After a night's march, in the early morning of the next day, the army of Huguang Town finally arrived at the county seat of Hengzhou. The www.biquge.info journey was quite smooth and did not encounter any circumstances, but after arriving at the destination, the soldiers were stunned by the tragedy in front of them, and what followed was full of anger.

Pang Yue's heart also rose with rage, although he had already received the news in advance, he still couldn't suppress the anger in his heart after seeing it with his own eyes.

At present, the county town of Hengshan has almost become a ghost town, and the officers and soldiers smelled a strong smell of blood before they entered the city, and after entering the city, they were even more shocked by the sea of corpses and blood in front of them. I saw that the two main streets and the nearby alleys were densely covered with the corpses of ordinary people, and almost every time the officers and soldiers opened the courtyard door of a house, they would see a tragedy of annihilation. Open flames are still visible in the piles of charred ruins that line the streets. Some of the surviving people came out of their hiding places, facing the tragic scene in front of them, and all of them wept in front of the bodies of their loved ones, and the sorrow of the cry made the hearts of those who heard it feel sad. This part of the people was able to survive, of course, not because the Qing army was kind, but because the Qing army was busy on the road, and did not have time to carefully search and cut the grass and eradicate the roots, but how much stronger can this kind of pain of family destruction and death be stronger than death?

"The Flying Tiger Battalion went to the perimeter of the city to guard, trapped, went to the city head to guard and control the city gates on all sides, and the scout cavalry team continued to search south, and reported back immediately after finding out the location of the captive! The rest of the battalions buried the bodies of the dead and extinguished the open fires in the city. Pang Yue struggled to control his emotions and gritted his teeth and gave several orders.

In his previous life, Pang Yue had been indignant at the atrocities of the Qing army recorded in the books, and when he really came to this era full of smoke and killing, and saw the tragedy that was far more direct than the words on paper, his heart would rise with anger from time to time. Although there have been a lot of atrocities of the Qing army in the past two years, Pang Yue can't be calm and even numb, if there is really God, he just wants to look up to the sky and ask: Why is the gentleness and tolerance of the Han nation only in exchange for so many bad fates?! Why didn't the heavens take in those beasts that could only burn and loot?

But Pang Yue also knew that God couldn't control some things. To save a nation from its tragic fate, it is still up to the people of the nation themselves to do it. He reaffirmed in his heart the oath he had made in the past: Didn't those crazy savage brutes like to use butcher's knives to engage in some kind of "national integration"? In the future, the task of "integration" will be left to the Han people to complete! I promise with my personality that one day I will "fuse" those savage creatures to the point that there will be no scum left!

The officers and men of the battalions who received the order quickly went their separate ways. However, the surviving civilians were particularly indifferent to the help of the officers and soldiers, and even some civilians were angry. The bodies of their loved ones were not allowed to be carried away by the officers and soldiers. No matter how much you persuade, it's useless.

After Pang Yue learned of this situation, he was about to go to persuade and appease him personally, but before he could walk a few steps, an old man stumbled up to him. This is probably the old man's old age. His beard and hair were white, but he was very well-dressed, and obviously belonged to the local gentry.

"Old man!" Pang Yue took the initiative to step forward and support the old gentry.

"Who are you?" The old gentleman's tone was cold.

"I am the supreme commander of this army, what do you always do......" Before Pang Yue could finish speaking, he was spit in the face by the old gentry.

The pro-soldiers next to him were just about to step forward to control the old gentry. Pang Yue stopped loudly: "Get out of the way for Lao Tzu!" ”

"You scum of the corpse! Eat the court in vain! The old gentleman stretched out a withered hand, pointed at Pang Yue tremblingly, and scolded with sorrow: "Usually only know that in the fish and meat country, one side is rampant, and the slaves and thieves will flee as soon as they arrive, and they dare not fight with them at all. What's the use of Daming raising you waste?! ”

Pang Yue let the old gentry scold without saying a word, after all, he also belonged to the Ming army. Although Huguang Town was different from the rest of the Ming army, it had not done anything so far that could make the people of Hengshan County change their attitudes.

"The old man is seventy-two years old this year, and I originally thought that I could enjoy the joy of family life. Spend your old age in peace. But I never thought that my children and grandchildren died tragically at the hands of slaves, leaving me, an old bone white-haired man, to send a black-haired man. God, why didn't you let me die two years early! ......" the old gentleman said with tears in his eyes, and finally collapsed to the ground. Pounding the ground and crying.

Pang Yue motioned to his soldiers to help the old gentry up, and he knelt down, saying not only to the old gentry but also to the surrounding people: "Old gentleman, old folks. Our officers and soldiers are incompetent. So that you will suffer this calamity, as a military general of the imperial court. I am also deeply saddened and blamed for this, and I hate myself for not being able to stop the atrocities of the Qing prisoners in time. Now, I am not assuring you anything as a military attache of the second rank of the imperial court, but swearing by my own ancestors that one day I will avenge this deep hatred for you, and if you violate it, I myself will not die well, and my ancestors and ancestors will not be able to live in peace under the Nine Springs! However, my relatives are gone, and I hope that you will mourn and let them be buried in peace. ”

With the sound of the collision of armor leaves, the rest of the generals of Huguang Town, who heard the sound, also knelt behind Pang Yue. Immediately afterwards, all the officers and soldiers in the vicinity fell to their knees, and they fell down like a towering forest.

