Chapter 53: The Thief (I)

But those who betray the country and the nation are usually very decisive. In the hearts of such people, no country, nation, family affection, or friendship can compare to his own selfish interests. Of course, when you count others, you will never feel any guilt.

This is the case with Dong Junxiao. Over the years, the reason why he has been able to rise like a kite is that he has been ruthless in slaughtering the rebels and the people. So when it was necessary to sacrifice Cheng Mingzhong, he did not hesitate. Fang Guozhen, who turned his head and tried to be an ally, was just as easy.

Besides, that Fang Guzi was originally born as a pirate, and he was not even a scholar. The imperial court entrusted him with a heavy responsibility, which was purely a helpless move. And Dong designed to get rid of him, but he just cut off a poisonous sore for the imperial court, and if you calculate it carefully, you will only have merit, not fault.

His wishful thinking on his side played well, but Fang Guozhen seemed to be careless. After receiving Dong Junxiao's invitation, he didn't even think much about it, and immediately happily agreed, "Okay, good!" Thank you for your support. Early tomorrow morning, Fang will go to Jiangwan City to meet him. The Lord of the Hundred Households just went back to his life, and said that Fang was honored! ”

After finishing speaking, he stood up again and personally sent Dong Ze, a hundred soldiers who were in charge of the invitation, out of the camp gate. When the latter's figure was far away, he smiled mysteriously and turned back to rest.

Early the next morning, Dong Junxiao gathered the generals by beating drums in the Chinese military tent. first said some impassioned words as usual, and then ordered his younger brother Dong Angxiao to come and guard the camp with 5,000 soldiers and horses. He gathered all the remaining soldiers and auxiliaries and killed Jiangwan New Town. More than 40,000 horses are rolling like the tide of the sea, and the smoke and dust that they step on cover the sky and the sun.

Concerned about the artillery on the head of the city, the army stopped at a distance of seven hundred paces from the eastern wall of Jiangwan City. Rearrange your troops and adjust the order of your attacks. The ballistas, artillery, rushing vehicles, and bombing vehicles carried by the army were also hurriedly lined up in front of the formation, ready to enter the battle at any time.

Dong Junxiao's descendants of 10,000 people lined up in the center of the military formation, and on the left and right sides were 1,000 Mongolian soldiers and 5,000 Tanma Red troops with strong combat effectiveness. Each lined up in a loose phalanx, and was on call at any time with a distance of about twenty steps from Dong's main formation. Extending to the left and right, there are Maohulu soldiers from Yixing, Jiading, Changzhou, Hangzhou, Wuxi and other places, all of whom are led by the sons and nephews of local heroes, with a scale of 3,000, 5,000 to 10,000, waving all kinds of flags, looking extremely powerful.

While he was busy, a violent war drum suddenly sounded in his ears, "Knock knock, knock knock, knock knock!" ”。 The gate of Jiangwan City suddenly opened, and a team of Huai'an soldiers poured out of the city gate like a trickle.

There were only a few hundred people in each of their teams, but they were one team after another, without pause. After walking out of the city gate, he immediately seized the temporary bridge built by the Zhejiang army during yesterday's attack. Then they were divided into several strands, one by one, and the group passed quickly from the bridge. In the blink of an eye, with their backs to the moat, they gathered into a small long snake formation.

"This?" Among the Zhejiang army, which was busy with the whole team, several experienced veterans frowned in unison. The difference in strength between the enemy and us is more than 20 times, as a weak side, the Huai'an army actually gave up defending the city and took the initiative to go out to fight.

"Someone, go and order the scout team, and immediately get close to determine the enemy!" Not only the veterans in the team, but also Dong Junxiao, the consolation envoy of eastern Zhejiang, who was also experienced in a hundred battles, was also confused by the actions of the defenders. After a moment's hesitation, he commanded in a deep voice.

"Yes!" Dong Ze, a hundred households, stepped forward to receive the order, and rode his horse to rush to the scouts in the team. After a while, more than fifty scouts urged their respective mounts to rush towards the Huai'an army in the distance like wild birds throwing themselves into the forest. is ready to check for his own comfort, why is the opponent so confident?

In order to avoid being targeted by firearms, they kept at least a foot away from each other, and pushed their horses as fast as they could. Despite this, when they were one hundred and fifty steps away from the Huai'an Army's Snake Formation, there was still a continuous sound of fire guns shooting from the top of the city, "Bah! "Phew!" "Phew!" "Phew!" "Phew!" "Phew!" "Phew!" "Phew!" Monotonous and dull.

The sound is not loud, but listening to the ears of the Zhejiang army, it makes people's scalps tingle. Before each sound, a faint white smoke rises from the city. As the white smoke increased, scouts fell on horseback like rotten wood.

At first, there were only one or two, but soon they began to increase. When the scouts approached the Huai'an army's long snake formation to seventy paces away, the sound of fire suddenly became dense like bursting beans. Five or six war horses, which were about to turn and flee, stiffened suddenly. Immediately, several clouds of red mist floated up from the warhorse's body. Like plum blossoms flying in the spring breeze, the scout on its back slowly rotated, rotated, and then, on the scout's body, one or several clouds of red mist also appeared, intertwined with the previous red mist, and slowly floated into the air, surrounding, refusing to disperse for a long time.

"Phew!" "Phew!" "Phew!" "Phew!" The sound of firecrackers continued, and in an instant, they were almost the only sound on the entire battlefield. Other than that, there was silence all around.

