weaving

Chapter 1157 Child Soldiers

"Sergeant, the bandit camp is to our south. We've walked north for almost two miles. There shouldn't be any bandits there."

After hearing what He Cheng said, another knight also said, "Yes. Even if the bandits' cavalry can take a detour to intercept us, these old, weak, and sick people in front of us don't look like bandits at all."

"Thieves are cunning and treacherous, so be sure to guard against them!"

Xing Jinyin continued to instruct them in a deep voice: "Be on full alert. No matter if he is a thief or a genuine villager, if he makes the slightest movement, kill him on the spot."

"Here."

“…Here…”

Seeing that they were not very straightforward in receiving the order and seemed to have some concerns, Xing Jinyin's eyes turned cold and he warned them again in a deep voice: "Our squad leader and captain are both injured and can't move easily. If these people are thieves in disguise and have trapped the squad leader and captain here, how can we return to the camp with dignity and how can we report to the general?"

He Cheng knew the seriousness of the matter and quickly said, "Don't worry, Sergeant, we can save ourselves from it!"

As Xing Jinyin and the other three riders got closer and closer, the villagers who had retreated to the edges of the official road became more and more panicked. They continued to retreat to both sides involuntarily, gradually retreating to the ditches on both sides of the official road, and actually gave up the entire official road.

Seeing their trembling faces, Xing Jinyin's worries were alleviated a lot, but he still dared not let down his guard. After all, this matter was of great importance, and the slightest mistake would lead to an irreparable crisis.

  Look at that group of villagers whose thighs were suddenly submerged in the green weeds, and they all look terrified. In their eyes, the bandits are certainly not good things, but the government soldiers are even more hateful!

These officers, soldiers and sentries in front of me, they... wouldn't kill innocent people to gain credit, right... ?

Seeing the villagers in awe, Xing Jinyin's worries gradually disappeared. He reined in his horse and asked an old man kneeling on the official road, "Don't be afraid, old man. I just want to ask one thing: where are you from? Have you encountered any thieves?"

The old man's voice was not very high, but it was very cold, as if one fell into an ice cellar. Fortunately, he was only asking about the thieves, so he breathed a sigh of relief and quickly replied, "Let the general know. I live in Yinjiazhai in the north. These years, there have been constant disasters and wars. I have run out of food at home. I heard that there was a rebel leader in the south who was releasing grain, so I brought my grandson here to seek a way to survive."

As the old man spoke, he pulled a child beside him to show to Xing Jinyin. The child was about thirteen or fourteen years old, with no clothes to cover his body, and his face was covered with mud, so his appearance could not be seen at all.

He Cheng was furious when he heard that they were going to join the bandits. He was about to explode, but was stopped by Xing Jinyin. He said to the old man, "Old man, Kaifeng City is just a few dozen miles to the north. Why don't you go there to beg for food? Why do you have to join the bandits?"

The old man saw that he seemed a little angry, so he knelt down and kowtowed, begging: "General, please spare my life. It's not that I have to surrender to the bandits, but I can't live any longer, so I took this step."

Seeing that Xing Jinyin stopped scolding him, he boldly said, "General, you don't know that even if we go to Kaifeng, those wealthy merchants and officials will never give us food for free. Although I'm not sure that King Chuang will give us food, it's better to give it a try than to sit at home and wait to die."

He finally muttered softly: "If what they said is true, maybe I can save my life!"

Although Xing Jinyin was also very angry, he also knew that what he said was the truth. He could not help but sigh in his heart. He asked a few people around him, and they all said they were from Yinjiazhai. They could even call each other's names, and the last trace of doubt in his heart was eliminated.

Xing Jinyin and three others rode their horses slowly on the official road, constantly observing the people kneeling in the ditches on both sides. They were all ragged, pale and thin, and their bodies kept trembling under their gaze, as if they were afraid that they would suddenly rise up and kill innocent people for credit.

Suddenly, a dozen slowly moving figures in the crowd caught Xing Jinyin's attention...

Although they were also naked, each of them covered their heads with a very worn felt coat full of holes, as if they were afraid of the cold morning wind, but at the same time it made it impossible to see their faces clearly.

At this moment, they were slowly moving forward from behind the villagers...

