Neon Clothes and Iron Clothes

Chapter 692
"That's it, one moment and another moment!" The middle-aged man sighed: "Mainly speaking, the Silla people have completely broken up with the Tang Dynasty, and then the Xiongjin Governor's Mansion will be very dangerous. Got it!"

Wang Kuan didn't speak, but just nodded. For these pioneers, Xiongjin Governor's Mansion was a very familiar name - the largest among those merchants who went deep into the wilderness, purchased their specialties, and sold them various tools and ironware. Part of it came from there. Wang Kuan heard a lot of rumors about Baekje, Silla, and Japan from those merchants, so he naturally knew the stakes among them.If the Ungjin Governorate was annexed by Silla, the trade network that they, the pioneers, had benefited from in the past would no longer exist.

"Forget it, we are not out of danger yet, so why bother worrying about the Xiongjin Governor's Mansion!" The middle-aged man sighed: "Wang Kuan, how far do you think we have to go to be safe?"

"We are not far from the Laoha River now!" Wang Kuan sighed: "But even crossing the Laoha River is not enough. To be safe, we must at least pass the outpost on the edge of Liucheng and be protected by the local defenders. , can we be considered truly safe. So after we arrived at Laoha River, we walked downstream along the river bank, and then looked for the next ferry to cross the river."

"Go downstream along the river bank? But aren't there more swamps as you go downstream?" The middle-aged man's face became more and more ugly: "Besides, how can we cross the river with so many vehicles, old people and children!"

"Only in swamps can we avoid those thieves on horseback!" Wang Kuan said: "Even a blind person can see our deep ruts, let alone those thieves on horseback? Hay grass is easy to walk on, but it is also more dangerous. You choose! "

The middle-aged man sighed and was speechless. He knew very well that thieves could easily judge how much or even what cargo was loaded on the car through the ruts. If they encountered them, everything would be over.

There was a burst of cheers from the woods. Wang Kuan raised his head. It was the hunters who were replenishing the food. They had a few hares hanging on their shoulders, and bunches of mushrooms and quails hanging on their waists. The two girls who were following the hunters came back. The thorn baskets were filled with blackberries.

"It seems we are in good luck tonight!" Wang Kuan couldn't help but smile. Although they were not short of food, compared to rough and hard dry flour cakes and cured meat, both blackberries and barbecue were better to eat. too much.

The hunters handed over the prey to the women, who deftly disemboweled the hare, then cut it into small pieces and threw them into an iron pot to stew with mushrooms, while the quails stripped off their feathers, pierced them with branches, and roasted them on the fire.Although the prey in this season is still very thin, everyone is satisfied with the meal. The mothers leave their share to the children, and the children lick the grease between their fingers, showing happy expressions.Looking at everything in front of him, Wang Kuan couldn't help but pray secretly in his heart.

In the next few days, Wang Kuan's convoy had good luck. Although the surrounding farmland turned into woods and swamps, the occasional villages became smaller and more scattered, the hills were higher, the valleys were deeper, and the food became more abundant. increasingly difficult to obtain.But at least they didn't encounter thieves, and that was enough.But the good luck finally ran out on the fourth day. Hunter Yu Jing, who was serving as a scout, encountered traces of people ahead, so he ran back and reported to Wang Kuan: "There are about twenty or thirty people, all wearing leather clothes, five or six of them have helmets, and some have helmets." Iron armor." He said, "A few of them were seriously injured, and one sounded like he was about to die. His voice was very noisy, so I boldly went over to take a look, and saw that there were spears and shields around them, but only three of them. Horses, and one lame. I thought they'd been there for a while, and they stunk."

"Did you see they had flags?" Wang Kuan asked.

"I didn't see it!"

"Is there a bow? Is there a crossbow?"

"It has a bow, but I don't know if it has a crossbow or not!"

Wang Kuan casually pulled a blade of grass and put it into his mouth to chew: without the flag, it was impossible to tell which side it was on, but the most likely thing was a group of deserters, which was almost synonymous with bandits and robbers.Even though they only have twenty or thirty people, and there are still wounded, in a real fight, their side may not be able to win. The most important thing is that our group of people are refugees. Even if they win, it won't be worth the loss if there are casualties.

