Suddenly bursts of wild geese were heard in the sky. Li Laiheng looked up and saw a flock of wild geese flying slowly overhead in a herringbone formation. "The geese are flying south again!" Leghorn thought, and his excitement calmed down a little. It has been almost a year since Azig defeated Xingshan and retreated to Dangyang last year. Over the past year, the ranks of the rebels have been slowly growing, but the food and salary expenditures for so many troops have made Leghorn a bit stretched. There are almost no forces in the base area that dare to resist Leghorn anymore, which means there are no more "rich people" Can be looted. Moreover, its own production has not yet been restored, and it seems not feasible to capture the larger city state capital. First, the defenders are too strong, and second, the city is relatively strong. The year before last, he had lost a large number of men and horses due to the attack on Jingzhou, which seriously damaged his vitality.
Thinking of this, Laiheng immediately crossed his legs and urged his horse to run towards the west camp. There are still too many things for him to deal with!
It was nearly noon, and there were already many men and women waiting outside Xingshan Dazhai. It was crowded and crowded. The soldiers on foot and cavalry stood on both sides of the road with bright banners. Laiheng walked from the crowd passage to a platform that had just been built. This platform was originally a mound of earth. With Laiheng's instruction, it had been transformed into a execution platform. A tall elm tree stood upright more than ten feet away. , as if he also wanted to witness the fate of this person who betrayed the country and the nation.
Seven or eight infantrymen separated from the dense crowd and escorted Master Yi to the execution platform, shouting and kneeling down. Then Gao Shouyi stumbled to the ground, almost falling, and kicked him with a knife and an axe. "Kneel down!" Gao Shouyi was startled. He seemed to realize that his death was coming, but his hands were tied behind his back and he wanted to kneel straight. He couldn't do it, so he had to nod his head to the ground, leaning there. Some people in the crowd couldn't help but curse:
"Son of a bitch, coward!"
The people behind pushed forward hard, squeezing each other. Fortunately, they were stopped by the infantry, so that order was not disrupted. At this time, a voice came from the stage, "The traitor master Yi surrendered to the Qing soldiers. He recognized the thief as his father and was sentenced to death." The decision will be made and displayed outside the camp gate for three days!"
Immediately after the killing platform, there was only a sound of cannon, and the whole crowd was shocked, causing three or five war horses to neigh, and then heard Liu Shun shouting, "Get ready for the swordsmen and axemen!" Two swordsmen and axemen dragged the master Yi from the ground. , carried him to a place five or six feet away from the execution platform, and asked him to kneel down facing south.
After two cannons were fired, the swordsman on the right pulled out the "Rebel Master Yi" sign stuck on Gao Shouyi's neck, threw it on the ground, and walked away.
At this time, Gao Shouyi had collapsed on the ground, and the people around him were holding their breath without making any sound.
Three cannon shots were fired, and the swordsman on the left grabbed the prisoner's hair with his left hand and lifted it. He shouted again, "Kneel down!" At this time, everyone saw a flash of white light, and the head of the traitor master Yi rolled to the ground, and blood burst out.
The people and soldiers suddenly burst into earth-shattering cheers. "good! "
The executioner took two steps forward, bent down, lifted the traitor's head, and walked towards the execution platform.
At this time, Li Laiheng, Liu Shun and others got up and got off the execution platform and walked towards the big tent in the camp. Next, the rebel's head will be hung outside the camp for three days. This is the general's order, and this is the fate of traitors.
…
Just after the first watch, in the southwest of Huangliang Town, a village official entered a large house with bright lights. A huge plaque hangs outside the main entrance of the hall, inscribed with "Zhongyi Hall" in large gold characters. There were tight security guards inside and outside the house, and there seemed to be people in the east and west wings. Is something big going to happen?
In the main room, several generals in armor and military uniforms were discussing matters. Sitting on the main seat facing south was a pink-faced scribe wearing soft armor with a sword on his waist. He was probably in his early thirties. This person's surname is obviously Feng, he is the twin brother of Fou Yingzhao mentioned earlier, and he is also the commander of Dazhai in Huangliang Town. The other three people are Gufu Town Mao Shoudeng, Lang Wu and Wang Jincai. Since the military situation is extremely urgent and there is a possibility of an attack from Jingzhou at any time, these three people come here ostensibly to communicate with Gou Mingming first, but their main purpose is Because Mao and Wang relied on their seniority in the rebel army to seize the military leadership position in Huangliang and even the surrounding areas from Gou Mingming.
