Daming kill

Chapter 13
At the end of May (July in the Gregorian calendar), the noon sun was at its most vicious. Hundreds of Ming soldiers continued to flee like zombies under the scorching sun.

When you can no longer hear the shouts of fighting, when you can no longer see the shadow of the enemy, when everything begins to be silent for a long time and only the sound of birdsong and running water can be heard, the extreme hunger, thirst and exhaustion begin to quickly destroy every life. The vast majority of people are teetering.

Two nights and a day and a half of fleeing have exhausted the last bit of vitality in these lives.

When a mule fell to the ground foaming, everyone realized that they had to stop and take a long rest.This is already the fifth big animal that has fallen!

Animals can't stand it anymore, let alone people?
If you continue to run, you don't need the enemy to solve it, they have to finish the game first.

The team was finally led into a dense forest, and several horses were whipped immediately. Shi Ming, Wang Chengwu, and Song Baolai galloped away in front, left, and right. They decided to do a simple reconnaissance first.

Li Ping did not go to reconnaissance, he immediately put his arms around Gao Lei who was still sleeping, and cooperated with Zhao Jin to repeatedly tell the soldiers not to lie down or close their eyes, otherwise it would be difficult to wake up once they fell asleep.

Although most of them had known each other for a short time, and it was at such a critical moment, Zhao Jin had already established a very high prestige among this group of soldiers who were mostly unfamiliar.

For providing food for all, providing help for every weak person, and mercilessly suppressing the rioters, most people not only owed his kindness, but also recognized his authority.

In less than a quarter of an hour, Shi Ming and others returned one after another.At this time, there is actually nothing to scout, neither dare to run far, nor have the ability to search the surrounding area carefully, it is nothing more than a hasty investigation.

When Zhao Jin announced that it was time to rest, many people lay down on the spot and fell asleep, snoring immediately.

With the help of Shi Zhang Duan Qiang, Liu San and others, Li Ping carefully carried Gao Lei off the horse, then found a piece of grass with thick dry soft ground, and used the clothes in the package she had always carried as a cushion. Just put her to lie down.

The little package that this woman refused to give up when she was running for her life was actually full of laundry. You must know that Li Ping let him throw away except for the broken leather armor and the mandarin duck jacket, even the white felt hat. Where are you going.

Women's brain circuits are indeed different from men's.

However, such a big movement only made Gao Lei twist her body a few times, it seems that this young lady is really exhausted.

Along the way, Gao Lei was like a shy little daughter-in-law, following closely beside Li Ping, as if only Li Ping could gain her trust.

Of course, Gao Lei didn't ride the horse all the time, otherwise the horse would have been exhausted.

Horses are delicate animals, and their stamina is far, far less than most people think.Gao Lei gritted her teeth and walked with Li Ping most of the time, and only got on the horse to rest for a while when she couldn't hold on anymore.

Not long ago, Li Ping, who seldom got on a horse, couldn't stand it any longer, so he had no choice but to ride with Gao Lei, who had completely collapsed, for a while.

At this time, Gao Lei had lost so much twitching, she naturally leaned against Li Ping's arms, and soon fell asleep, and slept very deeply.

This time Li Ping played badly.

She hadn't showered or washed for many days, and then she was eating ashes and sweating all the way. Gao Lei's hair smelled sour next to Li Ping's nose.And when she was fast asleep, she even swayed from side to side on the horse, making Li Ping have to hug and support her back and forth, which was extremely miserable.

Fortunately, the command to rest saved him.

When Gao Lei was finally settled, Li Ping noticed that Zhao Lanyue had been staring at him with red eyes.This woman didn't fall asleep like most people, but waited for something.

Along the way, Zhao Lanyue walked in silence most of the time, and she was almost completely different from Zhao Meiling who kept shouting and complaining and stayed on the mule most of the time beside her. Li Ping was very surprised by her endurance and tenacity. What's more, it doesn't quite match the initial impression she left on Li Ping.

Li Ping smiled politely at Zhao Lanyue, and Zhao Lanyue immediately returned his smile.

When Li Ping looked for Zhao Jin again, he found that Zhao Jin was busy cooking, and many people had already moved over to listen to his orders. Only then did he understand what Zhao Lanyue was waiting for.

On the issue of sleeping first or eating first, Zhao Jin decisively chose the former.

What they urgently need now is energy. If they still just make do with some unnutritious food or eat nothing, I am afraid that some people will not be able to sleep at all.

