Chapter 4 Chapter 3 Shura Field

Marquis Wu looked at the charred corpse we dragged to the door of the camp, pondered for a long time, and suddenly said: "Da Ying, go and ask Gao Canjun to come over and have a look." A soldier behind Wuhou said: "Yes." Gao Canjun's name was Gao Tiechong. He was originally a scholar, and later joined the army. He was the first counselor in the Wuhou shogunate. It is said that he was disabled, could not see the sun, and seldom showed up, which made people feel even more mysterious.Marquis Wu's use of troops this time, the strategy of encircling the four generals was first proposed by him.

After a while, someone pushed a small wheelchair out of a small tent on the left side of Marquis Wu's tent, and a man wearing a big hat was sitting in the car. There was still green gauze hanging on the brim of the hat, so the man's face could not be seen clearly. . The man came up to Marquis Wu and said, "Your Majesty, the humble high-ranking Tie Chong, please give me your orders." Marquis Wu said, "Gao Canjun, take a look at this." The scorched corpse had been burnt to the point of disrepute, emitting a foul stench.Gao Tie Chong struggled to get out of the wheelchair, and his soldiers supported him to the charred corpse.He knelt down and said, "Give me a knife."

The soldier drew out his saber and handed it to Gao Tiechong. With his left hand he raised the veil, and with his right hand he poked the scorched corpse with a knife, then cut open the scorched corpse's mouth, looked at it, and said, "My God! It's a snake man!" Snake people?I was a little confused, Wuhou said: "Gao Canjun, are you sure? Don't make a mistake?" Gao Tie Chong said: "Your Majesty, there is no mistake. In the book left by Master Tianji, there is a picture of a snake man with a forked tongue in his mouth. This charred corpse is exactly the same as the picture in that book."

He stood up, and a soldier handed him a piece of white silk. He wiped his hands and said, "More than fifty years ago, when the first emperor was still the crown prince, he traveled around the world and caught a half-snake, half-human monster in southern Xinjiang. At that time Master Tianji was Prince Shaobao. He traveled with the late emperor, and when he came back, he wrote a copy of "Huang Yu Zhou Xingji", which contained the image of the snake man. According to the former Cang Yuegong who accompanied the late emperor at that time, this monster can occasionally appear in the wild. When I saw it in the mountains, it must be a descendant of ancient alien beasts who can swallow rats and tigers alive."

Marquis Wu said: "It's really a mess, let's add to the chaos at this time. Hehe, it's unlucky for this snake man to meet General Chu who is the champion of the Qianfeng Battalion." I was a little happy to be praised by Marquis Wu, and I knelt down and said, "Your Majesty, thank you." However, my heart is far less relaxed than that of Marquis Wu.That snake man doesn't look like a beast at all, it can ambush me, and it can use a spear, it's more like a person.If there are only one or two, there is nothing to worry about, but if there are more than a dozen, I am afraid that it is not enough for a small group to deal with.

After bidding farewell to Marquis Wu, I was still a little uneasy.Qi Lie was still waiting outside Marquis Wu's camp, seeing me coming out, he said, "What did Lord Junhou say?" I said: "Jun Hou doesn't care too much. Well, it's too late today, everyone go back and rest." Qi Lie smiled and said: "Naturally, today is General Chu's Spring Night, and I wasted most of the night by that monster, go back." Everyone laughed at once.I am not as strict as Marquis Wu in governing the army. Of course, because I am still young, some elders are over 30 years old, so I can't be too strict with them.They dare not be rude to me on the battlefield, but usually, they don't think of me as a centurion.It's just that that woman...

Thinking of that woman, I felt confused again.I said: "Go back to sleep, don't go to massacre the city tomorrow." Qi Lie was stunned, and immediately said: "That's right, let's have a good rest tomorrow, and don't get tired after slaughtering the city for three days." Tan Qing said: "The citizens of Gaojiu City are really brave. They are so hungry that they can't stand still, and they even fight us in the street. Yesterday I took nine of my brothers and rushed into a big family's house. There were only five people left there. A man and two women stayed on guard for half an hour, and even the women refused to surrender. Alas, what a pity, there was a young woman who was so beautiful, but I shot an arrow through her neck."

He wanted to chatter on and on, but I suddenly shouted, "Stop talking!" They were all startled, looking at me a little blankly.I said nothing and had nothing to say.For those in the army, the slaughter of cities after victory is already a kind of reward. When I followed Wuhou to attack the first few cities, I also led them to slaughter the cities.But now I already hate bleeding, and even feel guilty for the blood on my hands. Can those words be said to them? I jumped on my horse and walked wordlessly.It was almost dawn, and there was some whiteness in the east, but the moment before dawn was the darkest.

