Chapter 61 Section VI

While sharpening his waist knife on the battlements, Hong Shengdong said: "Little Tang, Lao Xiao seems to be a little absent-minded now, did the assassin make him lose his soul yesterday?" Tang Wei was still looking at the book in hand. Hearing Hong Shengdong's words, he raised his head and said, "I don't know either. But Captain Xiao said, let's be careful." Hong Shengdong had sharpened the knife at this time, raised the knife to look at the sharp blade, and said with a smile: "He has a big scar on his head, Lao Xiao is too serious, anyway, if you can beat it, you can beat it, if you can't beat it , this fate will be over after the confession.”

Tang Wei couldn't help being startled when Hong Shengdong said life and death so easily, and forced a smile: "Brother Sheng, you don't seem to be afraid of anything?" Hong Shengdong licked his lips, and said with a smile: "After fighting for so many years, first I followed General Tu, and then I followed General Shao. It has been more than ten years. From the age of twenty to now, do the math, which battle In the battle, I, Hong Shengdong, didn’t come here licking blood with a knife head, and my head was always pinned to the waistband of his trousers. Xiao Tang,” he sighed suddenly, and said, “Is this your first time in battle?”

Tang Wei blushed, and said, "Yes." He is not too young, but he has just joined the army, and he joined the Wind Corps as soon as he joined the army, and has not yet formally fought. "The first time you go into battle, you'll probably be so scared that you'll pee your pants. After five or six battles, you won't be able to think about it anymore when you see your friends disappearing one by one. Xiao Tang, I'm not afraid of your laughter, I It was winter when I went to battle for the first time, and the thick cotton trousers were so wet that time, they were frozen again, jingling, haha."

When Hong Shengdong talked about these scandals, he had no restraint, just like talking about other people's affairs.Tang Wei said: "Now you are not afraid?" "It's useless to be afraid. I've done fortune-telling, saying that my life is a dog's life, and I won't die in a catastrophe, so I'm not afraid anymore. Xiaotang, to tell you the truth, the more you are afraid of death, the more you will die. sooner." Before he could talk about his heroism, Tang Wei put the book in his arms and said, "Captain Xiao, you are back." But it was Xiao Ziyan who came over with a straight face.Hong Shengdong straightened his waist and said, "Old Xiao, what do you want General Zhong to say?"

Xiao Ziyan said: "General Zhong asked if we could send troops today." Hong Shengdong looked at the sky, and said: "The wind is a bit strong, but it's okay. It's just..." He thought that most of the Wind Corps is recruits now, and the current weather can barely lift off smoothly, but if the wind gets stronger, Hong Shengdong still has confidence in himself, but he is not sure about others. Xiao Ziyan also looked at the sky, sighed and said: "It seems that the rebels have taken advantage of the weather to attack, and I'm afraid they are afraid of us. Old Hong, if the wind gets stronger again, I'm afraid only you and I can let's go."

Hong Shengdong said: "What are you afraid of, even if there are only two flying planes, we can beat them to pieces!"Xiao Ziyan didn't say anything else, just said: "Everyone gather and stand by, it seems that the envoy of the rebel army is coming soon." The Republican Army is about to attack the city.According to the practice of the Republican Army's attack, the war letter is usually issued first, and the war letter also has the principles of "putting people first", "taking the people first", and "relieving the people from hanging upside down".The envoy has not been sent yet, once it arrives, the war will officially begin.Hearing what Xiao Ziyan said, Hong Shengdong looked out of the city and shouted, "Here we come! Look, Old Xiao, that must be the envoy of the rebel army."

Looking down from the top of the city, Yiqi came over with a white flag, and he was almost at the bottom of the city.This man is very good at riding horses. Although he is known as the south boat and the north horse, the riding skills of people south of the great river are generally not as good as those in the north, but this man is extremely agile when riding a horse.The horse was running like the wind, and a flag fluttered in the wind. Tang Wei admired him a lot, and said to himself, "This man rode here alone, and he is quite courageous." However, Tang Wei felt that if he was allowed to act as a messenger to go to the enemy camp to fight, even if he had the courage, he would not be so chic.

The messenger has come to the city.He stopped his horse, waved the white flag, and shouted: "Everyone in the city listen carefully, I am Qi Mengxiong under the command of General Fang Ruoshui of the Republican Army. I am here to challenge General Zhong Yugu of Dongping City. Please open the city." This person spoke neither humble nor overbearing, but his voice was extremely loud.The soldiers in the city had already reported to Zhong Yugu, but Tang Wei heard Xiao Ziyan muttering praise behind him: "What a man!" Zhong Yugu and a group of guardsmen had strode up to the top of the city. As soon as he went up to the top of the city, the guards lined up immediately. Zhong Yugu said loudly: "Kaicheng, let him in."

The gate of the city opened, and Qi Mengxiong led his horse into the city, went up to the top of the city again, walked up to Zhong Yugu, and saluted: "Excuse me, are you General Zhong Yugu, the guard of Dongping?" Zhong Yugu said: "It is Zhong Yugu." Qi Mengxiong smiled slightly, took out a roll of silk script from his bosom, and said: "General Zhong, this is the letter of war written by my family, General Fang, please have a look at it, General Zhong." He handed the silk book to Zhong Yugu, and sighed again: "I have heard for a long time that General Zhong is a hero, and I hope that General Zhong can think about current affairs as a hero, so that Dongping City will not be burned."

