The towns around Taihang Mountain have gurgling water and white walls and black tiles.赗
Originally, this was the busiest time of the day in the market, but today the long street was in a mess.
The fruits and vegetables rolled all over the floor, and there were traces of being trampled everywhere. The stalls selling masks, windmills, clay sculptures and other gadgets were all overturned.
People in the market fled home in fear and hid in their homes. The elders in the family quickly reached out to cover the cries of their children.
But in some places, the crying could not be stopped at all.
Those houses in the town that looked a little more luxurious now have their houses ruined, and the doors have been kicked open.
Anyone who dared to block him, or who was a little slow or in the way, would be chopped down with knives, and blood would be splashed everywhere.
The head of the family, who was usually the most stubborn person, had a bright steel knife held to his neck. He kept crying and begging for mercy, and tremblingly led the gang of gangsters to get the money from the family.赗
They were said to be gangsters, but this group of people held uniform steel knives and wore leather armor, iron armor, and chain mail. They looked like they were in the military.
If the mayor who had been hacked to death with a knife could still speak, he could tell others that this group of people were clearly dressed like the soldiers in the Taihang Thirteenth Banner camp.
After robbing the big families, these people still didn't give up. They considered that they didn't have much in their hands, and they didn't dare to ask for it from other people who also had swords and guns, so they had to focus on those shops and even ordinary people's homes.
'No matter how ordinary you are, you might be able to save some wealth? '
When these people ran around with this idea, the sound of crying finally spread to all parts of the town.
boom!
!
A strong wind blew in the sky, and the sound of roaring air was even more shocking than the usual thunder.赗
Some soldiers and bandits were about to cut down their swords. When they heard this sound, they couldn't help but tremble and looked up at the sky.
A white line in the sky spreads from a distance.
The whole town suddenly became a lot colder, and big raindrops fell from the sky.
No, what big raindrops are they? !
There was a leader on a horse, his whole body stiff with fear, his eyes tightened, and his eyes reflected the things that fell from the sky.
They were clearly fist-sized water balloons.
The man on horseback was hit by the water ball, and all his bones were shattered. He didn't even have time to grunt before he fell off the horse and died.赗
Those who wreaked havoc throughout the town were also killed by water balloons.
Needless to say, there is no need to say much about the open air areas. Even those who have fought their way into other people's houses cannot escape the blow of these water balloons that volley and turn and automatically track around corners.
"What a bunch of beasts!"
The air flow reverberated, and Dongfang Jie paused in the air for a moment, overlooking the entire town. He also held a large flag in his left hand. The flag was fluttering in the wind and making a fierce sound.
"The three-point returning vitality created by the Military God of the Tang Dynasty is just right for killing scum like you."
He did not stay in the town. The big flag in his hand pointed him in another direction.
This banner of natural evolution is one of the eight banners refined by Guan Luoyang. It is closely related to the concept of war and has many wonderful uses.赗
Wherever there is a bloody disaster, this big flag can sense and point out the direction.
Originally among the eight major sects in northern Kyushu, the Taihang Thirteen Banners were known to be the strongest and most powerful, but the territory they occupied actually showed a very long and narrow shape.
Nowadays, the situation in northern Kyushu has undergone tremendous changes. The Wenxiang Sect, Bagua Sect, etc. have all been captured by Guan Luoyang. The Seven Kills Sect and the Yuyuan Army in Qilu Land have also accepted Guan Luoyang's side. Unified deployment of the camp.
In this situation, it would be very inappropriate for the Thirteen Taihang Banners to maintain their original distribution of troops. They could only shrink with all their strength and move the army closer to the north, merging it with the troops dispatched from the Jurchen Dynasty and the Rakshasa countries to the north. .
In this way, they can show a strong enough momentum to fight against Guan Luoyang and Zi Yuanjun's camp.
However, soldiers are not machines.
It does not mean that the leader, thousands of miles away, can issue a few orders and pass them on layer by layer, so that the entire army can be mobilized easily and quickly like human hands and feet.赗
In fact, throughout the thousands of years of human history, there have always been very few elite soldiers who can be said to be able to use their fingers with ease, and some of them may even be exaggerated.
Fifty years ago, those elite soldiers and generals of the Taihang Thirteen Banners might still be able to barely meet the standards of order and prohibition, but after fifty years, everything has changed beyond recognition.
