Under the sky

Chapter 284 Disaster on Xiao Qiang

Rockets streaked across the night sky like meteors. At first there were a few, then dozens, then hundreds, staggering into brilliant fireworks in the sky.Maier got on his horse and raised his scimitar high: "Retreat eastward and exit the village!"

Maier led the team on horseback and ran towards the entrance of the village. There was a loud noise in the air around him, and sharp arrows coming from the darkness shot down the people around him.There is an ambush at the entrance of the village. The number of people is unknown. They are hiding in the dark. The enemy is dark and we are clear, and the team is a living target.

Screams rang out one after another, and the falling arrowheads penetrated the leather armor and penetrated into the flesh. Maier was leading new recruits from the slave camp. Perhaps even the horses were more experienced than them. The severe pain and fear of death drove them to ride the horses. There was a chaotic collision, and many people were thrown off their horses instead of being hit by arrows. The team was in chaos.

The deputy swung his knife to sweep away the rain of sharp arrows, and said in panic: "Boss, what should I do?!"

Should we turn or continue to break out? How many enemy ambush are there?Maier must make a judgment immediately, even if there is no basis for it.

It was not without basis. Ignoring the urging of his deputy, Maier looked up at the rockets crisscrossing the sky.The situation was chaotic and critical, but he remained calm.

"South!" Mel shouted. "Go south!"

The number of rockets coming from the south is smaller and the landing point is closer. There are two possibilities. One is that the number of soldiers in the south is smaller, and the other is that their physical strength and technology are poorer. No matter which one, the south is undoubtedly a better breakthrough. direction.

"Blow the horn!" Maier ordered, "Go south, spread out and charge out!"

The sound of the horn echoed under the night sky, messy and hasty. The frightened team turned around and ran away, jostling each other and forming a mess.Maier drew his sword and killed several people in succession, grabbed the horn from the trumpeter's hand, and blew a long blast. His inner strength was strong, his voice was loud and long, and there was a calming power in the chaos.

The chaotic team finally regained some order and ran south.Countless sharp arrows were still coming in the darkness, and Maier used his scimitar to pick up a small buckler from the side of the fallen soldier. "Raise your shield!" he shouted, and the soldiers carrying shields raised their small round shields in front of them and charged.

The flying sparks panicked the horses, and there was darkness outside the village entrance. They ran towards the darkness, and countless people fell down, just in front of and behind Maier.The number of the team continued to decrease, and Maier could not count the number of people. He only knew that this would be a battle with heavy casualties.

Suddenly, Maier felt a sharp pain in his thigh. When he looked down, he was hit by a stream of arrows.Maier cut off the arrow shaft with his sword, leaving the arrow cluster in the flesh. His cheeks and arms were scratched by the sharp arrows, which can be said to be full of scars.

As the sound of breaking wind gradually subsided, Maier blew the horn, and the sound of the horn also came from the front.The enemy hiding in the dark lit a torch to illuminate their figure, and a group of cavalry rushed towards them, and a hand-to-hand encounter was about to begin.

"Bang!", a horse had already hit the enemy nearby. "Kill!" Maier shouted loudly, put a long spear on the scimitar that was as curved as a full moon, pulled it close, cut off the opponent's leather armor with one knife, and beheaded the person from his horse.

Maierlian killed several people, heard shouts from behind, looked back, and saw the enemy chasing after them with torches.That was the encirclement from the other three directions. Seeing them break through, immediately press on them.

The enemy is numerically superior, our own team is in panic, and the fleeing soldiers have become the ones waiting to be hunted. The defeat is irreversible, and the only thing that can be done is to break out of the encirclement.Maier killed the enemies who blocked him along the way, intending to escape the fire and disappear into the darkness.

"Shua", a silver light suddenly appeared in the firelight.Maier avoided the long sword and used the scimitar to holster the opponent's weapon. The man also knew how powerful it was, so the long knife retracted and slipped out of the gap in Maier's scimitar.

He is a master!Maier turned the scimitar and drew nine arcs, like circles of moonlight, which was dazzling.The man slashed horizontally with his sword, making several consecutive clanging sounds, which actually broke Maier's "September Chain" move.