…….

In the face of Pang Yue and the sincerity of the officers and soldiers, the ice in the hearts of the people finally began to melt little by little, although they were still not very enthusiastic about the Ming army, but there was no longer the hostile gaze before. Under such circumstances, the officers and men of the battalions also seized the time to clear the rubble and bury the corpses.

Pang Yue was not in the mood to rest, and was busy like an ordinary soldier, as if only this non-stop busyness could offset part of the guilt in his heart.

Less than an hour later, the messenger sent by Zhu Dadian hurried to Hengshan County and sent Zhu Dadian's message: He and Ma Jinzhong and Chen Youlong's troops were already 15 miles north of the city, and the officers and soldiers were indeed too tired to do anything, so they rested in place for a while, and then rushed to Hengshan County to meet after dawn. In case of special circumstances, Pang Yue can make decisions independently, without asking for instructions in advance, and can notify him afterwards.

Although Pang Yue was a little dissatisfied with the marching speed of Ma Jinzhong's and Chen Youlong's troops, it was not easy to show this emotion. After all, Ma Jinzhong and Chen Youlong are still willing to fight south, which is much stronger than Liu Chengyin and other shrinking turtles. Therefore, Pang Yue didn't say anything, but just said that he already knew, and asked the messenger to go back to his life.

As soon as the messenger left, Shi Lang came to Pang Yue again.

"Is there anything wrong with the Marquis?" Pang Yue asked casually.

Shi Lang frowned slightly: "My lord, my subordinates have found something not quite right. ”

Pang Yue put down the shovel in his hand: "What's wrong?" ”

"The city walls."

……

After a while, Pang Yue, Zhang Yunli, Shi Lang and other generals came to the south gate.

"My lord, look at this big hole in the city wall." Shi Lang pointed to a huge gap in the city wall and said to Pang Yue.

I saw that this gap was roughly in a V-shape, starting from the head of the city to the ground, the bricks were scattered all over the ground, and the rammed earth in the wall was undoubtedly exposed. Standing outside the city, you can clearly see the streets of the city through this opening. The bottom allows three people to walk into the city side by side, and the top is even wider.

"Not only here, but also on the walls in the other three directions." Shi Lang added.

In fact, when he entered the city just now, Pang Yue had already seen these gaps, and at that time he only subconsciously characterized this as a manifestation of the tragedy of the war. Now when he heard Shi Lang say this, he suddenly became vigilant, and even shouted in his heart that he was really dizzy, there was no regular Ming army stationed in Hengshan County, where did he come from?

"Such a big gap was obviously opened by heavy Hongyi cannons." Cui Shoucheng said, "Maybe it's because the Qing captives are eager to attack the city, so they make such a fuss." ”

"Brother Cui is right, this is indeed a big fuss." Shi Lang continued, "But according to the people in the city, the Hengshan County Commander had fled long before the arrival of the Qing Dynasty, and there were no garrisons in the city, not even Xiangyong, and the major city gates were basically undefended. Why did the Qing Lu have to go to such great lengths to blast open such a big hole in the four city walls? If you really want to bombard, it should be bombarded at the city gate, but the city gate is unscathed......"

"The only explanation is that the Qingyu will come back." Pang Yue had completely understood it at this time, and grabbed Shi Lang's words: "They don't want the city wall to become the support of our army. ”

Hearing Pang Yue's words, Shi Lang sighed: "Lord Mingjian! The rest of the generals were taken aback.

"Maybe before that, the Qing prisoners had thought about ambushing our army many times, but because our army was well guarded, they didn't find an opportunity." Pang Yue said, "Now, the terrain around here is just right for them to surround them, and our army is easy to relax at this time, and it is the time for them to strike." As for the wall, it was completely useless in front of their Hongyi cannons. If I'm not mistaken, the main force of the Qing captives has turned around and killed the county seat of Hengshan, intending to make this small city a Jedi for our army! ”

At this time, Zhang Yunli said apologetically: "As a general staff officer, my subordinate actually missed such an important situation, which is really a dereliction of duty, and I ask my lord to confess!" ”

Pang Yue waved his hand: "Now is not the time to hold anyone responsible, in the past few days, Qingyu has been hiding and not working, only caring about hurrying, and I am also a little slack." As a result, since our army dared to go south to rescue the driver, it would never be possible to retreat easily. Passing on my order, the Huashan battalion seized the time to repair the gaps in the four city walls, and how much could be filled. The rest of the battalions, complete the aftermath of the city as soon as possible and prepare for battle! ”

"Yes!"