lady, please calm down

Chapter 372 Qi Jinbian Trouble

On the fifth day of August, at midnight.

On both sides of the Qijinjie River, the reeds are dense, but when the autumn wind passes by, there is a rustling sound.

In a reed marsh on the north bank, there were thirty or forty men sitting or lying down.

The man sitting in the middle is about in his early twenties, but his complexion is bronze, his eyes are sharp, and there is a scar as long as three fingers on his strong mandible. His indifferent expression has long since faded away.

This person is Geng Baoxi, the former personal bodyguard of the King of Chu, a rising star of the Huaibei Army, and the commander of the ninth regiment of the fifth brigade.

Next to him was Lu Shou, commander of the sixth company of the second battalion of the ninth regiment.

Compared with Geng Baoxi and the Huaibei veterans present, Lu Shou was obviously much more nervous and would listen carefully from time to time.

Bao, who was chewing something in his mouth, was delighted to see his subordinate like this. He raised his foot and kicked Lu Shou lightly, then took something out of his arms and handed it over.

Lu Shou subconsciously picked it up, and when he saw it under the dim starlight, he saw that it was actually a peanut cheese candy. What a cool thing!

He didn't understand sugar, high calories, etc., but all brothers in the army knew that eating this stuff could restore strength.

After Lu Shou joined the Ninth Regiment with his good brother Zhang Wuluan, he was repeatedly shocked by the Huaibei Army's food, military pay and training intensity.

But even in the Huaibei Army, which raises troops regardless of cost, peanut cheese candies are a first-class good product. These sweet candies are only distributed to soldiers in the amount of one per person per day when they go out to fight.

Most of the brothers in the army were reluctant to finish the meal in one bite. They would either put the candy cubes into the hot porridge and melt it to turn the ordinary porridge into sweet porridge; or they would divide it into two or three portions and have one piece with each meal.

Chewing it in one bite like Geng Tuanzuo is truly a luxury.

This is the most popular hard currency in the military, and some soldiers even secretly save it and sell it to vendors.

It is said that five pieces of this candy on the black market can be exchanged for a young girl who escaped from the North.

Lu Shou carefully bit off a small half, wrapped the rest in candy wrappers and put it in his pocket. He was not from Hebei. After being captured and released last year, he relied on Zhang Wuluan's family to take care of him. He planned to bring the candies he saved to Wu Lu during his vacation. Several children from my brother’s family.

Perhaps it was Geng Baoxi's calm demeanor that infected him, or perhaps it was the satisfaction brought by the small piece of candy. Lu Shou's anxiety gradually disappeared, and he took the initiative to talk to the young boss: "Team leader, we have ambushed three people on the north bank of the boundary river. It’s been four days”

Since the night of the second day of August, Geng Baoxi personally led a group of people and waited here after crossing the river, but failed to meet the Jin army.

Baoxi heard this, but said calmly: "What does this mean? Back then, I followed the prince to suppress bandits in Huaibei. In order to ambush the remnants of the bandit leader Jin Taiping, we laid an ambush in the mountains for seven or eight days. You couldn't wait for three or four days?" "

"Hey, how dare I compete with the prince? Leader, please tell us about the King of Chu's suppression of bandits."

"How many times have I told you this?" Baoxi said in an impatient tone, but after a moment he pondered and said: "In the tenth year of Fuchang, in May, Huaibei flooded, and there was a vast ocean."

After listening to his speech, all the brothers gathered around him.

The personnel composition of the ninth regiment includes 40% of the officers and soldiers from the original Yongjing Army, 40% of the officers and soldiers recruited from Hebei Lu Qingzhuang, and 20% of the officers and soldiers from Huaibei. Veterans mostly serve as company and platoon squad leaders and other grassroots officers.

But no matter where they were from, they still never got tired of hearing about the Huaibei rebellion every time they came to the group meeting.

Because in the story of Geng Tuanzuo, the soldiers are of one mind, and the officers will not steal the military merits of the brave soldiers and give them to their cowardly brothers-in-law. After the war, in addition to military pay, the lower-level sergeants can also receive large rewards, which they also like to see. .

To wipe out the chaos and be welcomed by the people in the city, showering them with flowers and fruits, is the most fascinating thing.

A relatively fair environment means that everyone has a chance to get ahead.

Rewarding means working hard to buy a good life for your family.

Being sought after by the common people means the realization of the value of life. Most of the army's lieutenants and generals are from the lower class. If it were not forced by the superior officials and the food and salary were not enough to satisfy their hunger, who would want to rob the common people and end up in a situation of being despised?

