serious man in the red chamber

Chapter 321 The three brothers and sisters of the Xue family

The snowflakes slowly grew bigger.

This battle started at three o'clock in the hour. It was Shen Shichu when the Rakshasa camp was breached, and it was Youpai hour when the battlefield was cleared.

The days are short in winter, and it gets dark earlier when it snows heavily.

Several bonfires were lit in the open space in front of the Chinese army's tent, illuminating the snowy night.

The blazing charcoal fire illuminated the big tent brightly.

There is a huge map in the open space in the middle of the big tent. In this map, the mountains, rivers, cities and tribes are drawn in great detail. It is much better than the one captured from General Ulyasutai's Mansion, and the distribution of mineral deposits is even marked. area.

Eunuch Zhao circled the map with his hands behind his back, and a sneer appeared at the corner of his mouth: "The Manchu Tatars have ruled this place for decades without them knowing it clearly. It seems that the Rakshasa people have been eyeing this place for a long time."

Xie Qiong nodded in agreement.

Li Si swallowed: "This Rakshasa Kingdom is so big!"

Zhang Cheng put down his tea bowl and came over. He took a closer look and said with a smile: "This is marked with the route to the capital of Rakshasa Kingdom. Let's just go there." As he said that, he glanced at the big case sitting on it. Jia Hu in front of me.

Jia Hu was writing something with a pen, and suddenly asked: "How long can the food and grass last?"

Eunuch Zhao replied: "It can last up to ten days."

Jia Hu's pen paused: "Save some grain and rice and let everyone eat more beef and mutton. Just hold on."

Everyone was silent.

There was no shortage of food in the army, but grains, rice and vegetables. Since they only ate beef and mutton for a long time, many soldiers began to fall ill. Fortunately, there was a batch of tea in the army, which alleviated the symptoms a little.

Not to mention the army sergeants, even they feel nauseated when they see beef and mutton.

Jia Hu wrote quickly as he continued: "The convoy delivering grain and grass from the Ministry of Revenue should have entered Ulia Sutai. Let's go and greet it."

Xie Qiong replied: "Yes."

At this moment, Lin San walked in: "Your Majesty."

Jia Hu glanced at him: "What's the matter?"

Lin San: "Here we go!" He took out a few trial records from his sleeve and placed them on the big case.

Jia Hu put down his pen and asked, "Are you alive?"

Lin Sanyi smiled: "I didn't use severe punishment. I just gave them two pieces of paper. They even told about Queen Rakshasa's affair with the guards."

With a coax, everyone laughed.

Lin San continued: "King Rakshasa has always known about this."

Everyone exchanged surprised looks and laughed again.

Eunuch Zhao laughed loudly in a high-pitched voice, and then said after laughing: "Barbarians are barbarians, they have no moral integrity. Our country should educate the barbarians, let them learn the thoughts of saints, and know the books and principles."

Jia Hu finished reading the trial records, thought for a moment, and said, "We may not be able to go home for the New Year."

Everyone was shocked and looked at Jia Hu.

Jia Hu sighed: "This Rakshasa king just came to the throne, and then he was slapped hard by us. He felt very embarrassed. He was gathering an army and planned to personally lead the army to the east to capture Ulyasu. Taiwan and Heilongjiang and other places.”

Eunuch Zhao asked urgently: "How many people are there?"

Jia Hu thought for a moment: "It's estimated to be around 20."

Hearing this, Eunuch Zhao felt relieved. The Zhou army has more than [-] main troops here. The Yike Zhao League and the Mongolian coalition outside the Pass also have nearly [-] cavalry. There are more than [-] Mobei Mongolian recruits, and Monan Mongolia can recruit five or six more. Ten thousand cavalrymen have a slight advantage in numbers, and the opponent has traveled a long distance, so they have at least a [-]% chance of winning.

Xie Qiong spoke: "Commander, we must wipe out all the Rakshasa people before the main force of Rakshasa arrives."

Jia Hu nodded.

At this time, the voice of a soldier came from outside the tent: "Your Majesty."

Jia Hu: "What's the matter?"

The soldier replied: "Dinner is ready."

Jia Hu: "Then bring it in."

After a while, a cold wind blew in through the thick curtain, and several soldiers walked in carrying food boxes.

Jia Hu stood up and said, "Let's eat." He turned and walked towards the back tent.

The soldiers walked over, opened the lid, and placed a pot of rice, a large plate of stir-fried mutton, a large plate of stir-fried beef, a large plate of roasted lamb, and a small plate of steamed vegetarian meatballs on the dining table. A bowl of clear soup with a few vegetable leaves floating in it was served.