When they got to where I was staying, they all went back to their tents.Because I lived alone outside the camp, I was alone in the house. I lit the oil lamp and looked at the clean house. Suddenly, a sudden sense of loneliness seized me. The former owner of this house must have become a corpse, burned to some dry bones in the National Square.Life is so fragile. After sitting for a while, I didn't feel sleepy at all and walked out of the house.The tent was brightly lit, and there was a burst of noise.During the massacre of the city, the people in the Qianfeng camp even couldn't sleep for three days and three nights. They killed people during the day and played with women and gambled at night.

I went out of the house and walked to the tent. Today it is the turn of the first battalion to stand guard at the gate.Lu Gongxing, the centurion of the first battalion, is 27 years old this year. He was my senior brother in the military academy and also the commander of the forward battalion.The formation of the Qianfeng Battalion has always been like this, and the commander also serves as the centurion of the first battalion, which is a rule handed down by Marquis Wu.Marquis Wu ordered that no officer be allowed to stay behind on the battlefield, and even his own central army would often rush forward.

Lu Gongxing is the son of Hu Weibo Lu Xiang, and also a descendant of the family.However, he didn't belong to Bu Anli's gang, and he got along well with us civilian officers, and he was the leader of the faction in the forward camp.Seeing me approaching, the two guard soldiers under him stood up straight and saluted, "Hello, General Chu." I bowed back and said, "Has Lu Tongzhi fallen asleep?" A soldier said: "No, I'm still discussing with Mr. Deyang." When I walked into the tent, women's cries and men's laughter could be heard from time to time.After the massacre of the city, as usual, the Chinese army sent people to select the most beautiful women among the captive women to be included in the Chinese army, and the rest belonged to each army.Marquis Wu doesn't like female sex very much, but the emperor has ordered that the class teacher should present beautiful women and gold and silver. The female music group that entertained us is also prepared for the emperor. Somehow, I thought of the expressionless woman playing the pipa again. She escaped this catastrophe, but after entering the palace, it may not be much better than this. My heart hurts slightly. Never had this feeling.I shake my head. In front is Lu Gongxing's tent.He is not as independent as I am, and he still lives with his subordinates.I shouted loudly at the door: "Is Lu Tongzhi here?" Lu Gong walked out, saw me, and said with a smile: "General Chu, you really drink well, I'm still a little dizzy, and you're fine. Hehe, come on, go in and sit down." I can't help but smile wryly.My drinking capacity is not as good as that of a family member like him, but anyone who has encountered such a monster will wake up from any drunkenness. Inside, De Yang was holding a glass of wine, his face was a little red from drinking, and a very beautiful woman stood beside him, which must be the result of his massacre of the city.I frowned unnoticed, but De Yang shouted: "General Chu, you are here too, come, drink, drink." I sat down and the woman brought me a glass of wine.Lu Gongxing said: "Why is General Chu interested in coming to my place?" I put the wine glass on the table and said, "Lu Tongzhi, do you know that there is a monster called a snake man?" As soon as these words came out, De Yang opened his eyes wide and asked, "Is he a snake-like person?" I said: "Yes." Lu Gongxing said: "Do you also know? Master De and I are talking about this matter." I was taken aback and said, "You guys also know?" Lu Gongxing said: "During the day, some brothers in my camp encountered one, and a dozen people besieged that one, and let it escape, and injured both of us." I said, "Where did you meet?" Lu Gongxing said: "It's in the west of the city." The west of the city is the defense zone of Zhongyi Bo Shen Xiping.Shen Xiping and Lu Jingyu are equally famous, they are known as the double jade in the army, it is fair to say that there are two brave generals under Marquis Wu, Lu Jingyu is both wise and brave, while Shen Xiping is like a raging fire and wind, nicknamed "Fire Tiger".He is not good at siege warfare, but he is invincible in field battles. Marquis Wen made a comment on the two of them, that Lu is slightly inferior to Shen in attack, and Shen is far inferior to Lu in discipline.But if each united hundreds of people to fight, Shen Xiping's charging technique is unparalleled in the world.This time the four generals formed a siege, Shen Xiping commanded the right army to attack the west of the city, Marquis Wu was also afraid that Shen Xiping would not obey the military order, and strictly ordered him not to act rashly, so he could only guard against outside the city, so his troops fought the least.Probably because the troops had been holding back for a long