Chapter 177 Celebration Wine

The Glaive Array is an arc-shaped configuration of the whole army, named because it resembles a crescent moon. The general's formation is usually located at the bottom of the crescent recess. When fighting, pay attention to attacking the flank, resist the enemy with a thick moon wheel, the recess of the crescent moon seems to be weak, but it contains danger, the general should have a strong combat power in this formation, and the brave will be suitable for the strong.

This is what Qin Lei learned from his first chief of guard, Iron Eagle, who is now the captain of the Imperial Forest. Compared with the Maitreya Army, the Zhennan infantry can be regarded as an out-and-out strong soldier. Especially the heavy armor soldiers on both wings, they are all expensive and powerful Mo knives in their hands. Therefore, he firmly believes that the strongest of this army must be the two wings.

And Chu Qianjun, who is playing with a sledgehammer, at least for now, still stands out from the crowd. Although they are still a little immature, but with the veteran team leading Zhang Sigou, the two of them are old and young, fierce and stable, and they can barely be regarded as brave generals.

With strong soldiers and brave generals, Qin Lei also has the capital to use the Glaive Array. At that time, the Maitreya Sect army was in full swing, and if it chose to avoid its sharp ring array, it would inevitably make the virtual fire of the Maitreya Sect army turn into real fire, and it would attack the Zhennan Army even more frantically. So as to give full play to the advantage of numbers. It is better to use violence to suppress the false fire of Maitreya, and restore its weak nature. Although there will be some damage for a while, but from the perspective of the big picture, it is the most cost-effective.

This is Qin Lei's later remarks to Qin Youcai. As for what he thinks in his heart, he can never be said to outsiders - this is a show, or he personally led the Northern Expedition, which was originally a complete political show. He wanted to show the southern gentry a powerful force, he wanted to make the southern people think of themselves as saviors, and he wanted to use the blood of Maitreya to deter the opposition hidden in the shadows. In short, he wanted the power of the South to obey his will, he wanted to be the de facto ruler of the South — he wanted to be rooted in the lands of the two southern provinces. In this way, when the class teacher returns to the court, Emperor Zhaowu will spare no effort to protect himself, so that he can survive the freshman period that is most likely to be stifled.

And all of Qin Lei's plans are based on speculation about Emperor Zhaowu's mentality. After a period of time together, he has become convinced that this emperor is a person who is obsessed to the point of paranoia. In this way, a person's focus on the goal can overcome all suspicion and doubt.

Emperor Zhaowu's persistence was inherited from his mother. Recasting the power of the royal family - this is the common obsession of mother and son. For this goal, they can endure for more than ten years before they suddenly attack and regain half of their authority. They can also be arranged for more than ten years, unconsciously permeated with the pattern of the enemy. But this is all biased towards conspiracy, as the royal family of the Heavenly Family, it can only be used as a secret means, even if it wins, it will not be able to win, and it will not convince the world's corporal clan at all.

If you are not convinced, you will be disrespectful, and if you are disrespectful, you will be confused.

Therefore, what the royal family needs more is Yang Mou - a dignified and upright army, defeated in broad daylight, whether it is in the court or on the battlefield, only an overwhelming advantage will allow all ambitious people to settle down.

The royal family needs a banner representing justice and a sharp blade representing imperial power to cut through thorns and sweep away **. Therefore, Qin Lei concluded that Emperor Zhaowu would definitely tolerate and even rejoice in his sharpness until the day when he regained his authority.

If Qin Lei can't grow into a towering tree that can withstand wind, rain, thunder and lightning by then, he will obediently find a place with beautiful mountains and rivers and bury himself.

Therefore, he must show the momentum of moving forward, the Buddha blocking and killing the Buddha, and the quality of facing difficulties and never retreating. Therefore he cannot retreat, but only advances; You can't defend, you can only attack. This kind of political stance should take precedence over military considerations.

Fortunately, this time he made the right choice. The Glaive Array is worthy of being the first killing array in the face of the weak. The weak and powerless Maitreya Sect army, even if they saw the fate of the formation, they did not have the ability to break through it, but were killed by its madness.

In less than a quarter of an hour, the 20,000 Maitreya troops who rushed up were broken in half, and the rest were completely demoralized.