When Li Ping also rushed to help, Zhao Jin immediately handed over the work of digging the hole and burying the pot.On this issue, Zhao Jin can only choose Li Ping, who he knows best and is the most convenient to command.

Li Ping did not disappoint Zhao Jin's trust. He quickly started digging a hole with simple tools, and attracted a crowd of onlookers.However, apart from showing great curiosity about his proficient digging skills and what he wanted to do, the onlookers were also obviously worried.

Even the most stupid soldiers know that the smoke from the fire will expose them to the enemy and bring them disaster.

But what Li Ping dug was the Dakota Fire Hole.

The Dakota Fire Hole is a kind of fire stove with strong firepower but very little smoke. It can even be regarded as smoke-free only a little distance away. It is most suitable for use when you need to hide your whereabouts in the wild.It is probably two pits, one big and one small connected at the bottom, and the fire is born in the big pit.

The reason why they had to dig two Dakota fire holes was because they only had two pots. Although the pots were a bit small, fortunately, the pots in the army were relatively large, and a few more pots could meet their needs.And these two pots are exactly one for cooking meat and the other for cooking rice.

"You Dakota fire hole is not bad, have you done it before?" Shi Ming, who was not asleep, suddenly asked from the side.

Being famous means that Shi Ming should know about this kind of fire stove from Indians, but he has not helped, but just watched Li Ping choose the site and do it himself.

Li Ping looked up at Shi Ming unexpectedly, paused for a while, and said casually: "This is called Dakota Fire Cave? I really don't know. I learned this when I went camping with my friends. I know that there is less fire and smoke." .”

"Well, I also knew it from playing outdoors." Shi Ming suddenly smiled, and then began to instruct the soldiers who were transporting firewood here how to pick dry firewood.The choice of firewood also plays a big role in controlling the amount of smoke. Shi Ming seems to be an old hand at first glance.

When the pot was set up and the fire was lit, there was only a thin layer of smoke for a long time. The soldiers onlookers all gasped in amazement, and attracted even bigger onlookers. The skinny old man finally couldn't help asking carefully.

This old man is the guy who cooperated with Li Ping to build the bridge at the bottom of the ditch. It is really not easy for him to escape here with some spare strength.

Li Ping did not hide his secrets. He politely explained the basic principles and precautions of the fire stove to the surrounding soldiers. He also changed the terms of later generations such as oxygen involved into words that can be understood in this era. .

At this time, a strong man with a square face squeezed directly to the front to listen.

This man, Li Ping, was also very impressive. He was one of the two strong men who used bows and arrows to kill those fleeing people at the top of the ditch. It is hard to forget such a rare good archer and killer.And each of these two strong men has a mule, which is more conspicuous along the way.

When the smell of meat began to waft, almost all the dozens of people who hadn't slept all gathered around.

The reason they have meat is all thanks to the dead mule.

However, the previous four animals were all abandoned. At the most difficult moment of escape, no one had the energy to dismantle them, which also meant that they could not be carried.

Facing the envious crowd, Zhao Jin once again exercised his authority as whistle chief.

He forbade anyone to steal mule meat, and he enforced strict distribution of meat, and his authority was respected without any accident.

But Zhao Jin didn't ask for the pot where the rice was cooked. The rice was still relatively sufficient, and he didn't want to interfere too much with the crazy hungry people.As a result, many people ran to eat thick porridge that cooked quickly with various simple tools. As a result, the first pot of porridge was robbed before it was fully cooked.

After the sleepless people finished eating whole, Zhao Jin ordered the sleeping people to be patted to wake up, and each of them had to eat something before going back to sleep.

Li Ping used a bamboo tube originally filled with water to fill some thick porridge mixed with some minced meat and served it to Gao Lei. It took him a lot of effort to wake Gao Lei up.Although she was still in a daze, Gao Lei still wolfed down the meat porridge and fell asleep again.

After everyone had eaten, Li Ping still didn't lie down. Although he was very, very sleepy now, he had to persevere.

Not everyone can fall asleep, someone has to be on duty. Li Ping took the initiative to choose to be on the first shift.

In the face of this unreliable group, he and Zhao Jin must always keep one of them in a state of sobriety, and the most important thing to ensure rest is of course Zhao Jin.After all, once something happens, Zhao Jin is the one who can restrain the hundreds of people here the most.

Zhao Jin not only established initial prestige, but also the highest position here.

There are only a few people standing on the first watch, and all of them are active.In addition to Li Ping, there is also Wang Chengwu, and the other is the strong man with a Chinese face.