time, the massacre after entering the city was the most ferocious. Lu Gongxing said: "General Chu, how did you meet that snake man?" I recounted what I had just encountered with the snake man, and when I finished, I saw Lu Gongxing's serious expression, and I said, "I have already reported it to Marquis Wu, but the Marquis still doesn't take it seriously." Lu Gongxing pondered for a while, then turned around and said, "Master De, please sit down for a while, I will go to the west of the city with General Chu to have a look." After walking out of the tent, Lu Gongxing asked his subordinates to prepare two horses, and we walked towards the west gate together.The day had begun to lighten.Except for the captive women and craftsmen, there are no civilians in this area, only the soldiers of the forward battalions are making loud noises.I said, "General Lu, is that snake man really so worrying?" Lu Gongxing looked at the sky. In the east, there was already a twilight, but a crescent moon was still hanging obliquely in the sky, and a few stars were blurred.He looked at the sky and said: "The family ancestor had a good relationship with Master Tianji. Before he became immortal, Master Tianji left a manuscript under the house. I read it when I was young. Most of it is the travel experience of Master Tianji. I have read a lot of insights." I don't know what Lu Gongxing is saying.I haven't read many books. The method of making the paper for books has been lost. Now most of the books are made of leather paper, which is made by finely polishing and decolorizing the skin of cattle and sheep. It takes five or six papers to make a thicker book. The sheepskin of the head sheep is equivalent to the monthly cost of a family of three, so many people have never even seen the book.Lu Gongxing said this, of course, not to show off that he has a lot of books, but I still feel a little uncomfortable. He added: "Master Tianji remembers the snake people in detail in that book. He also said later that when he traveled around the world with the prince and captured the snake people in southern Xinjiang, he used two hundred imperial guards and a hundred Yue Gong’s guards, but even so, it took a lot of trouble. The snake man’s strength was astonishing, and it took more than a dozen people to catch it. Master Tianji once suggested to the prince that if he could tame a ten thousand snake man Army, I'm afraid they are invincible in the world. It's just that the world was peaceful at that time, and snake people were rare, so the late emperor didn't take it seriously." I said: "This is really not feasible, that kind of snake man is so ferocious, it may be empty talk to tame it, not to mention the number is so small, it may be too difficult to tame an army of ten thousand." Lu Gongxing said: "No matter what, I heard Master Deyang mentioned that he had seen a figure on the roof when he entered the city, and for some reason, he thought of the snake man. Now there is indeed a snake man in the city. Let me hear what you said There is more than one, so in the mountains, I am afraid there will be more." I said: "It's no big deal if there are too many. Anyway, the three armies need class teachers, so what's the big deal?" Lu Gongxing just said: "Preparation is safe." He shook the reins, and the horse quickened its pace and walked forward. Around, there are dilapidated houses everywhere, among the broken walls, there are rubble and blood everywhere, and occasionally one or two incomplete rotting corpses are seen, probably left behind after the massacre of the city.Near the camp, the corpses could be considered clean, but here is a bit far away from the camp, and the supply camp that cleaned up the mess was too lazy.Looking at Lu Gongxing's back, I felt a chill for some reason.The forward battalion commander, with whom I had been working for two years, suddenly seemed like a stranger. I also shook the reins and chased after him. If Lu Jingyu was like ice that would never melt for a thousand years, and he could feel the seriousness of killing as soon as he entered his defense zone, then Shen Xiping was like a raging fire in the wilderness.His right army had very strict discipline in the battle. Each team was in charge of a corps leader. If one person in the battle retreated, the whole army would be killed in front of the battle. Therefore, after several charges, the right army always went forward without hesitation.But after the war, the military discipline of Shen Xiping's troops was also extremely bad. The swords were sealed on the fifth day of the massacre, and on the sixth day, there were often right-hand soldiers looking for someone to hack in the abandoned city. As soon as we arrived near the camp of the Youjun in the west of the city, we could hear the roaring inside, noisier than the vegetable market, and there was no one standing guard at the gate.Our vanguard battalion is regarded as lax in military discipline, but here it is worse than the vanguard battalion. As soon as he entered the camp, he saw drunk soldiers