Chapter 17: The First Spectator
The sky was getting darker, the snow was getting heavier and heavier, and although there was still no wind, the cold continued to hit people. Zhang Fan tightened the cotton clothes on his body to prevent small snowflakes from drifting in. He saw the two hundred cavalry in front of him standing still in the heavy snow, and his heart was excited. Zhang Fan looked at Wang Degui on the side again, and the fifty people behind him. Wang Degui and these fifty people were also very excited, the difference was that the expressions on their faces were simply joyful. Zhang Fan had not experienced something, and he could never understand why these people would show such enthusiasm for a war that could cost their lives.
"Sergeant Wang, I see that you are very happy, why is this?" Zhang Fan asked.
"My lord, we are naturally happy, when I think of being able to kill the Tartars, there are unhappy people there!" Wang Degui said happily.
"But you can't go to war." Zhang Fan was a little puzzled.
"That's okay, as long as I can watch the Tartar being killed, I'll be happy." Wang Degui said.
It was dark all around, because this time it was an ambush, and no one lit a torch. In the dark, Zhang Fan bowed his head and was silent, it seemed that the resentment of the people in the northern Xinjiang towards the Tatars was really to a certain extent. Thanks to this Ming Dynasty, the situation is not bad now, and it can fight back against the enemy's disturbance. If it is a weak country, then the people are afraid that only fear exists, and finally they will become slaves of the other party! And this is the most terrible time for a country, the time when it is about to perish!
The terrain here is conducive to ambushes, and the surrounding terrain is high and low-lying in the middle. The 100 cavalry on both sides had already laid an ambush, and they could immediately close the siege as soon as the Tartars entered! Zhang Fan began to think about his first trip to the ancient battlefield: "Maybe the Tartars won't come over at all, I'll be happy." Maybe when the Tartar reinforcements arrive, we'll all have to finish the game. Maybe the Tartar on the battlefield will rush over later......"
Just when Zhang Fan was thinking about it, news came from the front that more than 100 people from the Tartars would soon enter the trap of ambush, and there would be no one else within a radius of twenty miles. Zhang Fan also became nervous. Figures could already be seen in front of them, and although they couldn't see clearly in the night, the Tartars lit torches while patrolling, and they probably wouldn't have thought that someone would ambush them in the middle of this cold winter moon.
Gradually, the Tartar patrol got closer and closer, and Zhang Fan could already see the expressions on the faces of several Tartars with torches in their hands, and from time to time the sound of talking and the panting of horses came from the air. Zhang Fan only felt that his nerves were tense, and he couldn't breathe, as if the air around him had been drained away! The Tartars have entered the encirclement, and the great war is about to break out!
"Shoot the arrows!" Liu Yong, who was leading the troops in front, shouted, and dozens of arrows flew towards the Tartars, and there were also arrows on the left and right sides that shot at the Tartars. However, it was a cold winter, and they were already wearing thick tartars, and they were all skilled in archery, and after a few rounds of arrow rain, only two or three unlucky eggs were shot in the thighs and fell to the ground howling. However, releasing arrows is not the main means of attack, the Tartars are very powerful, and releasing arrows is just to disrupt them and prevent them from returning fire with bows and arrows, and the real killing moves are still to come.
"Everyone is a good man of the Ming Dynasty, rush me!" Liu Yong shouted, took the lead, and rushed out. Of the two hundred cavalry in front of Zhang Fan, except for twenty or thirty people, who were still firing arrows to cover the raid of the brigade, the rest of them all rushed forward.
The Tartars were well-trained, and after the first round of bows and arrows, more than 100 people immediately drew their swords and prepared to meet the enemy. When the frontal army was about to rush to the Tartars, the men and horses lying in ambush on the left and right also rushed out. In close combat, even the dozens of horsemen in front of Zhang Fan who were releasing arrows to cover also drew their swords and rushed over. Wang Degui was also moved, but fortunately, Zhang Fan's eyes were quick and he immediately persuaded him.
Hundreds of people are fighting in one place, which is definitely not what Zhang Fan imagined, twenty moves are ruthless, and they will kill people. Zhang Fan saw with his own eyes a Tartar cavalry waving a knife at a Ming soldier who rushed towards him, cutting off the head of the Ming army, and then being stabbed in the chest by two Ming cavalrymen who followed behind, and even the man and the horse fell to the ground, ** The body of the two guns was not dead, and it was dragged for a distance before it was left aside and no longer moved.
Zhang Fan felt that he had a different feeling. The first time I saw murder, it was not as unacceptable as it is described in many novels. After all, this is not killing people and exchanging goods in the market, this is a battlefield where two armies are fighting, and it can even be said that the two countries are at war. In this kind of situation where you die or I die, killing the enemy can not only keep you alive, but also protect national security and keep your relatives safe, but Zhang Fan is happy from the bottom of his heart.
