Night is gradually falling, more than 100 horses gallop on the loess official road, this Biao cavalry knows at a glance that it is the elite of the Eight Banners, the helmet is bright, the honor guard is extraordinary, the ink helmet is decorated with a long red tassel, with the horse galloping slightly trembling, the majestic and majestic momentum is compelling.

They are all light blue cotton armor, decorated with dense golden copper nails, in fact, this is a composite armor lined with chain mail and steel sheets, and decorated with copper bubble nails.

This cavalry is the flag guard of Ye Zhao, the general of Guangzhou.

In fact, with the development of firearms, armor is destined to be eliminated, but at least for now, cavalry archers can still play a protective role with light soft armor. The armor of the flag guard is very similar to the armor of the forbidden army stationed in Beijing with the blue flag, but the color of the cotton armor is slightly different.

"Find a place to rest!" In the cavalry, the flag leader who rode a horse beside Ye Zhao shouted loudly.

"Phew, hoo" The guards grabbed the reins one after another, the cavalry slowly slowed down, and there was a village faintly in front of them, and several guards rode away at the moment, to see if they could find a place to live and buy some hot food.

has entered the territory of Hubei, and one or twenty miles ahead should be to the place of Hanshui Xiangfan.

When the army went to Guangdong, it was natural that it could no longer take the waterway, otherwise it would encounter the British and French fleets, and I was afraid that the whole army would be wiped out and feed the sharks.

Taking the land route to the south, it is even more necessary to bypass the battlefield in the Liangjiang area, Ye Zhaotong and the flag guards are at the forefront, and as soon as they arrive in Guangzhou, they can know the current situation in Guangzhou as soon as possible, and they can make preparations as soon as possible.

Rui Si had written a few letters, but after all, he did not know the details of the puppet regime headed by the British and French occupation forces and the governor of Guangdong, Bai Gui, but only mentioned that the merchants were forced to open the market, the streets had long since returned to calm, and Xiguan was building a church, and several missionaries had built an orphanage and a boys' school and a girls' school in Xiguan.

Ye Zhao could only sigh, although the intentions of many missionaries were good, but religion has actually always been the vanguard of armed aggression by Western civilization, and it itself is a kind of naked cultural aggression.

But the use of religion to influence China is often difficult to achieve for China, let alone the current level of xenophobia. Let's just say Yanjing City, Ma San frequently mentioned Western countries because of storytelling, but as soon as the news of the British and French occupation of Guangzhou came, Ma San was beaten up on the same day, and a few days later he went to the teahouse not to tell stories, but was beaten by a few gentlemen and vomited blood, and now he is still bedridden. Ma San has a nickname, that is, "two devils".

Ye Zhao had no choice but to send someone to send him silver and ask him to take care of it at home, so he could only caten it first, and then come out to meet people when this xenophobic limelight passed.

Two devils? Ye Zhao couldn't help but smile bitterly when he thought about it, it was himself again, so that the world had come up with this word in advance.

"Master! Take a break. Bakshi had already stood on the side of the high-headed horse that Ye Zhao was riding, waiting for Ye Zhao to dismount. The master is also dressed in soft armor, but don't get hot.

Ye Zhao nodded slightly, and when he stretched out his hand to Bakshi, he was amused, to say that with his riding skills, it is not difficult to jump from a horse and fall down, but if there is no one to support him when he gets on and off the horse, he feels weird, and Bakshi and other guards will feel that they are not doing well, and they will make themselves angry.

This loess road should lead directly to Fancheng, and the Hanshui divides Xiangyang and Fancheng into two, with Xiangyang in the south and Fancheng in the north.

If you want to cross the Han River, you want Xiangyang Mansion to recruit boats, and the more than 100 people are okay, but the rear brigade needs a large number of civilian boats to cross the river, and it just happens that Xiangyang Mansion needs to prepare in advance.

Along the way, Ye Zhao didn't alarm the government much, and a team of people could be described as sleeping in the open air, occasionally beating tooth sacrifices when passing through the city and town, and replenishing some dry food. However, in addition to sleeping, Ye Zhao didn't suffer too much, and whenever he rested, the guards could always buy some hot food from neighboring villages and towns, and Bakshi had the ability to call Hua Chicken, and often asked people to buy chickens and ducks and roast them for Ye Zhao to eat.