In the past, Lu Shou did not believe that the people would have feelings for an army. Until last year, when the Huai army returned south, the people sent each other off with tears in their eyes along the ten miles journey.

Thinking of the scene at that time, Lu Shou still feels numb. How could he not want to be a member of such an army? Fortunately, now he has achieved his wish.

In addition, Lu Shou was particularly envious of Geng Tuanzuo's aura. Whether he was talking about the quelling the chaos in Huaibei or Liu E's rebellion in Hebei last year, Geng Tuanzuo would always downplay it.

It seems that any enemy is like a chicken or a dog in front of the Huaibei Army.

As a soldier, in the end, strength has to speak for itself. If you can't fight, everything else is empty.

This is what Lu Shou is most ashamed of. He has been in the army for many years, and the only battle he has fought was with the Huaibei Army last year.

I was beaten so hard that I don’t know my last name anymore.

Without the self-confidence accumulated through continuous victory, even though almost all the Jin Kingdom's troops stationed on the north bank were Han troops, Lu Shou still felt scared. If Geng Tuanzuo hadn't personally led the team, he would not have dared to stay on the north bank for three or four days.

Whatever you think, come whatever you want.

At two o'clock in the morning, a brother on guard suddenly crossed the reeds and approached Baoxi. He said excitedly: "Tou Geng, here we come! At least there are hundreds of riders! According to this, it's about two miles away."

Baoxi's story-telling voice stopped abruptly. Members of the Ninth Regiment, including former Yongjing Army and Fucheng Minzhuang, became uncontrollably nervous.

"Why are you panicking?"

Baoxi shouted low, unpacked her bag, took out a pair of colorful women's clothes, put a suit on her body, and said: "According to the plan!"

With his voice, everyone recovered from the panic, unpacked their bags and put on women's clothes.

Maybe it was because they looked funny to each other, which caused a few snickers.

A moment later, in the stillness of the night, the sound of horse hooves could be faintly heard. Baoxi said to a Huaibei veteran beside him: "Old Zhang, go and scream a few times like a woman to lure people over."

"Top Geng, I'm not the Bai Yuhou who has learned so much. I can't learn how to call a woman."

"Then just call a few times to attract people."

At midnight, Wang Wenbao, the commander of the Jin Kingdom's Hejian Mansion, led his men to inspect the boundary river.

This work has not stopped since the end of July.

Just because the people of Hejian Prefecture were fleeing southward became more and more fierce, which made Wang Wenbao extremely angry.

However, the boundary river of his defense area is 200 to 300 miles away, and a patrol from east to west would take several days. There are always fish that slip through the net and successfully cross the river.

In order to make the people along the coast have a sense of awe, once the people smuggled in were captured by Wang Wenbao, the outcome would definitely be bad. The young women were divided among the brothers to play with. If they were obedient, they would be sold after they were done. If they dared to resist, their breasts would be cut out and caesarean section. , no problem.

As for the men, not one of them has survived.

In order to act as a deterrent, Qiao Chou'er, Wang Wenbao's sworn brother and subordinate, cut off the heads of the smugglers and stuck them on wooden poles, displaying them along the river, placing one every other mile.

This trick is very effective. In recent days, the number of people escaping at night has been significantly reduced. Even during the day, people do not dare to approach the river bank.

In the past three days, Wang Wenbao has not seen anyone fleeing south again.

"Brother, it's better to use your method!" Wang Wenbao, who was riding on the horse, praised Qiao Chou'er.

"Hehe." Qiao Chou'er smiled proudly and replied in a hoarse voice: "Brother, it's useless to persuade these stupid men and women. They have to see blood before they know who has the final say in Hejian Mansion. "

Unexpectedly, as soon as Qiao Chou'er finished speaking, the sentry from ahead reported, "There seems to be someone hiding one mile ahead!"

Qiao Chou'er, who had just been praised by her eldest brother, felt like she had been slapped in the face. She couldn't help but cursed angrily: "Aren't you afraid of killing these idiots? Brothers, follow me. The old rules are, kill all the men and keep the women."

After that, he urged his horse to gallop forward.

The sudden frenzied sound of horse hooves startled several night owls, and at the same time, it also startled the "common people" fleeing south in the reeds.

Only a burst of panic shouting was heard.

"Ah! The golden soldiers are here."

"Hurry, hurry, cross the river quickly"

Immediately, chaos broke out in the reeds. About dozens of people stumbled to the river, climbed onto simple rafts, and rowed desperately to the south bank.

By the time Qiao Chou'er chased him to the shore, the group of people had already crossed the middle of the river and were about to dock.