The snow fell heavier and heavier, and the blood spilled on the ground, melting the thick snow, but it was soon covered with blood falling from the sky. The battle in front continues, and the Ming army is very obvious, the more they fight, the more courageous they become, while the number of Tartars is getting smaller and smaller, and they are also shrinking back the more they fight. Seeing that they were invincible, the Tartars shot more than ten people and broke through the way they came, and the Ming army knew that there were their own people to defend it, so they didn't chase after it, and looked at the front of them. There are not many Tartars now, and they can't compete with the Ming army, and they are surrounded by the inner and outer three layers. The three generals who led the troops seemed to be the same as the sergeants under them, they were all red-eyed, and regardless of Liu Jinquan's order to leave a few alive mouths, they killed all the besieged Tartars. Liu Yong sent scouts to inform Zhou Biao, who was guarding the front, and the army was waiting here.
At that moment, the free soldiers cleaned up the battlefield, found the bodies of their dead compatriots, recovered those whose heads were in different places, and pulled back their horses to the army.
"Zhang Zhubo." Liu Yong hit the horse and came to Zhang Fan's side, hugged his fists and said.
"General Liu." Zhang Fan replied, looking at the battlefield in the distance silently.
"It's the first time I've been on the battlefield! How does it feel? Liu Yong asked.
"At the beginning of the battle, although I didn't charge and kill the enemy, I also had a joyful pleasure in my heart?" Zhang Fan said sincerely.
"Won't the Lord be uncomfortable?" Liu Yong was a little puzzled, some of the military literati he met before, seeing the battlefield fighting, were all frightened, and some even knelt on the ground and vomited. I thought that this Zhang Zhubo was not very old and would not be exempt from vulgarity, but this is the scene.
"Why? What I see below is that the Ming army killed those enemies who tried to invade our country, and killing these people can protect the family and defend the country, why is there any discomfort? Zhang Fan said as a matter of course.
“…… Haha......" When Liu Yong heard Zhang Fan's words, he was stunned at first, and then laughed heartily, "It's a pity that the master Bo doesn't go to join the army!" Many soldiers will be a little unhappy when they go into battle to kill the enemy for the first time, but they didn't expect the master to be born as a giant, but he is so bold! ”
"I'm ashamed, I'm ashamed, I didn't go into battle. And to say that there is no fear at all, that would be a lie. Zhang Fan said.
While the two were talking, a soldier came to report: "Your Excellency, Lord Bo, this time our army annihilated eighty-seven enemies and let the Tartars run away more than ten people." More than a dozen of the brothers were slightly wounded, and a bandage would be sufficient, and seven others were seriously wounded and could not fight again, but there was no life. ...... other," said the soldier, pausing, "and three other brothers...... He's dead. ”
"Bury your dead brothers on the spot, this is where they died in battle!" Liu Yong sighed and said, "The injured brother asked the brothers to take care of him. Bring back all the dead brothers and the horses of the Tartars. As for the corpses of the Tartars...... Just put it in place, you don't have to move. ”
Zhang Fan watched the soldier leave, and said to Liu Yong: "General Liu, put the body of the Tartar here, aren't you afraid that other Tartars will find out and reveal our whereabouts?" ”
Liu Yong looked up at the goose feather snow floating in the sky, and said, "Don't worry, Lord Bo, look at this weather, it won't take a moment or three for the heavy snow to bury their corpses." The snow here lasts for a few months at a time, and it won't stop until next year's spring. ”
There were people and horses coming in front of him, and Zhang Fan saw that it was Zhou Biao who was walking towards this side with two hundred cavalry and more than ten people tied up. Zhou Biao came to Zhang Fan and the others, first said hello to Zhang Fan, and asked Liu Yong about the war. After listening to Liu Yong's report, he said: "I waited in front for a long time, and I didn't see half of the Tartar reinforcements, so I waited until these dozen remnants were defeated. It's unpleasant! ”
"My lord is laughing!" Liu Yong said, suddenly thought of Liu Jinquan's order to himself, and said, "Before leaving, the lord ordered me to leave a few alive mouths, the brothers were red-eyed and forgot about it, fortunately Zhou Shen captured these Tartars, otherwise Liu Shen will not be able to explain it there is a small one, and it will not be good to delay Liu Shen General's big event!" ”
"Hmph, you don't have to slap my ass!" Zhou Biao said, "I didn't go up to fight, otherwise I probably wouldn't have been able to bear it." ”
"Hahaha......" Everyone burst into laughter, and immediately packed up and retreated to the place where the army was stationed.
The fifty people led by Wang Degui have been following Zhang Fan, although they have not gone to the battlefield, but they are also as excited as if they have been beaten with chicken blood. Zhang Fan looked at the soldiers who had returned with laughter, and then looked at the battlefield that was gradually moving away, and the heavy snow had already covered the tartars in the field of the violent corpses. Zhang Fan sighed secretly, a breeze blew, with a cold air blowing into his loose collar, Zhang Fan shivered for a while, this day seemed to be even colder!