"General Feng, I believe you know very well that this time the three of us deployed to defend the area from Xiakou to Huangliang. It can be said that our troops were deployed in full force, almost three times the number of troops in your defense area. Once the troops from Jingzhou or Sichuan attack, it is up to you to How can an individual resist? We have to rely on our troops in Gufu Town! So what do you think..." When Mao Shoudeng said this, he couldn't help but cough repeatedly, spit out a mouthful of thick phlegm, shook his head, and then wanted to continue to open his mouth, but he couldn't help it. Obviously, he was interrupted directly with a wave of his hand.
"Everyone, it doesn't matter to me where your defense zone is. The deployment of troops depends entirely on the general. You have no right to dictate to me, but having said that, if everyone can cooperate sincerely, I will not object to it. At this point, everyone, please go back and see your guests off!" Feng obviously had a very tough attitude, and four mighty soldiers came in from outside the door.
Mao Shoudeng knew that it was useless to say any more, so he could only "hum" and waved his sleeves and walked out, followed by the other two. After leaving the house, they each mounted the war horses handed over by the soldiers, and the group quickly left the village.
Feng Mingming looked at the backs of Mao Shoudeng and others leaving. He shook his head helplessly. "The Thirteen Family Army is really a bit different from the others."
On the way back, Mao, Lang, and Wang didn't say anything. When they were about to enter the village gate, Mao Shoudeng looked in the direction of Huangliang Town and coughed a few times, spit out thick phlegm, and said: "It's obvious. Let’s ride on the donkey and read the songbook, we’ll see!”
…
The time still needs to go back to September 18th.
At exactly nine o'clock in the morning, a warship with full sails sailed towards the temporarily expanded dock at Duishan. There were people and horses on the warship, all in uniform. The leader was Li Xuexiu, who was transferred to guard Xiling Ferry. He came to visit early today just to tell Hongxia personally that everyone expressed a warm welcome to their arrival, and that the general ordered Hongxia to temporarily station troops in the mountains to prevent people from coming from Jingzhou and Yidao (today's Yidu City) of soldiers and horses.
After a short meal, the warship docked, and Hongxia immediately brought several female soldiers with bows and swords on their backs to greet Xuexiu. Because Hongxia and the others had just arrived here, they had not built any houses in a hurry. They simply built some tents with wood. The male soldiers did not even set up tents. Hongxia led Xuexiu towards the mountain. Along the way, Xuexiu carefully looked at the surrounding terrain. There are many trees on the mountain, and there are many people and horses lying in groups under the trees. Not far away, a large piece of flat ground was filled with smoke, and dozens of cooks were busy preparing breakfast. Xuexiu took the opportunity to ask Hongxia:
"The Red Marshal came from Sichuan to win this time. How many troops did he bring with him in total?"
"What kind of victory is just a fluke. Along the way, we saw many people displaced and starved to death on the roadside. The matchmaker and I couldn't bear it, so we recruited many hungry people. Without training, their fighting ability was really weak, which made General Li laugh. Well, the number of people is only about ten thousand." After Hongxia finished speaking, she showed a helpless and slightly depressed look.
Li Xuexiu noticed Hongxia's expression. Then he said, "Don't worry, Commander-in-Chief Hong. I believe the situation will get better soon."
"I hope that's the case." Hongxia said as she moved Xuexiu into a larger tent.
The guests and hosts were seated separately, and the female soldiers were asked to serve tea. After chatting about how to defend together and some common military matters, Xuexiu left immediately.
It happened that at this time I met many soldiers, carrying pigs, leading sheep, and carrying wine. It was very lively.
When Hongxia saw it, she quickly said: "General, you are too polite!"
"This is Mrs. Zhenyi's special instruction. Commander Hong doesn't need to mind it." Xuexiu said back, while calling the soldiers waiting on the shore to get on the boat one by one. Xuexiu and Hongxia hugged each other, said goodbye to each other, and then sailed away.
In a short time, the boat had returned to Xiling Ferry. Xuexiu immediately arranged to inspect the horses, sentry horses, and strengthen the camp.
But he said that at this time Li Laiheng had returned to the Maolu Mountain Stronghold, and had also met his grandmother, Mrs. Zhenyi, and met Song Qingping. They had talked about some military affairs and knew the favorable and unfavorable situations of Yougong, Shoujun, Gui Huaiyuan, etc. , especially Wang Guangsheng's surrender to the enemy made Li Laiheng extremely angry. So people asked Changping's army and horses to retreat to Ruan Long Duc's hundred cities, while Xingshan was still dominated by Liu Shun Xiaobao, plus General Tian Zhongshun was stationed there. Niu Xi, Pi Xingyong, Li Yong and others returned to the old camp. Fu Yingzhao led five hundred cavalrymen and rushed back to Huangliang Town at night. From then on, the enemy and we were temporarily in peace.
However, this is just a moment of tranquility before the storm is about to come.
…
