Huainan Road, in the war-torn territory of Yangzhou, on the shore of Gaoyou Lake at the junction of Tianchang County and Jiangdu County, the reeds and grass have been trampled to pieces, and the corpses and blood that have fallen down have been stained into a red, tender green mottled piece.

Along the soft and hard mud on the shore of the lake, Zhu Laosan put a captured enemy general on the saddle in his hand, and brandished a pointed iron rod in his right hand, beating the enemy down one after another. Dozens of his own soldiers rode their horses to the left and right, and engaged the enemy in a scuffle. However, these officers and soldiers were intimidated, and from time to time there were small groups of back-up troops arriving, so the fight was very fierce.

And Zhu Laosan relied on his strong horsepower and rushed to kill, and under the four hooves flying in the air, the blocker was injured if he did not die. However, the good times did not last long, and his riding horse was suddenly hit by an arrow, and he jumped up in pain, turned around and fell, and immediately threw him to the ground with his weapon.

However, Zhu Laosan took advantage of the situation to roll on the ground and unload most of the damage caused by the falling horse; He moved sideways to the galloping horses' hooves that followed, and rolled out a foot away before standing up again. The enemy general had no such luck, only to see that his neck was broken head-on, and the flesh and blood splashed under the horse's hooves were inhuman.

At this time, the enemy soldiers who were chasing from the original ambush had rushed to a distance of only thirty paces. At the head was an enemy horseman, with a spear in hand, lying on his side, ready to rush to the horse and stab him to death with a single shot.

At the same moment, Zhu Laosan didn't have time to pick up his weapon, so he took out the bow and arrow pressed under him with a lightning speed, shot the enemy general off his back in one go, and killed two enemies with two arrows in a row.

The rest of the enemy soldiers were momentarily frightened and hesitated. The war horse in front of him had already rushed to Zhu Laosan's side because no one had taken the reins. He grabbed a horse and rode on, shouted, raised his iron whip, and once again charged into the crowd of enemy horsemen.

After a fierce battle, the dozens of personal soldiers had already killed the officers and soldiers gathered on the left and right, and less than half of them remained; Led by the general He Huan, Le Ma turned back and flew away to rescue. Although Zhu Laosan was riding alone at the moment, he was full of courage and courage, and he simply didn't take the officers and soldiers seriously.

Just now, because his left hand pressed the capture, he couldn't fight happily; Now he wields a stick in one hand and a knife in the other, and he is unstoppable. He wielded his sword and stick and fought long and short through the enemy troops, and rescued two soldiers who were seriously wounded and still fighting to the death in the same group of enemies. He took them and fought them back, just when the cavalry led by He Huan arrived, and they joined together.

The officers and soldiers scattered in the front and rear also gathered again, trying to surround Zhu Laosan on all sides and arrest him off his horse. However, he led such a small group of cavalry to weave through the enemy, so that the enemy could only shout and threaten, but could not get close. Not long after, shouts rang out again in the distance.

"Kill the thief and repay the reward, and the merit will be in the shadows."

But another officer and army came over violently. Then their cries were overshadowed by another, even more violent noise.

"The sky makes up for the average, and the world is peaceful."

However, it was Zhu Zhen who led the infantry team to defeat the warring officers and soldiers and followed to respond, and by the way, the officers and troops were outflanked. Another half hour later.

"These difficult Huainan dogs can be regarded as cleaned up."

Zhu Laosan touched the blood splashed on his face, dropped the iron rod dipped in red and white, and muttered to himself.

On the battlefield, dead bodies lay on their backs, and weapons were thrown everywhere. Dozens of horses lying in pools of blood were not yet dead, and some tried to struggle to get up but fell down. More than 140 of the rebels were killed or wounded, and only a few of the hundreds of officers and soldiers who had ambushed him escaped, and most of them were annihilated.

Among them, some knelt down and surrendered, begging for mercy, but because the rebels were killing fire, and because they hated the officers and soldiers quickly, they also killed most of them on the spot indiscriminately.

Zhu Laosan's hands and sleeves were splashed with blood, his cloak and cotton robe had been cut several times by the tips of swords and spears, and three holes had been pierced by arrows. However, as soon as the battle was over, he could not wait to dismount and split up to find his dead and wounded soldiers. He instructed his subordinates to carry the dead brothers to one place, and those who had not yet lost their breath should be ordered to be carried on a special lifting frame and immediately sent back to the Tianchang County camp for treatment.

After the wounded brothers were taken away, Zhu Laosan again ordered the bodies of all the fallen brothers to be loaded on horses, cut off the heads of the enemy's officers, and transport them back to the temporary garrison together with the enemy's weapons and armor. Because of the cherishing of food and material use, the dead and seriously wounded horses were also skinned, and the flesh and skins were all taken away.

After dealing with the aftermath, he couldn't help but think of his brother Zhu Cun and Zhu Cun's Taiping army; It is said that they have begun to besiege the Zhenhai Jiedu envoy's place, but they don't know what the situation is now.

He also remembered the "virtual monk" who had surrounded and instructed him, this time after dividing the troops to cross the river and go north, there is a suitable day to meet again? But I didn't know that there was still a chance to ask for a cup of wine to drink.

Since that incident, he has been sent to serve this army with his subordinates; With the body of the two-level Lang general, who was promoted by surprise, and the 3,000 people including the 800 old tribes, it can be regarded as a wish in a sense.

It's just that before he had time to catch his breath after returning to the camp, Zhu Laosan saw a righteous soldier with a small flag galloping over, handing over a lacquered bamboo tube.