In a quiet world, the war horses and scouts surrounded by the red mist slowly fell. One group after another, like shadow puppets on the streets of the market controlled by artists. There is no hoarse accompaniment of the huqin, and there is no noisy narration of the singers. Life is in the silent world, withering silently

The remaining scouts, with a faster degree than before, and the maximum degree they could come up with, turned their horses back. It has been seen clearly that in the ranks of the Huai'an army, except for a few light artillery carriages, there is nothing worthy of attention. All they have to do is bring what they see back to their home camp to get out of the death trap around them. However, the sound of fire from the city wall chased them from behind, still monotonous and calm, wave after wave, "Bah! Bang! Bang! Bang! "Phew! Bang! Bang! Bang! ”

"Fire, fire at the walls! Beat the thief's arrogance down for the old man! Dong Junxiao was stimulated by the monotonous sound of fire. Waving the command flag, shouting commands.

It's too arrogant, I've never seen such an arrogant thief. He actually relied on the sharp firearms in his hands to massacre the officers and soldiers. Their momentum had to be suppressed, even if the range of the artillery was not reached, at least enough noise to draw the attention of the brethren. Otherwise, before the war began, the morale of the Zhejiang army had already been hit hard.

"Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!" The four heavy cannons that had just been placed in front of the formation let out a dull roar. This is a killer weapon that the imperial court entrusted Fang Guozhen to transport from the sea for Dong Junxiao before sending troops. Each gate weighs more than 4,000 catties, and it takes a whole cart pulled by five buffaloes to tow and move. However, the firing range of such a behemoth is only similar to that of the six-pound cannon in the hands of the Huai'an army. The projectile flew only more than 600 paces before falling headlong to the ground. Aside from a few plumes of smoke, it had no effect.

"Whoosh——! "Whoosh——! "Whoosh——! "Whoosh——! In the enemy tower at the head of the city, the six-pound rifled cannon of the Huai'an army immediately returned to color. Four shells with soft lead on the surface, dragging a terrifying scream, plunged headlong into the large array of the Zhejiang army, jumped up quickly, and rolled up and down on a strange folded line.

At a distance of seven hundred paces, the shells did not have any accuracy to speak of. But after jumping, the effect is still amazing. Among the Mongolian cavalry on Dong Junxiao's left, there were immediately two war horses, which were directly pushed upside down by the projectile. Two huge bloody holes were left in the horse's belly, and the white miserable ribs were clearly visible.

"Phew!" "Phew!" The two projectiles hit the ground one after the other, making a dull crashing sound. Then he jumped high again, swept the buttocks and necks of the other two horses, and rolled strangely. Then he swept one of the Mongols in the thigh and one of the centurions in the back before he plunged down and plowed two dark red ditches into the ground.

"Ah——!h Screams rang out immediately, not only among the Mongol troops. Among the nearby Changzhou soldiers and Wuxi soldiers, they also continued one after another. All the soldiers who were unfortunately affected by this round of shelling had their bodies strangely change shape at the contact points between their bodies and the shells. Sharp bone shards pierced the skin, exposing them to the air, irritating the eyes of their accomplices along with the gurgling blood plasma.

"Send them on their way!" The centurions in the ranks shouted loudly, their swords fell, and they took the lead in ending the lives of the wounded. There is no way to save it, and in the days of fighting, they have long understood this kind of injury clearly. No matter what the surface of the body looks like, wherever the shell hits, the muscles, tendons, and bones inside are completely shattered. No herbs or needlestones can be cured. And the longer it is delayed, the more painful it is for the injured. Instead, it is better to kill them directly, in case their moans affect the morale of the surrounding ones.

"Whoosh——! "Whoosh——! "Whoosh——! "Whoosh——! The cries of the wounded had just been cut off by the blade, and in mid-air, there was a thrilling scream. A new round of shelling arrived, and one missed its target and passed between the two phalanxes of the Zhejiang army. The other three burrowed into different ranks, splashing three thick and long red smokes.

"Ah——!h The screams started again, and the formation that had just been sorted out quickly became crumbling. No one wanted to stand still and be bombarded, even though the casualties of each shelling were insignificant compared to the 40,000 troops. But that's insignificant to the manager, and for the soldiers themselves, everyone has only one life, and if they lose it, they will never get it back.

"Hit, all the gun carts and ballista cars, give me a hard beat! Whether you can beat it or not, let's fight together! Dong Shuxiao was keenly aware of the change in the morale around him, and gave the second order without hesitation.

"Boom! Rumble! Rumble! "Boom! Rumble! Rumble! "Boom! Rumble! Rumble! The crossbowmen and gunners of the Zhejiang army, who had long been anxious, quickly ignited the fuses around them. Dozens of four-pound cannonballs and two giant crossbows were fired in the direction of Jiangwan City one after another. The range is not enough, but what they want is not to hit the opponent, but to interfere with the rhythm of the opponent's attack. Soon, three or four hundred steps away from Jiangwan City, a yellow-brown fog wall appeared. The ballistas that exploded one after another and the iron egg balls that fell high on the ground splashed a large stream of smoke and dust, and in the blink of an eye, the sight of the two sides was completely cut off.

I couldn't see the position of Dong Jiajun, and the shells fired from the city wall were more and more inaccurate. The various departments of the Zhejiang army took advantage of this opportunity to quickly make adjustments. The phalanx was evenly spread in two directions, and the distance between the soldiers was widened again. Two feet is not enough, then three feet. Three feet is not enough, then four to five feet! No matter how far the cannonballs on the top of the city fly and how powerful they are, they can't touch any target after jumping, and they are blind. And the difference in numbers between the two sides is so huge, even if the formation of the Zhejiang army is sparsely arranged, it is not afraid that the opponent will take the opportunity to attack.

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