Border Soldier: My fiancée snatched credit and broke off the engagement, so I promptly became a marq

The black smoke in Xitun did not originate from the rooftops.

It started from the grain shed.

When Zhou Tie arrived at Wailiu, he immediately saw flames shooting into the sky at the eastern end of Xitun.

Outside the grain shed, a dozen or so northern barbarian outposts were pushing straw ropes and arrow shafts into the fire.

They didn't rush to kill.

They burned the Black Stone Fortress and its rear tent first.

The military households of Xitun were driven to an open space in the village, where the old, the weak, and the children all knelt in the snow.

Er Gou's father, Tao Laogen, was also inside.

His hair was gray, and he was only wearing a tattered cotton-padded jacket.

The northern barbarians didn't hold knives to everyone's necks.

They herded the people together and then set the grain sheds on fire.

This is even more ruthless than chopping someone up.

The soldiers all knew that if the grain sheds burned down, the grain supplies behind Black Stone Fortress would be reduced.

But if anyone dares to move, the short axes beside them will fall down.

Tao Laogen knelt in front of the crowd, his back straight.

An old woman next to him kept coughing, so much so that she fell into the snow.

Tao Laogen tried to help, but was kicked away by the Northern Barbarian soldier.

When Er Gou saw this kick, his eyes immediately turned red.

Just as Er Gou was about to shout, Lao Chai covered his mouth.

"Don't hurt your father."

Er Gou's tears welled up, but he swallowed them back.

Zhou Tie lowered his voice.

"How many Northern Barbarians are there?"

The Lu family guards counted them.

"Twenty-seven visible signs."

The wooden sign on Crippled San's head said that Liang Qi was going to burn half a book in Xitun.

But now we only see the Northern Barbarians, not Liang Qi.

Zhou Tie was very clear about his mission.

Saving lives comes first.

Second place in the book-grabbing contest.

Take the third place.

If it were the other way around, these 37 households in Xitun would become a list of dead people.

He made a gesture.

The cavalry did not charge towards the village entrance.

First, go around the grain shed.

The cooks and servants followed from behind, and Old Chai had his men open the ash bags and mix them into the snow.

"Samenkou".

Er Gou asked in a hoarse voice, "Not putting out a fire?"

Old Chai glared at him.

"Prevent slipping first."

"You rushed in to save people, and you fell. Who's going to save your dad now?"

The firelight hardened the snow's surface, while the snow underneath melted.

The Northern Barbarians' snow claws were steady on their feet, but the Black Stone Fortress cavalrymen were prone to slipping.

As soon as the dust was sprinkled, the ground immediately became rough.

This is the job of the cooks.

He wasn't listed in the military merit register, but he could save lives.

Zhou Tie led four riders out from behind the woodshed.

The first strike was against the rope binding the person, not against the northern barbarian's head.

When the rope broke, the soldiers scattered first.

Tao Laogen was pushed down, and Er Gou finally couldn't help but pounce on him.

"father!"

When Tao Laogen saw him, his first reaction was not to hug him.

Yes, it's a fight.

He slapped Er Gou on the head.

"What are you doing here!"

Er Gou cried and begged, "I'll save you!"

Tao Laogen patted him again.

"Save the baby first, my foot!"

Er Gou turned around and saw two children trapped by the haystack; the fire had already passed over them.

He gritted his teeth, abandoned his father, and rushed over, clutching the wet blanket.

Old Chai saw this and muttered a curse under his breath.

"That's more like a kitchen camp."

Chaos broke out at the village entrance.

The northern barbarian outposts did not engage in direct combat.

They blew short whistles and retreated to the west.

Zhou Tie was about to give chase, but remembering Chen Mu's words, he stopped abruptly.

Save lives first.

He turned around and went to pull the military households.

This stop saved more than a dozen people.

They also let at least six northern barbarian outposts go.

Zhou Tieya almost ground his teeth to powder.

He knew that no one would praise him when he went back.

If we don't pursue them, the enemy will come again.

But he also knew that if he had chased after them, at least half of the old people and children kneeling on the ground would have died.

This is not a record of war achievements.

It's a living person's account.

The cooks began carrying the wounded on door panels.

Er Gou was stabbed in the back, but he still tried to hug the second child, only to be kicked away by Lao Chai.

"You're bleeding and you're still hugging me?"

"You want to smash the baby too?"

Er Gou knelt in the snow, his lips trembling, but his eyes were still fixed on Tao Laogen.

Tao Laogen didn't look at him.

The old man was helping someone untie a rope.

Neither the father nor the son said anything conciliatory.

But everyone knows the other person is still alive.

Just then, a shout came from the direction of the Xitun Ancestral Hall.

"here!"

They were calling for Su Wan.

She came with the medical staff to cut cloth and carry the wounded; she shouldn't have been at the front.

But she saw a light coming from the back window of the ancestral hall; it wasn't from burning grain, but from burning paper.

Lin Qinghe is not here.

Su Wan went over by herself.

In the back room of the ancestral hall, a man was stuffing paper books into a brazier.

The little finger on the left hand is missing.

Not the square-faced captain.

It's someone else.

Liang Qi.

His face was narrow, and he landed lightly on his right foot and heavily on his left.

The footprints matched those from the night the medicine box was stolen.

Su Wan did not rush in.

She knew she couldn't win.

She simply tossed the wet cloth in her hand onto the window.

A damp cloth was placed over the brazier, and smoke burst out immediately.