Xing Jinyin turned his head to the other side with suspicion. Although it was not very clear, he could vaguely see several figures slowly coming towards the official road.

A very strange feeling suddenly surged in his heart. Looking at these figures, although they were of different heights, they were almost all young men in terms of height. However, they all covered their heads, faces and bodies with felt clothes and quilts. Even some people in the back who were not wearing felt clothes were wearing straw raincoats and hats with the brims of the hats pulled down low.

Although their attire was similar to that of other villagers, with tattered clothes and black felt coats full of holes, Xing Jinyin felt something was wrong - it was already May, and although the morning breeze was still a little chilly, it shouldn't be this serious, right?

Even among the women, children and the elderly scattered among the crowd, none of them were like them!

"All of you stop right there."

Xing Jinyin pointed at the shorter man walking in front and shouted, "You... lifted the felt cloth..."

This time even He Cheng and the other man were shocked and became fully alert. They protected Sergeant Xing Jinyin on both sides and quickly drew out their flintlock muskets, pointing them directly at the suspicious refugees.

The refugee who was walking in front and had just been stopped suddenly stopped. He was standing only thirty steps away from Xing Jinyin. He slowly lifted the felt coat covering his head, revealing the young face of a boy of about fourteen or fifteen years old.

Their faces, which should have been innocent and lovely, were full of frost and indifference...

Even the look in his eyes when he looked at Xing Jinyin was filled with cruelty and brutality. He suddenly opened his mouth, revealing two rows of cold teeth, and screamed miserably: "Kill the soldiers!"

As his felt coat flew up, revealing his muscular body, he was also holding a short knife in his right hand that was shining with cold light. His face was distorted to the extreme, and he ran up quickly, howling ferociously and pounced towards Xing Jinyin.

"The hair-shearing thieves...they are bandits and child soldiers..."

He Cheng's shouts were soon completely drowned out by wave after wave of angry roars from the "dog-killing soldiers."

The group of "refugees" in the ditches on both sides of the official road also began to roar. They lifted up their felt clothes and heads, revealing the hidden weapons in their hands, either short knives or short axes.

Especially those short boys in the front, they were all dressed as child soldiers in the bandit camp. Although they were only fourteen or fifteen years old, or even thirteen or fourteen years old, they were all veteran thieves for many years.

These child soldiers howled miserably, seemingly fearless. They held weapons in their hands and looked as ferocious as ghosts. Their ferocious and cruel momentum frightened Xing Jinyin and others when they saw it.

The old and weak villagers behind them also changed their appearance at this moment. They all had long swords and short axes in their hands. The weak and timid appearance at the beginning was gone, and they were replaced by evil appearances like ghosts, howling fiercely and following them. Some people even shouted: "Kill all the dog soldiers and go back to eat meat!"

In a flash, the first thief soldier who had sheared his hair was howling and rushing towards him. He was waving a dagger in his hand, and his eyes were full of ferocity, without any trace of humanity.

Although still a child, he has turned into a man-eating devil!

Xing Jinyin is not a fool, how could she let him pounce on her so easily?

He suddenly pulled out his short pistol, and skillfully cocked the hammer as he raised his hand, then shot the shearing thief who was rushing in the front.

After a loud "bang", billowing white smoke rose instantly.

The hair-shearing thief's body flew backwards suddenly, and then fell to the ground. He knelt on the side of the official road, staring blankly at his chest. A bloody hole suddenly appeared, and bright red blood was constantly gushing out of the hole.

However, his tragic death did not stop the shearing thieves' charge. They rushed forward like crazy, roaring and howling, and turned a blind eye to the child soldier who was struggling and screaming on the ground.

"Bang!" The sound of explosion came again...

A sharp flash of fire also appeared beside Xing Jinyin, and the pungent smell of gunpowder instantly rushed into his mouth and nose. He Cheng also raised his hand and fired a shot, and another shearing thief who was rushing forward also staggered and fell to the ground.

A large bloody hole also appeared on his body, blood spurted out, splashing all over the faces of the people around him...

Another soldier, Lei Yu, pulled the trigger of his short rifle almost at the same time as them. The shearing thief fell to the ground at the edge of the official road without even having time to scream.

