on the east side of the road. He hid behind a willow tree and picked up the three-eyed musket in his hand. He did not dare to move rashly. He did not know how many ambush soldiers there were in the forest and where they were. .
When a slightly fat knight turned over and dismounted, he was hit by an arrow in his right calf. He had not yet screamed.
Another feather arrow flew towards him, piercing his throat through the gap in the gorget. He lay straight there, leaving forever the brothers he had been with day and night.
Just as the knights in Erjia turned over and dismounted, the forest floor that was originally covered with a thin layer of dead branches and leaves was suddenly lifted up, bringing with it a sky full of withered yellow willow leaves.
A Qing army vest wearing only light armor suddenly rose from the ground with a strange howl. Before the knight walking at the end could react, a heavy mace hit his chest, and the knight fell suddenly. land.
The Qing army vest kicked his feet hard on the ground, flew up again, and hit the helmet of the fallen Ming army knight hard with his mace.
The black helmet was smashed and flew far away, and the knight's head turned into a bloody mass.
