"Don't even move! If you force the prince to death, who among us can bear the responsibility?" the leader of the Royal Forest Army shouted. Thousands of soldiers held their weapons high, neither up nor down. The fire gun soldiers were holding fire guns, and no one dared to pull the trigger. Everyone knew how accurate the current firearms were. If the shot missed, the prince's life would be lost. The archer pulled the bow string, and his arms were sore. One archer couldn't hold it up, his finger slipped, and with a whoosh, a sharp arrow shot out, grazing Gao Heng's side.
"Ah!" A scream came. Gao Heng turned the handle of the knife with his left hand, and the sharp blade stirred on Zheng Zuo's shoulder. He howled instinctively.
"You bastard! Who asked you to fire arrows!" An officer stepped forward and whipped the archer in the face, knocking him to the ground.
"Put it down, put down your bows, arrows and firecrackers!" the leader of the Royal Forest Army roared, and everyone put down all the weapons in their hands.
"Whoever dares to put down his weapons and kill them, leave me alone and kill these bastards!" If eyes could kill, Zheng Zuo's eyes at this moment had killed Gao Heng ten thousand times. He stared at Gao Heng with hatred. , I have led troops in battles for many years, and faced regular military forces such as the Ming Army, the Thai Army, and the Burmese Army. Who would have thought that the boat capsized in the ditch and today fell into the hands of a group of civilians. If you are careless, you are still careless. If you are arrogant, you will lose. You will eventually pay the price for your carelessness.
But he couldn't stand Gao Heng's insult to him and trampled him under his feet in front of the entire army. He was the prince, which made him unable to face his father and thousands of soldiers in the future.
Gao Heng turned around and shouted to everyone: "If you want him dead, just come forward. I am just a civilian husband from Zhennanguan. If I can change your heir apparent today, it will be absolutely worth it."
When the commander heard Gao Heng's words, he immediately said in stiff Chinese: "Don't be impulsive! We can talk about anything! As long as the prince is alive, everything is easy to discuss."
The commander still has a glimmer of hope at this moment, not for Zheng Zuo, but for himself. If Zheng Zuo lives, the most he can do is execute himself as a warning to others, and at least his family can be saved. If Zheng Zuo died now, none of the officers and their families here would survive.
"You bastards, who asked you to negotiate with him!" Zheng Zuo, as a high-ranking official in Annan, naturally understands Chinese. When he heard that his generals were actually negotiating with Gao Heng, he was so angry that they acted as Where has the sergeant's sense of honor gone? How can he negotiate with the enemy? But he didn't want to think about it. If he died, he would die. But if he really died and everyone present was buried with him, Zheng Zuo wouldn't ask his generals if they were willing.
Gao Heng used the barrel of the gun as a stick and slapped Zheng Zuo's face directly with his backhand. This blow was so severe that Zheng Zuo spurted blood instantly. Several of his teeth were knocked out. His cheeks were so swollen that he could only moan. He screamed incoherently.
Gao Heng said coldly: "If you keep talking nonsense, I will cut off one of your ears, or gouge out one of your eyes, so that you will die without a complete body." The Annan nobles still care about the whole body. If they want to be executed A certain noble usually used hanging, which could keep the body intact. Zheng Zuo was shocked by the murderous aura emanating from Gao Heng. He had no doubt that the person in front of him could do anything. After all, he If his men launch an attack, the civilians will definitely not survive, so inflicting more pain on themselves before they die becomes the only thing that can be done.
Zheng Zuo couldn't speak clearly and could only shut up. Gao Heng looked at the other commander and said: "Now you can retreat and bring the news here to your king. As for the conditions, I haven't thought about it yet, but the basics are One, you must withdraw your troops from Yuan County immediately, and Tuo County will be temporarily handed over to us to manage. Zheng Zuo will be held in our hands as a hostage. Remember, we are just a group of civilians, we are just ants in your eyes, but Zheng Zuo It’s different, he is the crown prince, and ten thousand of our lives are not worth his alone.”
The commander nodded, pressed his hands, and signaled him not to be impulsive. He also understood that the other party would not kill the prince so easily until the last moment. After all, this was a good meat ticket, and many conditions could be negotiated.
"Turn around and retreat!" the commander ordered.
"Woooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo could. I'm a little desperate, and I don't know what kind of torture I will suffer in the hands of these people.
"Wait!" Gao Heng shouted.
The commander turned around and said, "Why, is there anything else?"
"Of course, you can't just go back like this." Gao Heng said.
"Then what do you want?" the commander said with a hint of caution.
"Leave us the horses, armor, and all the weapons." Gao Heng pointed at the commander.
"This is impossible." The commander refused.
"Nothing is impossible. How do I know if you will continue to send troops to attack? Maybe your king will give up on the crown prince. I always have these things to protect myself. It doesn't matter if you don't agree. I will cut off his nose now. , you bring it back to your king." Gao Heng gestured to bend down, and a trace of panic finally appeared in Zheng Zuo's eyes.
"Wait! I'll give it!" Under the huge pressure, the commander had no choice at all. If he really brought Zheng Zuo's nose to see Lord Zheng, his whole family would probably be cut into pieces. Although losing weapons and equipment was a serious crime, it was also to save Zheng Zuo. Moreover, thousands of people proved to him that he was not to blame.
"Leave the equipment and let's go back." The commander ordered.
Gao Heng kept stepping on Zheng Zuo. It was not until half an hour later that all the enemy troops evacuated. Gao Heng breathed a sigh of relief. He suddenly collapsed on the ground. His whole body felt like it was being washed with water. He felt that his whole body was tense all the time. The string suddenly loosened.
Several spearmen behind him came forward, caught Zheng Zuo, and tied him up.
Wang Qi and others rushed out of the city and helped Gao Heng up. Gao Heng's muscles were still trembling. The confrontation just now was not only a test of his physical state, but also a test of his mental state. Whenever he showed A trace of timidity may be caught by the other party.
"General, general, they are leaving." Wang Qi and Wu Rong supported Gao Heng on the left and right.
Gao Heng looked at the armor and weapons on the ground in front of him, as well as the war horses with their reins tied together. There were more than a hundred of them. He subconsciously asked: "Did we win?"
Wu Rong and Wang Qi nodded excitedly and said, "We won, we defeated the Annan people."
Gao Heng felt that he had never felt more relaxed. In this battle, an army temporarily trained by two thousand civilians directly faced tens of thousands of Annan regular troops. Although the opponent was a soldier from the Fourth Town, they were still regular troops under the imperial court. , and also occupied an absolute numerical advantage. Although there were some lucky factors on the Survival Brigade's side, for example, Gao Heng's capture of Zheng Zuo was an element of gambling, but no matter what, this was a hearty victory.
Gao Heng pushed Wang Qi and Wu Rong away, faced the city, and shouted to the surviving soldiers of the survival brigade above and below the city: "Soldiers, we won, we survived, long live the survival brigade!"
"Long live! Long live! Long live!"
"We must win! We must win! We must win!"
Cheers resounded through the mountains and forests. They defeated the enemy with dignity, seized a large amount of weapons and equipment, and captured Prince Zheng Chao, using him as a hostage. It can be said that their lives will be safe for a long time to come. Guaranteed, as long as Zheng Zuo is in hand, Annan's army will not act rashly.
Many people among the people know that Zheng Zuo's status in the country, if it is an ordinary prince, they may not have much confidence. Although it is said that the poison of a tiger does not eat its seeds, there is another saying that the most ruthless emperor's family. For the sake of his own ambition, an emperor, not to mention a son, or even the whole family can give up. Didn't Liu Bang push his wife, children and others out of the car when he was running for his life?
But Zheng Zuo is different. Zheng Zuo is the most valued son of Lord Zheng. He has been the crown prince for many years and has a high prestige in the court. It can be said that there is almost no suspense. After Lord Zheng’s hundred years, the country will definitely be handed over to Zheng Zuo. Now the heir to the throne has been Catch, the Annan people cannot have the courage of the Ming Dynasty to directly choose another prince. If they put Zheng Zuo back at this time, with Zheng Zuo's prestige, the army will immediately be loyal to him. The country will have no two masters, and the Zheng Dynasty will immediately be in chaos. , so Zheng Zuo cannot be given up, both emotionally and rationally.
In this way, they can use this as a condition to have a good discussion with the Annan people about bargaining chips, and asking for more is not too much.
