After the light snow that had stopped, Jingnan Jiedu made Song Hao's face already the color of frost and snow, cold and very heart-wrenching. Because since he was attacked at night outside Zhangmen Town, the army he led began to be frequently harassed and sneak attacked.

These enemies are not numerous, but they are very frequent, and the armor is quite sophisticated and profound; Therefore, not only did they come out at night and attack; Even in broad daylight, he dared to take advantage of the wind and snow to do that bluff attack.

Even during the heavily guarded night camp and the halfway camp, there were people who came out on time to shoot arrows and set fires, and although they caused little damage and damage, they did not let people stop and live in peace;

Although he also ambushed his soldiers and horses several times and sent horses to roam and wait outside, wanting to take the tail of these thieves; He also managed to defeat several suspicious armies, but nothing but a hundred or ten ragged corpses and tattered equipment were harvested.

And the sporadic targets of capture are only very few, and they only know that they have been recruited with food; As long as you follow the itinerary of the officers and soldiers, hide in the mountains and forests and pretend to make noise. As for the disturbances, they are still annoying.

And under this kind of disturbance of everything that comes to make a noise, true and false, his troops are quickly accumulating a lot of exhaustion and complaints. Except for those Chenzhou soldiers and Taining troops who were relatively well equipped and supplied and had more experience in battle, the other men and horses who followed them all fell behind and fled to varying degrees.

Then, the first to have problems were the uneven Tutuan and Township Soldiers. After a number of night-long frightening and sleepless encounters, they clashed over the priorities of a camp for food, and then turned into a mutiny without warning.

Although it was soon suppressed by the Chenzhou soldiers and the cavalry of the Taining Army, who were waiting for the battle; But after cutting off hundreds of heads in one go, it still did not stop these opponents' local regiments and township soldiers, and quickly fell to the bottom line of morale and fighting spirit.

Then, he made a mistake here, not too big or too small; When camping, let the united sons and guards of those places under the state mix and match with the Chen Zhou soldiers in their own formation, so as to facilitate supervision and prevent signs of subsequent escape.

As a result, these old soldiers from Chenzhou were soon armed with these good and uneven and demoralized places, and their pessimism and negative attitudes; As a result, it has invisibly weakened a lot in terms of immediate response and reaction to the enemy.

As a result, in a night of harassment, I couldn't help the thieves, and impulsively chased each other together. Then, the flaws thus revealed caused another small group of thieves disguised as officials and soldiers to sneak in, set fire to the barn and stables nearby, and almost burned the grain and grass.

If it weren't for the fact that the rest of Song Hao's subordinates were still experienced and saw the opportunity quickly, shoveling snow nearby and throwing cloth bags to extinguish the fire, it would not only be the loss of hundreds of animals that fled in fright, but the problem of the army being unable to sustain itself.

For this reason, he had to reluctantly kill more than a dozen of his subordinates, including a respected clansman and school captain, to set an example with military law. however

Under the drag of these endless attacks and unexpected circumstances, he originally wanted to learn from the story of Li Yuxue, a famous general of the former Fa, who attacked Caizhou at night and captured the rebellious marshal Wu Yuanji in one fell swoop; Now it's become an out-and-out joke and a bubble.

Because of the distance from Lexiang County to here, he actually let his men and horses walk for three days. With these three days to prepare and mobilize, he could expect that he would encounter the Jingmen bandit army that was in good order and waiting for the city.

Therefore, although the direction in which they are advancing is still the same, and there are still eight or nine thousand people under their command to use, in Song Hao's heart, the balance of victory and defeat has become more and more difficult and difficult. It's like a snowflake that has become fluttering again.

。。。。。。

And in the distance, on a bland snow hill, an inconspicuous little spot slowly wriggled out of the white background, and finally revealed a face that had been blown red by the vicissitudes of life, but it was a volunteer soldier wearing a plain white coat and a white felt hat.

And in his hand, he also held a water-milled brass pipe wrapped in white cloth, and was using this thick head to look and spy on the distance, in the white-mottled field avenue, just as the ranks of officials and soldiers were winding around.

This is also one of the new magical equipment that the members of the detective team and the cruiser team have obtained; Through the two pieces of round, convex and polished water glass essence sandwiched inside, you can pull the scene and movement in the distance to the front of you clearly.

It is precisely with this magical gadget, nicknamed "clairvoyance", and those light fast boats that are convenient to shuttle to and from the water, that the members of the exploration team and the veterans of the North who are accustomed to the ice and snow can easily maneuver with these foreign officers and soldiers.