Lei Yu showed a hint of surprise on his face. He had obviously aimed at the thief's chest, but for some reason he hit his head...

You know, the short-handed guns of the Yongyi Army were quite powerful. The lead bullets fired from them hit the thief's head at such a close distance, and it immediately shattered like a watermelon, with white brain matter mixed with bright red blood splashing everywhere.

In a flash, three of the shearing thieves, the child soldiers, and the old thieves who looked very old were killed before they could get in front of Xing Jinyin and the other three, which reduced their momentum a lot.

  However, even they, the bandits, naturally understood the principle that “once the arrow is shot, there is no turning back”!

Although they were shocked by the power of the enemy's hand cannons, they would not stop since they had already launched the charge. After all, as foot bandits, they would never dare to leave their backs to the cavalry...

What's more, they are only facing three Ming cavalrymen at the moment. Even if the cannons in their hands are extremely powerful, even if there are more than ten elite armored cavalrymen behind them, what can they do?

Our side still has the advantage in numbers, and the cavalry are lying in ambush on the left and right. As long as we can intercept them, we will win. Not only will we get rewards when we return, but we will also have meat to eat - this is the most important thing!

Xing Jinyin also knew that the enemy was outnumbered and powerful, so he could not afford to fight. He shouted, "Ignore them, charge forward first, and then strike back to kill them."

Then three loud explosions of "Bang! Bang! Bang!" were heard, and the second short-handed guns of Xing Jinyin and others had also finished firing, and two more bandits were shot.

"The dog soldiers are trying to run away, hurry up...shoot them to death!"

Suddenly, there was a whistling sound of a crossbow arrow. Lei Yu was startled and looked up quickly while turning his body to the left to reduce his attack area.

With a whoosh sound, a crossbow arrow passed by the left side of his face, causing a burning pain on his face and a few drops of blood floated before his eyes.

Just as Lei Yu was secretly rejoicing, another crossbow arrow flew towards him, broke through his armor between his right ribs, and a bright red color immediately soaked through his armor.

Fortunately, the two sides were more than twenty steps apart, and the crossbow used by the bandits was an old item. Although it penetrated the outer layer of leather armor, it did not penetrate deep into the flesh, and the damage caused to Lei Yu was not great.

Lei Yu hurriedly raised his shield to protect his head, face and chest, and endured the pain from the crossbow arrows. He urged his horse to follow Sergeant Xing Jinyin and galloped northward...

The crossbow arrows shot by the bandits flew past their ears, making a continuous "whooshing" sound, but they could not care less.

The war horses charged, and naturally the infantry bandits could not stop them. Xing Jinyin and the other three riders quickly reached the section of the official road where the bandits were, but they did not dare to leave and stopped more than a hundred steps away.

Xing Jinyin reined in his warhorse and shouted, "Quick, reload your pistols. We have to fight back."

"Sergeant, something's not right. Why aren't the thieves chasing us?" He Cheng asked this soul-searching question while loading his pistol with bullets.

"The thieves must be going to intercept Changtou and Shichang. Quickly prepare the gunpowder, we must kill them back."

…………

As Xing Jinyin expected, the group of hair-shearing thieves who intercepted them did not chase them relentlessly because they saw Chang Zhengcheng and others riding horses behind them.

The sound of the gunfire was like thunder, and even at a distance of forty or fifty steps, it could be heard clearly.

What's more, the short-handed gun was one of the standard equipment of the Yulin Cavalry. They were all accustomed to the explosion of the gun. Not to mention that it was only forty or fifty steps away, even if it was farther away, it could be clearly heard. Besides, Xing Jinyin and his men fired six guns in a row, even a fool could tell that something happened ahead.

Although most of the soldiers on their side were wounded and sick, as soldiers, how could they retreat in the face of battle? What's more, they were the most elite Yulin Cavalry in the Yongyi Army, and there were three comrades in the team ahead of them.

"Everyone, please prepare your side shields, check your pistols, and be on full alert. No attack is allowed without my order!"

After Chang Zhengcheng shouted loudly, the four cavalrymen immediately formed a horizontal line, each holding two short guns in their hands, staring at the more than a hundred bandits running towards them not far away...