serious man in the red chamber

Chapter 97 Murder and Arson

The evening sun has set.

With his hands behind his back, Jia Hu stared at the endless grassland in the distance, silently in a daze.

Xie Qiong and the generals of each battalion stood behind him silently.

At this time, Eunuch Zhao came over and asked, "Marshal, it will be dark soon, do you want to camp?!"

Jia Hu neither replied nor turned around, just stood there motionless.

Eunuch Zhao turned his head to look at Xie Qiong.

Xie Qiong shook her head.

Suddenly, Jia Hu turned his face and said coldly: "Get ready to break camp!"

Xie Qiong frowned: "No!" He strode out.

After a while, a long horn sounded, followed by a dull drum beat.

The entire Dongshengwei old city suddenly moved, and the soldiers who were resting immediately began to pack their belongings and prepare to set off.

Zhao Xi got out of a small tent, was shocked when he saw it, hurried over, and asked Eunuch Zhao, "What's the matter?"

"strike camp!"

Eunuch Zhao glanced at him, "Zhao Yushi will enjoy it!"

Zhao Xi blushed: "Yes, I am the censor of the supervising army, so I should pay attention to the influence, but I feel uncomfortable if I don't take a bath."

Eunuch Zhao raised his hand: "This is the front line, if you want to save your life, keep a low profile."

The drums got louder and louder.

Three drums.

All the soldiers are arranged in an army formation, ready to attack.

Xie Qiong walked to Jia Hu's side, saluted, and said, "Commander, the army is ready and ready to go at any time!"

Looking at Eunuch Zhao and Zhao Xi, he asked again, "How to deal with those herdsmen?"

As soon as he finished speaking, a scout galloped up to Jia Hu, reined in the reins, jumped off the horse, and shouted loudly: "Report! General Yang is back."

In the distance, there was a sound of horseshoes, and a group of black spots were seen running towards this side.

As soon as Xie Qiong raised his hand, a group of cavalry rushed up.

It was getting closer and closer, through clairvoyance, Jia Hu saw Yang Dayong, frowning, but there was no sign of Liu Xianglian.

The cavalry received Yang Dayong and others, and a group of people galloped towards this side with their horses pumping.

The cavalry galloped up to a hundred paces and turned to the army formation. Yang Dayong led the two cavalry and continued to run towards this side. He rushed to Jia Hu, reined in the reins and flew off the horse, shouting: "Marshal, Liu Xianglian's man has been found."

With a flash in Jia Hu's eyes, the two scouts had already run up to him and knelt down, saying: "Commander, we have found the enemy's trail and went to pursue it."

Jia Hu's face sank: "What's going on?"

Yang Dayong came over and whispered something in Jia Hu's ear.

Jia Hu's expression changed drastically: "Where is he now?"

Yang Dayong: "They separated from Liu Xianglian near Guihua City, and they should have gone to Suiyuan City."

Jia Hu held the knife at his waist, the handle was very cold, the temperature difference between day and night in the grassland in mid-August was huge, looking at the open and vast grassland, he sighed in his heart, what a King of Chahar County, so vicious, he ordered people Poisoning in rivers and lakes.

Fortunately, I sent Liu Xianglian to inquire about the information. If the military doctor failed to find out that the water was polluted in time, it might cause a great disaster.

I have to admire the king of Chahar County, he is so vicious, he will not spare even his own clansmen, compared to him, he is a bit merciful.

Helinger must not be able to go again. As for Guihua City, the situation is unknown.

I can only hope that Liu Xianglian can return safely.

Thinking of this, he said to Xie Qiong: "The army camped and rested." As he spoke, a cold light flashed in his eyes, "Deal with those herdsmen."

Xie Qiong replied loudly: "No!" Pointing to a general, he strode away.

Eunuch Zhao and Zhao Xi looked at each other without speaking.

As night fell, there was silence between heaven and earth.

The night in the grassland was a bit cold, Zhao Xi put on his coat, walked out of the small tent, looked at the still brightly lit Chinese army tent, thought for a while, and walked towards Eunuch Zhao's tent.

In the big tent of the Chinese army, Jia Hu sat on the commander's seat, Xie Qiong and the generals of the battalions sat on both sides.

Turning his gaze away from the map in front of him, Jia Hu took out his pocket watch from his bosom. It was a quarter of the hour, and it was the second watch, and Liu Xianglian hadn't come back yet.

Jia Hu first glanced at the generals, and then said: "What do you think of the current battle situation and future strategy?"

Xie Qiong: "Marshal, how to use troops, you tell me, let's just listen."

The generals nodded one after another.

Jia Hu tapped the map on the table with his fingers: "Since the Mongols are poisoning Helinger, it means that they have already guessed our next plan. And the reason why they did this is because they want to rely on poisoning." To kill us is either to force us to go to Suiyuan City in the absence of water, or to retreat here."

Xie Qiong was startled, and then asked: "Then they are not afraid of us going east?"

The general of the Sword and Shield Battalion on the side reminded in a low voice: "The rivers around Helinger run from east to west."

Xie Qiong scratched his head in embarrassment.

Jia Hu went on to say: "Needless to say, there must be a large number of enemies waiting for us in Suiyuan City. The only thing they have to do is to send troops to occupy here while we are attacking Helinger."