everywhere.Gaojiu City was famous for producing a kind of wood bamboo wine.Wood bamboo is a kind of fruit that is specially produced in the southern part of the empire. It is slightly similar to loquat, but a little bigger than loquat. It matures in autumn and winter, but it is far sweeter than loquat. However, the storage period is very short, and it will go bad after three days.The emperor once ordered Cang Yuegong to send a hundred catties of wood and bamboo as an annual tribute in autumn and winter, but this kind of fruit is difficult to store and is afraid of bumps, so Cang Yuegong delivers it by express every year.This wood and bamboo is considered a common fruit in southern Xinjiang, but it is not too expensive, but when it is transported to Wuyun City, a catty of wood and bamboo is almost worth a catty of gold. This is one of the reasons why Cang Yuegong rebelled. Every autumn and winter, the production of wood and bamboo in Gaojiu City is extremely abundant, and the natives even use it for tea and rice.I don't know which year, someone tried to make wine with it. According to the "Huangyu Zhou Xingji" written by Master Tianji, the wine made is "bright yellow like gold, clear like water, and fragrant. One family makes wine, and everyone outside the door is in awe. I'm drunk." Of course, this wooden bamboo wine was also a tribute requested by the empire.This wine is also very popular in Wuyun City, and it is a must for high-ranking officials and nobles to entertain guests. Many people in southern Xinjiang made their fortunes by selling wood and bamboo wine.During the heyday of Gaojiu City, there were 30 wineries in the city, of which the largest 19 were located in the west of the city. Back then, Master Tianji came here with the crown prince and chanted, "The fragrance of wood, bamboo and wine is just beginning to rain, and half of the people in the city are waking up from drunkenness." sentence.Last night, Marquis Wu entertained guests with wood and bamboo wine, and even nearly half of the captive artisans were from the brewery. We jumped off the horse, Lu Gongxing looked at the chaos, grabbed a soldier who was staggering, and said: "I am Lu Gongxing, the commander of the vanguard battalion, where is Zhongyi's central army?" The soldier drank so much that his tongue became short, and he said indistinctly: "Ask Mr. Shen, Mr. Shen doesn't see any guests right now." I look around.In the right camp, it was a mess, and most of them were drunk.The 20,000 people probably drank up all the wine shop's stock, and many of them had women in their arms and a gourd containing wine in one hand, drinking and gambling.Only the right army can enjoy this pleasure, and the other army can't drink so much wine even if they want to drink. Lu Gongxing calmed down and said, "Then are there any officers among you?" The soldier said: "You mean General Tian? Here, there." He pointed to a camp not far away, where a group of officers, still wearing soft armor, were sitting around a large round table placed in the open space to gamble, all of them were holding women in their arms, holding Holding the wine gourd. Lu Gongxing and I tied the horse to the horse tethering stone on the side, and walked towards the group of people.When they got to the edge, none of those people raised their heads.Lu Gongxing said: "Excuse me, is General Tian there?" A bearded man raised his head and said, "I am. Who are you?" Lu Gongxing said: "I am Lu Gongxing, the commander of the Qianfeng battalion and the centurion of the first battalion. This is Chu Xiuhong, the centurion of the fifth battalion." The man heard my name, but pushed the woman in his arms away, stood up and said, "It's General Chu, ha, I'm Tian Wei, the middle officer of the Right Army. Your name is now spread throughout the entire army, but you But it looks too imposing." I noticed that Lu Gongxing was a little unhappy.Tian Wei's words didn't mean to respect me, so I said, "General Tian, ​​we need to find General Shen, can we find him?" Tian Wei said with a smile: "Your Excellency, you don't see any guests now, unless you have orders from your lords." Lu Gongxing and I looked at each other.We just want to ask, how can there be any general orders?Asking for a general order for this matter, I'm afraid it will be a mess. At this time, an officer sitting under Tian Wei said impatiently: "Tian Huzi, it's your turn. If you don't throw it, you will lose." Tian Wei said: "Here we come." He ignored us, stretched out his hand to embrace the woman standing on one side, and grabbed a few dice with the other hand. They played craps, a game popular in the Empire.This kind of gambling has also been going on for a long time. Each side of each dice is engraved with one to six small pits, and that pit is painted red.Throw three dice in the bowl, if the three are the same, it is called a leopard, and the six-pointed leopard is called the Supreme Leopard, it is the largest, and there are some miscellaneous flowers under it, the name and color are very complicated, except for those who