Zhong Yugu glanced at it coldly, unfolded it to take a look, and said: "General Qi, please go back, Zhong Yugu is waiting for the attack." There was no joy or anger in Zhong Yugu's words, Qi Mengxiong sighed again, knowing that it would be useless to talk too much, he saluted and turned to go down the city.All around him were soldiers of the imperial army, and this Qi Mengxiong was completely unarmed, but he walked very calmly, as if the people around him didn't pay attention to them.Hong Shengdong suddenly spat on the side, and said softly: "He is really a brave man. Old Xiao, people in the south also have such a good man."

Xiao Ziyan didn't pay attention to what Hong Shengdong was saying, but just stared at Zhong Yugu. He heard Hong Shengdong talking to himself, and he came back to his senses, and said, "Really? What did you say?" Hong Shengdong didn't know whether to laugh or cry, and said: "I mean, there are many heroes among the people in the south, and this battle is really a bit tricky." Xiao Ziyan didn't say anything, just said softly: "Old Hong, let the brothers wait here, I have a few words to tell you." "what!" Hong Shengdong yelled, completely forgetting that Xiao Ziyan asked him to keep his voice down.Xiao Ziyan looked outside, and the soldiers of the Wind Legion outside were also startled by Hong Shengdong's sudden yell, but they all knew that Hong Shengdong was always surprised, and would yell at even trivial things. I don't really care about the last sentence.Xiao Ziyan said: "Keep your voice down, don't talk nonsense!" Hong Shengdong also knew that he had lost his composure, so he leaned forward and said in a low voice: "Is General Zhong really afraid of the enemy? What can we do? Is it true?" Xiao Ziyan frowned, and said: "I don't know, I just vaguely feel that General Zhong was too leisurely before the battle, and he didn't do much to prepare. In the pre-war meeting held yesterday, General Zhong proposed to abandon the second chancellor. Maybe General Feima insists on it, I'm afraid that the south gate of Dongping City is already wide open after this proposal has been made." Hong Shengdong didn't have the right to attend the pre-war meeting, and he didn't know what happened at yesterday's meeting.Hearing what Xiao Ziyan said, he also frowned, and said: "General Zhong is the number one general rising from the empire. He is known for being brave to fight. Why is he so timid this time?" Xiao Ziyan smiled bitterly.In fact, everyone is timid sometimes, but Zhong Yugu's current performance is far below the standard.When the war is coming, the most worrying thing is to make the bulls out and the generals to be at odds.Even though Zhong Yugu was afraid of the enemy, but Ma Yaoxian fought against Zhong Yugu in everything, I'm afraid it would be even more detrimental to the war. If I were the general of Dongping City... sometimes Xiao Ziyan thought about it, but it was just thinking about it.Once he put himself in the position of Dongping City Lord, he realized that there were too many things to consider.The coordination of the generals, the allocation of supplies, the morale, and the level of popular support all have to be considered by the chief general.The more I think about these things, the more annoying I become. It's really not as easy as being a centurion.Every time you go into battle, just do your part well.He lowered his head and said, "Some things are not what we thought. One or two victories sometimes don't help the overall situation." "But..." Hong Shengdong wanted to say something more, but Xiao Ziyan interrupted him, saying: "I'd better practice again. It's windy today, but if the battle is tight, I'm afraid we have to fight." Hong Shengdong said with a smile: "Old Xiao, don't worry, my old Hong has nine lives like a cat, and I am afraid of anyone coming. Even if only the two of us go to the sky, we will blow up the rebels." Although the republican army's war letter had already been issued, unlike Xiao Ziyan's expectation, the sound of drums and horns announcing the start of the war did not sound for a long time.He practiced with the Wind Legion for a while, frowned and said, "Why don't the rebels attack?" In the past, the Republican Army would launch an attack at most an hour after the end of the war, but now it has been more than two hours.It's past noon now, and it's time for lunch. The imperial army in Dongping City thought that today's lunch would have to be eaten during the war, but they didn't expect to be able to eat it safely. The food of the Wind Legion is much better than that of ordinary soldiers. Because there are few people, they can gather four tables of banquets every day and eat together.Now that the war is urgent, the wine is gone, and there is a lot of food.Hong Shengdong gnawed a piece of meat and bone, saw Tang Wei sipping the soup, and said with a smile: "Little Tang, your surname is Tang, so don't drink this soup. If you don't eat, you won't have the strength to fight. " Tang Wei raised his head and said, "Yes, yes." Although Hong Shengdong was joking, he seemed to have heard some order.Xiao Ziyan tore open a steamed bun, chewed slowly with a few pieces of meat in it, and said, "Xiaotang, you should be full. If you fight, you won't be able to eat it then." Hong Shengdong's mouth was full of meat, and he muttered: "The leader of the rebel army is called Fang Ruoshui, right? This man doesn't seem to have much skill, and he doesn't come to attack after a while. We are sure to win this battle." gone." Fang Ruoshui