Although it is already the beginning of spring, in the wilderness of Runzhou, it is still a depressed scene that is sparsely populated.

And on the edge of a nameless wooden bridge where the road and the river meet, a hasty battle has ended in a one-sided form. Li Hanran, the leader of the Taiping Army's selection group, also let go of a corpse that he had worn with a blank face, and rechecked the blood-spattered equipment and kimono on his body.

Then he wiped a few handfuls of fresh blood on his face, so that when it dried, it would be better to resemble the defeated officers and soldiers who fought desperately to find a bloody way to get it back.

When the imperial court sent troops to aid and defend Annam, some of them were also sent from the Jiangdong children under the command of the Zhen Navy; Some of them were left behind in the local garrison for some reason, and now they have become soldiers under the command of the Taiping Army by mistake. Li Hanran happens to be one of them.

Therefore, compared with those veterans from the north or children from Lingnan, his authentic Jiangdong Wu language and the oral style used by the officials and soldiers cannot be faked; Therefore, under his intervention and greeting, he not only deceived and booby-trapped several waves of official and military rangers and messengers; Even the dozens of officers and soldiers encountered on the road were almost caught off guard by their approach, and they broke out again, killing all of them and not escaping on the spot.

Looking at the corpses that fell to the ground in front of him, he didn't have the slightest regret or emotion, even if these might be his nominal compatriots or former comrades.

For he had already received news from a fellow villager who had fled by chance at sea; During the many years when he fought desperately with the barbarians for the country, his hometown suffered from famine, and the harsh taxes of the imperial court were unabolitiable and even worse;

As a result, most of the people in the village starved to death, and the rest fled. is the so-called "There are no eggs under the nest", and even his family, who was nominally exempted and reduced by special orders of the imperial court, was not spared in front of the wolf-like squires and officials; So he has become a lonely ghost who can't go back to his home.

Then his heart was completely dead, and he had to get by every day. until they met the rebels who came to recover Annam; was able to gain hope of returning to his hometown, and slowly came back to life from those rough truths.

Therefore, everything he did here was to fight for people who had the same experience and similar experiences as himself at the grievance meeting, so that future generations could live well.

"Brother Li, it's really well done. I almost believed it, and I was also an official soldier."

At this time, as the leader of this selection team, Lin Ming, who was wearing a magnificent mountain armor and brought up Luan, also came over and patted him on the shoulder and said approvingly:

"I'll ask you to drink cane head roast and taro stuffed when I go back, and you'll have enough to take care of. I've been shouting for so long.,Now let's take this to moisten my throat.。。 ”

Then he couldn't help but hand him an open fine clay can, which was impressively yellow and clear peach flesh; This is a particularly rare object in the south of the Yangtze River in the spring season; That is, the generals of the Taiping Army and the seriously wounded in the rear were rationed every three or five times.

"This... Don't use it, it's really precious. ”

Li Hanran was a little dumbfounded.

"Isn't it edible if it's not valuable?"

Lin Ming held his hand disapprovingly.

"If you give it to you, you will eat it quickly, and I have to count on you to continue to speak out and cover for us, but don't be dumb at a critical time, then no amount of canned fruit can be saved."

Li Hanran stopped talking and drank a large mouthful of peach water with deep feelings, and in an instant, the sweet and sour taste filled with taste buds turned into a comfort and release that spread throughout the body, making him feel as if he had returned to his childhood hometown, the past time when he went up to the tree to pick green plums and ate sour.

"Hurry up and take turns eating and drinking, and you won't be able to carry more burdens later."

Then Lin Mingtou intervened with some satisfaction, and shouted to the soldiers who had already cleaned the battlefield around and folded branches to cover the corpses of the ditch

"If there is anything that you think is important, hurry up and bury it first, and then talk about it, and from the next moment on, we will be defeated soldiers with nothing to lose."

"Don't expose your roots under the noses of the officials and soldiers because you are also greedy and reluctant, and you will harm yourself and put everyone in danger."

After regrouping and setting off over this wooden bridge, in the distance of the horizon inadvertently, the confluence of several rivers that meander by, the outline of Jurong City faintly appeared in their field of vision.

Then, the group began to scatter in twos and threes to distance themselves, and check each other's appearances; From time to time, someone dusted themselves, wiped their sleeves and trouser legs on the ground, or scratched their armor with knives.

Then he lowered his head, slumped his shoulders, lowered his shoulders and slowed down, and dragged his weapon backwards with great strength, and slowly walked towards the city in the distance;

However, Li Hanran, who was walking in front, still saw with the corner of his eye that the gate under the city was not completely closed, and from time to time, groups of people ran in a hurry and panic.

Of course, if one pays close attention, one will find that these people who have fled into the city one after another, although they are dressed in shabby and inferior cloth and brown clothes, can hardly hide the strong and white skin under the clothes, which are different from most ordinary people, with yellow muscles or swarthy and thin skin.

Obviously, with the arrival of the rebels, the tide of liquidation was set off in the four fields and eight towns; And the squires, heroes, big households, feudal lords, officials and officials who had to flee to the city for refuge and avoid trouble.

"This is a great opportunity right now."

Li Hanran, who secretly retreated a few steps behind Lin Ming, said in a low voice

"Just ask the team leader if he's willing to take this risk."

"How sure do you think you can do this?"

Lin Ming was stunned.

"It's half to half."