Liang Qi suddenly turned around.

Su Wan turned and ran.

Liang Qi chased after him, holding half a booklet in his hand.

The edges of the paper were burned black.

Upon hearing the noise, Zhou Tie immediately turned around.

But the square-faced captain led six riders out from the side alley of the ancestral hall and blocked Zhou Tie.

The square-faced man said coldly, "By order of Deputy General Han, protect the military households."

Zhou Tie laughed angrily.

"You took it to the back room of the ancestral hall?"

The square-faced man did not answer.

He drew his sword.

This is Han Wenshan's mastermind.

Do not kill Chen Mu.

Evidence of murder.

Do not stop people from being rescued.

The book of interception and robbery.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Liang Qi ran westward.

Su Wan was kicked to the ground, and the old wound on the back of her hand reopened.

She was in so much pain that her face turned pale, but she clung tightly to Liang Qi's clothes.

"book!"

Liang Qi slashed down with his knife.

I didn't chop her neck.

They cut off her hand.

Just before the knife fell, Er Gou pounced from the side.

He was holding a child in his arms and couldn't free his hands, so he could only bump Liang Qi with his shoulder.

Liang Qi was knocked off course, and the blade sliced ​​across Er Gou's back.

Blood immediately seeped out.

The child burst into tears.

Er Gou fell into the snow, but the first thing he did was push the child out.

"run!"

When Tao Laogen saw his son bleeding, his eyes turned red.

The old man grabbed a charred door latch, rushed over, and smashed it.

The blow missed Liang Qi.

It hit the half-book in Liang Qi's hand.

The paper booklet scattered, and a few charred pages flew into the snow.

Liang Qi's expression changed drastically.

He abandoned the fight and turned to flee.

Zhou Tie was entangled by Fang Lian and couldn't catch up.

Su Wan crawled out of the snow, her hand bleeding profusely, and rushed over to pick up the paper.

Er Gou also crawled to pick it up.

Tao Laogen yelled, "Why are you picking up paper? First, bandage your wound!"

Er Gou cried and roared, "This is fate!"

The old man was stunned.

In that moment of hesitation, Liang Qi had already climbed over the low wall of the ancestral hall.

The sound of horses' hooves came from outside the wall.

Han Wenshan's personal guards met him.

Zhou Tie roared, "Fire the arrows!"

The arrow was fired, but it only hit the leg of one of the guards' horses.

Liang Qi failed to hold on.

They didn't even manage to snatch back half a copy.

Only seven charred sheets of paper remained on the ground.

Su Wan knelt in the snow, picking up the pages one by one, her hands trembling violently.

A few lines of text can be seen on the paper.

The Black Tiger Battalion launched a night raid on the supply depot.

Han Zhao's escort order.

Three iron claws were seized.

Another line was half burned off:

The Zhao family's old...

Zhou Tie stared at the half-section, his face turning ashen.

Su Wan wanted to pursue him further, but Zhou Tie stopped her.

The cloth on the back of her hand was completely red.

"If you run again, your hand will be ruined."

Su Wan gasped for breath, looking in the direction Liang Qi had fled.

"He still has most of the half-book in his hands."

Zhou Tie said, "Most of the people are still here."

He pointed to the empty space.

Over there, three families could not be saved.

The two children lay on the door panel, covered with a wet blanket.

An old woman choked on the smoke and died.

Su Wan was speechless for a moment.

She finally understood why Chen Mu had said to save people first.

Robbing someone can get you carried away.

But once the person is gone, even the most complete set of accounts feels cold.

They saved Xitun.

They managed to retrieve seven pages.

Liang Qi ran away.

The square-faced man was still blocking the alley entrance.

Er Gou was bleeding from his back, and Tao Laogen was holding him while cursing him.

The northern barbarian outposts in the distance have already retreated.

They didn't come to massacre the village.

They came to force Blackstone Fortress to divide its forces and help Liang Qi burn down his tent.

Zhou Tie finally understood.

In this battle, the northern barbarians were like knives.

The one wielding the knife is still in Blackrock Fortress.

When they retreated, Zhou Tie had his men tie up the arrow shafts that hadn't been completely burned near the grain shed.

Old Chai asked, "You still carry this piece of junk?"

Zhou Tiedao: "Take it."

"Xitun handed over two hundred bundles of arrow shafts."

"We need to make sure the fortress sees how much is burned."

Upon hearing this, Tao Laogen helped Er Gou to his feet.

The old man's back was already hunched, but he still cupped his hands in a respectful gesture towards Zhou Tie.

"We didn't slack off."

Zhou Tie was taken aback.

Tao Laogen pointed to the charred grain shed.

"We handed in all the straw ropes, arrow shafts, and salt bags this year."

"Not Xitunqianbaoli."

"Someone took what we handed over and used it to feed fire."

This sentence was noted down by the accompanying scribe.

Er Gou looked at his father and suddenly felt that the old man was taller than usual.

These words were more heart-wrenching than Zhou Tie's killing of several northern barbarians.

Because Xitun is not a burden to be rescued.

They were already supporting Blackrock Fortress.

Burning them is burning the very bones and muscles of Blackrock Fortress itself.

The accompanying scribe trembled as he wrote Tao Laogen's words into the booklet.

He used to think that the grain supply for military settlements was just a number.

Only now do I see that behind the numbers are an old man and a child kneeling in the snow.

There were also charred grain sheds.

There was also a pot of porridge that we hadn't had time to eat.