When Zeng Zhilin and Yang Xin came to the front hall, the guards were already fully armed, holding guns on guard, while waiting for the leaders to give orders. At this time, the gunfire outside gradually began to intensify, and it was estimated that more and more guards were joining the battle. Zeng Zhilin instructed the two guards: "Liu Yong, Zhao Li, the two of you immediately go to Captain Chang, ask about the situation outside, and come back quickly to report." ”

"Yes," the two named guards bowed and turned out of the tavern.

The two guards went out, and Liu Jiye and his two entourages also rushed to the hall, and all three of them had a single knife in their hands. Liu Jiye stepped forward and asked Zeng Zhilin: "Outside Zeng Yuan, what happened outside, is there a strong man entering the village?" ”

Zeng Zhilin said: "The specific situation is still unclear, but it is indeed very likely that there are strong people entering the village." Someone has been sent to inquire below, and there should be a reply soon. ”

Liu Jiye listened to it and said disapprerovitically: "In this case, let's go out and have a look." If there are really strong people who have knives in their hands to talk to them, why bother waiting here? ”

Zeng Zhilin waved his hand and said, "This matter is not urgent at this time. If there weren't many strong men from outside, the guards below could handle it. If there are a large number of strongmen, then it will be detrimental to us if we rush out so rashly. It's better to understand the situation outside before making a decision. ”

Liu Jiye saw that Zeng Zhilin was unwilling to fight immediately, thinking that he was timid and afraid, and looked down on him a little, so he waved his hand and said: "Since Zeng is unwilling to take risks, it is inconvenient for the young general to force it, wait for the young general to clean up the strongmen outside, and then come to talk to the outside." ”

After saying that, he rushed out of the tavern with two of his attendants. Seeing this, Zeng Zhilin knew that the future "Golden Sword Linggong" regarded his caution and trust in his subordinates as cowardice. It's just that he can't explain to the other party, saying that his subordinates are well-armed, well-equipped, and well-trained, and in such a precautionary situation, even if he comes to a hundred and eighty bandits, he will not curry favor with them.

Therefore, in addition to shaking his head helplessly, Zeng Zhilin neither blindly followed Liu Jiye out of the tavern, nor did he pull the other party to explain, but asked Yang Xin to wait for news here, and he went to meet Yu Wende and Song Feiyang by himself, so that the two of them did not have to worry, and took out two 95 automatic rifles, an infrared telescope, and an infrared sight from the room for use when the situation changed.

Zeng Zhilin took the modern equipment from the room, and then prepared to knock on the door of the room where Yu and Song lived. As a result, before he could raise his hand, the door had already opened, and Yu Wende and Song Feiyang hurriedly walked out of it, almost colliding with Zeng Zhilin head-on. When the two saw Zeng Zhilin standing at the door, Yu Wende asked, "Old Twenty-six, what's going on outside, why do I sound like someone is shooting?" ”

Zeng Zhilin replied: "I don't know the specific situation, brother, it is estimated that there are bandits and robbers who have entered the village to loot, and my brother has already sent someone to find out." The third brother can rest assured, with his brothers and guards, he will be fine. ”

Yu Wende nodded when he heard this, and said, "Then let's go to the front hall to see if the person who inquired about the news has returned." ”

Zeng Zhilin nodded yes, and returned to the hall of the tavern with Yu and Song. At this time, the two guards who went to inquire about the news had already returned, and they also brought back a soldier from the Ranger squad, and the three of them were reporting the situation to Yang Xin. Seeing this, Zeng Zhilin stepped forward and asked Yang Xin, "How is the situation?" ”

Yang Xin pointed at the ranger and said, "Tell the twenty-sixth master again what you just said." ”

"Yes" The ranger responded, turned to Zeng Zhilin and said, "Twenty-sixth master, Captain Chang ordered his subordinates to report to several masters, there are about more than a hundred bandits and robbers who want to take advantage of the night to loot the village, and our sentry found and shot down the bandits who walked in the front. The bandits tried to attack when they saw that the sneak attack was unsuccessful, but our men arrived in time and stopped them outside the village. Now the enemy and us are still in a stalemate near the entrance of the village, and Captain Chang asked his subordinates to ask a few masters for instructions on whether they need to rush out of the village and drive the bandits away. ”

Hearing that there were only more than 100 bandits, Zeng and Yang were relieved, and this was just a piece of cake for the guards of the three squads. As for whether they want to go out of the village and drive them away, we have to see it on the spot. So, Zeng Zhilin discussed with Yang Xinluo and ordered: "Liu Yong, Zhao Li, you and you follow a certain and twenty-fifth brother to the entrance of the village to have a look, and the other guards stay here to protect the third brother and the twenty-second brother." ”,

"Yes," the guards agreed. Afterwards, Zeng and Yang left the tavern with two guards and the ranger, while the remaining guards quickly occupied various vantage points and were on full alert.