The opponent used a long sword, which had a longer attack range, so he wanted to cut the neck of Maier's horse. Maier was hit by an arrow in his left leg. When he fell from the horse, he was at a disadvantage, so he had to block with his sword.The two fought several more moves on the horse. The man's long sword was very tricky, cutting the horse's neck and then the human head. Sometimes he stabbed straight into the chest, making shadows of the knife. Sometimes he swung the knife across the direction, blowing the wind in his face, and sometimes he turned the handle upside down. , wielding the mael scimitar like a stick.

This is a powerful enemy, Maier's expression did not change.Although he is very powerful in martial arts and is Tucker's top fighter, his most powerful skill is his composure, no matter how bad the situation is, he will not panic.He concentrated on the battle and retreated slowly. He knew that the situation was dangerous. His troops were scattered and they would either flee or die. It would not take long for the opponent to gather a crowd and capture him. He could only fight and walk, trying hard to keep his horses intact.He is waiting for an opportunity, a chance to escape. As long as the other party is anxious, he will get the opportunity.

However, the people he fought seemed to be able to keep their composure and did not become careless because they were sure of victory.He pestered Maier, waiting for his team to eliminate Maier's team, and gradually surrounded Maier.

The fire around them became brighter and brighter, and more and more enemies surrounded them. Finally, a burning observation tower at the entrance of the village could no longer hold up, making a "creeping" sound, and the platform began to tilt.Maier finally waited for the opportunity, blocked the long sword, turned his horse and ran towards the observation tower. Just as the opponent was about to catch up, the observation tower made a loud "crack", bent and collapsed, and was about to crush Maier. The man hurriedly stopped. While he was holding his horse back, Maier galloped faster and ran over at the critical moment.

After the fire blocked the formidable opponent, Maier turned his horse's head and was about to break through the gap, but he couldn't help but was stunned. The horse stopped after running only seven or eight feet.

Earlier, he was too busy dealing with powerful enemies to look around, but now he realized that there were fires all over the place, he was surrounded, and there was no way out.

Maier sighed, if he could, he would surrender, but he knew that Hilidegg would not let him go.He is 52 years old and his daughter is only ten years old. Is the money he has left enough to feed and clothe his daughter?

Miles tightened the reins.Go ahead, that’s all you can do!He clamped his legs and the horse rushed forward. The fire in front of him was so bright that it was about to drown him.

Suddenly, the horn sounded again, and the opponent's team seemed to be in chaos.Maier didn't know what was going on. He only heard the sound of trumpets rising and falling.He could tell, after all, they were both from Nabu Batu's team, and this was the horn sound of an enemy attack...

Who is here?

A larger ball of fire came from a distance and quickly exploded behind the enemy lines.

The fire is blazing.

■

The fire was blazing, spreading from the sheep dung pile, like a winding fire dragon, opening its mouth wide and ready to devour Arien Palace.

Gao Leqi hesitated. He knew that Yang Yan would not hand over Nadia, but without handing over Nadia, the mob's anger could not be vented.But if he takes Nadia by force, it means breaking up with the Son of God, and he must imprison the Son of God and force the Son of God to cooperate with him.

In the past, he might have thought this was a solution, but after nearly a year of getting along with him, he already knew Yang Yan's character well. Nothing could make the Son of God surrender. This man was harder than iron and more stubborn than gems.

"You promised." Gao Leqi said, "You will leave Arien Palace voluntarily." He could only rely on Nadia's willingness.

Wang Hong lowered her head and remained silent.

"Gulthas is very old. If Hilidegg wins this battle, the Son of God will become his puppet." Gao Leqi said, "Hillidegg will not forgive anyone who has gone against him. Although your parents and brothers are safe now, what about the future? Hillidegg might take revenge, no, he will definitely take revenge and hunt down your relatives..."

"Shut up!" Yang Yan shouted, "Stop talking nonsense!"

"Do you want to die alone, or do you want everyone to die with you?" Gao Leqi still said.