gamble for a long time, it is generally remembered Can't live.This kind of gambling is the most popular in the army, because it is simple and the gambling equipment is easy to carry.They used bone dice, probably new and very white. What else did Lu Gongxing want to say, but Tian Wei had already stretched out his hand and threw the dice into the bowl, shouting, "Supreme! Supreme!" The three dice rolled in the bowl for a while, but they were only variegated. Although I didn't know how big they were, but watching the other officers cheering in unison, I knew it must be very small, and I was afraid I would have to pay for it. An officer said with a smile: "Tian Huzi, your luck is a bit unlucky." Tian Wei murmured: "Sure enough, it's better to change your luck." He pressed the hand of the woman in his arms on the table, and pulled out the knife very quickly. Before I could cry out in surprise, he chopped off the woman's left hand with one stroke.The woman let out a scream, and blood sprayed all over Tian Wei's face.Tian Wei wiped the blood from his face, pushed the woman aside, stretched out his hand and threw the severed hand to an engineer next to him, and shouted: "Xue Gongzheng, make three new dice!" The dice they played were actually made of human bones! I was so angry that I shouted: "General Tian!" Tian Wei looked at me and said with a sneer, "Does General Chu have any advice?" Regardless of Lu Gongxing winking at me, I scolded: "Beast!" Tian Wei stood up at once, and said: "Chu Xiuhong, don't think that we are afraid of you because you are a celebrity in front of the prince! I have never seen anything in the battlefield, and it is your turn to scold people?" I felt hot all over, and said: "Tian Wei! Are you still a human? Even a beast would not do such a shameless thing!" Tian Wei was also a little angry, and said: "The surname is Chu! If you continue to swear at others, I will be rude to you. The Qianfeng battalion is powerful, and our right army is not a vegetarian!" Lu Gongxing held me back and said, "General Chu, don't be impulsive..." I shook off his hand and said: "If Lu Tong rules, even if he is punished by the prince, I don't care." I looked at the woman whose hand had been chopped off.If the captured woman is a bit more attractive, she may have a better result.That woman's appearance is not bad, but now that she is missing a hand, I'm afraid she has no money to survive.She sat on the ground, holding the severed wrist with one hand, but she remained motionless as if she had nothing to do with her.I touched my bosom, but there was no strip of cloth, so I pulled out a knife and cut a strip from the hem of the clothes, walked to the woman, and tied the wound tightly. If it wasn't tied like this, she would bleed to death in no time.But if I do this, it will definitely make Tian Wei unable to step down.It's just that I don't think about it at all, I just do it mechanically. It seems that this can also make me calm down. After I bandaged her up, I just stood up when a knife flashed in front of my eyes. This knife was very fast, I was completely unprepared, I stretched my hand to my waist to pull out the Baipi knife, as soon as I put my hand on the handle of the knife, the light of the knife disappeared, but the woman's head rolled to the ground. When I turned around, Tian Wei was blowing the blood on the blade.That drop of blood rolled like a bead on the blue blade, but his eyes were full of cold mockery. I pressed the knife and said, "General Tian, ​​please get ready." I was extremely angry, but my words seemed calm. Tian Wei smiled and said: "Okay, for the sake of making things easier, let's set up a life and death certificate." I shouted: "Stand up now!" Those people on the side started booing, and a large group of people surrounded them.Lu Gongxing also did not expect the situation to develop to such an extent, he said: "General Chu, don't be so impulsive..." I said, "Lu Tongzhi, please be my guarantor." Lu Gongxing's face was also a little angry, and he shouted: "General Chu, you are a little presumptuous!" He had never spoken so harshly before, and I paused and looked at him.Lu Gongxing said to Tian Wei: "General Tian, ​​General Chu is rude, please forgive me." He turned around and said, "Chu Xiuhong, commander of the fifth battalion of the forward, apologizes to General Tian." He directly called my official position, which is to use the position to suppress me.Despite the eleven thousand dissatisfaction in my heart, I still took a step forward, cupped my hands and said, "General Tian, ​​please forgive me, I was too rude." I don't have a background like Pu Anli, and I never dare to be rude to the officer. A smile appeared on Tian Wei's face: "General Chu, don't care, women are just playthings, don't treat them as human beings. Lu Tongzhi, do you want to play with me too?" Lu Gongxing said: "No. General Tian, ​​we came here to ask, have you ever seen a monster whose upper body is like a man and lower body is like a snake?" This is what we came here for, but we didn't ask until