Seeing that the other party was about to escape before his eyes, Qiao Chouer yelled angrily and turned around and shouted to Wang Wenbao: "Brother, I will lead the brothers to chase him!"

"." Wang Wenbao hesitated for a few moments and then nodded.

It is not a trivial matter for soldiers to cross the border. This is only for the soldiers of Qi State.

The Qi State had been established for many years and served the Jin Dynasty as its father's country. The Han army of the Jin State was somewhat arrogant.

It's not like they had never crossed the border before. It was only after the troops of King Chu of Qi occupied Hebei Road last year that the relationship between the two sides became tense, so they temporarily stopped their activities on the south bank.

But at this time, there was silence on the south bank, and the lights were dark.

Through the dim starlight, we could vaguely see that there were at least thirty or forty people fleeing to the south bank. This was the largest group of people fleeing south that Wang Wenbao had ever encountered since his inspection.

If they are allowed to escape successfully, I'm afraid the people on the north bank will be ready to take action again.

And among these people, women account for at least half, so they are not expected to run fast!

If we catch them this time, we have to strip them naked and parade them through the streets to deter those on the north bank who want to flee south.

While Wang Wenbao was thinking, Qiao Chou'er had already led more than a hundred people on horseback to swim across the river.

In order to prevent the armor from absorbing water, the horses could not carry it. They took off their armor, lost their bows, arrows, and long soldiers. Everyone only carried a short sword.

Dozens of breaths later, Qiao Chou'er and others landed ashore, but the panicked people had disappeared into the night.

After a brief preparation, Qiao Chou'er led his men to catch up.

The night was vast, and the figure of the unarmored soldier was quickly swallowed by the darkness.

About thirty breaths later, Wang Wenbao, who was standing on the north bank, suddenly heard the sound of killing on the south bank.

But because his sight was blocked by the darkness, he couldn't see anything clearly.

Go south one mile from the south bank of the boundary river.

Brigade commander Peng personally led the cavalry camp of the third regiment to ambush on the left side of the road, and the cavalry camp of the ninth regiment ambush on the right side of the road, attacking Qiao Chou'er's troops from both sides.

Calculating mentally but not intentionally, the strength of the troops is close to ten to one, and the opponent has no armor.

The Huaibei Army, which almost took advantage of the right time and place, faced the Han Army of the Jin Kingdom and almost unilaterally massacred them.

The Huaibei Army rushed out in the night and took away dozens of people with a volley of crossbows.

Qiao Chou'er was hit by an arrow in his shoulder blade. Even though he was shocked, he still thought that these Qi State horsemen had misunderstood that he was a strong bandit. The inertial thinking formed over the past ten years made it difficult for him to imagine that Qi State would dare to ambush him. Dajin Army.

"Who is coming! I am the general of Dajin Hejian Prefecture!"

Seeing that the opponent was approaching with ferocious force, Qiao Chou'er hurriedly announced his home, but he didn't expect that after he announced his home, several brave men would immediately come to kill him.

At this point, Qiao Chou'er finally realized that something was wrong. The other party was afraid that they were the ones waiting for him!

What a big dog!

Qiao Chou'er was furious, but she also knew that now was not the time to show off her strength. Only by escaping back to the north bank could she have a chance to bring these daring Qi people to justice!

Immediately turn around and run north

In the grass beside the road, Baoxi and others who were acting as bait had just taken a breath. Seeing that the leader was about to escape, they immediately snatched a strong horse from Zhang Wuluan's hand, jumped on the horse nimbly, and chased after him.

With him taking the lead, Zhang Wuluan, Lu Shou and others rode in pursuit.

Peng Er, who was ambushing on the other side, already had itchy hands. Seeing this, he also urged his horse out.

The soldiers beside him quickly chased after him and shouted anxiously: "Brigade Commander, Brigade Commander! Before leaving Fucheng, the prince specifically explained that the Brigade Commander is the commander of an army and should not charge into the battle easily!"

"Don't f*cking snitch on me. How would King Chu know?" Peng Er turned around and cursed with a smile, and continued the pursuit.

Due to the huge disparity in strength, within a hundred breaths, the battlefield gradually calmed down. More than a hundred Jin soldiers crossed the river. Only Qiao Chou'er, who was the first to realize something was wrong, fled to the shore alone.

But...it just escaped to the shore.

When he was still more than ten feet away from the river bank, Qiao Chou'er was hit by another arrow in the back and finally fell down.

Peng Er and Bao Xi arrived one after another. Qiao Chou'er was lying on the ground with bleeding from his mouth and nose, but he was not dead yet.

