Only then did he realize that behind him was the city wall of Qingpu County, which had been attacked for several days, and on both sides was the turbulent moat, but in front of him was a powerful opponent that could not be defeated at present.

The pirates circled on their own, it was impossible to enter the city, and jumping into the river was no different from committing suicide, only to fight to the death with this strange and powerful army in front of them, and perhaps there was a way to survive.

So one of the leading Japanese robbers shouted, holding the Japanese sword tightly with both hands, and slashed bravely towards the Sanyin Township that firmly blocked the bridge. Seeing this, the morale of the nearly ten would-be robbers behind him and around him was boosted, and they also rushed to attack with their swords.

However, what they are facing now is not the honest and unarmed Han people, nor the poorly equipped and evacuated Jiangnan official army, but the elite soldiers who have been carefully trained according to the regulations of the old Youyan Dao army.

I saw that these elite soldiers were not in a hurry, and when they saw that the opponent was attacking sharply, they did not engage with their short soldiers and fight with their lives, but the soldiers of the Dangya battalion who stood at the forefront took half a step forward and raised a heavy iron shield to meet the Japanese sword.

The so-called "Dangya Battalion" is the elite dead soldiers who stood at the front of the team when the old Youyandao army was fighting with the Turkic warriors who were skilled in archery and horses, in order to protect the entire battle array. They did not fall behind in the face of the Turkic knights who came and went without a trace and were quick to shoot their arrows, and they were even more calm and determined in the confrontation with the Japanese who were far inferior to the Turks in their command organization.

The Japanese swords were long and sharp, but they lacked enough toughness to barely have an advantage when they slashed the rudimentary rattan cards under Jinling City before. Now in the confrontation with the thick iron shield specially built by the craftsmen of the army, it is undoubtedly the strength of one's own short-cut attack - several swords collided violently with the giant shield made of steel, and a dazzling spark appeared, and then it was shattered in two. The rest of the Japanese who were armed with swords were also numb due to the huge reaction force, and they could only barely hold the swords in their hands, and their combat effectiveness was immediately greatly reduced.

These township warriors in Shanyin County narrowly defeated the Japanese in Jinling City, and knew that now was a good time to counterattack, so the strong soldiers hiding behind the giant shield immediately stepped forward half a step, stepped forward and stabbed the Japanese with a Japanese knife of the same length through the gap between the two giant shields, and stabbed the Japanese in the waist and eye.

This method of warfare was very efficient, and in only one confrontation, the twenty or so Japanese who stood at the front were either killed on the spot or seriously wounded.

If it is an ordinary army, in such a good situation, many soldiers want to take the enemy's head and pick up the enemy's belongings, so that they can have this more silver after the war. This can easily lead to confusion in the formation of their own side, and some experienced generals who are familiar with the art of war will also take this opportunity to organize a counterattack by the defeated army and turn the tide of the battle in one fell swoop.

However, the discipline of the army under the command of Zhao Chengxiao was so strict, in the face of the low-hanging fruit, there was no greed at all, continued to maintain the previous formation, slowly and steadily moved forward, repeating the extremely effective tactical actions just now, and in the blink of an eye, killing and wounding more than 20 Japanese robbers.

Just when the situation was very good, Zhao Chengxiao seemed to have noticed something unusual, raised the flag, and ordered the soldiers to stop attacking.

Qiu Yizhi was puzzled when he saw this, but he saw Zhao Chengxiao running quickly in front of him, and said to him: "My lord, you see that the terrain in front of you is gradually narrowing, if you continue to advance, I am afraid that if you break the current formation, although you will not be seized by the Japanese invaders to counterattack, it may also increase casualties." ”

Qiu Yi's hand set up a pergola and looked forward, and sure enough, he saw that the "Dangya Battalion" in the front row of the team had stepped on the bridge in front of the west gate of Qingpu County.

This stone arch bridge is not too narrow in the south of the Yangtze River, but it can only accommodate five or six people side by side.

So Qiu Yizhi discussed with Lin Shuhan, and then said to Zhao Chengxiao: "It's not difficult. Thou shalt tell the brothers of the battalion to stand guard at the head of the bridge, and not to go any further. Let the crossbowmen line up and shoot along the river. The pirates have no bows and arrows, and you shoot them all to death with a few volleys? ”

Zhao Chengxiao suddenly realized: "My lord really has a good plan." With that, he turned around and deployed.

After a while, Zhao Chengxiao had already lined up the formation according to Qiu Yizhi's method, and the crossbowmen standing along the river also began to fire into the Japanese thicket one after another.

Cornered, the pirates stood in front of the unsheltered gates, like targets, shot down by their point-accurate crossbow arrows.

The Qingpu soldiers and civilians, who had been holding on for several days, were also very excited when they saw that the officers and soldiers had the upper hand, and they beckoned to remove the bricks and tiles from the broken walls of the city, and smashed them on the heads of the Japanese from the top of the city wall.

Rao is is extremely fierce and tenacious, and he can't withstand such a belly and back attack, and in the blink of an eye, most of the dead and wounded are already killed, and the rest are still panting to know that if they continue to fight like this, they will have no physiology. So a few of the would-be robbers used their swords in their hands, which were only as wide as two fingers, to resist the arrows that flew like locusts, and at the same time they gathered together to discuss a few words, and rushed to the bridge with a loud shout.

However, the head of the bridge is full of soldiers on the inner and outer three floors, and the huge shield with a height of one person is like a city wall, and no matter how the Japanese invade it, they are ruthlessly pushed back.

Because the Japanese were too close to the camp, the crossbowmen were afraid that the salvo would accidentally damage their allies, so they had to aim carefully before firing their arrows. It took a lot of effort to shoot all the pirates to the ground, and it was already the evening when the golden wuxi fell.