Under a weeping willow, Ye Zhao took out a cigar and lit it, although the body wrapped in soft armor was stuffy and unbearable, but Ye Zhao didn't take a big look at the armor to take advantage of the coolness, and he was not afraid of the habit of being a gentleman, but since he had to wear armor, he couldn't take the lead in spoiling the military style.

As the night darkens, the distant village also becomes dark, and now in the countryside, almost every family spends the night in the dark, and those who can afford to use candles and oil lamps are among the richest families.

The sound of horses' hooves came from far and near, and the guards who were on guard immediately rode their horses to meet them, and now thieves swarmed everywhere, and the more they looked south, the less peaceful they were.

It was the guards who went to the village to supply them who came back, and the head of the guards had a face, thick eyebrows and big eyes, and a fierce body. His surname is Ma, his name is Dayong, a countryman, and the word was taken by himself later. It's called not counting. But he listened to the little prince chanting a poem, "Draw the knife into a fast, live up to the boy's head", he liked it very much, so he made himself a nondescript word.

Ma Dayong's marksmanship and riding and archery are first-class in the guards, and he is extremely brave in battle. Ye Zhao once joked: "In ancient times, there were horses and Mengqi, and I have horses to live up to it." Since then, the pro-army likes to jokingly call him "super master".

At this time, Ma Dayong carried two little roosters in his hands and came to the willow tree to fight thousands, "Dashuai, the squire of the village here is surnamed Zhou, he is extremely hospitable, he offers two chicks, and he wants his family to open the pot to make rice, and steam steamed steamed bread and stewed vegetables to comfort the officials and soldiers." And don't want your own money. ”

Ye Zhao smiled bitterly in his heart, how could there be any hospitable squire? However, the further south you go, the more thieves are brave, this Xiangfan is estimated to be good, and further southeast, how is the courage of the officers and soldiers different from the thieves? Murder and arson, annihilation of silver and plunder, and false reports of military exploits when they turn back, but they are not as good as a few bandits with strict military discipline.

Although this area is still stable, it is inevitable that the officials and soldiers will go to the countryside to fight and extort some property, and the squire surnamed Zhou will see the officers and soldiers coming, how can he dare to entertain them with sincerity and fear, and how dare to accept money?

Bakshi took the little rooster in Ma Dayong's hand and said with a smile: "Master, the little chicken is fat and tender, the master has a good mouth today, roasted and eaten?" ”

Ye Zhao nodded slightly, pondered for a while, and said to Ma Dayong: "Later, go to a few more people to get the steamed bread stew to eat, don't go to other people's villages to disturb, the silver must be kept." Yes, if you go now, if he has pork in his house, ask him to put a few more slices in the dish, and tell him that his money is indispensable. "Although the matter is small, there are not a few taels of silver, and no one will know what the number of their cavalry is, and the other party's big family is not necessarily a good person, but many things are seen from small to big, and they are known from small things. As a commander, he must set an example at all times, and he can't raise a gang of bandits just because he is in troubled times.

Speaking of pork in this world, it is really a luxury, just say that ordinary people in the capital, or ordinary children of the Eight Banners, a family of three, can deal with a pound in a month, it is not bad, after all, a pound of meat costs five or six dollars of silver.

The best reward is for a soldier to eat meat regularly.

Ma Dayong chirped and took the order.

…… On the fire, the charred roast chicken exudes a rich aroma, and Bakshi is carefully sprinkling salt, which naturally comes from the big households in Zhou Village.

Ye Zhao's delicate face looked thoughtful under the beating firelight, he was pondering what about Debin, he still brought him out, please order him to help with military affairs, the prince is now the Zongren Mansion Zuo Zongzheng, naturally there is no objection, and the queen mother of the two palaces will also approve it. In fact, this assistant is in charge of military affairs, has no power or position, for the seventh brother, it is a boo, take him out by himself, hoping that he can experience experience and slowly quit his addiction to smoking.

But now he must have Fushou ointment on him, and when he arrives in Guangzhou, he will find a way to do it, if he loses opium on the way to the army, he will get sick, and he is afraid that he will have a surname and die.

Seven siblings? Ye Zhao couldn't help but shake his head, when he settled down, whether the seventh brother picked her up or not, it was a matter of the two of them, but the seventh brother loved her very much, and he was afraid that he would be reluctant to her, and he only hoped that she would abide by women's morals in the future and be better to the seventh brother.

Wealthy families, there are a lot of things that climb the ashes and steal people, and if the seventh is not investigated, it is difficult for others to say anything.