now.Tian Wei was still polite at this time, and said: "Lu Tongzhi, have you seen it?" We were all taken aback, and almost said in unison: "Have you seen it?" Tian Wei said: "That's not a big deal. We saw one fleeing from the city yesterday, but we chased it for a long time and couldn't catch up. It must be some kind of monster raised in this city. There are many strange people in the south." He said it lightly, but our hearts are extremely heavy. It seems that the snake people in the city are not a rare minority.Those monsters are definitely not that simple. They already know how to use weapons, and they are almost human. When I left the west of the city, I was still a little annoyed.Lu Gongxing said: "General Chu, are you still dissatisfied with me?" I said: "Lu Tongzhi, you are an officer, I dare not say anything. It's just that when the emperor took over the country, he clearly forbade killing and surrendering. Now we don't treat the captives as human beings, so how can we win the hearts of the people? This rebellion has been put down , if such things happen again in the future, I’m afraid it will be difficult for us to make people surrender.” Lu Gongxing sighed, and said: "I don't know. But Marquis Wu also has his reasons. Now the country is full of rumors. If you just blindly benevolent women, how can you convince the Quartet? There are times and times. This order is because you have not won the country for a long time, so you must serve the people with benevolence and virtue. Now that the world has been at peace for a long time, in this era, only the strong can win respect. General Chu, you are brave and invincible in battle. Afterwards, you can't help being a little cowardly." I was speechless for a long time.Lu Gongxing's words are exactly the same as Wuhou's criticism of me.Perhaps, in my character, there is still the essence of cowardice. Although I can sacrifice my life on the battlefield, it is revealed in peacetime. Perhaps, this is also doomed to me not being a general of the army.In fact, Lu Jingyu is already a lesson from the past. Lu Gongxing said: "You go back first, I will report this to Junhou, hoping to attract his attention." I looked at the sky and said: "It's still early, I'll go with you, I'll just wait outside." Lu Gongxing said: "Alright. I always feel that those snake people are definitely not insignificant monsters." I said: "Although the snake people are powerful, they won't cause any big waves, right? Are you afraid that the Republican Army is domesticating the snake people?" Lu Gongxing said: "Yes. There are not one or two snakemen in the city, and they already know how to use weapons. If somewhere outside the mountain, the Republican Army tames an army of snakemen, I really don't know how to deal with it." I smiled and said, "Even if they are domesticating, there must be no results. At least, when we attacked the city, those snake people did not help in the battle. And those snake people are so fierce, I am afraid no one can tame them." At this time, he was outside the camp of Marquis Wu.Lu Gongxing jumped off his horse and said, "General Chu, wait a moment." Marquis Wu's military orders were extremely strict, and junior officers were not allowed to summon him or enter the tents of the Chinese army.Yesterday I was in a hurry and begged to see Marquis Wu, Marquis Wu may have been drunk and never blamed me.Now that I go in for this matter again, I'm afraid Marquis Wu will be annoyed. After a long time, Lu Gongxing walked out with a dejected face.I said: "What's wrong?" Lu Gongxing said: "Marquis Wu is drinking, I went in to report this matter, he just took it as a joke." I said: "You say I'm cowardly, I admit it, and I also say you're a bit suspicious. Ha ha." Lu Gongxing usually has no airs. Although he is the commander of the forward battalion, when we are together, he always only sees himself as a centurion, and we often joke with him.At this time, he just sighed and said, "I hope it's just me being suspicious." I looked at the sky, the sun was hanging in the heart of the sky, it was noon.I haven't had a break since last night.I yawned and said, "I'm exhausted, General Lu, why don't you go to rest?" He also yawned and said, "Okay. I was drunk last night, and I haven't closed my eyes until now. It's time to rest." When he arrived at the barracks, he said, "I'm going to sleep. Are you going back to your hut?" I said: "Yes." Lu Gongxing laughed and said, "You can endure loneliness, so you can live in that small house?" I said, "No matter what you say about me, I think it's noisy here." After returning the horse to Lu Gongxing, I went back to the hut alone, it was already afternoon.The surrounding area became a little quieter. Even if the Imperial Sergeants were hardened and slaughtered the city until the third day, after all, many people were still tired.Now, only sporadic cries from some people could be heard in the distance, intermittently, like some sharp-edged fragments. I don't know how long I slept, but when I woke up, I felt very hungry. I reached