Chapter 15 Chapter Fifteen

When we finally caught up with Tao Changshi and Liu Shixian, the river surface outside the north gate of Dongping City was already on fire, and five or six ships were already on fire.Snake people don't have boats, they are all hidden in the water, and these burning boats must be wolf soldiers.This invincible team is now in ruins. Those ships are sinking, and the fire on the deck is getting bigger and bigger due to the wind. There is no way to save the soldiers on the ships. From time to time, I saw a soldier with his whole body on fire jumping into the river in despair, but when he jumped into the water, he disappeared without a sound.

Jiang is still the same river, and the opponents are also snakemen, but the current snakemen are quite different from the previous batch. They come in waves like waves, advancing and retreating suddenly, and almost every attack is accompanied by wolf soldiers. Shouting loudly, no one knows which ship will suffer bad luck next. Zhen Yining said angrily, "Control, what should I do?" I took a look and saw that there were still densely packed snake heads on the surface of the river.Because it was night, they couldn't see clearly. Although the wolf soldiers kept firing arrows, the arrows were not very powerful.I held onto the railing tightly with my hands, and said, "The forward battalion maintains its formation, and the snake men cannot attack the ship!"

At this point, it's useless to be anxious.If they rush over by force and lose their position, the Vanguard Battalion will repeat the mistakes of the wolf soldiers.Zhen Yining nodded, stretched out his hand and waved a few times, the boat of the Qianfeng Battalion slowed down at this time, and moved closer. I looked around.If the snake men attack, it will only be a melee, and I am afraid there is no way to command them.I grabbed the long spear leaning on the side, but when I walked under the cabin, Zhen Yining said anxiously: "Controller, where are you going?" I said: "I will rush to the front line to fight for a while."

Zhen Yining said angrily: "General Chu, you are not the charge general now, you are the commander of these 3,000 people, how can you abandon command and just fight to the death? Come back soon!" He spoke very rudely, and I also got a little angry, and shouted: "The snake men are attacking in front of us, they can only fight on their own, and commanding is useless. I can't let my brothers fight in front, and I hide behind. Otherwise, I would have no face to face my dead brothers after the war.” Zhen Yining shouted: "There will be fighting generals, there will be strategic generals, not only fighting to the death will show that you share the joys and sorrows with the soldiers. The situation is extremely critical now, General Chu, if you make a mistake, it is not a big deal to kill you, but it is a matter for the entire army If your morale plummets, then your sin will be beyond redemption.”

His words were like an invisible rope, and I couldn't help but stand still.Now it is no different from when we had the upper hand, we have definitely lost this battle, if I am really killed by the snake man now, then the Qianfeng Battalion will also lose their fighting spirit, and I am afraid it will hurt people even more.I slammed the spear and shouted: "Brothers, life and death are at stake, Chu Xiuhong is on this boat, and she will never move a single step!" My shout was not very loud, but now that the six ships have formed a square formation, they are all very close to each other, so they must have heard my words.They were all startled, and someone shouted loudly: "Swear to return the shroud of horse leather!" At the same time, five or six hundred people in this group shouted simultaneously: "Swear to return the shroud of horse leather!" Five or six hundred people in another place also shouted at the same time. When I got up, there was a sound of rolling waves on the river for a while, echoing the sound of boiling waves, flying like thunder.

"Oath to return the shrouded body of horse leather", this is a sentence in a battle song in the army.Because the score of this song is too difficult to sing, it doesn't sound good when it is sung, there is no "wrapping corpse" language, and it is not very popular. Few people sing it, even less than the "Funeral Song" with lyrics written by the court.At this time, when they shouted, they became even more proud, and my heart couldn't help but feel hot. I wanted to shout something, but when it reached my throat, I couldn't say it. The Vanguard Battalion is really inferior to the Wolf Soldiers on the water, but the Vanguard Battalion has the prestige of two victories, and the first wave of the Snakeman's offensive was followed by the Wolf Army. Our two square formations inserted into the scattered formation of the Wolf Soldiers, hitting When the snake man returned home lazily, a rain of arrows shot down, and the water immediately turned into waves. Many snake men were hit by arrows and floated up from the water.

Maybe it can turn defeat into victory.I paused the spear, and shouted: "Keep the formation, and the wounded ship will retreat immediately to repair it!" Snake people have suffered this small loss, and probably have to adjust.They attacked like a tide just now, and now four ships on the river have been sunk, and many snakemen have climbed onto the deck and are fighting with the wolves.The other ships were too busy to take care of themselves, so how could they rescue the wounded ship? The soldiers on the four ships fell from time to time. Together with the burning ship, the defeat of the wolf army was as fast as lightning, and it was terrible. If Chu Wenzhong saw him proud The 2,000 elite were defeated so badly and with such a difference, I'm afraid they will die of anger.

There are no more than 10,000 wolf soldiers in total, and now there are 2,000 transferred to my command.If the two thousand troops were wiped out, it would be a serious blow to the wolf soldiers.I let the wounded ship retreat for emergency repairs, but the burning ship can still move, but how can the sunk ship move at all?Only the soldiers on the four ships screamed again and again. From time to time, some soldiers were cut into two pieces and fell into the river.After Liu Shixian's boat was smashed, his boat was rushing forward desperately, but this time it was not like before, they were too close, and it took almost half a moment for another boat to be smashed.

Now, five ships are injured.I shouted: "Zhen Yining, order all the ships of our army to go on top, use arrows to clear the way, and rescue the wounded ships. Only one can be rescued." Zhen Yining stopped the two lamps in his hand and said, "Control, General Liu Shixian is in danger!" Because Liu Shixian's boat rushed too fast, it rushed into the snake camp.His boat was relatively strong, although it was broken, the water was moving slowly, and most of it was still above the water, but the snake men had also attacked the deck, and the wolf soldiers and the snake men were in a mess. In the darkness, I also saw The lights on their boat were flickering, although I didn't know what it meant, but the urgency of the dance must have meant a crisis.