"General Shang has an order, ordering General Zhu Lang and the cavalry of the former army to continue to pursue the remnants of the enemy."

"It's chasing and breaking the enemy, this manager really doesn't treat us as 'outsiders'."

Zhu Zhen, one of the lieutenants who was also mottled with blood, complained a little yin and yang.

"As long as the Yellow King does not pass the river, among the 100,000 righteous army, only Chief Shang will be the main manager."

Li Bintang, the deputy general of the old department, was a little embarrassed and sneered.

Just on the way he was, he successively defeated Zhao Qi, the assassin of Chizhou, and Zhang Xiong, the training envoy of the Shangyuan regiment in Yangzhou, beheaded Feng Hongduo, the envoy of Liuhe Town, and captured Zhao Hui, the town general; But the corresponding damage is also very large.

"Let's not talk about that, bring people over."

Zhu Laosan immediately said with a pale face. Immediately, more than a dozen generals who were tied up and pulled over were pressed to the ground again. Then he spoke slowly to the subordinates gathered in the camp.

"Since ancient times, the teachers who have always won have relied on the command of moderation. If the order of temperance is not strict, how can we win in the face of the enemy? In peacetime training, we must not only practice martial arts, but also practice to obey orders. ”

"When it comes to the battle array, everyone must obey the order, 10,000 people have a heart, and the heart of 10,000 people is the heart of the main general, so that you can win more with less, and you will be invincible."

"If the drums do not stop beating when facing the enemy, there is water and fire in front of you, and you have to jump into the water and fire; If the gong does not stop, there are mountains of gold and silver in front of you, and you must return immediately. While the drum is beating, if anyone looks back, they must be beheaded immediately. When the big and small leaders look back, it is even more unforgivable. ”

"Why decapitation immediately? Because just when the sound of killing shook the sky and arrows rained down, if one person looked back, it would make everyone suspicious and most likely to shake the morale of the army. Especially if you are the leader, the eyes of the brothers are on you, and the relationship is more important, so you must be killed. ”

"In a word, you should make it a habit to only look at the banner and listen only to the golden drum on the battlefield. If the banner and the war drum urge you to advance, the Lord will not obey even if the mouth of the Lord says that you will stop, and even if the mouth of the angel says that you will not obey. ”

"These few things with soft legs and slippery legs are ready-made police effects. When many brothers are desperately in front of the battle, poking their strength, they are hiding behind, ready to abandon at any time. Even the outfits and horses have been secretly prepared. ”

Hearing this, many soldiers present couldn't help but show anger and indignation, and then raised their hands and shouted.

"Cut him."

"Kill these dogs."

"No mercy."

"Let them all die."

In this wave of hatred and hatred, I watched the bloody cavity that was desperately struggling and writhing on the ground, and was cut off by Qi Brush; The deputy general Li Bintang showed a slight wry smile at the corner of his mouth, and his heart was cold but he didn't dare to say anything.

How could he not know them; Those are all vaguely seen faces under the command of Mr. Shang. On weekdays, there may be some less conformist behaviors and habits, or some behaviors that are contrary to the yang and the yin; But for such a major matter as escaping, there may not be much courage to offend.

It seems that for the orders and drives of General Manager Shang, this Zhu Laosan is not as innocent as he is. Or maybe it's just for myself? Ever since he had seen the demeanor, manners, and methods of the Lord of the Taiping Army, there seemed to be some kind of quietly change that was clearly visible.

"Entered Yangzhou City, killed Bi Harrier, and beheaded Qin Gou. Catch the old thief and avenge the old camp's family. Ahh

Then an even louder clamor rang out in the makeshift camp.

。。。。。。。。

And on the south bank of the Yangtze River, in Runzhou.

Near Yanling City, in the messy medium-sized market town of Cuijiazhuang, the corpses hanging and swaying stiffly in the wind are like rows of wind wax waiting to be concocted.

"It's a bit of a killing."

Fang Gan, a middle-aged scribe with a somewhat rickety belly and old clothes, sighed a little heavily at Yang Tianming, a member of the team that had been a closed disciple and was now armed with the righteous army to the countryside.

"Although this Cui Zhuang owner has a family member who is an official in the court, and his family usually has some lawlessness, but it is always a well-known family for generations. And you have a good family business, so why do you need to be like this? ”

"Sir, can you believe that in this difficult and troubled world, there is still a way to survive the 'really' accumulation of good people without the need for the remnants of the people's fish and meat, and to live in peace with the small people."

As a small official's family, he was born and studied hard, but he never made any achievements with Kedi, but he resolutely gave up his family and broke his business in Yuezhou to dismiss the slaves and maids, and Yang Tianming, who joined the Taiping Army, asked rhetorically.

"If you want me to say that you killed well, you should kill it, and it is natural to kill it. If it weren't for the righteous army killing all those county wang clans, wealthy families, and official eunuchs, where would these poor families of our generation come from! ”

"Today's world is chaotic, and the sea is turbulent; Those who live in the court and control the way to advancement are those who are famous in the lineage and noble families; And the feudal towns, the state capitals, and the authority are always those who are rich in surnames, big families, noble families, and families of situation; ”

"My generation of poor children is hindered by their humble backgrounds, even if they are exhausted and do their best to do things, most of them are just a government official and miscellaneous affairs, and they are not allowed to enter the stream, and they have to compete with the family of the young officials, when will it be the end."

"Isn't it just the gain or loss of those 180 acres of land, even if it is given up for the great cause and future? If there is no righteous army to come to level the world and help the exiles, with this meager property, do you still want to survive in this world of danger every day? ”

(End of chapter)