out to touch a few dry biscuits in the dry food bag, and then took out the gourd filled with water.Outside the window, the sky was already dark, and another day passed. Five days to slaughter the city, two days left.My first thought was this.Maybe it's because I hate that kind of endless killing. I can't stop the massacre, so I can only hope that it will end sooner. I walked out of the hut, outside, the setting sun was burning.It gets dark late in the southern country, unlike the capital city, where it gets dark when it says dark.A round of setting sun hung in the west, staining the clouds like blood drops.In the setting sun, the dilapidated battlements at the top of the city were only left with shadows, looking extremely desolate. I stretched, walked up to the top of the city, and took a few mouthfuls of dry biscuits.Mountains of belongings were found in the city, but food was still pitifully scarce, and they usually had to eat dry food to survive.I also really admire the Republican Army defending the city for so many days under such difficult conditions. The south gate is where the Chinese army is stationed.I stepped on a pile of rubble and walked up to the top of the city.Looking down, near the city gate, there are row upon row of camp tents, neatly arranged.Only Lu Jingyu's Zuojun can be compared with the military discipline and military appearance of the Chinese army. I sat down on a cleaner crenellation and took a sip of water.The dry and hard flatbread was wet in the mouth. Although it was only a little salty, it also made people feel full.I gnawed on the cake in small bites and watched the sun sink a little bit. Dijun is known as the Sun King, but his light only shines on those dignitaries and harem beauties.I thought a little mockingly.For a commoner, it would be too against his will to sing praises of the emperor's grace.But if you want to be loyal to the emperor, don't you have to be such a hard-hearted and murderous person like Marquis Wu?For those who do not want to do this, do they have other options?Thinking about it this way, Duke Cang Yue's rebellion might be justifiable. I stopped the movement of my hands.Is this kind of thinking disloyal?My heart was beating violently.Perhaps, if I were in the position of Duke Cang Yue, I would also rebel. I looked at the cake in my hand, and there was only a small piece of cake left by me.I sighed and chewed it in my mouth.The hard and dry flatbread crumbs were like gravel.I pulled out the stopper of the water hyacinth and took a sip of water. It was getting dark.Half of the sun was sunk into the back of the mountain, and the blood in the sky seemed to be frozen, but there seemed to be a cloud of smoke billowing between the sky and the earth. I was drinking water when suddenly, there was chaos in the camp below the city. What happened? I was taken aback, stuffed the gourd and hung it on my waist, and ran down to the city. When I got off the top of the city, I saw a horse running towards the big tent of the Chinese army.At the gate of the camp, a group of soldiers were huddling together.I ran over and said, "What happened?" A junior officer looked at me.Since I was attacked by Bu Anli's subordinates that day, I was afraid of being misunderstood again, so I kept wearing soft armor.The little officer looked at me and said, "You are..." I took out my token and said, "I'm Chu Xiuhong, the centurion commander of the Fifth Front Battalion. What happened?" The junior officer respectfully said, "It's General Chu, your name has been known by everyone these days." I'm a little impatient, but it's not good to be too rude when others compliment me.I said, "Thank you. What happened?" The man said: "In the southwest, the sky is full of smoke and dust, and it seems that there is a large army coming." "what?" I was taken aback.The southwest area is an uninhabited mountain range, where there are many rats and tigers. Only a few sporadic hunters live at the foot of the mountain. Marquis Wu ordered the four generals to encircle the area, and he also sent soldiers to investigate, and it was confirmed that there was no ambush.What's more, we have been besieging the city for so many days, if the Republican Army had ambushes, they would have killed them long ago, and they wouldn't have come out until today.But if it wasn't the Republican Army, where did this team come from? At this time, a horn suddenly sounded in the tent of the Chinese army.That's an emergency assembly order.Upon hearing the horn, all armies must immediately return to their original positions, and senior officers immediately enter the tents of the Chinese army to discuss matters. I didn't care to talk to the officer anymore, and rushed to the forward camp. As soon as I arrived at the gate of the camp, I met Gongxing Pegasus coming out on the road.He didn't bother to say hello to me, and galloped past me.As soon as I entered the camp, people from the forward battalions who had gone out rushed back one after another.I found my barracks, and Qi Lie was already inside, busy cleaning up