I gritted my teeth and shouted: "Cao Wendao! Step forward to rescue immediately!" Turning my head, I said again: "Zhen Yining, let Ren Ji go parallel to my boat, and go forward together, and the other boats will follow. Come on board." Ren Ji's Thunderbolt Crossbow was useless in the rain, and now that the rain had stopped, it was time to use their invincible Thunderbolt Crossbow.After Zhen Yining sent the signal, he hesitated and said: "Now the snake man and the wolf soldier are entangled with each other......" There weren't many snake men on the deck, and with the thunder crossbow released, maybe more wolf soldiers would be killed than snake men.I didn't have time to explain my idea to him, so I just said: "Zhen Yining, I'm going to board the General Ren's ship soon, and I'll let you take command here for now."

He was startled and said, "Control, can I do it?" I shouted: "Is there anything that can be done? It is also my first time directing. If I can do it, so can you!" Ren Ji's boat has moved forward according to the order, and is already parallel to our boat. The distance between the two boats is only two feet.I grabbed another cable, repeated the trick, and swung to Ren Ji's boat. This time, Ren Ji's boat didn't sink into the water like Xing Tiefeng's boat did before. It swung to the side of his boat. I hooked the rail with my foot, and let go of the cable. He stood still and called out, "Is General Ren Ji there? I'm Chu Xiuhong." On Ren Ji's boat, thunderbolt crossbows have been set up along the boat, and some soldiers are installing them. When I fell from the sky like this, several soldiers who were closer to me were startled.One of them was startled, then said: "General Ren is at the bow." Before he could finish speaking, I rushed towards the bow of the boat and shouted, "General Ren! General Ren!" As soon as they arrived at the bow of the ship, they saw that a dozen Thunder Crossbows had already been installed on the deck of the bow.There are thirty on Ren Ji's boat, now there are twelve on the bow, ten on each side, and eight on the stern. With the power of the thunder crossbow, one shot should be able to kill two or three snakemen.But the thunder crossbow couldn't reach it, and Ren Ji was angrily ordering the soldiers to lower the crossbow as much as possible so that they could aim at the deck of the sunken ship. When he heard my cry, he came out and said strangely: "General Chu, what are you doing?" came here?" I said, "General Ren, can the Thunderbolt be used now?" He had a bit of bitterness on his face: "It rained too much earlier, and two of them failed after entering the water. I'm sending someone to rush to repair them, but it seems that they can't be repaired." "Thunder crossbow can also break?" I cried out, but I immediately realized that this is not unusual. The construction of the thunder crossbow is exquisite, and it is Xue Wenyi's ingenious work. There must be imperfections, even if it is broken. Very normal thing. Ren Ji nodded and said: "Also, General Chu, if the last general avoids the battle, the Thunder Crossbow can't be lowered anymore, and the snake man is too close, I'm afraid that the Thunder Crossbow will not meet correctly." I said: "You put a batch of thunder crossbows under the boat and shoot them out from the oar holes!" His eyes lit up, but then dimmed immediately: "But, if my ship can't move, how can I aim?" If the oar hole is released, although the problem of the direction of the arrow can be solved, without the oarsman, the boat can only lie horizontally on the river and cannot move.I said loudly: "You don't have to worry about this, I will lure them here." Ren Ji looked at the wolf soldiers who were fighting fiercely, hesitated for a moment and said: "Also, General Chu, the Thunder Crossbow can't tell the difference between the enemy and us..." I paused, a little hesitant, but I still said: "I will try my best to rescue people. You can figure out the rest. As long as you think it's worth it, shoot the arrow immediately." That's my plan.I'm going to let Ren Ji be the main attacker after I lure the Snakeman over.If a soldier is entangled by the snake man, he will not be able to escape if we don't shoot arrows. It's better to end his life as soon as possible.But having said that, I still feel a shock in my heart when I say it. Even if I can turn the tide of the battle, there will be more ghosts in my nightmares in the future. I looked at the sky, the clouds had gradually dispersed, and a ray of moonlight leaked from the cracks in the clouds.The sky cleared up, and it should have been a peaceful night, but there was a bloody storm on the river, fighting like a ghost town.I walked to the side of the boat, the cable was still on the boat just now, I grabbed it, and without any explanation, I swung back to my boat. On the ship, it is too difficult to issue orders. This is the biggest difference between water warfare and land warfare.I thought, people have returned to their boats.At this time, the boat of Ren Ji and I had rushed to the side of Liu Shixian's boat. Looking over, there was a big fire on Liu Shixian's boat, and Liu Shixian was retreating to the stern with 20 or 30 people.Snake men were climbing up on all sides of the boat. They were desperate. Liu Shixian was holding a long gun and resisting desperately with the twenty