This battle was also very fierce at the beginning, but the more you beat San'in Xiangyong, the greater the advantage, until in the end, it has become a one-sided massacre without pressure. Therefore, although the battle dragged on for a long time, the intensity of the battle was not very large—at least for Qiu Yizhi's side.

Therefore, Qiu Yizhi saw that his soldiers were still physically strong, so he asked Zhao Chengxiao to light torches, lanterns, pine lights and other things, clean the battlefield overnight, and count the results.

At this time, the west gate of Qingpu County, which had been closed for a long time, finally opened, and the county commander Huang Wangang led several squires and elders out of the city gate, crossed the corpses of countless Japanese robbers, and walked to Qiu Yizhi, and said deeply: "Thanks to Lord Qiu's help, otherwise my little Qingpu County will be slaughtered by the Japanese invaders today." ”

Qiu Yizhi saw that the county order was full of dirt, and the clothes and robes were also very dirty, obviously sticking to the city wall in the past few days, and he didn't even have the time to bathe and change clothes, and he was quite impressed in his heart, so he said: "The Japanese are fierce and brutal, Qingpu County can hold on for ten days to avoid being poisoned by the Japanese invaders, and the Huang County Lord can be said to have made great contributions." ”

He pointed at the squires behind Huang Wangang and said, "The strong support of the people is also indispensable!" ”

When everyone heard his praise, no one was unhappy, so they greeted each other politely.

At this time, Zhao Chengxiao had also counted the results of the battle and reported a few words in Qiu Yizhi's ear.

Qiu Yizhi really has a good memory, nodded after listening, and arched his hand towards Huang Wangang, the commander of Qingpu County, and said, "Brother Zhao, my subordinate has already ascertained the results of the battle. A total of 402 Japanese were killed and 119 were wounded and captured. He paused and said, "In the opinion of the lower officials, the Japanese are not familiar with human nature, and even if they are treated well, they can't be moved, so it's better to kill them on the spot." ”

This battle was won by Qiu Yizhi's people, Huang Wangang naturally had nothing to say, and said: "Lord Qiu is thoughtful and thoughtful. And he agreed.

Qiu Yizhi thought about it again and said, "In this way, a total of five hundred and twenty-one beheadings will be beheaded. It is difficult to verify which of these were killed in your county a few days ago, and which of them were killed today. Why don't you divide it into 300 levels for your county? ”

This Huang Wangang is neither a corrupt official nor a capable official, he is a county magistrate in a small county town in Qingpu, and he is unknown in the entire Jiangnan Province officialdom. At the beginning of the year, when His Royal Highness Zheng Xin was cleaning the officialdom in Jiangnan, he didn't notice the petty officials in this corner.

Therefore, the promotion speed of this small county commander Huang Wangang is extremely slow, and he has been in the position of a seven-rank official for more than ten years, almost standing still, and seeing that he is getting older, he is almost losing hope for the future.

However, today he was a blessing in disguise, and under the heavy pressure of the Japanese invaders, he couldn't help but keep the county seat, and even got 300 heads out of thin air. If this military exploit is declared, then he will be truly implemented in this year's evaluation of a "distinctive" examination language, and there will be no mistake in the next two years for the official administration, and he will be promoted to the sixth-grade official in the third year - maybe he will be a late bloomer from now on and soar to the sky!

Therefore, Huang Wangang was stunned when he heard this, suppressed the excitement in his heart and asked, "What?" Your Excellency wants to give me 300 heads? Is this true? ”

Of course it's true.

With Qiu Yizhi's status and status, it is completely unnecessary to fight for the feats of these flies and mosquitoes, if it is not for the same dust as the light so as not to appear too high, he can give all the feats of these more than 500 heads to Huang Wangang.

Therefore, Qiu Yizhi nodded with a smile and said, "Why did Lord Huang say this? These widows were killed by you and me fighting side by side, and everyone has merit, and there is no 'let' word. Lord Huang deserves it. ”

Huang Wangang listened to the great joy and tried to restrain his happy mood so as not to appear too frivolous, but the muscles at the corners of his mouth twitched involuntarily, but betrayed him without reservation.

Qiu Yizhi has been mixed in the officialdom for a long time, and he is already surprised by the officials' "meritorious, happy, worried" mood and anger, so he didn't pay attention to him, but said: "However, in this battle, the lower officials captured sixty-three fake widows, they were originally Han people, and many of them were from my Jiangnan Province, I don't know what Lord Huang thinks should be done?" ”

Huang Wangang was overjoyed, and said without thinking about it: "These people are acting for the tiger and doing a lot of evil, and the crime of 'connecting with foreign countries' is enough for them to die several times." If you follow the following opinion, it is better to behead them together, so that the other small people can be some vigilant. ”

Qiu Yizhi's face sank and said, "I don't think it's appropriate to do this. As the saying goes, 'There is a people who are uneasy in the realm, and it is also the duty of the shepherd'. These officials also know that although they are not honest and good citizens, they are not extremely vicious, and most of them are still desperate or coerced by the Japanese bandits. God has the virtue of a good life, and I think that if you kill it indiscriminately with a quick knife, it will inevitably be a little wronged. ”

Huang Wangang had just received Qiu Yizhi's great favor, and he heard that he, a small magistrate, also had a lot of access in the center of the imperial court, so that he could pull down the dignified Jiangnan Provincial Assassin Shi Yin Chengliang, so he didn't dare to oppose it directly, and said very respectfully: "The lower officials are stupid, and how to deal with it depends on the decision of the adults." The tone was as if a subordinate was speaking to a superior.

Qiu Yizhi pondered for a while, but asked Zhao Chengxiao to escort all the captured "fake widows" to him.