some messy things, probably just gambling, a woman next to her was pale, probably kidnapped by Qi Lie.He is not very old, but he also learned how to kidnap women. When Qi Lie saw me, he said, "General, you are here." I said: "Hurry up and clean up, there is a large army coming here." He was also taken aback, and said, "What? Who is it?" I said, "I don't know. Let the brothers assemble." Qi Lie said: "Yes." He pushed the woman and said: "Quickly, go to the supply camp and wait for a while. If there is nothing wrong, I will come to pick you up." All the captives and craftsmen captured in the previous massacres were locked up in the camps of the Chinese army, and the captives in each camp were all women.But even women still have to be on guard, so if there are any emergency orders, those women will be guarded by the supply camp.This is the rule set by Marquis Wen. I thought it was too fine-grained, but now it seems that Marquis Wen is really far-sighted, and even thought of such things. When I walked out of the barracks, I saw dozens of brothers from the Fifth Battalion standing outside.There are eighty-three people in the fifth battalion.This trip, the whole army has lost more than 4,000 personnel, of which about 500 were lost in the forward battalion.There are only 2,000 people in the Qianfeng Battalion, which can be said to be seriously damaged, and my battalion has the least reduction in personnel.Naturally, new recruits will be added after class division, and that's all there is now.I took a look at the few who were standing in front, and there were three more who were not here, and among them was Tan Qing, the sharp archer. There are ten soldiers in the forward battalion, everyone has horses, and they all use long guns, but they still have their own emphasis.The seven are for attacking, and they all use big axes when attacking the city.In the field, first use long arrows to attack from a distance, guarded by the shield army, and after approaching, mainly stay in the front eight.However, the ten archers led by Tan Qing are all good at piercing Yang with a hundred steps, which is one of the reasons why I was able to attack the city first. I looked at these people.In the past few days, every one of them had bloodshot eyes, and their battle armors were not in order.It's hard to blame them. I myself only wore soft armor, not iron armor. At this time, a group of people came over noisy, it was Tan Qing and the others.Tan Qing's shack was full, but the other two shrunk considerably. There were only twenty-four people left in the three shacks.That's why they went out together.As soon as Tan Qing saw me, he called out: "General Chu, I heard that someone is attacking?" I said, "I don't know either, it's just that there is a team coming here. Wait for the order." After waiting for a long time, he suddenly heard a loud voice shouting outside: "Listen to the soldiers of the Qianfeng Battalion, Marquis Wu has an order to prepare the horses and go to the city." It was Lei Baihui, the messenger of the Chinese army.His voice was so famous in the army that people called him "Thunder Drum" but he was not famous. There was a sudden commotion in the camp, and no one knew what happened.At this time, Lei Gu also ran over to send an order to the next camp, but he heard Lu Gongxing's voice saying: "All camps go to the city in order, no noise." His voice was not loud, but it sounded majestic.The camp fell silent for a while, and we boarded the top of the city one by one. I whispered to Qi Lie: "Xiao Lie, you go to my room." Qi Lie winked at me, and said with a smile: "Is that the woman? General Chu, you really don't know how to pity and cherish jade, so let her be alone." My face darkened, and I said, "I asked you to bring my battle armor. That woman died that day." 他吓了一跳，嘴张了张，大概还想问我那女子是怎么死的，看我一脸冰冷，却没说，扭头跑向我那小屋。 这次集合由于太过突然，许多人战甲都不整，我们把战马牵在城头下，一上城头，很多人都在整理战甲。我一上城头，便极目向西南方看去。天已黑了下来，什么也看不清。城头虽然火把林立，却也照不了多远。 祈烈将战甲取来了。我在城头穿好。这时，却不用看，隐隐地，已能听到一阵隆隆的声息。 这时，雷鼓又在城头跑着马，一路叫道：“各军注意，刀枪出鞘，严加防备，不得有误。” 我倚在墙边。周围，火把的光把一个个人映得有如鬼魅，那些铁甲也久不擦拭，血迹和铁锈间，时不时有黯哑的反光。这一切，让我觉得真如梦寐。 也不知这暗夜里向高鹫城扑来的是支什么军队。若真是敌军，那城防已残破不堪，而军粮也支持不了几天，恰好是处在围城时共和军的地位。每个人心里，都有种惴惴不安吧。 那支队伍已到离城约五里远了。暗地里看不清，却感得到大地也似在震颤。我正竭力向黑暗里看着，身后有人忽道：“君侯大人！” 我扭头一看，却见武侯和他那两个亲兵正走上城头。我们齐齐跪下，道：“君侯。” 武侯看了看我们，挥挥手道：“请起。” 他脸上也有了一股凶狠之意。他看了看跪着的路恭行，道：“路将军，前锋营准备得如何？” 路恭行道：“前锋营现员一千四百七十三人，已全数在此。” 武侯道：“好。” 他看了看下面，哼了一声，道：“不管你是什么人，倒要让你尝尝我帝国军铁骑的厉害。” 我的心头翻了个个。听武侯的意思，那是要与这支来路不明的军队野战了。 这也是对的。虽然南疆地势不平，不适合战马奔驰，但我们在城中，若采取守势，这城已被我们攻得到处都是残垣断壁，等如无用，那还不如野战。只是这支部队恰好在我们刚攻破城时袭来，时间把握的恰到好处，在兵法上是很高明的击其不备之计。他们到底是怎么把握得这么准的？ 这时，武侯的亲兵营在城头扎了个帐。他幕府中的参军谋士也都进去了。我注意到，其中并没有高铁冲。 这时，雷鼓已骑着马驰过来。到了武侯那临时大帐前，他下马跪下，道：“禀君侯，职已通报四门，诸军俱已做好防备。” 武侯在内道：“好。你先下去歇息。” 雷鼓还没下去，这时，一个斥堠兵跑上来，跪到大帐前，上气不接下气地道：“报君侯，那支队伍在离城二里处扎下寨来，前锋继续前进。” 的确，我们在城头也能感受得到大地的震动。这种响动，起码有十万人以上了。 我想着这些不祥的念头，脑子里，却自然地想起了军圣那庭天《行军七要》里的一段话：“骄兵不可攻，疲兵不可守。”这次武侯出师，全军不过十万人，一路杀来，损兵极少，减员四千，可以说是全师而返。可现在，全军也不到十万人了。如果对方也有十万人，而我们却可说已是疲兵兼骄兵，那胜负可就难说。 我看了看周围，所有人面色凝重，却并没有太大的不安。 那也好吧。我想着，要是人人都是我这种悲观的想法，那只怕不消接战，胜负已定。 I gritted my teeth.无论如何，到了现在这地步，便是骄兵，也要硬冲一冲。 我摸到了腰间的百辟刀，不知为什么，想起了那两句话：“唯刀百辟，唯心不易。”