The soldiers supported each other and returned to the city. Jackie Chan led a large number of people out of the city. The battle was over. Although Zheng Zuo was in their hands, they should still clean up the battlefield as soon as possible to prevent the enemy from returning. Jackie Chan's style is to do what You have to be cautious in everything. Even if you are sure of victory, you cannot relax your vigilance.
Gao Heng ordered Wang Qi to imprison Zheng Zuo to the county government first, and arrange for people to guard him closely and tie his hands and feet first to prevent him from committing suicide, otherwise all his previous efforts would be wasted.
Gao Heng returned to the city to rest. After a battle, Gao Heng's physical strength was exhausted. Although he was a special soldier in later generations, his body did not travel back, but his soul attached to Gao Heng of the Ming Dynasty. This body His body was originally quite strong, he was tall, and he had a big body. The height of one foot in the Ming and Qing Dynasties was basically the same as that in later generations. Gao Heng was six feet tall, already over 1.8 meters tall. In an era like the Ming Dynasty when many people were malnourished, he was already He is considered a very tall person, and coupled with his strong martial arts skills, no wonder even Cheng Zilong said that he has the appearance of a general.
Back in the city, near the city gate, many buildings were in dilapidated condition. These were all buildings destroyed by enemy artillery fire. There were still many people on the streets cleaning up the mess, and many people formed teams to carry the dead. The corpses included not only those of soldiers, but also many civilians.
On the simple stretchers made by the expatriates themselves, many wounded soldiers were wailing. In this era without antibiotics, once the wounded soldiers' wounds were infected, they were basically certain to die. There were not many doctors in the city, so they could only do their best. Treating wounded soldiers, but how many people can be saved is unknown.
Gao Heng walked to a wounded soldier. The soldier looked very young, probably around eighteen or nineteen years old. In later generations, he would just be a kid in high school. But now, his legs were cut off by cannonballs. , his face was extremely pale, and he looked like he had lost too much blood.
Seeing Gao Heng coming, he was still struggling to get up. Gao Heng held him down and said: "Don't move, you are too injured."
The soldier pursed his lips and said, "General, I'm cold!"
Gao Heng immediately took off his cotton armor and covered the soldiers. Although the inside of the cotton armor was made of iron leaves, the outside was made of real cotton. The Ming army adopted cotton armor because it had a certain warmth-keeping effect.
Gao Heng knelt down and said: "Well done, you are all well done. The enemy was defeated at your hands. You are the real warriors."
The young soldier smiled. In his heart, it was a very beautiful thing to be praised by the general. Gao Heng said: "Take good care of your injuries and stop talking. After your injuries are healed, I will satisfy your requests."
The young soldier said: "General, I have nothing to ask for. My parents were killed by the Annan people, and there is only one little sister left in the city. I am like this now. I beg the general to take care of my little sister."
Gao Heng held his hand and said, "Don't worry, don't worry, I will definitely do it."
"Then I'm relieved. I really want to have another bite of rice noodles from my hometown." After the young soldier finished speaking, he stopped saying anything.
Gao Heng looked up and saw that his pupils had dilated and his eyes had lost their luster. A passing doctor walked up and felt his pulse and said: "General, he is dead."
Gao Heng did not answer, but gently closed his eyelids with his palms, and then asked: "Does he have a name?"
The doctor said: "It seems to be called Wang Xiaowu. I have forgotten the specific details. There are so many wounded soldiers, and many people died without even mentioning their names."
Gao Heng nodded, pulled a soldier beside him and said: "Go and give an order to Mr. Cheng Zilong and organize the whole city to identify the body. We need to find out everyone's name. In addition, we ask the craftsmen to make wooden plaques and engrave each person's name on them." Carry the name of a soldier with you so that no matter who dies in battle, at least he has an identity."
"Got the order!" The soldier ran away immediately.
Gao Heng stood up and, with his exhausted body, visited the wounded along the street. In this battle, the Pioneer Battalion suffered heavy losses. Fortunately, a reserve battalion was formed and so many people worked together to transport the wounded, but they lacked medical care. Medicine, many people died because they could not receive timely treatment. This kind of death was so meaningless. At this moment, Gao Heng had already begun to think in his mind about how to solve this dilemma. At present, they have achieved a short-term balance with the Annan people. , but this balance may be broken at any time.