or so soldiers.But the attack power of the snake people is too strong. Although they defend like a fortress, some people are still knocked down by the snake people from time to time. If they waited a little longer, their entire army of hundreds of people would be wiped out. When I got back to my boat, Cao Wendao was yelling at his men at the bow of the boat. I jumped into my boat and shouted, "General Cao, why don't you let go of the gangway?" Cao Wendao turned his head, saw me, and said loudly: "Controlling, the snake man's offensive is too strong, and the springboard can't be put on it at all." Not only can we not fit the springboard, but now we are very close to the snake man. Most of the soldiers on the boat attack the snake man in the water with arrows to prevent them from approaching.Those snake people are obedient and don't attack by force, they just swim in the water. Although our arrows are dense, we can only force them back, and I also know that snake people can sneak underwater, even though there are no snakes beside the boat on the water People, I really don't know if there will be snake people attacking secretly to scuttle our ships.I grabbed the gun and walked to the bow of the boat, looked at Liu Shixian's boat, and said, "General Cao, get the boat up again." Cao Wendao was taken aback, and said, "Controlling, if we get any closer, we will lose our buffer. I'm afraid even our own ship will be scuttled." I stared at Liu Shixian, his spear skills are extremely strong, quite similar to mine, and it seems that most of them were taught by Wu Zhao, a long spear appeared like a ghost, and twenty or so soldiers guarded the stern of the boat, although the snake man However, they were still unable to break through their defense, but from time to time some snake men were shot and retreated.But no matter how good Liu Shixian is at fighting, if the fight continues like this, his people will definitely be wiped out. I said: "Once my ship is also injured, I will abandon the ship and go to another ship." Startled, he exclaimed, "What?" I couldn't tell him clearly at the moment, but I just said: "Let's try our best to lure the snake man over so that Ren Ji's thunder crossbow can show its power." Ren Ji's boat was parallel to ours, a little behind.Cao Wendao looked at them, but he didn't know if he understood, and said loudly: "Speed ​​up, get closer to the boat in front." At present, six ships of the wolf soldiers have been injured, two of which are not seriously injured and can still support, three have been submerged on the deck, and there is no more fighting on board, and the entire army of those soldiers has been wiped out. Not all sank.Half of the ten ships in his team were lost, and the remaining ships were also blocked by the snake man, and they couldn't get through at all. If he wasn't rescued, the morale of the wolf soldiers in Liu Shixian's team might collapse and it would be impossible to deal with it. .I gave Cao Wendao such an order, but I was still uneasy in my heart, I really didn't know if this plan would come true.Although there are many defenders in Dongping City, since the water army in the city was attacked, their warships may not be as many as ours. I am afraid that they will not be able to come out to rescue. I rushed too far ahead. That means the end of the three thousand of us has arrived. I leaned on my spear and stared at the water.As the boat gradually approached Liu Shixian and the others, I felt like my heart couldn't move. Suddenly, Cao Wendao shouted: "Controlling, the snake man is here again!" The water seemed to be boiled suddenly, a large amount of bubbles came out, and then a row of snake heads appeared densely.There are also dozens of these snake people, and they have already formed an arc around the bow of my ship, and the next ones will probably be the snake people's chiseled boat. Cao Wendao shouted: "Quickly release the arrow! Quickly release the arrow!" He rushed to the side of the boat and stabbed down with his spear.But now the ship has not been chiseled through, and the guns are still out of reach.Following his cry, those soldiers rushed over.But now the snake man is almost close to the boat, and to shoot an arrow almost straight down, a round of arrows passed by, but more than half of them missed. I yelled, "Divide in half and attack with anchors!" There is only one iron anchor on this ship, and the rest are stone anchors.I dropped my gun and grabbed a stone anchor next to me. With a sudden force, I picked up this stone anchor weighing hundreds of catties. I shouted: "Hold on to the rope, be careful." Stone Anchor hugged to the side of the boat and pushed it down.The force was too great, the stone anchor knocked against the railing and broke one of the railings.As soon as the stone anchor fell over the side of the ship, it hit a snake man who was groping for a hole in the breast wall with a chisel.The sound of the wind when the stone anchor fell probably also startled it. Just as it raised its head to look up, the stone anchor hit its head impartially. With a "bang", the snake man's head was also smashed to the ground. It shattered and fell down immediately, a long body floated to the side of the boat before stopping. The soldiers had also pushed down the stone anchor.Although there was only one iron anchor and three stone