The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 369 Smile
Jiang Liuer looked at the flames rising from the camp. The heat wave burned people's hearts, and it felt like half of Sakhalin Island was about to be illuminated by the flames.

"Burn it, burn it, burn all the Rakshasas to death."

Songxia half-knelt in front of Jiang Liuer, his eyes flickering, looking at this world of ice and fire with curiosity.

Jiang Liuer fed it two more pieces of dried fish. The tiger cub growled twice and crawled obediently at Jiang Liuer's feet.

"I'm going to die here today. If you can grow up, you must become a fierce tiger and walk with vigor and power."

The screams of the Rakshasa ghosts were heard from the camp. The Rakshasa ghosts who rushed out of the camp gate fought back with their muskets. They stood by the river and fired at the hillside, but unfortunately they were not accurate. Some unlucky ones stepped on the landmines that Lao Qian had just buried. The flying porcelain fragments made their bodies full of holes. Before the Rakshasa ghosts could figure out what was going on, they fell in a pool of blood.

Half an hour ago, the only three remaining Kaiyuan Yebushou worked together to kill two visible sentries and one secret sentry outside the camp, and finally set fire to Luoshagui's gunpowder depot and fur depot.

The three of them separated. Lao Qian was busy laying mines, while Alessa hid and shot arrows from behind.

The Cossacks were shocked by the continuous explosions and did not react for a while. Several naked Cossacks ran to the river and scooped up river water to put out the fire, regardless of the freezing cold water. They had just drunk vodka last night and were dizzy and clumsy like bears. They bumped into the musketeers next to them, and water spilled from the buckets, soaking the powder bags of their matchlock guns.

Alsa raised his bow and shot three Cossacks in a row, one by one, at the chaotic Cossacks.

The other side simply stopped putting out the fire. Everyone picked up their heavy muskets, formed a tight line, and advanced step by step towards the direction where Alessa was.

They fired their muskets as they advanced, and for a moment, the crackling sound of musketry echoed throughout the valley. The tree trunks around Alessa were blasted with lead, sending wood chips flying everywhere. The Jurchens huddled in the bushes, biding their time, waiting for the Rakshasas to reload their ammunition before fleeing. However, this hope was slim.

Jiang Liuer looked up and saw that the place where the wild Jurchens were was filled with white smoke. He couldn't help but worry about his friend, but now he had more important things to do.

Jiang Liuer took advantage of the chaos to find the location where the Saurons were imprisoned. He shot and killed a guard with his short crossbow, split the cage with his waist knife, and released the imprisoned Sauron leader from the cage before the Cossacks arrived.

The three Sauron elders expressed their gratitude to Jiang Liuer in Sauron language.

Jiang Liu'er didn't care whether he understood or not, he just nodded repeatedly, proudly pointed at his armband, and said to one of the kind-looking old men:

"It's my duty, it's my duty. I'm a Kaiyuan soldier, and this is what I should do."

As he spoke, he led the three tortured and dying Solon leaders to a safe location on the hillside, then began to reload his flintlock pistol, ready to rush over to rescue Alessa and fight the Rakshasa ghost. After taking a few steps, he was grabbed by the kind-looking old Solon:
"! (Young man, you've made the road wider..."

Jiang Liuer didn't understand what the old man was saying. Seeing the fatherly expression in his eyes, he nodded repeatedly and said to the old man:

"Okay, okay! It's my duty! It's all my duty. Here are some dried fish, beef, and water for you to eat."

Jiang Liuer settled the three leaders down, took out the coconut scoop and dried fish from his arms, and left them for the three old Sauron men. Seeing that the three men did not move, he gestured for them to eat.

"Eat it. I'll go get some more from the Rakshasa ghost."

Jiang Liuer tightened his belt, trying to make himself look older than his actual age.

"If I hadn't come back, you would have taken this tiger cub back to your village and raised it. The Kaiyuan army will be here soon, and these Rakshasa ghosts won't survive!"

The little tiger cub Songxia saw the dried fish and was about to rush forward to grab it with his eyes flashing. Jiang Liuer shouted loudly:

"This isn't for you. Sit down."