When Zeng and Yang came to the vicinity of the village entrance with a few soldiers, the firing of flintlock pistols had stopped. Zeng and Yang thought that the bandits had been suppressed and did not dare to attack again for the time being, but when they listened carefully, they didn't look like it. Although the gunfire had stopped, the shouts of people and the clashing of weapons could still be heard from time to time. This made Zeng and Yang feel very strange, thinking to themselves how this captain Chang Sheng Junchang commanded, how could he not use a musket that could kill the enemy from a long distance, but instead fight the enemy at close range. Although it is not a full moon now, the moon is not too small tonight, especially after a day of rain during the day, the night sky after the rain is quite clear, and it does not affect the soldiers to use firearms to aim. Could it be that the soldiers were in a hurry to meet the battle, and they didn't have much ammunition on their bodies, so they had already run out of work?

Zeng and Yang were puzzled, and it happened that Chang Shengjun had already greeted him at this time. So, Zeng Zhilin stepped forward and asked, "Captain Chang, how is the situation ahead?" How do you hear that our soldiers seem to be fighting the enemy hand-to-hand? weishenme without muskets? ”

Chang Shengjun smiled bitterly when he heard this, and said: "Second master, it's not that my subordinates don't want to use muskets, it's really inconvenient to use. You can find out the specific situation by going to the front. ”

Chang Shengjun's answer made Zeng and Yang very puzzled, and they couldn't understand that it was inconvenient for Weishenme to use a musket. So, under the leadership of Chang Shengjun, the two came to the house of a villager at the entrance of the village, climbed on the roof of the house, and looked not far outside the village.

At a glance, Zeng and Yang finally understood what Chang Shengjun meant when he said this. I saw two rows of troops on both sides of the official road outside the village, and the soldiers on one side of the village seemed to be under their command, and the other side must be the attacking bandits. And above the official road, there are two people who are fighting alone. As the bodies of the two of them flashed and moved, using various moves, the weapons of both sides were at the right time, making a crisp bumping sound, which attracted bursts of applause from the soldiers watching the battle on both sides.

Although it is impossible to see the specific appearance of the opponent because of the light and distance, Zeng and Yang can almost be 100% sure that one of them is definitely General Liu Jiye and Liu Xiao. Zeng and Yang looked at each other and smiled bitterly, shook their heads together, and then cast inquiring glances at Chang Shengjun together, trying to understand how the future "Golden Sword Linggong" would fight alone with each other.

Chang Shengjun hurriedly approached the two of them and said: "Second master, after the subordinates heard the gunfire of the sentry, they immediately rushed to the entrance of the village with the soldiers guarding the carriages and horses, and stopped them with intensive shooting while these bandits had not yet rushed into the village. Later, as more and more of us became more and more people, the bandits were suppressed in the vicinity of the official road and the official road. However, although they could not get close to the village, they showed no sign of withdrawing immediately.

At that time, the subordinates did not dare to act rashly because they were afraid that the other party would have an ambush, but sent people to ask for instructions from several masters to see if they should take people out of the village to drive the bandits farther. But the orders of the masters did not wait, but they waited for General Liu. He was a little unhappy when he saw that his subordinates were only guarding the entrance of the village with their people and did not take the initiative to fight the bandits. His subordinates hurriedly explained to him the reason why he didn't attack, but after General Liu was silent for a while, he suddenly began to loudly reprimand his subordinates for being timid and afraid of death, not the husband's doing.

I think that General Liu's words were heard by those bandits, so one of the bandits shouted here, saying that they came out to loot because they were helpless, if it wasn't for the lack of food, no one would come out to do this kind of thing. He also said that in order to reduce casualties on both sides, he was willing to fight alone with the leaders on this side. If he loses, he will immediately take people away, and if he wins, we only need to leave the coil and the goods, and he can let us live.

As a result, before his subordinates could refuse, General Liu had already agreed loudly and rushed out of the village, but it was too late for his subordinates to pull at that time. Fortunately, the bandits on the other side still talked about some righteousness, and did not take the opportunity to sneak attack General Liu, but really sent someone to fight with him alone. Seeing that the matter had come to this point, his subordinates had to send some soldiers to suppress the position of General Liu, and ordered other soldiers to be on guard to prevent the other party from cheating. ”,

After listening to Chang Shengjun's account, Zeng Zhilin's perception of this future famous general changed greatly, and he said to Yang Xin helplessly: "I said Twenty-sixth brother, it seems that the 'Golden Sword Linggong' General Yang was also a brave and ruthless person when he was young." Obviously, the other party saw that the situation was unfavorable to him and wanted to redeem the defeat through this way of fighting alone, why did our Yang Invincible General Yang agree to the other party's request? ”

Yang Xin didn't think so, he patted Zeng Zhilin's shoulder and said, "Brother, don't just look at the surface of the problem, think more about the substance." In my opinion, this General Yang is not brave and ruthless, but has his own ideas.