Qin Lei on the chariot immediately clearly sensed that the enemy's morale had been lost, and it was time to give them the final blow. Nodding at Shi Dang on the side, he motioned for the black-armored cavalry to attack.

A whistle sounded, and the black-armored cavalry, who had been waiting in the rear for a long time, lowered their guards and checked the weapons hanging on the side of the saddle. Hold the reins of your horse in one hand and the repeater in the other, waiting for the final order to charge.

This thousand-man cavalry team does not dare to say that its combat power is the best in the world, but it should be more expensive than anyone else. Let's talk about the war horses first, the Hequ horses that were originally taken from the Beishan Ranch have long been eliminated, and they have all been replaced by the top grassland war horses that Shen Luo purchased from the Guoler Prairie. Although this horse is slightly smaller than the Hip Horse, it has a thick body, strong limbs, and excellent endurance and weight-bearing capacity. After being tamed, he is not frightened on the battlefield and is extremely brave. It is the best war horse that Qin Lei can find at the moment, and it is naturally expensive.

Looking at the cavalry armor again, it evolved from the Mingguang armor, using a more complex process and more demanding material selection. It weighs one-third lighter than the Mingguang Armor, but its defense power is not inferior, and the protective area is more complete, so it is more comfortable to wear and move more freely. The price is not cheaper than the black-clothed guard light armor worn by Shi Meng.

The standard weapons of the black-armored cavalry have also been changed several times, and finally determined to be two special ten-round repeating crossbows, a cavalry short blade for self-defense, and two main offensive weapons when charging, the horizontal knife and the iron shuo. This batch of horizontal knives was born from the peak technology of the late Tang Dynasty, on the basis of the original long-handled, narrow-bladed, thick-ridged, long-straight knife, and the arc of the knife body was added, which was more conducive to two-handed chopping and less easy to break.

Instead of using the now popular halberd, the iron lance was chosen in order to use the impact and speed of the cavalry, giving up the three functions of the halberd's peck, hook, and chopping and taking the strong penetration brought by the speed alone, and at the same time avoiding the weakness of the halberd with a relatively complex structure that is easy to turn around due to the force. When charging, the forward of the team always uses iron lances to open the way, and the sides are slashed with long knives to consolidate the victory.

With another hurried whistle, the cavalry began to stir up their horses, slowly accelerating. By the time they entered the battlefield along the right flank of the formation, the speed had already been raised to the maximum. The Maitreya cultists had just seen a black dragon appear on their left side, and before they could react, the dragon spewed out a deadly venom.

Smaller than the long arrow, but equally deadly, the crossbow bolt struck the cathar's left flank at intervals, and in a few moments the entire left flank was shot through a large hole five feet deep. Then the knights put away their crossbows, removed their swords or lances from their saddles, and rushed into the gap in the enemy's line. They easily penetrated the loose formation of the Maitreya Sect, and the wind and clouds generally flattened all the enemies in front of them.

This thousand-year-old black-armored cavalry with great sensory impact became the last straw that broke the camel's back. The Maitreya army, which was already on the verge of collapse, finally couldn't hold it anymore, and threw down their weapons one after another, turned around and fled in a hurry.

Qin Lei behind the formation shouted: "General attack!" ”

The flag bearer replied in a loud voice: "Order!" As he spoke, he took out a flaming red flag and shook it violently with both hands.

The counteroffensive began.

The drums of war sounded quickly and resolutely, urging everyone to move forward, forward, and again!

Chu Qianjun led the vanguard to rush towards the Maitreya Sect army, and the Modao team on both wings also took off their heavy armor and rushed forward lightly.

Chu Luo and Che Yinguo in the city were naturally overjoyed when they saw this scene, and only after organizing all the cavalry, opening the city gate, and rushing out of the city, did the two look at each other and laugh.

Che Yinguo laughed and said, "Bring the wine!" His own soldiers took off the wine bag on their backs and handed it to Che Yinguo. Che Yinguo scolded with a smile: "Little rabbit cub, don't you see Lao Tzu's two arms hanging?" Send it to Lao Chu. ”

The pro-soldier joked: "The small one can be held and drunk by the general!" ”

When Che Yinguo heard this, he scolded: "***, Lao Tzu is not crippled yet." I don't care about you! ”

Chu Luo saw that the soldier was also kind, so he took the wine bag from his hand and said, "Brother, I'll drink it for you, right?" ”

Che Yinguo nodded, and said with a reluctant smile: "Drink more for me, I drink more than you." Seeing that the soldier was still standing there, he kicked him in the ass and shouted, "Death is far away."