On the other side, Wang Wenbao had vaguely seen his brother's horse. Then he saw the figure dismounted, and the pursuers came from behind. He couldn't help but panic, and shouted loudly: "Save someone under the sword! I am Wang Wenbao, the commander of Hejian Mansion. I am crossing the river." He is my subordinate! You must not harm his life!"

The shouts reached the other side clearly.

Qiao Chou'er, who broke his leg when he fell off the horse, endured the severe pain and turned slightly sideways. He looked up and saw a Qi general and a young man wearing women's clothes. Knowing that he had fallen into the trap of the other party, he coughed up blood and shouted angrily. : "Dogs are as brave as thieves. They dare to kill my soldiers of Dajin. Aren't you afraid that Dajin will be angry and kill all the chickens and dogs of Qi?"

Bao Xi has been around Chen Chu for a long time. Whether it is his tone of voice or the way he thinks about things, he is somewhat similar to Chen Chu.

He shook his head, took out the short blade tied to his calf, squatted down and said: "See, you are also a Han'er, but you keep saying that 'Dajin' is working for the tiger and massacring your compatriots. On behalf of the Fucheng government, I will condemn you to death."

You see, Baoxi is a person who values ​​the rule of law and never kills innocent people indiscriminately.

After representing Fucheng County Government, Baoxi grabbed Qiao Chou'er's hair with one hand and lightly touched his neck with a knife in the other hand. Blood gushed out in large streams, but it did not spray everywhere.

"Hey, Brother Xi has become more and more proficient in this sword technique, and he can control it well!"

Peng Er laughed, and then stabbed Qiao Chou'er in the back.

This knife was superfluous, but it had to be superfluous because Qiao Chou'er was already dead, so making up for it was just superfluous.

It must be because, with this sword, Peng Er, as the military commander in the north of Hebei Road, has the same responsibility as Bao Xi. Even if a bigger incident happens next, Bao Xi will not be left alone to bear it. pressure.

"Hey, thank you, second brother." Baoxi could certainly appreciate the good intentions of second brother Peng.

"Hey, what can I thank you for? They were so cruel to the Han family. Who are they trying to scare by hanging so many heads on the north bank? I have long disliked these Han slaves."

On the side, Lu Shou saw the two Shangguan talking and laughing freely, but for some reason, he was so excited that he trembled all over.

The feeling he felt during the pursuit just now was a kind of pleasure that he had never experienced before!

For more than ten years, the Golden Soldier, whom he regarded as an invincible 'Heavenly Soldier', was actually killed by Tuanzuo like a little chicken?

This golden soldier is not as invulnerable as one against a hundred as I heard!

But Zhang Wuluan had another idea. A few days ago, when Baoxi led the troops out of the camp, he was the most nervous one.

First, like Lu Shou, he also felt that he was no match for Bei'an.

Secondly, if there is any trouble on the border, the imperial court will definitely treat the Nine Regiments as a tool to quell the anger of the Jin Kingdom and hand them over to the other side.

But tonight, the young Geng Tuanzuo led people to lure Jin Bing to the south bank, and under the cover of night, Wang Wenbao on the north bank couldn't see clearly.

Your Jin army came to our territory first, and Wang Wenbao is not 100% sure that it was the Qi army who did it.

In this way, there is always room for wrangling afterwards.

Furthermore, Geng Tuanzuo was a close confidant of the King of Chu. If the King of Chu defended him, he might not be punished too severely.

After sorting out the items one by one, Zhang Wuluan discovered that his young boss was by no means a reckless person!

He has the courage to attack Bei'an's arrogance, but he doesn't take things completely to death!

The people around King Chu are indeed not simple.

On the north bank, Wang Wenbao's shouts gradually became more and more exasperated, but there was no response at all on the shadowy south bank.

It was dark at night, and Wang Wenbao did not dare to cross the river rashly again, lest he would fall into it.

We had no choice but to camp on the spot and send someone over at dawn to get Qiao Chou'er and others back.

The next day, Mao Shizhong.

The sky was dark and Wang Wenbao, who had not slept all night, heard the noise outside the tent and strode out filled with anger.

But before he could scold his subordinates, he saw everyone looking at the other side with frightened expressions on their faces.

Wang Wenbao turned around and looked.

But in the morning light, the south bank was already empty, or in other words, there was no one alive.

But a row of poles with human heads was also erected along the shore.

The wooden pole in the middle is four or five feet higher than the adjacent poles, and the head on the top is his sworn brother Qiao Chou'er!

Wang Wenbao's eyes darkened, and he shouted angrily: "Qi State rats! If you don't give me an explanation, I will slaughter all of Fucheng!"

(End of this chapter)