"What should we do?" Someone asked worriedly. Among these people, only Wang Kuan had served in the Tang army and was still a small leader, so he became the leader of this small team invisibly.

"If you can, it's best to avoid them!" Wang Kuan said: "Some of them have helmets, armor, and bows. If we fight, there will definitely be casualties on our side. And we have so many horses, they will definitely rob them." Maybe it’s more than that!”

"How to avoid it? We have so many carriages and horses, we can't get into the mire, right?" a woman asked.

"We can go back along the way we came and then turn west at the last fork in the road!"

There was a hum of conversation among the crowd, and most people had a look of despair on their faces. There were women and children in the team. The road was so difficult and dangerous, but what supported them was the hope that they were getting closer and closer to their destination. But now Wang Kuan asked them to turn back and then turn to the west, which meant that they were getting further and further away from their destination.

"This will take at least four extra days of walking!" shouted a voice.

"Yes!" Wang Kuan replied: "But we can stay farther away from that group of people. After we arrive at Liucheng, we can rest as much as we want."

"No one knows what they will encounter if they go west!" The voice complained: "And the way back is also very dangerous. If a thief catches up along the rut, wouldn't he just hit him?"

"It is possible, but we have no choice!" Wang Kuan explained laboriously: "If we continue to move forward, wouldn't we just hit each other?"

"We can take advantage of the fact that it's still dark and raid them!" said a fifteen or sixteen-year-old boy: "We know them, but they don't know us, and we take advantage of this!"

"That's right!" Wang Kuan nodded: "But most of us here have never been soldiers. Once a fight breaks out, the swords and guns are blind, and there are casualties, what will the family do?"

"I'm not afraid of death. I can also shoot arrows, ride a horse, and use a fork and a knife. I'm no worse than a soldier!" The young man shouted: "If we meet thieves, they won't stop killing us just because we have women and children. Rather than being killed by them, it's better to kill them first!" The young man's courageous answer won the approval of most people. Seeing this, Wang Kuan could only nod his head: "In this case, let's make an agreement first. Night attack There is no need to have many people, ten people are enough, and everyone must obey my orders. Also, everyone must first come up with some belongings. If anyone is killed or injured in the battle, give them to the families of the deceased and injured. So that they can kill thieves without any scruples!"

"Yes, that's the reason!"

"That's right. If you lose, you won't be able to save your life, so why do you need these belongings? I'll pay half of the belongings!"

"Yes, I'll take half of it too!"

Everyone was a pioneer, and they all understood which was more important, life or property. After a while, they agreed to give half of the property to the ten selected people to use it to comfort the dead and injured and reward those who had meritorious service. Then Wang Kuan chose The nine agile men, armed with their bows, arrows, swords and spears, packed them up and then led the way to the camp of the strangers in front of them, led by Yu Jing.

Under the leadership of Yu Jing, it was close to dawn when the night raiders arrived at their target. Looking at the wisp of blue and white on the horizon, Wang Kuan couldn't help but regret a little - even for soldiers, launching a night raid is very difficult. Things happened, and he actually brought nine pioneers to attack at night. He was really dizzy.While letting others take a break, he tried his best to use the faint morning light to observe the enemy's movements - now he could be sure that this group of people were deserters - there were sentries, tents, and simple fences, thieves could not Yu Jing was such a fool that he didn't notice this, but he was right, this group of people really stinked, so he subconsciously covered his nose.

At this time, a man walked towards Wang Kuan. At first, Wang Kuan thought he had been discovered, but then he found that the man was humming an obscene ditty while walking. He breathed a sigh of relief, carefully held his breath, and hid. In the hollow of a large rock.

The soldier who was humming a tune walked to the big rock where Wang Kuan was hiding, pulled open his pants, and began to urinate. As the warm liquid with a pungent smell spilled from the top of his head, Wang Kuan silently pulled out the short knife, but in the end he still didn't. After stabbing it out, after a while, the urination was over. Wang Kuan waited until the sound of the ditty had gone away, then crawled out and carefully returned to his side.

"You have Song Mingzi and Huo Si with you, right?" Wang Kuan asked.

"Bring it, it's right here!" The boy who proposed the night attack patted his waist excitedly.
"Go around to the other side!" Wang Kuan pointed to the camp: "Set fire first, understand? It's best to scare the horses away. It will be much easier for us without the horses!"