The aggrieved pro-soldier hurriedly hugged his head and ran away.

Chu Luo laughed and said, "Then my brother will drink it for you!" As he spoke, he lifted his wine bag and poured it up.

A pair of eyes and a tin can looked at the defeated subordinates, and shouted angrily on the chariot: "Stop, stop! Resist me! But once they were defeated and fled on the battlefield, they could no longer have the courage to turn around, and no one listened to the two of them, and the rout crossed the two of them like a tide, and then left them like a low tide, leaving them behind.

Looking at the black-armored cavalry who were getting closer and closer, the two of them came back to their senses, and the iron can screamed: "Run, run, run!" The guards hurriedly urged the double carriages and fled in the direction of the rout.

The black-armored cavalry stopped chasing after a while, their highest duty was to protect Qin Lei's safety, not to kill the enemy, so they never went too far from Qin Lei.

At this time, Chu Qianjun rushed over with the team, and when he saw that the black-armored cavalry had stopped, he shouted at the top of his voice: "Hey, borrow a horse to make an envoy!" ”

The black-armored cavalry all looked at their leader, Ma Kan, who was also the deputy commander of the black-clothed guard. He didn't lift his mask to talk to Chu Qianjun, and pointed at a cavalryman, who jumped off his horse and gave up his horse to Chu Qianjun.

Chu Qianjun thanked him briefly, then propped up the thistle bone on the ground and flew onto the horse. With a hard grip on the horse's belly, the horse galloped away in the direction of the two enemy leaders.

Qin Lei looked at Chu Qianjun, who was chasing the two heads, and smiled at Qin Youcai: "Make a bet, can he get the two heads back?" ”

Qin Youcai shook his head like a rattle, and Weng said: "I'm not angry, I'm not Xiao Chu's muscles, I have a heart." ”

Qin Lei laughed and said, "What does this have to do with whether or not to bet?" ”

Qin Youcai smiled and said, "My heart tells me that I will definitely lose when I bet with the prince!" ”

The two of them laughed and walked in the direction of Shuicheng, the closer they got to Shuicheng, the stronger the stench, Qin Lei frowned and said, "You must quickly dispose of these corpses, otherwise this will become a dead city." ”

Qin Youcai had experienced the protracted defense of the central capital, and his memory of the horror of corpse poison was still fresh, and he still had palpitations and said: "I don't know how many people in the central capital were killed by this thing back then. ”

Qin Lei nodded, suddenly remembered something, and turned his head to look at Qiao Yunsheng, who had been quietly following him. I saw that her face was as usual, her breathing was steady, and she didn't seem to be sad at all in this sky-high stench.

Qin Lei winked at her and stretched out his right hand. Qiao Yunshang glanced at him, then took out a small porcelain bottle from his sleeve, put it in his hand, and said indecently: "Use your fingernails to pick some ointment into your nose." ”

Qin Lei did the letter suspiciously, and when the ointment entered the nasal cavity, it was first cool for a while, and then he couldn't smell the smell of corpses. He squeezed his eyes at Qiao Yunsheng's thief, and then took the ointment into his arms.

Qiao Yunshang couldn't imagine that he was so shameless, so he glanced at him fiercely, so he turned his face away and ignored him anymore. Who knew that the ointment that Qin Lei had put into his arms slipped out of the cuffs again, and it was falling into the hands of Qin Youcai on the side. Qin Youcai deliberately fell behind, and Shi Kang and a few others also applied the ointment.

As soon as they grinded, only Qin Lei and Qiao Yunshang were left in front of them. Unable to smell the annoying smell, Qin Lei was also in the mood to speak, and he asked in a low voice, "Yunshang, is it okay to ask you a question?" ”

Qiao Yunshang nodded imperceptibly and did not speak.

Qin Lei saw that she agreed, so he used a softer voice: "I've ridden the horse these days, and the root of my thigh is worn out and I can't ......."