Without waiting for Xie Qiong to speak, he said again: "Then destroy the water source here, forcing us to go north to Suiyuan."

Xie Qiong suddenly realized that the river here flows south.

Jia Hu: "It's impossible to go to Helinger, and it's even more impossible to retreat to the pass." Speaking of this, he pressed his palm on the table: "Destroy the side division of the Chahar people, and then go north along the Yellow River. "

All the generals were startled for a moment, and then shouted in unison: "No!"

Xie Qiong stood up and said excitedly: "Then let these bastards have a taste of our power."

At four o'clock the next day, Xie Qiong led the cavalry to leave the barracks quietly. On five o'clock, the fire soldiers buried the pot for cooking.Half an hour later, teams of sentries set off again. The soldiers collected their belongings, and the luggage soldiers counted their luggage.

It was quiet for half a day.

Suddenly, a loud eagle cry came from the east. Jia Hu raised his clairvoyance and saw a huge goshawk hovering in the sky.

There was an eagle cry one after another, and there was a hint of sadness in the neighing, Jia Hu snorted coldly, a beast could tell the difference between a Mongolian and a Han.

Looking down from the sky, there are tens of thousands of wooden sticks planted on the two-mile-long grassland, densely packed with human heads, shaking around in a gust of wind, it is so ferocious.

At this time, more than a dozen wriggling black spots emerged from the end, twitching the horse and galloping towards this side.

The corners of Jia Hu's mouth finally showed smile lines, and the Chahar people came.

The war drum sounded suddenly, and the army marched forward in a neat formation, and stopped less than two miles away from the grassland.

Under the command of the officer, 250 sub-cannons lined up in front of the formation, with swords and shields in front, firecrackers in the middle, and pikemen in heavy armor guarding the wings and behind.

Under the old city of Dongshengwei, Zhao Xi's face was a bit ugly. There were six firearm battalions in the Yongwei camp, not four, and those cannons. This was completely different from what he had heard. Jia Hu lied to everyone.

At this moment, Chahar's army appeared on the horizon in a dark mass. Maybe they saw Zhou Jun, and they rushed up excitedly.

Zhao Xi looked at Eunuch Zhao: "With such a large force, will it scare them away?"

Eunuch Zhao's eyes sparkled: "Hatred will blind their eyes!"

After a pause, "It must be that Xie Qiong's cavalry has moved to their flanks."

Getting closer and closer, the Chahar people have seen the dense forest of human heads. Many people's eyes were red, and some people cried bitterly. There were really too many Zhou troops in front, and unlike what the Manchus said, the main force of the Zhou army went to Helinger, and only a small number of people stayed behind in the old city of Dongshengwei.

He led 2 horses, only [-] main forces, and the rest were all temporarily organized herdsmen, with little combat power.

While hesitating, someone yelled, "Kill!"

Except for the three thousand main force, all the others rushed out.

The chief general was stunned, looking at Zhou Jun who had been prepared for a long time, he gritted his teeth: "Withdraw!" He turned his horse's head and retreated first.

The cavalry swarmed and retreated.

At this moment, a low-pitched trumpet sounded from the northeast, and a large group of cavalry was charging towards the battlefield!
The chief general was completely stunned at this moment, and his face turned pale. He never expected that Zhou Jun's cavalry would come around behind them. Looking at this group of sturdy cavalry, he felt timid in his heart.

In the army formation, Jia Hu's eyes suddenly narrowed. The formation of the Chahar people was too dense. It didn't look like a trained army. Then he realized that these were herdsmen. He snorted coldly and ordered Lin San down.

Lin San waved the flag in his hand.

The drums behind the Yongwei Battalion sounded, which reminded the soldiers to make final preparations.

Five hundred steps, four hundred steps, and 350 steps, and soon the Chahar people rushed into the distance of three hundred steps.

"fire!"

With the order of the officer, 250 sub-munitions were fired in unison. The gunner replaced the sub-munitions at the first time, followed by another salvo, then the third round, the fourth round, and the fifth round. All five sub-munitions were instantly fired. finished.

The queue of these herdsmen was too dense, with more than [-] small lead pieces as dense as raindrops. Blood mist was stirred up in the crowd, and screams were everywhere. These herdsmen had no sense of defense, and those who rushed to the front were almost killed Swept away.

However, the nightmare had only just begun. They had already entered the range of the firecrackers. With the sound of a horn, the first row of more than [-] firecrackers fired a volley. The black powder produced a lot of smoke and filled the entire battlefield. Then the cannon and the fourth round of firecrackers rang together.

Looking at the Chahar people who were wiped out like fallen leaves by the autumn wind, Eunuch Zhao sighed and looked at the distant battlefield. The cavalry duel there was over, and Xie Qiong led the cavalry to kill them.

The lives of the Chahar people were being harvested like weeds at this moment. They were killed by the bullets fired at high speed without even touching the Han people.

This is a simple and boring massacre.

Just when the people of Dazhou were celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival, a great battle broke out on the grassland. The [-] Chahar army was wiped out, while only a hundred cavalrymen from the Yongwei Battalion were injured.

Two days later, a group of herdsmen disguised as Sauron soldiers came here, leaving only a tall earthen tomb and the old city of Dongshengwei burned by the fire.

(End of this chapter)