The number of soldiers and horses in the Taihang Thirteen Banners is about 30% more than that of the past, but the total number of generals, officials and civil servants at all levels is more than 50% more than that of the past.
In the territory of the Thirteenth Taihang Banner, ordinary people could not live a peaceful life. If they wanted to live a good life and live a more stable life, they had to rely on those powerful families.
And those powerful families, if they want to live a better life, have to curry favor with the government and try to get their own people to become officials.
They worked together and colluded with each other, making the Taihang Thirteen Banners management system, which was not perfect at the beginning, becoming more and more bloated.
Yan Taibao, Yan Shuangfeng, was used to hearing the boasts of those under his command, and gradually he really believed that this increase in numbers was a manifestation of "the return of all the people, the prosperity of culture and military affairs".赗
Now that the war is imminent and the army is about to be fully mobilized, they can finally see how the Thirteen Banners of Taihang have changed over the past fifty years of gluttony and excessive occupation.
When large-scale marches began in major military camps, deserters began to appear at the same time.
Not all soldiers want to fight, and they are not fools.
It has been quite some time since the earth-shattering scenes and incidents like those that happened in the Bagua Sect, the Wenxiang Sect, and even Minshan, and the soldiers have all heard those rumors.
During the Tianxiang Tower Incident of the Wenxiang Sect, the Tianliu Mountain outside the Bagua Sect's main altar suddenly shook, half of the mountain collapsed, and the mountain mysteriously disappeared and reappeared.
The drying up of the rivers in the Minshan Mountains has caused changes in the water levels of numerous tributaries and rivers. The huge abyss in the mountains and the torrent of crystal light rising into the sky from the abyss.
Flying from the west, the black castle walks undisguisedly among the clouds; the glazed lair transformed from dozens of peaks; the purple light pillar that lasts for a long time surrounds the entire mountain range, isolating the inside and outside...
Ordinary rumors would only be treated as after-dinner jokes by these soldiers, but this time, these rumors appeared too much and too densely.
In addition, the order for large-scale mobilization was actually passed down from above. As soon as they thought about everything, panic gradually spread among the army.
After the first batch of deserters appeared, the rumors became more terrifying, and more and more soldiers and even generals fled with their people.
Some of these deserters just wanted to find a place to hide and avoid the limelight after escaping. This type of people often lost all their armor, swords and guns long ago to avoid being too conspicuous.
But some others, although they also escaped from the large marching team, were not so peaceful.
They have many little calculations in their minds, and there are many people who want to take advantage of this "good opportunity" to live a happy life for a few days.
So this type of people turned from soldiers into bandits.赗
They were even more ferocious than ordinary bandits, running around burning, killing and looting.
Dongfang Jie and others were originally planning to come out to inquire about some of the movements of the army on the opposite side.
When they were about to set off, Guan Luoyang happened to return to Tianzidu, took out seven large banners of natural evolution, and gave them to the leaders of the seven teams.
Because of the Taihang Thirteen Banners, in addition to several large military camps guarding the Forbidden City, there were a total of seven large camps located in other areas.
However, what Guan Luoyang ordered them to do was not just to find out what was going on, but also to suppress those soldiers and bandits who might appear.
During this period of time, Master Dongfang Jie said he had dealt with six or seven groups of soldiers and bandits.
He ran around for another half day, patrolling the surrounding areas. At night, he returned to the agreed place, met with his people, and took these people to find other exploration teams.赗
With the connection under the banner of natural evolution, which is much more convenient and accurate than the spiritual core communication of Yuanjun Temple, the seven exploration teams successfully converged not long after.
This is a pine forest on the top of the mountain. Not far from the pine forest, there are many incomplete, lying, weathered and dirty Buddha statues, surrounded by weeds. You can also vaguely see some foundations that are almost completely buried under the soil, and Collapsed pillars.
Taoist Master Jiuying stretched out his hand to wipe off the cobwebs on the shoulders of a Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva statue with missing ears, and said: "This should be a temple that was abandoned before it was completed. It was probably about fifty years ago. matter."
There are many Taoist temples in the Taihang Mountains. Some are old, broken, and collapsed. Some people are always repairing them, and some are thinking of building new ones.
Even in turbulent times, officials and dignitaries, as well as ordinary people, raised funds, all wanted to build temples for peace of mind.
Was it God who killed them? Why were these gods and bodhisattvas protecting them?