Qiao Yunsheng's face froze, and in a blink of an eye, he regained his composure, and said lightly: "Why does the prince want to learn from that ruffian and say some nonsense." ”

Qin Lei said with an innocent face: "Lone just wants to ask you, the goddess doctor, what should I do if you break the root of your thigh?" ”

Qiao Yunshang sighed weakly and said softly: "No need to treat it, it won't hurt when it scabs." "I'm afraid that Qin Lei will ask again, 'Yunshang, have you scabbed?' She then said: "These people have been gone for too long, and they can't be moved anymore, otherwise the corpse qi will churn up from under them and harm the people who move them." ”

Qin Lei was really distracted, and he asked in a deep voice, "Isn't it okay to use your ointment?" ”

Qiao Yunshang learned to roll someone's eyes, looked at Qin Lei stunned, and shouted in his heart: There is really no heavenly reason, even rolling your eyes is so cute. Only then did he listen to Qiao Yunsheng say: "It is made by the slave family from the miasma jungle in the south to collect more than 30 herbs and refine it, which can avoid all smoke poison miasma poison corpse poison, and there is only one bottle on the body for spare." After a pause, he said angrily: "I guess I've run out of your men." ”

Only then did Qin Lei know that his small actions couldn't be hidden from others at all. He said without changing his face: "Don't be too sad, remember to bring a few more bottles next time." ”

Qiao Yunshang was angry, knowing that if he talked about shamelessness, he might not be able to beat him for the rest of his life, so he had to bow his head and remain silent.

I have to say that being in the mood to flirt in the sea of corpses and blood is enough to prove that both of them are very human. Or rather, it's not normal.

At this time, Chu Luo and Che Yinguo, who were hanging his arms, came out of the city, Qin Lei stopped laughing with Qiao Yunsheng, turned over and dismounted, stepped on the muddy road, and walked towards the haggard Chu Commander and the miserable Che Commander with an excited face.

Chu Luo and Che Yinguo didn't know what they were feeling in their hearts, there were relief, fear, excitement, sadness, and even a faint aftertaste. Looking at Qin Lei, who was wearing the armor of the county king, strode over, the two looked at each other and smiled, knelt down on one knee in the mud, and hissed at Qin Lei: "The last general is fortunate to live up to his mission!" ”

Qin Lei nodded and said, "Okay...... Good! As he spoke, he helped the two of them up, took Chu Luo's hands and said apologetically: "The lonely king is late, and the two generals and the soldiers in the city have suffered." ”

It's okay that he didn't mention the soldiers, but as soon as he talked about the two of them, the circles under their eyes turned red. At this time, Qin Youcai also caught up, and when he saw this scene, he hurriedly said: "Lord Wang, two brothers, let's go in and talk, this is not the place to talk." ”

The two stabilized their emotions for a while, and smiled gratefully at Qin Youcai: "Brother Youcai is right, Lord Wang, please!" As he spoke, he dodged left and right, and respectfully invited Qin Lei to enter the city.

Qin Lei laughed and said, "Go together." He didn't shirk it, and strode towards the Xiangyang Lake Water Village, where there were more than 100,000 dead and wounded after 40 days of fierce fighting.

The corpses in the city have been cleaned up, but the bloodstains on the ground and the broken blades of the remnants of the soldiers remind Qin Lei all the time that this place was also the battlefield of the Great War.

As soon as Qin Lei sat down in the lobby, Chu Luo reported to him the battle damage: "Lord Qiqi, there were 11,317 soldiers in Xiangyang Lake Water Village, and a total of 57 enemy attacks were repelled in 42 days, and more than 110,000 enemies were annihilated. Killed ...... himself"

Speaking of this, Chu Luo felt that his throat was blocked by something, and it was very difficult for him to breathe, and he couldn't even say a word.

At first, others thought he was too excited, and looked at him with understanding, but when they saw that his face was getting paler and paler, and beads of sweat were falling, they knew that something was wrong.

Qin Lei asked with concern, "General Chu, it doesn't matter to you, right?" ”

Before the words fell, Chu Luo spurted out a mouthful of black blood and leaned back straight.

Qin Youcai rushed up with an arrow and hugged him.