Ye Zhao thought of Sava again, when she was in Miyun, she thought about someone to send her to Shanghai, but now that China, Britain and France are at war, the Shanghai concession is not very peaceful, and she can only go south with the army, and it will be okay to have Sister-in-law Li by her side. The military camp is hidden, and the generals of the Qing Dynasty are accustomed to it; Second, Sava is a prisoner of war, and she is different.

In fact, Sister-in-law Li should be called Li Jiashi, she is a member of the Han Army, her husband died of illness in the prime of life, but she was widowed in her early twenties, and she has been observing festivals for more than 20 years, and she is really a very admirable woman. And with her ethical and moral concepts, it is natural to look at Shawa unpleasantly, and it is inevitable to have an awkward quarrel with Shawa, but bumps and bumps are also interesting things in the journey of the two, if not, how boring should it be?

Ye Zhao thought funny.

After eating chicken, Ye Zhao didn't know when he fell asleep against the willow tree. I only know that it is hazy, and Baksh is shaking a fan to repel mosquitoes for himself.

Suddenly, there seemed to be several screams in the distance, and in the dead of night, the screams that pierced the night made people feel creepy.

Ye Zhao opened his eyes suddenly.

The pro-soldiers immediately mounted their horses, and a few of them galloped towards the village where the screams were heard at Suna's command.

The dark village seemed to suddenly boil, and the shouts shook the sky, and the screams were incessant, and gradually the light of the fire was lit, and some houses were set on fire.

Ye Zhao also got on the horse and quietly looked at the village in the distance.

At about tea time, several guards who went to investigate rushed back and rolled down in front of Ye Zhaoma's horse to make a thousand reports: "Dashuai!" The mob attacked and plundered Zhuangzi! Killing people and setting fires! ”

Bakshi then turned to Ye Zhao and said, "Master, let's set off and take a detour." "After all, the flag guards are not used to wage war with the mob, and Ye Zhao's safety must be the first priority.

"How many mobs are there?" Ye Zhao frowned slightly.

"Probably no more than a hundred." The guard replied.

Ye Zhao groaned slightly, "Go and disperse them, you all go." "Although the lives of people in troubled times are like mustard, but if you can save a few lives, you can't stand by and watch after all.

"Wow!"

Bakshi led a few guards to guard Ye Zhao's side, and the rest of the hundred and ten horsemen under the leadership of Suna were like sharp arrows to the village where the firelight had already stained half the sky red.

And after the meal, under the moonlight, I saw a group of people running in the shadows on the loess road, screaming, shouting and scolding, and making a mess.

Ma Dayong was guarding Ye Zhao's side, and at this moment he hurriedly rode his horse to meet him, shouting: "Stop!" Otherwise, don't kill! ”

Immediately, there was a wail from the crowd, and some women wept loudly.

Ma Dayong pulled out his long waist knife and rode over, but he was stunned for a moment, turned around and said loudly: "Dashuai, Zhou Shanren is inside." ”

In this group of fleeing people, there were men and women in their twenties and thirties, all of them looked frightened like lost birds, some were limping, and some seemed to be injured and stained with blood.

The white fat man headed by him is a wealthy family in the village, surnamed Zhou, stingy and tight, and it is common to deduct the wages of long-term workers, but he likes others to call him Zhou Shanren.

Zhou Shanren was carrying his old mother on his back, and he was out of breath when he ran, and the long-term workers who ran out of him wanted to help him carry it, but he didn't do it.

At this time, Zhou Shanren was overjoyed when he suddenly saw Ma Dayong, and hurriedly shouted: "Master Jun, Master Jun help!" Only then did I understand that the officers and soldiers who had just suddenly come out in the village to disperse the thieves turned out to be a gang of military masters who bought hot food for themselves.

Ma Dayong saw Ye Zhao beckoning, and then said to Zhou Shandao: "You go over, the big handsome asks," and said to the rest of the fleeing crowd: "All wait here." ”

Seeing that his saber was cold in the moonlight, who would dare to move?

"Grass man Zhou Fuxiang has seen a handsome!" Zhou Shanren arrived in front of Ye Zhaoma, kowtowing respectfully, these years, although he dared to be a handsome man when he was a soldier, but the most unprovoked person was also a soldier, which annoyed them, more bandits than bandits, the more respectful they were, the better.