Fifty years ago, armies from all walks of life continued to conquer, thieves swarmed in, and the people who built the temple died. Naturally, the temple could not continue to be built.赗
Liu Ziyan also stopped in front of a stone statue whose features had not yet begun to be carved. He stretched out his hand and made gestures on the head of the stone statue for a while, then opened his mouth and blew.
Stone powder was flying all over the sky, and Dongfang Jie and the others turned their heads to take a look.
The stone statue revealed a face very similar to Guan Luoyang.
It was not known which Bodhisattva this stone statue was originally meant to be carved into. It was adorned with seven treasures, holding a lotus in its hand and wearing a crown.
When Liu Ziyan carved the face, he put a lot of thought into it and carved it into a look with lowered eyebrows and lowered eyes, gazing at the lotus, which complemented each other and did not look out of place.
"Senior Luoyang, please bless us to win tonight."
Liu Ziyan bowed to this Buddha statue very seriously.赗
Liu Ziyan couldn't say whether worshiping other stones would be useful, but worshiping this one was really useful.
Of course, Liu Ziyan and others could have contacted Guan Luoyang directly, but this action was mostly funny.
Just because they have to do something big tonight, relaxing a little can also help the people they bring not to appear too anxious.
Everyone smiled knowingly and started talking about business.
"All seven soldiers have noticed the desertion."
Taoist Master Jiuying said, "I think they are planning to slow down for the time being and reorganize themselves."
"But even so, these seven groups of troops will be able to meet up tomorrow afternoon at the latest, and the day after tomorrow, they will be able to reach the Forbidden City."
"We need to take action, and tonight is the best time."
After Guan Luoyang intervened in this matter, the scale and quality of these small teams that were originally just spies immediately increased by more than one level.
Now the leaders of these seven spies are Dongfang Jie and his four reincarnations, the leader of Wudang, Jiuying Taoist Priest, the first generation leader of Yuyuan Army Zhang Qi, and the top master of Southern Shaolin layman Liu Yude.
Those who followed them were also the elite from Nanming.
None of these people are talented, bold, or even lawless people. Of course, it is impossible for them to be brought together just to investigate the trends. Even if they suppress the soldiers and bandits along the way, it is just a small test for them. .
What they really want is to weaken, contain, or even directly control these seven armies.
After the emergence of Tai Sui Martial Arts, in the contemporary era where personal power continues to grow, it is not impossible to achieve this kind of thing, but there are still quite a few challenges.赗
Therefore, they were prepared to take action before the seven armies actually converged, and at the most delicate moment when they were about to merge.
Everyone summarized the movements they heard and drew a route map, marking the positions of the seven soldiers and horses.
"For the sake of convenience, let's just give these seven groups of soldiers and horses, represented by the first to the seventh line. The farthest from the Forbidden City is the first line, so they are arranged in order to the seventh."
Taoist Master Jiuying pointed at the map and said, "There are masters in each of these seven groups of soldiers and horses. The first group of soldiers and horses were originally stationed in the farthest place and belonged to the frontier generals of the Thirteenth Taihang Banner. They were led by General Baiqi. Recently, more masters from the north have come to sit in the First Route Army."
"So we go in the opposite direction. We start with the seventh route soldiers and horses, gather our strength, make the final decision, quietly control their leaders, and then push forward."
After everyone discussed it and asked for some details, they set off directly without further delay.
In the dark night, the rolling Taihang Mountains can never be called quiet.赗
In addition to the places where the army is stationed, the sound of burning oil glass flames, the sound of soldiers patrolling, etc., in other mountains and forests, there are occasional sounds of howling animals, and the sounds of insects are endless.
The leaves rustle and move, and when the wind blows, the strange vegetation in the valley makes thousands of different tiny sounds.
But it is the endless tiny sounds that create a feeling that is deeper and heavier than pure silence, making people understand words like "late night" and "darkness" more profoundly than ever before.
But in the fourth army camp, some people were able to detect some changes in other military camps from this deep darkness.
"Humph, you are so brave, you actually dare to do it!"
"Do you really think that without the protection of Tianzidu and the protection of Zi Yuanjun and Guan Luoyang, their lives will be more secure?"
"Considering their age, these people are quite strong and talented. They have a bright future. Killing them will mess up Guan Luoyang's mood. Hehehehe..."赗
Several voices were discussing in the unlit tent, and soon they all disappeared, falling into a dead silence.
It was not until more than an hour later that Dongfang Jie and others approached the camp of the fourth group of troops.