"I told you to shut up!" Yang Yan shouted violently and was about to step forward, but was pulled back by Wang Hong.

"Hand me over, this is what I promised you." Wang Hong said, "As long as you hold on for two more days, maybe you can wait until the food comes back."

She was about to step forward as she spoke, but Yang Yan grabbed her wrist with such force that it hurt. "I didn't agree!" Yang Yan said loudly, "I am the Son of God, and I can't even count the things I didn't agree to!"

"Son of God, we..."

"You said, me and you, not us!" Gao Leqi's words were interrupted again, Yang Yan said, "If you talk nonsense again, don't blame me for being rude!"

Gao Leqi sighed and looked at Wang Hong.Wang Hong wanted to shake Yang Yan off, but Yang Yan's hand was held tightly, like an iron hoop.Just as Gao Leqi was about to wave his men forward, he heard a drunken voice shouting: "Yes! None of us will be handed over, not the Son of God, nor... hiccup... nor the witch..." !”

Tucker walked up drunkenly. He also heard about the fire in the sheep dung pile. When he came to see the situation, he happened to hear the dispute between Gao Leqi and Yang Yan.

Gao Leqi couldn't help pinching his nose gently: "Mr. Tucker, you are drunk."

"I didn't! I'm still awake!" Tucker refuted loudly, his face red and thick-necked, his speech slurred, but his tone was firm, "My father has been suppressed by the Priesthood his whole life, and he will do everything according to the Priesthood's instructions. Now. Hillidegg wants to force us into desperation and want us to hand over Nadia, yes, this is their purpose. I don’t want it! Even if we fail in the end, we can’t follow the ideas of the Priesthood!”

"Even if this is the only thing that succeeds, I don't want to follow the idea of ​​​​the Priesthood!" Tucker was in a high mood. "The Priesthood wants Nadia to die. Even if we are all dead, we must keep her alive!" No matter what the matter is, I don’t want the House of Priests to get what they want! I want to tell the House of Priests that the descendants of Munn will not only rebel, but also resist! One day, Arien Palace will overthrow the House of Priests and regain what belongs to us. authority!”

Tucker dragged his drunken steps, staggered to Yang Yan, put his arm around Yang Yan's shoulders: "Brother, let's protect Nadia together!"

Gao Leqi was speechless at Tucker's willfulness.Neither Yang Yan nor Tucker had any experience in power struggle. Yang Yan was emotional, but Tucker's inheritance was not won through struggle. It was really too bad for the other brothers.

But he can't resist Tucker, because Tucker is the source of his power, unless he betrays Tucker.He really should have done this, he should have done this as early as the first time he met Yang Yan.With only one Son of God as a bargaining chip, it was still too difficult to fight against the Priesthood. They were about to be defeated by Hilidegg.

It was also because Tucker was too impatient. If he hadn't taken action against Hillidger so quickly... No, at this time, we should not think about the mistakes of the past, but what to do next.

"There are two ways now, guard the Arien Palace, or abandon the Arien Palace and leave Batu." Gao Leqi said.

Tucker was surprised: "Abandon the Arien Palace?" "There is no escaping it." Gao Leqi said, "Keep the Arien Palace, and when the food comes back, we can resolve the people's grievances and deal with the Priesthood. Find Hillidegg and behead him, I promise not to give him any chance this time."

"If we leave Batu, we will go to the border, mobilize the garrison troops, and call for a counterattack on Batu in the name of the Son of God." Gao Leqi continued, "Use the palace guards, border guards, and call on the tribal guards of all villages, and even If other Badu don't want to be ruled by Gulthas, they may support us, and we will use force to suppress the Sacrifice Army."

"This is a civil war!" Tucker jumped up, "Let Nabu Batu fall into the flames of war!"

"We have no choice but to take these two paths," Gollach said.

Defend Arien Palace and wait for the food to return, or flee?It's a tough choice.If Maier can successfully find food and bring it back, he can quell the riot as long as he guards for a day or two. It is indeed possible with the guards of Arien Palace.But if Maier doesn't find food - and that depends on whether Mende's message is credible or true - then he will have to flee and regain power through a true civil war.