"What's going on? Where did the mob come from? Ye Zhao asked puzzled.

Zhou Shanren cried with a sad face: "I knew, I knew that these people were going to rebel sooner or later, Denghua taught, I knew Xin'er, but no one believed it?" These gang of thieves have already discussed, Zhu Zhongli is the king, the second year of high school will be the governor, Feng San will be the general, and Fan Erwa will be the marshal, but I said it, no one believes it! ”

Ye Zhao was slightly surprised, it sounded like this Lantern Flower Sect was quite large-scale.

As he spoke, Zhou Shanren said anxiously: "Dashuai, Dashuai, let's go quickly, there are thousands of anti-thieves in the second year of high school, I am afraid that Fancheng will be occupied, just now my Zhuangzi killed people and set fire, all of them are the anti-thieves of the Lantern Flower Sect in the neighboring village, but there are not many people, but my Zhou family is a famous big family in this neighborhood, and I have a grudge against the second year of high school, he will come to kill me in a blink of an eye!" ”

As he was talking, the sound of horses' hooves came from far and near, and one of the guards rolled off his horse and said loudly: "Handsome! More than 1,000 thieves came from the direction of Fancheng! ”

Zhou Shanren's face turned pale immediately, he got up and wanted to run, but after taking two steps, he finally knelt down and kowtowed to Ye Zhao: "Handsome!" I don't ask for anything else, you, take my old mother away! I, I'm not filial, but, but I can't let the old mother add a blade! As he spoke, he kowtowed again and again, almost knocking blood.

The old man he was carrying was always sixty or seventy years old, with gray hair and dull eyes, probably suffering from Alzheimer's disease, and he didn't know anything about it.

Dozens of fleeing men and women over there heard that the mob was coming, and immediately howled loudly, got up one after another, and ran to the wheat field, and Ma Dayong would not intercept him.

The sound of horses' hooves sounded in the distance, and Suna led the hundred-man team to gallop over.

Ye Zhao sighed softly in his heart, in a troubled world, everything will not follow his own wishes after all, whether this Lamplight Sect is a demagogic cult or a righteous army that does not offend the people, now that he is in Fancheng, can he throw off his sleeves and leave? Of course, you can walk, do you want all the brave people in the artillery battalion to take a detour?

From now on, I am only afraid that my hands will be stained with the blood of my countrymen.

I just hope that in the end, everything I do is worth it.

Ye Zhao closed his eyes, took a few deep breaths, then opened his eyes and said loudly: "Flag guards listen to orders!" ”

"In!" A shout that resounded through the sky.

Ye Zhao raised his horsewhip and pointed to the north, shouting: "Prepare to break the enemy!" ”

"Wow!"

The pro-soldiers shouted in unison, and then drove their horses out.

Soon, two rows of 100 pro-soldiers lined up on the loess road, and the left and right flanks lined up into the wheat field.

Zhou Shanren really wanted to die, he knew that the officers and soldiers were all bastards, and he had never encountered such a bastard, so many people wanted to fight against the thousands of thugs who killed people without blinking? Isn't this looking for death? If you want to say that the officers and soldiers are so frightened when they encounter thieves and soldiers that they run away, they have heard a lot, and they have never seen their heads cut off by others, aren't they even more bastards? You're not afraid of death, give me the horse, I can escape?

Zhou Shanren was helpless in his heart, he didn't dare to say this, he could see that this hussar was gorgeous, and the leader was a young general, maybe it was a son in the provincial capital who didn't know the height of the sky, and this kind of boy could only coax.

Zhou Shanren kowtowed and said: "When the handsome heavenly army arrives, the thieves will inevitably collapse, but the handsome body is worth a thousand gold, why should he be entangled with the reckless?" According to the small foolish opinion, today it is said that the thieves will have a way to live, and then they will be killed. ”

Ye Zhao couldn't cry or laugh, and he felt that he would also be the second ancestor.

He nodded and said, "You're right, follow me." ”

Zhou Shanren was overjoyed, seeing Ye Zhao drive the horse down the wheat field, although he didn't know what he meant, but he still followed the old mother on his back, and saw Ye Zhao go to a mound to hold the reins, and the two armor soldiers who had been following him also stopped their horses, Zhou Shanren trotted with the old mother on his back for a while, snorting and panting, and took a breath for a while, and asked Ye Zhao cautiously: "Dashuai, where are we going?" ”

Ye Zhao smiled slightly, "Look how to break the enemy!" ”

Zhou Shanren called out in his heart, why can't this person listen to people? I still have to die here for a long time, and I don't have the strength anymore, so I sit on the ground softly.