Li Hanran said earnestly.

"There is basically no problem in taking advantage of the situation to deceive into the city, but it is really difficult to say and uncertain what kind of situation will be encountered inside."

After all, in order to move out of the reconnaissance needs, their special contingent was far away from the rear brigade; If you can't hold on before the backup arrives, then this plan will only be a futile doom after rash advance.

"Then why not, it's not so easy to take the city first."

Lin Ming, who came back to his senses, said without hesitation.

"Since you have this mind and must grasp it, if I miss this opportunity for no reason, I'm afraid I will regret it for the rest of my life. I'll send someone back to report the news."

At this moment, a carriage and several Tsing Yi slaves on mules and donkeys followed by him drove slowly from another road.

"The military master in front, and please let me. We are the family of Wu Sima in this state, and we are in a hurry to go to the city for business without delay. ”

Someone else was panting and shouting at them

"It's a coincidence."

Li Hanran and Lin Ming couldn't help but glance at each other, and saw the happiness and determination in each other's eyes respectively.

。。。。。。

Half a day later, the sky had gradually darkened, and the fireworks rising inside the Jurong City Gate had gradually been extinguished. And in the doorway, filled with the smell of blood and fireworks, behind a carriage that had fallen across the inner city gate and had been half-burned off the roof.

The Taiping army was in the middle of Li Hanran's hands trembling slightly, and a feeling of detachment enveloped his whole body. There are corpses all over him, not only the corpses of his loyal subordinates, but also the corpses of the officials and soldiers in the city. Just now, a group of officers and cavalry rushed in recklessly, slamming into the hastily raised spears and obstacles.

It was foolish or desperate to charge with tall horsemen in such a narrow passage of the city gate, probably thinking that by blocking the passage of the city gate, we would have nowhere to dodge and dodge, and the result was to add a number of ready-made bloody fortifications and obstacles to the remnants of the special contingent soldiers who held on.

Li Hanran wanted to crack his mouth and smile, but the cheek that was cut by a cavalryman with a knife before he died just now made it impossible for him to perform this action. Although the actions of this group of officers and cavalry were stupid, they were really elite and fierce, and just dismounting and fighting made his few remaining subordinates almost suffer casualties.

There were all kinds of dying wails and the roar of arrows in his ears, and it was another part of the men led by Lin Ming who were fighting with the officials and soldiers in the city; It also somewhat took away the pressure of the officials and soldiers in the city, allowing him to breathe for a moment in the doorway.

How did things come to be like this? They had obviously deceived the family of "Wu Sima" into the city, and successfully killed the officials and soldiers in this building; And the fact that they set fire to buildings near the city wall and covered them up with fireworks that covered the sky and the sun was actually only about 100 people.

Then he blocked the doorway, and condescendingly repelled several waves of counterattacking officers and troops. At this time, it was the other side of the city that was unprepared, and suddenly reinforcements from the official army arrived; Not only did it greatly boost the sluggish momentum of the defenders in the city, but also gathered an elite army to fight it.

And this time they were much more strategic, not only covering from both sides of the city wall, but also sending people out of the city to make a detour to the back to attack suddenly.

As a result, they were already getting more and more tired, and they could no longer resist, and were broken into two parts of the city, above and below, fighting separately; He retreated into the doorway, and resisted with the narrow terrain. But now it doesn't make sense to him either.

Standing with his head bowed in the cave of the city gate, his hand twitching so convulsed that he could barely grasp it tightly, and the knife was still dripping blood; Li Hanran suddenly felt that it was a pity, he still wanted to find a Hu girl to have a few children, and pass on the acres of land earned under his name. Now I can only let people find an orphan in the boy camp after death, and pass on their family name and family.

"It's Brother Han Ran of the Li family in person."

A somewhat familiar voice suddenly sounded outside the doorway, which made Li Hanran so startled that he almost couldn't hold the broken knife, and shouted.

"Who are you?"

"Do you still remember the friendship when we drank wine together in the Spring Tide House in the solidarity camp?"

The voice was still unhurried

"But didn't Brother Li go from the border of the country to fight for the country, how could he be abused from the help of thieves? If I hadn't come to the aid with the army, I'm afraid I really wouldn't have imagined that there would be such an encounter. ”

"Now that you are about to fall, you are not ready to be captured; At least I can spare your life to atone for the kingdom. ”

Although the other party said this, the tone in his mouth became a little impatient and anxious

Li Hanran suddenly sneered, he knew the virtues of these officers and soldiers, and where they could speak with knives, they would definitely not have enough patience to persuade them. He suddenly roared out:

"Heaven makes up for the average, and recreates peace."

"Heaven makes up for the average, and recreates peace."

Suddenly, the city wall overhead also faintly erupted in a sparse shout; Obviously, Lin Ming and they are still holding on in the gatehouse. And the officers and soldiers also seemed to be seized for it, and they actually stopped.

After a long moment of silence in this somewhat suffocating horror; In the distance, in the wilderness, there were shouts and shouts that seemed to have been delayed for a long time.

"Heaven makes up for the average, and recreates peace."

"Clear the troubled times, recreate peace."

"Clear the demonic atmosphere and recreate peace."

In the last bit of afterglow of the setting sun, under the guidance of the pale blue banner, the billowing smoke and dust kicked by hundreds of horsemen were rolling along the dim horizon towards the location of Jurong City.

(End of chapter)