anchors on board, these anchors swung along the side of the ship and killed two snake men. I yelled to the soldiers who were pulling the rope for me: "Pull up all the anchors, and watch them at any time. Once the snake man approaches, he will smash them down." These stone anchors are very heavy. Although the effect is not great, they can at least block them for a while.I rushed to the bow of the boat and shouted: "Quickly put down the gangway and take Liu Shixian over!" Liu Shixian now has only a dozen or so people around him.The cockpits of his ship were all on fire, and the whole ship was still unfired.While the snake man in the water was busy dodging the stone anchor, Cao Wendao and I grabbed a springboard, pointed at the stern of Liu Shixian's boat, and pushed it over. Now, there is no way to jump onto his boat and nail the gangplank with a gun like last time. Firstly, his boat has sunk much lower this time. Secondly, I also know that last time was really lucky, and people don’t know what to do. Maybe every time is so lucky.I shouted loudly: "Liu Shixian, come quickly!" The gun in Liu Shixian's hand danced, forcing the two snake men who rushed forward to take a step back, and turned their heads to have a look.But he was only so distracted, a snake man's tail suddenly stretched out and wrapped him up.The two soldiers beside him screamed and rushed over to rescue him, but before it was too late, Liu Shixian was dragged down by the snake man. I screamed, and without any hesitation, I rushed towards the springboard.Although Liu Shixian was in danger, but if I hadn't called him, I'm afraid he could hold on for a while, and I think he was killed by me.As soon as I rushed up the diving board, Cao Wendao also exclaimed, but immediately followed me and rushed out, even ahead of me.He was a little ahead of me and stepped onto the springboard first. But although we were fast, that snake man's movements were much faster than ours after all. After Liu Shixian was entangled by him, the spear in the snake man's hand slammed down, only to hear Liu Shixian scream, and the spear pierced through his chest. And then, he was nailed to the deck. The remaining soldiers on board cried out at the same time.They were desperately resisting, but at this time they didn't care about life and death, and their swords were flourishing.But this was just a desperate attempt. After those snake men took a step back, they rushed up again. Another soldier screamed, half of his head was cut off, and blood and brains were splashed all over the stern of the ship.As a result, the defense of the remnant soldiers became even more chaotic, and a snake man had rushed into them. At this time, Cao Wendao had already rushed to Liu Shixian's boat, his gun was rounded, and the snake man who rushed in was also holding a long spear, and was about to stab a wolf soldier, Cao Wendao roared angrily, and the gun burst out. How dare he single out the snake man! Seeing him fighting the snake man so recklessly, I couldn't help being shocked.I am also very aware of the snake man's strength. Probably only the top strong men like Chen Zhong and Pu Anli can compete with the snake man. Although Cao Wendao is powerful, he is not much stronger than me. He will definitely not be able to withstand the snake man.But he didn't seem to care at all, and he was still so head-on. With a "snap", the snake man probably didn't exert all his strength, the two guns intersected, and its gun was broken by Cao Wendao, but Cao Wendao also staggered and fell to his knees on the ground.At this time, I had already rushed behind him, taking advantage of the open door of the snake man, the gun was collapsed to the outside, and I stabbed straight with my gun.The gun had also borrowed momentum, and the snake man's left hand grabbed the gun head like lightning. I felt like the gun had been pierced into a tree trunk. I gritted my teeth and urged again. At this time, the two wolf soldiers Spears were shot out from both sides, the two guns were quite powerful, and the spear skills were remarkable, the snake man couldn't dodge this time, the two guns pierced into its ribs at the same time.As soon as its hand softened, my gun took advantage of the situation and exerted force, and it hit its heart again. As soon as I stabbed the snake man down, I shouted: "Go! Don't love to fight!" On this broken ship, there are more and more snake people. If we fight hard here, we will definitely die.Cao Wendao shouted: "General Liu must be brought back!" Liu Shixian was nailed to the deck by the snake man. The snake man probably stabbed hard with his spear and couldn't pull out his gun for a while. Cao Wendao rushed forward. , but the two snake men behind pushed up again.At this time, a few more soldiers rushed over from my boat, and Cao Wendao and I led the ten or so men to fight for a while. Seeing that the two snake men were forced to retreat, and we might not be able to leave if they didn't leave, I gritted my teeth Said: "Let's go, General Liu died for the country, we will avenge him in the future." Talking about revenge is just a harsh word.To be honest, I don't have the slightest confidence in defeating the snake man at all.This war is like the last struggle on the edge of a cliff. One or two small victories are only one or two steps away from the cliff, and one