In fact, Wang Chengwu had been squinting for a while just now, and he had been resting before eating, and he didn't wait until Shi Ming, who had eaten, called him.The two of them obviously had a discussion in advance, and they should have the same idea as Li Ping and the others.

It was the most painful to be on the first shift. The long-term fatigue made the three of them drowsy. Everyone was looking for something to do for themselves, and they were afraid that they would fall asleep as soon as they calmed down.

After Li Ping waited on his horses for a while, he started to shuttle back and forth to count.For such a long time, no one can tell how many people and how much supplies they have.

Seeing Li Ping counting there, the man with a Chinese face came over to help, but he was illiterate and couldn't do simple calculations, so he could only help Li Ping check the numbers.Wang Chengwu, on the other hand, has been holding a knife and sticking to the vicinity of Shi Ming and the livestock.

263 people, that's all the heads.

However, Li Ping didn't know how many of them were from his post, because he didn't recognize all the more than 100 people.There was less than half a whistle left, and it was just an estimate of how the crowd gathered when they fled.

He is the only one of the three captains left, and there must be less than 20 people in his team.

Among the three chiefs in his team, one was missing, and the other was chopped off by Zhao Jin. Only Duan Qiang, who didn't like to make a sound, followed him obediently, and he was also there when he was struggling at the bottom of the ditch.

The remaining Du Guerrilla soldier disappeared, and Li Ping suspected that Shi Ming had tampered with it.However, this Du Guerrilla is probably in danger. If he can escape this time, it will be convenient in the future.

Five horses, twelve horse mules, 29 donkeys, 35 bags of rice and 6 bags of noodles (estimated to be more than 2000 catties in total), 1 and a half bags of rice, two bags of coarse salt, two stacks of coarse cloth, one stack Silk, two pots, these are all the bulk materials that Zhao Jin and the others can master, and they are also things that they are not willing to throw away.

As for the convenience foods such as pot helmet cakes, jerky and pickles, which were not much in the first place, they had already eaten them all on the road.

Then there are several bags of silver that Zhao Jin buried in the pile of parcels under him as a bed. Li Ping estimates that there are at least a thousand taels, a real windfall.I don't know who snatched it or which arrogant strongman snatched it back and fell into their hands. Anyway, it was found on a mule.

In addition, there are three horse mules, eight donkeys and about three to five bags of grain belonging to the scattered officers and soldiers of the Ming army.

All the remaining food together can last for ten days. It is definitely a very lucky thing to save some food and last for a longer time.

Having food is luck, but having a lot of mules, horses and silver is just luck.

In order to promote Zuo Liangyu, who had a large number of soldiers, sent troops to rescue Kaifeng, the supervisor Hou Xun, who was rescued from the prison in an emergency, gave Zuo Liangyu's army 15 taels of silver as a reward at one time, and Zuo Liangyu's success Linying, Li Zicheng's storage base, was raided, so Zuo Liangyu's army was really rich in silver and mules.

Of course, on the other hand, Li Zicheng's capture this time is probably extremely astonishing.

When Li Ping found the pen and ink and wrote down these things one by one on a piece of cloth, a trace of respect flashed in the eyes of the man with the square face.Li Ping immediately realized that being able to write and know is only a skill of a few people in this era.

Because of boredom, in order to relieve drowsiness, and to grasp more information, Li Ping chatted with the chief of the Ming army without a name.

This man with a square face is called Ma Yong, he is very tall, he is from Shaanxi, only he and the round-faced black man who shot arrows with him ran out of his battalion.

Although Ma Yong didn't say what kind of relationship he has with that round-faced black man, but it shouldn't be too bad, because Ma Yong would always go to the side of the snoring round-faced black man from time to time to investigate, and he seemed a little too concerned.

Since Li Ping couldn't tell more about himself, since Ma Yong obviously valued scholars, he casually told this illiterate man about the passionate history of Qin and Han Dynasties. polite.

It's just that no matter how much you talk, you can't help but feel sleepy, and it's even more difficult.

Not long after entering the night, Ma Yong was replaced by the round-faced black man, but Zhao Jin never woke up, and Li Ping couldn't bear to call.He and Wang Chengwu could only continue to suffer with big eyes and small eyes. At this time, they had long since lost the mood to talk.

I don't know how long it took, maybe it was late at night, Zhao Jin finally complained about coming to replace Li Ping, Li Ping just smiled and comforted Zhao Jin not to mind, and deliberately walked slowly to his horse.

However, he fell asleep as soon as he lay down.

(End of this chapter)