"Yes!" The boy's face turned red, and he was obviously very excited: "Is this okay?"

"Is this all right?" Wang Kuan repeated the boy's words with a sarcastic smile: "Help me, I'll be fine if you don't wet your pants later!"

Everyone burst into low laughter, and Wang Kuan waved his hand: "That's it, kid, be careful with your movements, don't fall!"

The young man gritted his teeth, nodded fiercely, and watched the young man's back disappear in the grass: Wang Kuan smiled and said, "He is a good boy, right?"

"Yes! If only my two bastards could be so courageous!" the middle-aged man next to him laughed.

"Okay, everyone tie the white cloth on their right arms. We will use this as our mark later. Those with white cloth on their arms are our own, otherwise they are the enemy!" Wang Kuan lowered his voice: "Also, we The slogan is Xianheng, which is the name of our Tang Dynasty! Have you remembered it?" Seeing everyone nodding, Wang Kuan turned around and said: "Okay, everyone, wait, we will attack as soon as there is a fire!"

Time passed so slowly that Wang Kuan could almost see the dew falling from the tips of the leaves, but the fire was still not lit. Could the boy be scared away?He thought to himself.Suddenly, he saw smoke rising from the camp, and then fire. Orange flames licked the dark blue sky, and frightened horses neighed, breaking the morning tranquility.

"Well done!" Wang Kuan waved his arm vigorously, put the helmet on his head, pulled out the horizontal sword and was the first to move forward. The others quickly spread out on both wings to form a simple formation of wild goose feathers.

Hearing the frightened horses, several people who got up early hurriedly tried to pull the horses away, but they became living targets of the young man hiding in the bushes. The people who were shot fell to the ground and howled, while the remaining people looked towards them in panic. They retreated, looking for cover to dodge. In panic, they exaggerated the number of ambushers in the woods. When their leader woke up, he used his fists, feet and knife handles to drive them out from behind the cover and attack the imaginary enemy. , Wang Kuan and the others had already crossed the fence and pounced on the enemy who had just woken up.

The first enemy Wang Kuan encountered was a short, fat man. As soon as he emerged from the tent, he saw Wang Kuan, holding a flail in his hand. With the help of the morning light, he could clearly see the face and the time at that moment. It seemed like it was no longer flowing.The bridge of the nose is short, the nose is very big, thick black hair sticks out from the nostrils, and the uneven dark yellow teeth are exposed in the long mouth.We can't let this guy swing his flail away!Wang Kuan told himself that he twisted his waist and used all his strength to swing the horizontal knife. The sharp blade cut through the leather clothes and muscles and embedded deeply into the collarbone.

"Xianheng!" Wang Kuan shouted with all his strength, blood spattered everywhere, bones and flesh were separated, the shocked expression froze on his ugly face, and then he fell down.

"Be careful!" A companion shouted from behind, and another bearded man with a bare upper body rushed over with a two-handed axe.Wang Kuan took a step forward and blocked the upper half of the ax handle with his horizontal knife, which saved a lot of energy.Immediately, he hit the opponent's chest with his shoulder, causing the opponent to lose his footing and take a step back.Wang Kuan took the opportunity to slide the blade down along the handle of the axe. The sharp blade cut off his finger. The enemy wailed, dropped the ax with both hands, and covered his injured hand, blood gushing out from between his fingers.

Wang Kuan tried his best to keep a distance from his companions to avoid standing out too much and being besieged by the enemy.If you want to survive on the battlefield, you cannot leave your companions, otherwise you will be dead no matter how capable you are.There seemed to be an endless supply of enemies, and every time he cut down or stabbed someone, another one pounced on him.The most troublesome one is an enemy wearing a pointed helmet. He is wearing a chainmail. Judging from his movements, he is obviously a very experienced warrior.Wang Kuan hit him twice, but was blocked by the iron armor. The opponent noticed this and began to press forward step by step.

"Go to hell!" The warrior with the pointed helmet struck hard, forcing Wang Kuan to retreat, and then took a step forward, forcing Wang Kuan to the tent.Suddenly Wang Kuan jumped to the side and rear, pushed hard, and the already crumbling tent fell down, and the curtain wrapped the warrior.

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(End of this chapter)