After staying in the snow for a long time, he couldn't help but feel that his eyes were a little sore, and he hurriedly covered his eyes with a piece of blackened glass, and looked at everything that was a little distorted and dimmed again, and suddenly felt a lot better.

Then, he couldn't help but think of his early life and years in the Northland; The snow in that winter was really big, and it could sink people into half of the large and small snow nests, but it was not something that could be compared to the small snowflakes half a foot thick in the south.

At that time, he was also among the rebels, and under the extremely freezing winter in the Northland, everyone did not have enough clothes to keep warm, but used what they had, and took whatever they encountered, even wrapped themselves in straw, bark, and clods of soil;

Many people are so tired and weak that once they fall asleep, they never wake up again, leaving only each other to warm up into a hard mass of corpses; There are also many people who accidentally freeze their hands and feet while running, and then wait until the weather warms up, and then they slowly die with black hair, purple and festering.

He had almost forgotten how he had survived, perhaps by picking up rags and stripping the clothes of his enemies, comrades, or corpses of unknown origin. Later, after arriving in Guangzhou, he had dysentery and had to stay to recuperate for more than half a year.

However, he didn't feel any regrets, and even felt that compared to those old brothers who had gone north, he had gone through a lifetime of memorizing words and finally came to work. Because in today's Taiping Army, there is both a field and a future, which is both comfortable and hopeful.

Even if they were sent to work in the snow, they had to have enough grease and rations to maintain their strength, as well as thick cloth cloaks, felt blankets, and fleece sleeping bags to keep them warm in the snow; It's like I've been enjoying happiness for several lifetimes in advance.

Therefore, he felt that the life of following the Void Leader in front of him was very good, and the good ones felt that it was too much, and there was no place to repay it except for giving away his life, so he would never allow any existence to come and destroy and interfere with it.

As for the cadres in the past, whether it was the Yellow King from the Cupola General's Mansion or the Heavenly General Wang Xianzhi back then, it was already a very distant thing.

。。。。。。

The stinging wind and snow gradually subsided, and the mottled and peeled earthen walls of Jingmen County had already loomed in his field of vision. However, what surprised him even more was that most of the Chengxiafang, which had spread to the water's edge outside Jingmen County, was still mostly intact.

This couldn't help but make Song Hao feel a little more confidence and contempt; The grass thief is the grass thief, or the style and style he is familiar with who wanders around and rages, but is not good at guarding the way of the king; Even if there is a city defense as a place for troops, they do not understand the truth that the enemy basically clears the field and fortifies the wall.

Such a large area of the city was enough to become a source of materials for his men and horses to camp on the spot and repair siege equipment; And those ready-made houses and cangbing are also the best ready-made shelters and repairs for officials and soldiers who have traveled through the long journey in the wind and snow.

Despite this, Song Hao still kept an eye on his heart and called his personal soldier Yu Hou Song Niandao

"In order to prevent fraud, shilling orders Suizhou to unite and Fuzhou to guard and capture soldiers, and enter to investigate and defend respectively."

"Ordered."

The pro-soldier Yu Hou suddenly clasped his fists and saluted. After a while, the dead silence in the wind and snow began to become noisy, and there were many traces of smoke rising from it.

Song Hao couldn't help but feel a pang in his heart, and suddenly cautiously wanted to give the order to prepare for battle and meet the attack; However, when he saw the pro-army Yu Hou Song Nian who rushed back, his face was slightly happy and said:

"Qiyu town marshal, there is no trace of thieves in the workshop, but a lot of abandoned firewood and rice grains have been found. Therefore, the two state armies that entered first were already used, and they lit fires and cooked food on the spot. ”

"Bastards, what a bunch of bastards."

Song Hao couldn't help but use the suddenly louder scolding voice to hide the momentary embarrassment of the speculation in his heart. On the other hand, he further contempted these grass thieves in the city. Those who will only passively shrink in the urn city behind the wall and defend it are just water without a source and a wood without roots.

"Why don't you quickly make them stop the whole team, fortify and stand by nearby? Isn't it possible to use a bigger movement to summon the grass thieves in the city to beg for it? ”

Immediately, the next sentence revealed his true intentions.