The guard next to him handed Ye Zhao a clairvoyant mirror, Ye Zhao looked south, but although there was moonlight, it was the darkness before dawn, and the clairvoyant mirror could not reach far in the dark light after all, and he could only see that there seemed to be a figure shaking in the south.

Ye Zhaosuo put down the clairvoyant mirror, and after the meal, he saw a group of people coming densely in the south, and Ye Zhao raised the clairvoyant mirror again. The sky was slightly bright, but I saw that some of these people had yellow faces and thin muscles, and some of them were generally stunted, and some were tall and hideous-looking, and the guys in their hands had not only steel knives and spears, but also hoes and forks and other farm tools.

What makes people feel cold in the bottom of their hearts is that their expressions are so numb and indifferent, as if they are all lifeless, just driven by the most instinctive **.

"Bang bang bang!" Finally, the flag guard platoon gun fired.

The mob in front of them fell like scarecrows, but they still walked forward like this, as if they were stepping on the corpse of their close comrade-in-arms just now.

"Listen, disciples! They have food! There is horse meat! Kill them all! Someone shouted, and then, Ye Zhao was in the binoculars, and saw that the eyes of these mobs suddenly burst out with terrifying greed, and their steps were even bigger, and the front ones were already running slowly, and there seemed to be a few words on everyone's faces, "We want to eat."

"Bang bang bang", there was another row of guns, and there were more fallen mobs, but more and more mobs jogged up and poured up like a tide towards the flag guards.

"Red Dragon Lord Year! Invulnerable! Someone shouted clearly.

The mob had fanatical expressions on their faces, and they ran faster and faster.

Zhou Shanren looked at this scene and closed his eyes in despair, it's over, it's over, he can even imagine the scene of these cavalry being torn apart by them.

There was a trumpet from the flag guard, and then all the cavalry rode back almost at the same time, galloped out of a distance, and aimed and fired again, and the action of reloading was already completed when the horses retreated.

More than a dozen figures fell, and the mob that was running behind them was immediately tripped and fell to the ground, and then trampled by the crowd that surged up behind, screaming incessantly.

After a few rounds of cavalry shooting, finally, Ye Zhao saw the mob's faces showing fear and confusion from the clairvoyant mirror.

Ye Zhao waved his hand, "Blow the trumpet!" "But my heart is very heavy.

"Hmm!" The guards on his side blew a long horn.

"Kill!" The shouts shook the earth, and the flag guards swung their sabers in a cold light, and suddenly gathered in formation, and swept towards the mob like a blue whirlwind.

Under the saber, the mob fell like straw one by one, and under the back and forth of the hussars, there was hardly any way to fight back.

"Poof" Suna slashed off the head of the senior brother who shouted "invulnerability", and the mob finally collapsed and fled in all directions.

"Collect the troops!" Ye Zhao waved his hand.

"Hmm! Not! Not! The horn sounded a short sound, and the cavalry, which was chasing the mob like a whirlwind, quickly and lightly left the battlefield and slowly assembled on the loess road.

Ye Zhao turned his head to the guard beside him and said: "Go to Fancheng, if Fancheng is in the hands of the mob, you can shoot a letter into the city and tell them that if you don't surrender quickly, you will be killed!" ”

"Wow!" The guards galloped away.

Zhou Shanren looked at this scene dumbfounded, and said in his heart My mother, this, this is too strong, our Great Qing Kingdom still has such a soldier who can carry things and fight? Where did it come from?

Ye Zhao also looked at Zhou Shanren at this time, and said lightly: "Go back to the village, see that you still have filial piety, but don't forget the difficulty of today, and do more good deeds in the future!" ”

"Yes, yes!" Zhou Shanren kowtowed respectfully, this time he was really sincere, "Handsome, can you see the name!" I'll go back to set up a shrine for you, and say that I will eat fasting and pray for the Buddha to be handsome! ”

"No need! Come back quickly! Ye Zhao said, riding his horse and galloping towards the loess road.

Looking at Ye Zhao's back blankly, Zhou Shanren said that no matter what, he had to inquire about the name of this life-saving benefactor, such a young hero, if he wants to be famous, it is not difficult to find out.

(To be continued)