failure is enough to make us unstoppable.Liu Shixian is dead, we can still say revenge for him, if we die in the future, who else will say this? There were more than a hundred people in Liu Shixian's boat, after this battle, only a dozen remained.A total of six wolf soldiers were injured, two of which were not seriously injured and retreated to the rear, and three were rescued by another square formation from the forward battalion.Those were the two battalions under Qian Wenyi and Yang Yi's command. The Snakemen on their side did not have a strong offensive. Probably the Snakemen also found out that my ship was the main battleship of an army and transferred most of them here. I had just returned to my boat when suddenly a wolf soldier hissed, "General Liu!" I turned my head to look, but I saw a snake man with a knife pulling out the spear that impaled Liu Shixian.Now that the boat is full of snake people, it can also draw its gun with all its strength.The snake man was so powerful that it was like a nightmare. When it pulled out the gun, the tip of the gun slashed across, and Liu Shixian's body was also torn apart. Even Liu Shixian suffered from dismemberment.I felt a lump in my throat, as if blood was rushing up, I turned my head and said, "Take off the springboard!" Cao Wendao and two soldiers were desperately pulling the springboard.When we rushed over just now, we were afraid that the springboard would not be firmly erected, but at this time we only hoped that the springboard would be looser.But there were two snake men on the other side of the boat who were pressing down on the gangplank. Cao Wendao and they couldn't move it at all. Two snake men had already swam up the gangway and were coming towards here. ! Stand back!" As soon as the boat backs up, the gangway will slide out of my boat.Although the square formation is now complete, if my ship retreats, it will disrupt the entire formation, and there is no other way.I also turned around and shouted: "Quickly let the boat go back!" Before I finished speaking, two iron anchors flew out from the boat.The distance between the two boats is always nearly two feet, but an iron anchor weighs nearly a hundred catties. Most people find it difficult to even hold it, but the snake man is like throwing gravel. , was pulled again, the rope straightened immediately, and the two boats were connected to one place. As soon as the anchor hit the deck, I felt like a blow to my heart.Now, there is no way to back the ship.I want to lure the snake people here, not to lure them to my boat.Liu Shixian's ten boats and one thousand people have no leader. If my boat is taken again by the snake people, it will be a heavy blow to the soldiers of the whole army. The only way is to cut the cable.As soon as I drew out the Baipi knife, a soldier who was carrying the springboard with Cao Wendao had already taken a step ahead, and rushed forward, drawing the knife and was about to chop.Seeing that his knife was about to fall, I saw the snake man rushing on the diving board raise his hand and throw his spear violently.The snake man couldn't get his head right, but now he was right in front of his eyes. If the gun had been extended, it would have touched the soldier's body. The gun struck down like lightning, and the soldier let out a scream, and was pierced by the spear. also fell down. Cao Wendao scolded: "Bastard!" He stopped moving the springboard, and jumped up suddenly. I saw another snake man behind the snake man who threw the gun just now also raised his spear, and screamed: "Fall down!" Cao Wendao seemed careless, but his reaction was quick, and he fell to the ground suddenly.At this time, the long spear had been thrown out, a shot passed over his back, nailed to the cabin, half of the spear sank into the board wall.I shouted: "Quickly release the arrow!" I have no arrows with me, but many soldiers carry bows and arrows.As soon as the words fell, there was already a rain of arrows around him.These people turned out to be Lu Jingyu's subordinates, and their arrow skills were quite good. A row of arrows shot through, and the first snake man was unarmed and only blocked it with two hands. , leaned over and fell into the river.The snake man behind it also stabbed a few arrows, but this snake man struggled desperately, his long body straightened, and rushed over. Cao Wendao and another soldier were at the front of the boat. The snake man charged too fast, and the other soldier was about to grab the long spear beside him, but before he could touch the gun, the snake man grabbed the gun in his hand. Using force, the snakeman raised his hand, and the spear was lifted up, and the soldier hanging on the end of the gun was also lifted up. With a loud cry, he was thrown into the river. Five or six people attacking a snake man together may not be the opponent of a snake man.I felt a chill in my heart, and I was waiting to move forward, but there were too few soldiers around me at this time, and I was waiting to die if I rushed forward.But if Cao Wendao wants to fight recklessly, I really can't bear to watch him die like this. Just as he was thinking wildly, Cao Wendao pressed his hands on the ground, and he turned over and jumped up, but ran back suddenly.The snake man was holding the gun head, and was turning the gun straight, Cao Wendao ran two steps