Southern Ming: A boy soldier at the beginning, supporting the world

Chapter 150 Capturing the Thief and Capturing the King
Since Lu Shouyi entered the pass, he has been keeping an eye on all directions and listening to all directions. Just like three days ago, the defense of the Gulou Pass was lax. There were about 300 soldiers inside and outside the pass tower, most of whom were weak and could only bully the common people.

On the Zhaoyong Army side, two scouts were already hiding in the city, disguised as handymen, helping the garrison feed the horses. There were also sixteen brothers from the cavalry battalion in the courtyard, and their weapons had been confiscated. Outside the city, more than thirty brothers from the cavalry battalion were disguised as merchants, resting in a teahouse outside the city.

In the lobby, the garrison commander of Gulou Pass was a thin man in his forties. His greed was clearly revealed. He said to Lu Shouyi, "Brother, since this is a gift from your boss to Marshal Xu, why don't you open it and let the brothers see it?"

Lu Shouyi, with a scout, stood behind the treasure box with bare hands. There were four guards, three officers, and a man who looked like a scribe, probably a clerk for the garrison.

Lu Shouyi had presented five taels of silver to the garrison commander and paid another ten taels of tax. But at this moment, the garrison commander's eyes were sinister and murderous. Lu Shouyi knew that they had already started to kill him. If there was really a priceless treasure in the treasure box, the garrison commander would kill them to silence them.

He looked calm and said, "I am flattered to be personally received by the garrison commander. My boss sincerely wishes to honor you, the commander-in-chief. I will open the treasure box and ask you to verify its authenticity."

He took out a copper key from his pocket, held it in front of him, and said with a smile: "Sir, would you like me to open the treasure box? Or would you like to trouble some general?"

Everyone in the room, from the guards to the soldiers, were attracted by the copper key and couldn't wait to open the treasure box to see what was inside.

"The treasure box belongs to your boss, so please open it." The garrison commander said, suppressing his excitement.

Lu Shouyi pretended to be relaxed, smiled and agreed, then opened the treasure box. With a click, the copper lock popped open, and when he opened the lid, a piece of red silk cloth was revealed, on which there were indeed two ginsengs and more than ten taels of silver.

Not seeing the treasure they had imagined, everyone was greatly disappointed and their frustration was evident in words.

An officer was still not giving up, and came forward to examine the treasure box carefully. At first he did not see anything unusual, but when he picked up the treasure box to weigh it, he found something unusual, so he simply picked up the ginseng and was about to uncover the silk cloth.

"Old Zhang," the garrison commander smiled and said, "Don't be rash."

The officer named Zhang ignored him and replied, "Sir, there is something wrong with this treasure box. You see, it weighs ten pounds and is nearly a foot high, but it is so shallow. There must be a secret compartment inside."

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone immediately became interested.

The garrison commander immediately used his authority and shouted, "It is true that all merchants are dishonest and all Yao are evil! Mr. Lu, I treat you sincerely. How could you deceive me?"

"I am innocent. I was ordered by my boss to sell medicinal herbs. I only took a little profit. How could I have any other thoughts?"

When he heard about the interest, officer Zhang became even more excited. He picked up the treasure box and shook it, and heard a rustling sound inside, as if there was a lot of gold and silver.

It was late afternoon, and the light in the room was dim. He carried the treasure box to the filing table, lit a candle, and looked closely at the treasure box.

Four guards also came to Lu Shouyi and his companions and drew their swords.

Lu Shouyi remained calm and let them tinker with the treasure box.

"Please look, sir. There is a mechanism."

With the help of the candle, the garrison officer indeed saw an iron ring attached to the side wall of the wooden box.

"Open it and take a look." Under the light of the candle, the faces of the garrison and others were distorted by greed.

Zhang was so excited that he put his finger on the iron ring and pulled it hard. In a flash, Lu Shouyi and his comrades beside him jumped to the side and lay on the ground.

The guard was confused and went forward to capture him.

There was a loud bang, and countless lead bullets burst out, killing or injuring the officers and guards on the scene. The garrison commander also died on the spot. It turned out that there was a landmine hidden in the secret compartment of the treasure box. The landmines of the Ming army were very mature as early as the Jiajing period. They were usually buried underground to ambush cavalry. When the enemy's war horses passed by, the horses' hooves stepped on the landmines, which would trigger the mechanism in the landmines, and the mechanism would drive the flint to ignite, and then detonate the landmines.

The mine explosion was the signal for the attack. Lu Shouyi and his companions hid in time and were lucky not to be injured. They took the swords from the guards on the ground and stabbed the garrison, guards and others one by one.

The soldiers of the Zhaoyong Army in the courtyard received the signal and rushed into the lobby to meet with Lu Shouyi and others, fighting for weapons in an attempt to defend themselves.

The incident happened suddenly, and the city was in chaos. Merchants, servants, and civilians fled. The defenders were caught off guard and leaderless, and fell into chaos for a while.

A captain led his soldiers to the hall and tried to besiege Lu Shouyi and others. However, Lu Shouyi cut off the head of the garrison commander and threw it outside the hall, shouting: "The garrison commander is dead, the garrison commander is dead!"

The soldiers were weak and no one dared to risk their lives to attack, so they could only shoot arrows from a distance.

Two scouts who had been lurking for a long time also took the opportunity to set fire to the hay pile, creating even greater chaos.

More than 20 Zhaoyong soldiers outside the pass received the signal, swarmed to the gate with sharp swords in hand, and shouted: "Chen Bangfu is attacking! Chen Bangfu is attacking!"

The merchants and sentries became even more panicked and completely lost their minds. They desperately retreated into the city, hoping to avoid the enemy's attack in the distance.

Soldiers, merchants, mules, horses, and the army were crowded at the gate, making it impossible for the defenders to close the gate. The twenty Zhaoyong troops outside the gate were also unable to enter the city for a while.

The two sides were temporarily deadlocked there.

Although the defenders inside were numerous, they did not dare to attack the hall. They first shot arrows randomly inside, and then started setting fire, trying to burn the Zhaoyong army inside to death.

Lu Shouyi and his companions lacked weapons and dared not attack rashly. They were also choked by the fireworks and were in a very embarrassing situation for a while.

Soon, Wu Jie saw a fire in the city and rushed to the scene with a large group of cavalry. It was getting dark, and the cavalry of the Zhaoyong Army was shouting and neighing, with great momentum. The defenders became even more panicked, and without waiting for help, they all fled.

Lu Shouyi and others finally escaped from the sea of ​​fire. They dispatched people to control the closing of the gates, put out the fire, and escort Wu Jie and others into the city.

By the time Wu Jie entered the city, night had already enveloped the entire Gulou Pass.

"Brother, you did a great job!" Wu Jie praised.

"Thanks to the brothers in the cavalry battalion, otherwise I would have died without a burial place."

"Let's go to the South Tower and take a look!"

Climbing up the South Tower and looking due south, you can see a winding valley road vaguely visible in the dim moonlight.

"This is Kunlun Road. The narrowest part can only accommodate one large cart. Going south for 20 miles, you will reach Kunlun Pass. There are three beacon towers along the way. Captain, please look. All three beacon towers have sounded the alarm."

In the night, the three beacon fires were very bright. Under the beacon fires, there were some tiny lights dotted on Kunlun Road, which were the fleeing defenders and the panicked people.

Wu Jie resolutely ordered: "This opportunity cannot be missed. Pass my order. I will lead the first and second teams to pursue overnight. The deputy battalion commander and the instructor will lead the third team and the baggage team to guard Gulou Pass and help the Marshal enter the pass."

(End of this chapter)