is one of the Seven Heavenly Generals of the Republican Army.Xiao Ziyan still vaguely remembered that when he was in Wuyang City, it was said that there were seven young brave generals in the Republican Army, each of whom had unstoppable courage.Ding Henry, the leader of the Seven Heavenly Generals, is now the Generalissimo of the Republican Army. Chu Shuai's Four-Phase Army is invincible, but only in front of Ding Henry can't take much advantage.Since the formation of the army, the land army led by Chu Shuai himself has never lost a single battle against the snake people. The only defeat was against Henry Ding.Even if this Fang Ruoshui was not as good as Ding Henry, he would not be too far behind, and he would never be as useless as Hong Shengdong said.He must have known that the Republican Army had the upper hand, and he was not in a hurry. That's why he set up his camp step by step, and then slowly attacked. In this way, during the meeting, what Xu Hanchuan called the "three chances of victories", the enemy army came from afar. Come on, the item of exhaustion no longer exists. I really don't know if Zhong Yugu can't beat him.In fact, a better approach is to take a risky attack and break through in one fell swoop while the enemy's foothold is not stable. That is the best strategy, but I don't know why Zhong Yugu gave up this risky but more effective strategy. Stand ready, step by step.Didn't Zhong Yugu think that Dongping City's military strength is not as strong as that of the Republican Army, and such a frontal confrontation is bound to fail in the end? After the meal, the Republican Army still did not launch an offensive.It seems that Fang Ruoshui is also planning to rest for a day and launch an attack the next day.Tonight Xiao Ziyan didn't dare to be careless anymore, and ordered everyone in the Feng Legion to live in the warehouse to step up their guard, and the number of night watchmen doubled. After reading it again, nothing unusual was found, and Xiao Ziyan also felt a little drowsy.It was Tang Wei's turn to keep watch in the middle of the night, and he was holding a book and reading it under the oil lamp, but Xiao Ziyan didn't notice it when he came to him.Xiao Ziyan patted him on the shoulder and said, "Xiaotang." Tang Wei put away the book, stood up and said with a smile, "Captain Xiao, why don't you go to rest?" Xiao Ziyan said: "Is your book so interesting? I read it so engrossed." Tang Wei smiled and said, "Captain Xiao, I want to be a doctor in the future." Xiao Ziyan raised his brows and said, "Being a doctor? Hehe, what aspirations." But his heart ached a little.He wanted to be a general when he was a child, and he has indeed become a general now, but Tang Wei's dream of becoming a doctor may not be realized. Who knows if he can live until the end of the war.He didn't say anything, just smiled and said, "Be careful with your eyes." Just about to go to sleep, Tang Wei suddenly said: "By the way, Captain Xiao, will we go out tomorrow?" The wind is still strong outside, I don't know if it will stop tomorrow.Xiao Ziyan said in a daze, "I don't know. Are you afraid?" Tang Wei smiled again and said, "Not afraid, not at all." But his voice trembled slightly, which was a lie.Xiao Ziyan said: "It's not embarrassing to be afraid. It's my first time in battle, and I'm much more afraid than you." Tang Wei heard Hong Shengdong say that he was so scared that he peed his pants for the first time, and Xiao Ziyan also admitted that he was scared, so he couldn't help laughing: "Brother Hong said that he was so scared that he wet his pants when he went into battle for the first time." Xiao Ziyan was also amused, and said: "This old Hong. So, everyone will be afraid. The most important thing is to overcome your fear. On the battlefield, the more you are afraid of death, the faster you will die." Tang Wei nodded and said, "Yes, I understand." Xiao Ziyan yawned, and said: "I should go to sleep too, so you stay on guard, this time there must be no more trouble." Although he felt drowsy, Xiao Ziyan couldn't fall asleep because there were more than forty people crowded together and several soldiers were snoring like thunder.Lying on the bed with eyes closed, the sound of snoring was like sharp knives, piercing his ears desperately, even covering his head was useless, turned over a few times, and the sleepiness just now disappeared without a trace.The more Xiao Ziyan slept, the more awake he became, and finally gave up, knowing that he would not be able to sleep today.He lay on the bed, closed his eyes and meditated, just thinking about the past. Xiaojing is now a twenty-year-old young woman, and it is not known whether she is married or not.Thinking of this, his heart ached again.If he hadn't left Wuyang City at that time, he would probably have married Xiaojing now, and he might even have a child.From time to time, he would have the thought of regret, but usually this thought is always fleeting, but tonight, for some reason, this thought always popped up, and he couldn't suppress it. The lights are dim, and there is no algae well on the roof, exposing the criss-cross beams and rafters.Xiao Ziyan thought he didn't feel sleepy at first, but when he thought of Xiao Jing, he suddenly fell asleep in a daze.In his sleep, he seemed to be back in Wuyang City. His master was scolding him for his wrong movements, while Xiao Jing sat in a large chair, kicked his legs, and looked at him with a smile. many years.In a daze, he thought, and unknowingly, tears flowed from his eyes.