away, its spear was already straightened, and it stabbed Cao Wendao in the back. Unbelievable, he must be saved no matter what. I was ashamed of my timidity just now, and now I am no longer complacent, kicking my feet and shooting towards him.As soon as the two guns were exchanged, I only felt my arms tremble. The snake man had already shaken my gun away with just one arm. My palm was so hot that even the skin on the palm of my hand would have been rubbed off. Injured, but its shot was also broken by me. I took advantage of the momentum to fire a shot, and didn't dare to compete with it again. At this time, Cao Wendao had already rushed over. I stepped aside and shouted: "Come on! Come on!" The bow of the ship has been lost, and the springboard has been taken by the snake people, and now the snake people are rushing over continuously, the most urgent thing is not to think unrealistically to force the snake people back, it is impossible at all, but to escape from the boat .I remembered what I said just now, "Chu Xiuhong is on this boat, and she will never move half a step".If the snake people attack aggressively, will I really not leave? Cao Wendao had already stood beside me, and he came over with a gun from nowhere, panting, "Control, what should I do?" I looked at both sides and shouted: "Tell the brothers who are paddling below to row in the opposite direction immediately!" My boat is a little ahead of Ren Ji's boat, and now those oar holes equipped with thunder crossbows are aimed at us at the stern.If we stand back a little, then the Thunderbolt can be fired.Qian Wenyi and Yang Yi are still fighting hard, but they still have a fight, I didn't expect that I, the general, will be so helpless, just a meeting, even the boat will be taken away. Cao Wendao didn't know what my intentions were, but he still said loudly: "Yes!" He turned and ran to the cabin, and confessed to the oarsmen. After he left for a while, three or four of those snake men rushed up.Now most of us are on the top of the cabin, and the people above are constantly attacking with arrows. The hundred or so people shoot arrows, and the few snake people who rushed to the front were shot all over their bodies, but they still rushed forward desperately. The man was rushing forward step by step, using the snake men in front as a shield.Although these arrows are powerful, they can't pierce the snake man's body. Although the snake man doesn't move fast, if they do what they do, they will rush to us in a short time. The soldiers around me were already huddled together, no one spoke, just shot arrows one by one.Everyone knows what the consequences will be once the snake man rushes forward.I shouted: "Where are the boats behind? Let them board the springboard, take the wounded soldiers away first, and block those who are not injured with me!" Shouting is so shouting, but I still feel uneasy in my heart.Ren Ji's Thunderbolt Crossbow didn't know if it could show its power. If the Thunderbolt Crossbow didn't work, then the Snakeman would rush forward one by one like this.Although the defensive power of the square formation we formed is strong, it also has the disadvantage of not being able to rotate well. If we can't defend it, this large group of ships will not even be able to escape. No matter what, the snake man must be blocked on this ship!I gritted my teeth, and was about to say a few more bold words to boost my morale, when the boat suddenly moved and started to retreat.I was shocked by this, and I couldn't help falling backwards. I stretched out and grabbed the handle on the side, and stood still. At this time, suddenly, a loud noise erupted on Liu Shixian's sunken ship. This sound was like a jiaolei being hit in my ear, and the river water was swaying endlessly. My ears also buzzed, and my face changed. I don't know what happened.At this time, Zhen Yining shouted: "Control! General Ren's land mine leveling succeeded!" At this time, I already smelled a trace of Liuhuang in the air.This leveling mine is probably a new firearm made by Zhang Longyou, right?In Gaojiu City, the power of those rough fire and thunder bombs is not small, this time the sound is more than ten times louder than the fire and thunder bombs, and the power is probably more than ten times stronger. With this loud noise, both the offensive and defensive sides were a little stunned.At this time, the water that was shaken fell back into the river with a "squeak", like a torrential rain, and the water just dispersed, but there was a burst of cheers from around.I stood on the deck and couldn't see clearly. I looked out and couldn't help being surprised. Liu Xianshi's boat was already on fire, and the boat sank to the level of the deck, but there was always a boat.But now, there are only some broken ship planks on the river, and some stumps floating on the water, some of them are from the snake man, and some are from the dead body on the boat.This not a small ship was actually shattered into pieces in this loud noise!One end of the gangplank on which the boat was boarded lost its support and fell into the water, and our boat seemed to have been hacked by a giant with a sharp axe, and half of the horn of the bow was broken, and it rushed to my boat There were more than a dozen snake people, but they also seemed to be stunned, motionless. At this