First, there are at least sixty or seventy people who can move the bandits on the opposite side, and if he doesn't use this method to stabilize the other party, these bandits are likely to see that the situation is not good and scatter in a hurry. In that case, after we leave, won't the villagers here still have to suffer? So, he used this method that he thought was most appropriate to deal with this gang of bandits. I think that when he loudly reprimanded Captain Chang, he deliberately said it to the bandits, so that the other party thought that he was a stunned young man and thought that he had a chance, so that he could better achieve his goal of keeping the bandits.

Second, presumably he didn't take these bandits and grass robbers seriously at all, and was full of confidence in defeating the other party. What's more, even if he is not the praised Yang Invincible now, he is still a general of the Northern Han Dynasty and Liu Chong's adopted grandson. If he let a group of rabble who robbed houses and houses slipped away from under his nose, then what kind of face would he have to go back to Taiyuan. ”

Zeng Zhilin listened to Yang Xin's explanation and felt that it made sense, so he nodded and didn't say anything more. Then he raised the infrared telescope in his hand and carefully observed the bandits' team and the mountains on their side. As a result, he really found some problems under this look. I saw that on the mountain on the side of the bandits, on a hill not far from the official road, there was a figure looking sneakily at the official road. And in his hand, it seems that he is also holding something similar to a crossbow arrow. This immediately aroused Zeng Zhilin's vigilance, and he readjusted the telescope, carefully identified it, and determined that the person in his hand should be a crossbow arrow.

So, he hurriedly said to Yang Xin: "Brother, there seems to be someone on the opposite mountain, it is estimated that he will be unfavorable to General Liu." Your marksmanship is better than mine, so it's better for you to kill him. After speaking, he handed the infrared telescope to Yang Xin, and roughly pointed to the location of the bandits' ambush.

Yang Xin took the binoculars and looked at them carefully, and said, "Yes, that guy is definitely not well-intentioned." Brother rest assured, the distance measured by the telescope is less than 200 meters, and the head brother of this guy is nine out of ten. ”

After speaking, Yang Xin returned the telescope to Zeng Zhilin, loaded the infrared scope onto the 95 automatic rifle, and then leaned down, aimed in a lying position, and put the thief firmly in the middle of the scope, as long as the other party had any abnormal movement, he would immediately pull the trigger and send this guy to the western sky.

The conversation between Zeng and Yang just now and the series of actions that followed made Chang Shengjun confused, and he didn't understand who the "Yang Linggong and Yang Invincible" in the mouths of these two masters were, and he didn't understand how the two masters could find that there was an enemy ambush on the opposite mountain bag just a few times when they fiddled with the things in their hands. Even his eyes, which he had always called a night owl, could not have seen a figure more than a hundred steps away on a night like this.

Although Chang Shengjun was full of question marks, since the second master didn't plan to explain it to him, he couldn't ask directly, so he could only ponder it by himself. Just when he mobilized all his knowledge and tried to solve the mystery, he was interrupted by Zeng Zhilin. I listened to Zeng Zhilin's instructions: "Captain Chang, you immediately send an order down and order our soldiers to be vigilant, and once the twenty-fifth brother has a move here, he will immediately attack and attack the bandits on the official road." ”

"Yes," Chang replied. Then he threw all the doubts in his heart out of the clouds, and came down from the roof to give the order.

At this time, the fight on the official road has gradually divided the winner and loser. The bandit was obvious that he could only parry, but he had no power to fight back. Under Liu Jiye's knife-like attack, he retreated again and again, and he was about to become a ghost under the knife. At the same time, Zeng Zhilin, who had been staring at the bandit team through the infrared telescope, found that one of the bandits quietly took a few steps back, then turned around and took something out of his arms and shook it. Immediately after, in the infrared telescope, the brightness in front of the bandit's body became stronger. Although Zeng Zhilin couldn't see what was in his hand, he was sure that it was definitely an object with relatively high heat, and it was likely to be a fire-inducing thing such as a fire fold. From this, Zeng Zhilin also judged that this person should be signaling to his companion on the mountain bag, so he hurriedly said to Yang Xin: "Brother, there is a guy who is signaling to the mountain bag, you carefully keep an eye on the ambush bandit." ”

Yang Xin replied: "Don't worry, I'm keeping an eye on him." Well, this kid seems to be about to make a move, so Lao Tzu will send him to see Lord Yama. With that, he pulled his index finger on the trigger slightly, and with a "bang", a 5.8mm rifle bullet flew out of the muzzle of the Type 95 automatic rifle and flew towards the unlucky head that was about to plot against others.

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