Lin San filled half a bowl of rice, scooped out another spoonful of soup, and handed it to Jia Hu along with a pair of chopsticks.

Jia Hu took the bowl and chopsticks and said, "Let's eat." He held the bowl of soup rice and started eating.
It's already dawning, but the snow is still falling heavily.Due to the heavy snowfall, the camp was covered with more than a foot of snow, and two or three feet of ice hung from the wooden fence.

There was deathly silence everywhere, except for some soldiers on sentry duty clearing snow from various passages.

On the arrow tower, two sentry detectives wrapped in thick fox fur cloaks were standing there with their hands in their sleeves, stamping their feet to avoid the cold.

A sentinel said: "Grandma, even this fox fur cloak won't work!"

Another sentry said: "This weather is so cold." After saying that, he took out his telescope from his arms and looked around. Suddenly he was startled. Through the snowflakes, he saw the snowflakes floating in the distance. There was a thick black smoke column!

There is a warning point set up by the sentry camp.

Enemy attack!

He came back to his senses, suddenly picked up the whistle that was placed under the quilt and started blowing it.

The rapid sound of the horn resounded over the entire camp.

The camp suddenly boiled with excitement. Countless Zhou troops rushed out of the camp, quickly formed a queue, and ran towards the camp gate under the leadership of the officers.

The well-trained Zhou army quickly formed a battle formation. Rows of firecrackers squatted at the front of the formation, raising the firecrackers in their hands. Their faces were tense, and their eyes were still open in the wind and snow. Get the boss!

There was a sound of horse hoofbeats, and Xie Qiong came with his soldiers and asked loudly: "What's going on?"

The smoke there has long been extinguished.

The sentry shouted back: "The smoke at the warning point three miles away ignited and then went out!"

At this time, another sentry shouted: "A team of cavalry is coming!"

Xie Qiong raised his clairvoyant eyes and saw a group of cavalry running towards the camp in the wind and snow. In the distance, there were a group of black spots following behind.

As they galloped closer, they could already see the cavalry uniforms clearly. They were actually the cavalry uniforms of the Zhou army.

Eunuch Zhao arrived and asked anxiously: "Where did the enemy come from?"

Xie Qiong: "It's not clear yet."

The sentinel on the arrow tower recognized him: "One of our own! He is one of our own!"

On the other side of the Chinese army tent, Jia Hu, who was wearing military uniform and carrying a sword, sat in front of the big case, looking at the door curtain.

A group of messengers stood on both sides, all looking at Jia Hu who was sitting there.

There was a rapid sound of horse hoofbeats, and then a sentry ran in and knelt down to Jia Hu: "Commander, it has been confirmed that it is not an enemy attack, but a caravan transporting military supplies to the army."

Jia Hu frowned: "Caravan? Which caravan?"

Detective: "I heard it's the Xue family's caravan."

Jia Hu was startled: "Xue family?"

Detective: "Yes."

Jia Hu stood up and took a few steps as usual: "Okay, you all can go down."

Everyone responded and walked out together.

Jia Hu walked a few steps and sat on the chair again.

After a long time, there was a sound of footsteps, and then Lin San slipped in through the crack in the door curtain and said with a smile: "Your Majesty, the steward of the Xue family who delivers military supplies to the army is here."

Jia Hu: "Let him come in."

Lin San turned around and shouted: "Come in."

The cotton curtain was lifted, and Xue Pan, wrapped in a thick fur cloak, walked in. When he saw Jia Hu, he walked forward quickly and saluted: "Your Majesty!"

Jia Hu was really surprised and said with a smile: "Why are you here? When did you come back from Nanyang?"

Xue Pan replied with a smile: "I returned to Jinling in mid-July. I learned from Cheng Shiyao that the prince was leading the army, so I wanted to visit the prince. It happened that the Xue family's caravan received a mission to transport military supplies at the Ministry of Household Affairs, so I went coming."

Jia Hu smiled and nodded: "Sit down, sit down."

Xue Pan took off his hat, sat down aside, took the tea from Lin San's hand, and said with a smile: "This journey is really difficult. We walked in the wind and snow for nearly two months." He took a sip of tea. , and then said: "We not only sent military rations to the army, but also brought some vegetables and dried fruits. There are not many. Let's try something new. By the way, I also specially asked someone in Zhangjiakou to make dumplings and Yuanxiao, which were frozen with ice cubes. He was brought out of seclusion."

Jia Hu smiled: "How many did you bring?"

Xue Pan stretched out his hand and said, "Five thousand catties each."

Jia Hu's eyes lit up and he stood up quickly: "Let's go and have a look." After that, he strode out.

Xue Pan's eyes flashed, knowing that he was safe this time, so he put on his hat and chased after him.

(End of this chapter)