The tiger cub squatted down obediently, looking up at the handsome old man, Solon. At this moment, the sound of dense musketry from the Cossacks came from afar. Jiang Liuer quickly put the musket on his musket belt, bent down and stuck to the weeds, and sneaked towards the location of the musketry.

When Songxia saw Jiang Liuer running over, he wanted to follow him. Jiang Liuer turned around and growled at the tiger cub.

"Rakshasa ghosts eat even humans, so they love your tender skin and flesh even more."

Songxia stood there for a moment, and after Jiang Liuer walked away, he followed him.

Jiang Liu'er walked along the bushes towards the camp by the river. Just after taking a few steps, he heard the sound of flying lead bullets above his head. He was still worried that the Rakshasa ghosts had discovered him. When he looked up, he inadvertently saw a row of Rakshasa ghosts holding muskets approaching him more than ten steps away.

Jiang Liu'er hunched over and didn't dare to look up. He could already hear the Rakshasa ghost cursing and shouting, and the sound of its footsteps on dry branches seemed to be right next to his ears.

He felt his body and found that the two grenades had been thrown away long ago. Only the flintlock pistol and a dagger were left. He clenched the dagger in his left hand, placed his right index finger on the musket, lowered his body, took a deep breath, and prepared to make a final stand.

~~~~
Early in the morning, the garrison soldier Mei Jianchi followed the reinforcements to Guangqumen in the capital. Before they could see the legendary Duke of Protector of the Country, they were severely beaten by Zhang Chun. Zhang Chun's servants charged and defeated Lu Tongzhi and his garrison soldiers, who fled in panic.

Lu Tongzhi also had servants, but unfortunately their number was too small and they were obviously no match for Zhang Chun's servants.

Probably because he was worried that the Kaiyuan army in the city would take advantage of the situation to attack, Zhang Chun did not pursue the first reinforcements that arrived, and Lu Tongzhi was able to save his life.

In this battle, the rebels killed more than one hundred garrison soldiers and captured fifty. The more than one thousand reinforcements brought by Lu Tongzhi were reduced by 20% in one fell swoop.

Lu Tongzhi showed a tearful expression, and all his last servants were killed.

"Brother Shen, this..."

This battle gave the rebels great courage. Zhang Chun saw that the reinforcements were of this kind, so he knew that the Kaiyuan army was no better than this, and he had worried too much in the past.

Since he could easily defeat the garrison troops and the Kaiyuan army, Liu Zhaosun probably posed no threat.

Thinking of this, Zhang Chun decisively launched the third round of peace talks. This time, the rebels offered almost no conditions and their attitude became much tougher. They demanded that the Protector of the Country must immediately withdraw from Northern Zhili and give up his garrison in Shandong.

Mei Jianchi, a soldier from the garrison, knew little about these important court affairs. He simply followed Shen Lian, waiting for the opportunity to deliver a fatal blow to the murderer of his father.

The opportunity came.

Shen Lian led a group of defeated soldiers led by Lu Tongzhi and was forced to the gate of Yongdingmen. After confirming that they were reinforcements, the city wall of Yongdingmen slowly opened. Shen Lian, covered in blood and exhausted, walked in front of the team and entered Yongdingmen through the corridor with hundreds of defeated soldiers.

Mei Jianchi walked step by step behind his enemy. At this time, the sound of military drums came from behind. After crossing the river, Zhang Chun's servants who were ambushing around the city wall suddenly attacked together. They took advantage of the garrison soldiers entering the city and attacked from behind.

In the dark and deep city gate corridor, Mei Jianchi smeared the blood of the dead man on his legs, holding a knife, and limped to Shen Lian's left side.

Shen Lian's attention was focused on the fleeing garrison soldiers, and he didn't notice the "wounded soldier" on the side at all.

A cold light flashed, and Shen Lian subconsciously raised his knife to block, but he pulled out half of the goose feather knife. Then he remembered that the knife had been broken in the fierce battle with Zhang Chun's servants just now.

"Captain Shen, do you remember the incident in Tianjin in October of the second year of Taichang? You killed my father, let me go, and told me to seek revenge on you later. Today, I am here to seek revenge."

(End of this chapter)