Gao Leqi couldn't judge, and no one could judge. The process of power struggle was often like battlefield response. Some were just choices and guesses, and there was no sure-fire calculation.

As Tucker always did when he couldn't make up his mind, he asked Collegiate: "What do you think?"

Gao Leqi looked at Yang Yan.

"Stay here!" Yang Yan decided to stick to it. He at least had one reason to think that he should stay. "Gulthas can't watch us reach the stage of civil war. So far, Gulthas has let Hillidger go. , he is [-]% sure to clean up the mess, it may be very difficult for us to escape."

"If we can't hold on anymore, it's still too late to escape." Wang Hong agreed, "If you run away now, there will be no chance of turning back."

"If we must escape, we can first seek refuge with Wang Qile." Yang Yan said, "He is my friend and will be willing to help."

Gao Leqi didn't know where the idea of ​​making friends with refugees came from, but he didn't want to refute it now.He immediately ordered the palace guards to be transferred back to Arien Palace, drove away the people gathered in the square, erected roadblocks to prevent horses, and at the same time sent people to take his family to Arien Palace to prevent them from being attacked by mobs.

Tucker walked to the window with the wine glass and watched everything going on in full swing.

Maybe this is the last time he stands here and looks down at the entire Batu.

■

On the way to Arien Palace, residents of the sheep dung pile broke into houses along the road and snatched food, despite the owner's wailing to stop them.Someone angrily went to the Prison Department to report the case, but the Prison Department had already sent out all its soldiers to suppress the riots. There were more and more chaotic streets and there were simply not enough manpower.

Soldiers from the Prison Department searched for prisoners in the streets in a team of 20 people, attacking the mob with wooden sticks, knife backs, and even bows and arrows.They arrested some people, but to no avail. They did not dare to approach the center of the riot. The crowd was like a huge wave, and anyone who came close would be drowned.

The food robbed by the residents of the sheep dung pile was not enough to satisfy their hunger, which made them even more crazy. The residents who were robbed simply joined the team because they had lost their last food, and the wave became bigger and bigger.

"Quick! Move fast!" Pat, the captain of the guard team in front of the Arion Palace, shouted loudly. He was directing the team to set up sharpened wooden horses.It only takes less than half a day to walk from the sheep dung pile to Arien Palace. Although the vandalism and looting along the way slowed down the pace, crowds of people will definitely arrive after dawn.

"Karl, Li Xin! Don't just talk!" Pat walked over quickly and raised the gun handle as if to hit someone.

Karl shrank in fear, trembling all over, and even his voice trembled: "I just came up from South Street, team... Captain, there are tens of thousands of them, how many are we? No matter how good I am at arithmetic, I know we are there Waiting to die..."

Li Xin stood aside with his head lowered and said nothing. He had the same idea as Karl.

"If this was a battlefield, I could kill you with just these words!" Pat struck the ground with his spear, startling Li Xin.

Karl touched his neck: "Why isn't this a battlefield anymore? Look at those people..."

"They are just mobs, you are well-trained warriors! What we have to do is not to kill them all. The Archon only wants us to guard Arien Palace for two days, only two days!"

But... but... Carl thought of several buts one after another, and when he was about to ask, Pat slapped his head and cursed: "Stop thinking! It will kill you if the horse is not braced!"

"Okay, okay, let's go right now!" Karl and Li Xin raised their horses again.

Watching Carl and Li Xin leave, Pat loosened his grip on the handle of the gun.His palms were red from holding them so tightly.As long as he lies, he will unconsciously clench his fists. The bigger the lie, the tighter he will be. What he just said was just to appease the fluctuating military morale. He is not sure how far this chaos will spread, and he doesn't understand why Arien doesn't Hand over the witch.He couldn't guess what it meant. He vaguely remembered the first words the training officer said many years ago - "Soldiers exist to obey orders."