"All the things that can be used in the city need to be collected and distributed separately in this formation. Don't let the loyal soldiers of this camp go to count and carry it yet. Then let the Taining cavalry be responsible for the perimeter patrol and bullet pressure. ”

"This... Order"

The pro-soldier Marquis Song Nian hesitated, but he still quickly turned around and left;

He naturally knew that it would not be a simple matter to want these officers and soldiers who had just started the fire, were baking frozen bodies and snow-soaked clothes and armor, and were also cooking hot food, and it was not a simple matter to let go of these things that were already in their hands;

However, as the core and main force of the army, the loyal soldiers/Xuzhou army, who have also trekked all the way in the wind and snow, also desire and need these things to recover their physical strength and strength, which is nothing to discuss, so they can only grieve these local troops first.

And then Song Hao, who continued to lead troops to inspect and assassinate the city, was even more aware of the enemies in the city; I specially chose this winter day when the wind and snow were gradually rising to send troops, and I fought with the head of the soldiers in the north who were accustomed to wind and snow, so as to control the idea of these thieves from outside the southern mountains.

Now it seems that he, they are even more unbearable than they thought, and they have actually given up most of the city patrols under the wind and snow.

After another half a ring, the noisy noise in the city square also became an increasingly violent commotion and scolding; If you look down from above, you will see many officers and soldiers under different flags facing each other in groups.

More often than not, the officers and soldiers in the places where their noses were bruised and their faces were swollen and their heads were bleeding were driven aside, and the soldiers from the loyal army who dared not speak were to be angry and watched, occupying or taking away the fires, hot food, and soup that they had already built.

Then there were the belated military officers and military officials; Compensatorily distributed to them some cold cakes, cold balls, and the like that were frozen hard and would not go bad for ten days and half a month in this weather. Although no one spoke for a while, holding the cold bread and dumplings, a faint anger spread in the bottom of my heart.

At this time, Song Hao was also able to move into the new Chinese army tent, a still neat and tidy grass market tax office. At this time, the grass thieves in the distant city still did not move; Only those flags waved alone in the wind.

At this time, someone asked for instructions again

"The Taining horse army on the outskirts of the outpost all knew about it, and requested to enter the interior in batches to repair it in order to restore the horsepower."

"Yes."

Roasting a large piece of charcoal fire, Song Hao also had no time to think about it. After all, this Taining army is his only cavalry force, even if people can not rest, the horses of the mount must be fed with water and cleaned to ensure that they are not injured, sick or seriously lose fat.

"Let the men and horses of Fuzhou and Suizhou, who have been resting for half a day, take over most of the defense line of the Taining Army."

"Then let the rest of the state soldiers divide their manpower, and first dig out the outer camps and trenches before it gets dark."

At this time, there may be someone in the tent who feels that something is wrong, but because of the current scene, he is pulled by his companion; And watched this decision be ordered.

Then he broke free with some resentment and walked out, and shouted at his companion:

"You know there's something wrong with this, so why don't you let me tell me. It is necessary to know the truth that there is no inequality in the army. ”

"Even if something is wrong, it's not something you can care about and ignore."

But the companion persuaded bitterly.

"There is no blind equality in this world, even if the town marshal has no relatives in his heart, he has never tasted the three, six, nine and so on, why do you bother to spoil your future for these Xu disappears."

As he spoke, the distant commotion and noise suddenly turned into a series of shouts and dusty fights. Then several military academies, who looked panicked, rushed over and shouted:

"Oh no, the state soldiers disobeyed, and they also hijacked General Lu Lang to rob the military funds, and ran away with a noisy."

"The Fuzhou soldiers and the Taining army are fighting for the barracks in the streets, and they have already caught fire."

With these shouts, the flames and pillars of smoke rising from the square under the city were also slowly spreading. And when Song Hao was shocked to stand on the high height of the Grass Market Drum Tower and looked into the distance, he suddenly shouted:

"Oh no, this fire is unusual. The block beats the drum and sounds the gold, and the whole team is fortified on the spot. ”

Before he could finish speaking, he saw that the wind and snow that were drumming in the field suddenly became fierce; And in the blowing wind and snow, there was a faint flood of swords, and the flood of swords and soldiers had already accelerated in the upper wind like wings.

And the city, which was originally dead and silent, also seemed to wake up suddenly, and in the midst of the noise, many arrows were shot densely, and there were meteor-like fireballs.

"It's a trap and an ambush for grass thieves. Our army is also on leave. ”

At this moment, Song Hao only felt that his chest was hit hard by the invisible frontal force, and he was almost about to fall from this drum tower.

(End of chapter)