time, from Ren Ji's boat parallel to my boat, there was a sudden scream of arrows piercing through the air.The distance between Ren Ji's boat and my boat was only four or five zhang. The arrows shot from the bow of his boat, and shot from the oar hole and the bow at the same time. Although many arrows missed, there were still some Fewer arrows hit.The arrows of the thunder crossbow are much more powerful than usual, almost every one of them passed through the body. The snake man who rushed to the bow of my boat fell down without even screaming. Two snakes that survived by luck The person was startled, and suddenly seemed to remember something, and rolled over and fell into the water. In addition to the thunder crossbow, Ren Ji also has this hand!I suddenly remembered that when we were on the river, Ren Ji had also asked me with a semaphore if I wanted the broken boat.At that time, I didn't know what he meant, but it seemed to refer to this kind of flat mine. Zhang Longyou is really a genius. This loud noise probably completely defeated the snake man's fighting spirit, and now they are receding.In the darkness, it was like a shower, only the sound of water could be heard, and it was unknown how many snake people were left. Hearing the sound, it was still densely packed, it seemed that there were not a few, at least a thousand people.I don't dare to be chased by others, and I really don't know how many flat mines I have.This land mine seems to be so powerful that it is far beyond imagination. Although Liu Shixian's ship was seriously injured, it was shattered into pieces with just one blow. At this time, I suddenly remembered the battle of the Wozhuang Islands and barbarians.That time, Zhang Longyou was very lucky, he was not in the factory when the island barbarians rebelled, and escaped unharmed.At that time he said that it was Marquis Wen who wanted to see his latest achievements. Perhaps, what Marquis Wen wanted to see was the newly developed landmine, right? As soon as I thought about the Wazhuang, I suddenly remembered the islander who rushed out of the fire.That time when Marquis Wen ordered to cut the weeds and root them out, the island barbarian rushed out and begged for surrender, saying that he was "fooled".At that time, I didn't think much about it at all. When I set off, I vaguely thought of something, but now it seems to be circling in my mind suddenly. That rebellion by Daoyi with no chance of winning and no reason, Zhang Longyou's luck, his strange words the next day, and Wenhou's desire to wipe out grass and roots, seemed to have been decided long ago. , and there seems to be an inexplicable connection. Suddenly, my mind seemed to have a flash of inspiration, and I vaguely thought of something, but I was shocked again. That was all Marquis Wen's plan! At that time, I felt very strange, with Wenhou's ability, how could Zhang Longyou put such an important factory in Wozhuang, and why he was not prepared for the rebellion in Wazhuang, and such an important place was only allowed to be flashy. Guarded by the forbidden army.If you think about it together, you can roughly figure it out... But, this is too scary. Could it be that Marquis Wen, who is approachable and approachable, is also so vicious and heartless? I trembled all over, and I couldn't help raising my head to look at Zhen Yining on the observation deck.He was smiling and talking to the people next to him. In fact, we were defeated in this battle, but in the end, the land mines made the snake man work in vain. It seemed that we had won the battle again. His surname is also Zhen... I thought silently. The Snake Man is already like a summer rainstorm, coming and going quickly, just for a moment, the river is calm again, and the cheers on the boat and in the city are still lingering at this time, maybe they all feel that this is a hard-won event. victory.Now no one is chasing the Snakeman, our own ship has suffered heavy losses, and now we are mostly rescuing the wounded and repairing the broken ship, our morale is very high, however, I faintly have the same fear as when I was in Gaojiu City. At this time, the north gate of Dongping City opened, and a small boat sailed close to the water.Cao Wendao came over and said, "Control, someone from Dongping City has come out." Zhen Yining sent a few more signals, and the boat sailed towards me.As soon as the boat landed on my boat, a person on the boat jumped up impatiently and shouted: "The last general is Zhuge Fang, a central officer of the Dongping garrison. Which general's army is this?" Zhuge Fang was short in stature, but had an alert face.I went up to meet him and said, "I'm Chu Xiuhong, the general under the command of the newly formed Qianfeng Battalion." The soldiers huddling around me moved out of the way, and as soon as Zhuge Fang came over, he bowed in front of me and said, "General Chu, you are really timely, otherwise the snake man would have succeeded in sneak attacking this time." Did the snake man sneak attack Dongping City?I glanced around, and there were hundreds of corpses floating on the river, and the wreckage of a warship was still burning.Is this also a victory?I can't help but smile wryly. This time a total of 723 soldiers were lost, most of the dead were wolf soldiers, and Liu Shixian's troops lost nearly half, not to mention that he himself was killed in battle.When the remnant warships entered Dongping City, there was a burst of cheers from the top of the city, but I didn't feel any relief at all.According to Zhuge Fang, the Snakemen attacked the city this time, mainly attacking the southeast two gates, but they did not attack by force. .