Before dawn, a long row of three-tiered horses were set up in front of the Arien Palace. Karl and Li Xin were standing guard in front of the first-tier horses.Pat was worried. He didn't know when the mob would come.I heard that the fire in the sheep dung pile has been put out. Can this appease the anger of those people?
Before dawn, the noise became louder and louder. When the first ray of sunlight shone, the noise seemed to subside a little, but as the sun rose, it became clearer and louder.Pat couldn't hear clearly what those people were arguing about, only that the sound was getting closer.

"Inform the captain that the mob is coming!" Pat ordered, and the herald ran to Arien Palace.

Karl, who was standing in the front row, touched Li Xin with his elbow. Li Xin turned to look at him, and Karl said: "What is the ending of Xili's Bandit Suppression? You can tell me now."

"You cursed me before and said I would be sent to ice prison, but I didn't say it." Li Xinzhong looked forward again. The ragged mob had appeared on the street ahead. The team was chaotic but huge, and the various noises gradually unified into a slogan: "Burn the witch to death! Burn the witch to death! Burn the witch to death!"

The sound became louder and louder, deafening. Pat turned to look at the temporarily erected command podium behind him, which was still empty. He asked, "Where's the captain? Why isn't he in place yet?"

The surrounding soldiers shook their heads in confusion, and the herald rushed over, gasping and shouting: "Brothers have searched all over Arien Palace, but they can't find the captain!"

"Damn it!" The fearful face with two long beards appeared in Pat's mind.

"What to do now?" one soldier asked, and the other soldiers panicked.Pat glanced at the soldiers who were still standing at their posts and the mob that was sweeping in, and loudly announced: "Trumpers are ready!"

Heralds placed everywhere repeated Pat's instructions, and six trumpeters raised their horns.Pat turned around and walked quickly to the command podium, climbing up the stairs. Although the soldiers present were confused, the mob was in front of them and they had no time to be distracted.

Pat stood on the podium, waved his hand, and the horns sounded, instantly drowning out the shouts of the mob.The mob quieted down and stopped just three feet in front of Juma.

Pat looked down at the front, seeing mobs everywhere he looked. He clenched his fists to suppress the tension in his heart and shouted: "There is only one rule today, anyone who crosses the line will be killed on the spot!"

The soldiers in the front row raised their spears high, with ferocious faces, and shouted in unison: "Anyone who crosses the line will be killed!"

The mob hesitated, the spears gleaming in the sun.After a while, a stone flew over Juma and hit a soldier on the head, making a "dong" sound.

Scattered stones and splinters of wood flew in and hit the soldiers behind the horse. "Burn the witch to death!" someone shouted, and the sound was like a pebble thrown into the pool, causing ripples and spreading.

"Burn the witch to death!" "Burn the witch to death!"

Stones and wood blocks kept hitting the warriors. The warriors raised huge iron shields to form a human wall to resist, but there were still many throwing objects that passed over the shields and fell on them.Several mob members crossed the horse and tried to collide with the shield. A spear came out from behind the shield and pierced his chest.The screams frightened the mob, as did death. The people in front began to retreat. Although the incoming stones and wood blocks did not stop, they finally blocked the mob's progress.

The sound of horns came from the distance, it was the team of the Prison Department driving away the crowd.Hold on for now?Pat breathed a sigh of relief.

"Come in! Catch the witch!" someone in the crowd shouted.

"Don't be afraid! There are not many of them!" someone shouted again.

"Come on! Catch the witch! Rescue the Son of God!"

"Rescue the Son of God!"

The crowd at the back pushed those at the front, and the crowd at the front was pushed forward, so they could only move forward.

"Hold!" Pat yelled.

The crowd collided with spears and shields, and their flesh and blood were bloody.Some people reached out to grab the shield and had their fingers cut off with a long knife, but this could not stop the mob who continued to attack.They pulled the shields, pulled the spears, dragged the warriors into the crowd and beat them violently. The shield array was broken at one corner, and more refugees poured in, overturned the warriors, and beat the warriors' faces with stones until they were bloody and bloody.

Pat saw Li Xin being submerged in the crowd, and Karl being pushed to the ground covered in blood.

He saw the mob climbing onto the podium where he was sitting.

(End of this chapter)