直到北门战火突起，城中才恍然大悟，省悟到蛇人实是来偷袭北门，急忙增援。否则，北门外船坞里停的一些残存战船只怕会尽数被击沉。 战事吃紧，这一场战争到底什么时候才是尽头？说不定，战争结束的时候，帝国的人也剩不了多少了吧。 我们把船停靠在船坞，整军下船。刚下船来，便听得码头上一阵欢呼之声，只是这欢呼好象并不是对我们发出的。诸葛方正走到我边上，他小声道：“二太子和邵将军来迎接你们了，楚将军。” 二太子来了？我只有在刚回帝都时在朝中见过他一次。等走到他跟前，我跪下道：“末将前锋营统制，下将军楚休红率二路援军三千人来迟，望殿下恕罪。” 太子长身玉立，风度翩翩，二太子虽然没有他那么英俊潇洒，但一身戎装，却比太子多了几分英武。他迎上来扶起我道：“是楚将军啊，我听路将军说起过你。” 路恭行没在边上，不知做什么去了。二太子看见我时，象是怔了怔，又扶起我。他的手腕有力，我也注意到他指关节处都是茧，是个武人的样子，让我大起好感。我站起来又行了一礼道：“末将惭愧，路遇蛇人袭击，在城外遭此大败，请殿下责罚。” 二太子笑道：“胜负兵家之常事，楚将军何罪之有？何况主次若非你们及时赶到，我们停在船坞的余船只怕会被尽数击沉，贵军此功，不啻再造。只是你们就三千人么？” 我道：“二路援军由毕炜将军统率，共三万人，大军在后即将赶到，请殿下放心。”我知道我们这点人实在让二太子放心不下，这次一战，又损了四分之一，剩下这两千多人在二太子看来杯水车薪，救不了急。 我这么一说，二太子不由吁出一口气。他笑了笑道：“楚将军远来辛苦，今晚请来我军营喝一杯，商议一下以后的战事。” 二太子的话很随和，可是我却把注意力都放在他身边的邵风观身上了。 邵风观和劳国基、邓沧澜、毕炜并称为那一年军校毕业生中的“地火水风”四将。名列第一的劳国基已经在高鹫城战死，一事无成，至死也是个百夫长，名列他后面的邓沧澜和毕炜是文侯爱将，邵风观当初也与邓毕二人并列，现在却已成为一城守城，按军衔已在邓沧澜和毕炜之上。 人的命运，真的不可预知啊。也许，其间的差别，仅仅是因为劳国基是平民出身，而其余三人都是世家子弟。听说邵风观的父亲也只是个中级官吏，并不算豪门，但如果他仅是个平民，只怕也会象劳国基一样泯然众人，不可能升得如此快法，三十岁不到便成为镇守边陲的大将。 二太子说完，邵风观也过来说了两句，明显只是应付而已。我本已猜到邵风观定是与文侯反目，所以他对我也是爱理不理的。这次的援军是文侯派出来的，主将又是曾与他并级的毕炜，看来日后两军的磨合定大是问题。不过好在他和二太子明显颇为接近，而且大敌当前，总不至于两军自相掣肘。 诸葛方将我们安排在城中后，向我告辞走了。这个诸葛方貌不惊人，处事却巨细无遗，井井有条，看来也是个颇为精干的人。我们的军营就在东门口，我指挥着士兵把辎重搬下来后，将破船交付随军工正修理，带着曹闻道和甄以宁去看一下军营。 一路连番作战，前锋营损失不大，倒是狼兵损失惨重。到了狼兵驻地，看着那些不可一世的狼兵都有点怔忡，大概还没从刘石仙战死、七百人阵亡的剧痛中恢复过来。我走进去时，陶昌时正指挥狼兵搬运刀枪箭矢。他倒好象没受什么打击，仍是声音响亮。一见我过来，他迎过来行了一礼道：“楚将军。” 北门是水门，易守难攻，蛇人又没有战船，因此兵力薄弱。城中战船虽然损失了大半，水军已无战力，但以前东平城通过水路能够补给不断，有这批船总能保障后勤，如果船只尽毁，那东平城势必成为孤城，重蹈高鹫城覆辙，这么来看，按我预先设想那样慢慢过来，虽能保证自己不受大损失，却又使得东平城雪上加霜了。从这方面来说，狼兵的损失倒是很有价值。 我回了一礼道：“陶将军，贵部损失甚大，让弟兄们好好休整一下吧。” 这也只是没话找话，我实在想不出该如何说才是。陶昌时又向我行了一礼道：“楚将军，日后请将军行军务必小心，不可大意。” 他这话让我有些不悦。这等大剌剌的口气，好象是在教训我一样。这次行军，我是够小心谨慎了，可他这话好象狼兵的损失都是我的责任一样，我差一点便要说：“是陶将军要先行的”，可看他一脸沉重，我心头有些不忍，只是道：“是。” 胜败是兵家常事，可对于士兵来说，将官的一次失误却要他们的生命做代价。走出狼兵营地时，我仍是满腹心事。 天已亮了，东平城中倒没有多少战时的气氛，许多店铺仍是好端端开着，但也有不少人家已经大门紧闭，大概阖家避兵去了，不过和当初高鹫城那种末日将临的气氛相比，东平城里还算祥和。这也是邵风观守御有方吧，要是城民惶惶不可终日，谣言四起，那么守城也要费力许多。 我和曹闻道、甄以宁两人正在街上走着，突然听得有人叫道：“楚将军！” 这是路恭行的声音！我又惊又喜，向边上看去，正见一列士兵扛着粮包过来，领头的正是路恭行。我迎了上去，恭恭敬敬行了一礼道：“路将军！你去哪儿了？” 路恭行回了一礼道：“刚才蛇人退去，我正指挥部下加紧修理城防，听说带援军的是你，就赶紧过来了。” 能看到路恭行，我也有些喜形于色。路恭行是个很好的长官，以他的家世，定会青云直上，飞皇腾达。以后还能在路恭行帐下为将，倒也是一件快事。路恭行看到我也很是高兴，拍拍我的肩道：“楚将军，你也来了，英雄终有用武之城啊。” 我看着他身后那些士兵道：“怎么？粮食不够么？” “不是，今天是为给你接风，二太子命我来买些好米。东平城中现在粮草充足，你不必担心。” I sneered.经过高鹫城那等绝粮之苦，我现在几乎有些过敏了。这时曹闻道和甄以宁走了过来，我道：“对了，路将军，文侯命我以南征军残部重整前锋营。这次我带的一千三百人都是南征军的余部，这位曹将军本来就是陆爵爷的部下。” 路恭行突然一怔，好象对我的话听而不闻。我不禁有些不悦，在见到二太子时，二太子也曾这样子发了一会愣。难道路恭行是跟二太子学的？不过路恭行马上又变得和颜悦色，彬彬有礼，他陪着我们回营，一路上还向我说着先前的战事。 东平城地势远没有高鹫城险要，但也有一点是高鹫城所不及的。东平城北门是道水门，又是依山而建，从北门进攻，除了水军硬攻外别无他法，这也是东平城能源源不断补充辎重的原因。而之江省向来富庶，气候也较一年到头雨水甚多的南疆为好，粮仓充实，存粮足可置放五年不坏。这也是二太子决心与蛇人打持久战的原因吧，虽然蛇人以人为食，吃一顿可以十数日不饿，但这样耗下去，虽然将代价巨大，蛇人却是消耗不起的。 只是，战事已持续了那么多日，城外的蛇人仍然未露疲态，二太子的战略不知最终结果如何。 和路恭行分手后，路恭行很恭敬地向我行了一礼告辞，我慌不迭地还了个大礼。他的军衔现在是偏将军，仍比我的下将军高一级，我也不知他怎么行这样的礼，大概是征战已久，他也有点昏了头吧，以为我真是文侯的心腹。 在营中小睡了一阵，天擦黑时，二太子派来接我们的马车到了。我们的营帐设在城南的一块空地上。东平城人口虽没有高鹫城多，现在也足足有二十余万，加上守军，大概也达到二十五万了。因为东平城富庶，大多数人家都是一些大屋，但除了原先的两万驻军有营房外，二太子所率援军一律搭帐歇息，二太子自己的帅营也不过是个大一些的帐篷。走进二太子的营帐时，我一方面为这营帐之大惊叹，另一方面也不由为营帐的简陋赞叹。武侯虽也颇为体恤士卒，但他的营帐仍是军中最为华丽的，二太子战术不知如何，但这等不扰民的做法，实是大有古之良将之风。我对二太子的看法也登时提高了一档。和一味喜好音乐词章女色的太子相比，二太子倒更有望成为贤君，只是我实在不明白以文侯识人之明，为什么不去辅佐二太子，而要对那个庸碌的太子忠贞不二。 如果文侯能辅佐二太子的话，帝国中兴之望才更有把握吧。 我们一走进二太子的营帐时，二太子站了起来，笑道：“楚将军，你来了。” 我带着曹闻道和甄以宁两人在二太子跟前跪了下来，我高声道：“殿下，末将楚休红有礼。” “起来吧，请坐。” 我的桌案已放好了。曹闻道和甄以宁现在算我的亲随将领，才可以随我出席二太子这个宴席，连钱文义他们那三个统领和狼兵千夫长陶昌时也没资格出席。我看着坐在二太子身边偏席上的路恭行，不由有些百感交集。以前路恭行、蒲安礼和邢铁风和我都是前锋营百夫长，路恭行本身比我们高一级，蒲安礼和邢铁风却和我是完全平级的。如今我和蒲安礼都升上了将级军官，邢铁风却要比我们低一级了。如果那时他来得比我早，那说不定坐在这个位置上的便是邢铁风了。 二太子的宴席倒颇有些美味的东西。之江省的人心灵手巧，菜肴糕点颇为精致，上了一道又一道，实是让我大开眼界。我虽然没把注意力放在吃上，曹闻道和甄以宁却是吃得不亦乐乎。席间，二太子问了我很多，事无巨细，样样都问。在交谈中我发现二太子对兵法也相当熟悉，《行军七要》中的句子，他是信手拈来，比我还要顺。 宴席散去的时候，天也晚了。我向二太子告辞后，带着曹闻道和甄以宁回营休息。还好二太子不太爱喝酒，席上酒喝得不多。但东平城的酒是用大米做的，虽没有木谷子酒那种清甜香味，也很是醇厚，我骑上马时，也陶然微有醉意。 抬起头，看着天空中的月色。今天是三月十五，月亮圆圆的，映在青石路面上，皎洁如冰。在看到这轮月亮时，我一阵晕眩。在这一刻，我突然想起了苏纹月。 离开东平城后，我很少想到她。但现在，我突然想到这个生命中的第一个女子。我虽然曾对她说过要娶她为妻，但是我也知道，那更多是怜惜，我也不知道自己是不是真的爱她。 我爱上的女子，只有她吧…… 我抓了抓头。好几天没洗的头发也有些痒。虽然手上这样漫不经心地动着，可是，我心里却象被利齿咬着一样疼痛。 曹闻道在一边打了个饱嗝，忽然道：“统制，二殿下手下可很有几个强将啊。” 我回过头，只见他坐在马上，头盔也歪了，人醉态可掬，但一双眼睛仍是明亮如灯。我道：“是么？我都没注意。” 我说的也不是假话。二太子问我的每一句话，我虽然看似回答得很随意，但每一句我都仔细想过才敢回答。二太子与文侯不睦，我是早就知道的，二太子未必会有对我不利之心，但天知道他的问话里有什么陷阱让我跳，我不敢不防，所以连酒也不敢多喝。 曹闻道笑道：“楚将军，你大概是太紧张了才没注意的。方才有个裨将来倒酒时，手一滑，酒壶滑出了手，但他极快地左右一换手，用左手抓住酒壶。这等动作，若非久练箭术之人是做不到的。” 甄以宁忽然道：“论箭术，大概会是邵将军最高。我见他喝酒喝得很多，但不管喝得醉态多重，他提起酒壶来倒酒，绝对不会洒到酒杯外，便是将酒壶提得比头还高也一样。手如此之稳，必是箭术练到了极处。” 听着他们的话，我不觉又是一惊。曹闻道粗中有细，眼光甚利，我已是知道，甄以宁小小年纪，竟然似乎比曹闻道更高一筹。而且甄以宁看样子是个世家子弟，如果他真的是文侯的子侄，他的前途只怕真个不可限量。 我道：“邵将军原先在军校中名列'地火水风'四将，箭术那时就是军中第一，自然很了不起。” 甄以宁忽道：“对了，统制，我早就听说过军校中地火水风四将之名，火将是毕炜，水将是邓沧澜，风将是邵风观，那地将是谁啊？是你么？” 我“扑哧”一声笑了出来：“怎么会是我，他们比我高好几届呢。不过地将原先倒和我做过同僚，和我一样，也是前锋营的百夫长，名叫劳国基，在高鹫城中战死了。” 甄以宁“噢”了一声道：“他可没名气啊。真奇怪，当初四人齐名，现在差那么多。” 我叹了口气道：“人命由天。一个人除了才能以外，运气实在也很要紧。劳国基兵法枪术无一不佳，但一辈子只是个小小的百夫长，还来不及建功立业便战死，这也是命吧。” 曹闻道哼了一声道：“命！什么命！老子可不信命。就算老天要我死，我也要先打他两拳赚回本钱再说。哪有什么命！哼！” 他是有些醉意了，这些话说得很是粗鲁，平常时他对我相当恭敬，绝不会这么说的。我也没有在意，点了点头道：“曹将军，你说得也没有错。纵然有命注定，但人生一世，自不能随波逐流，无论如何，都要搏一搏。” 甄以宁点了点头道：“楚将军，我听说过一句话，说'天行健，君子以自强不息'，便是说天道无常，非人力所能左右，但人总要自强不息，绝不能认命。” 他说到最后，声音也大了些。这个少年人有种不同于他年龄的老成，说这话时更是老气横秋。我听着他的话，却不由得心头一酸。 Tian Xingjian, a gentleman strives for self-improvement.可是我算是自强不息么？这话说说容易，做起来却难。在这道洪流中，我又能做多少？ 我看着天空。圆月斜斜挂在天上，水一样的月光流泻下来，就象水。 也象泪。