Chapter 2 (Five)

The laughter in the restaurant soon stopped, to be precise, everyone's laughter was forced back into their throats by the expressions on the faces of Li Xu and Qin Ziying. Li Xu, who rarely smiled, had a blue face, his hand pressed on the handle of the knife on his waist, and his five fingers kept opening and closing. Qin Ziying, on the other hand, opened a pair of poetic eyes wide, and his fingers poked straight out of the window.

"Fire, fire......" Qin Ziying, who has been reading since childhood, was so nervous that she couldn't finish her words. In fact, there was no need for him to speak more completely, and the sound of the horn in the north wind passed through the window, waking everyone who was half drunk in an instant.

"It's in the direction of the barracks!" Liu Hongji was the first to jump up and rush down the stairs. The rudimentary wooden ladder was staggered by his step, and it was almost ready to collapse at any moment.

At this juncture, no one cares about the safety of their feet. The staircase shook more and more violently, and the whole restaurant swayed with it. A few drinkers in the next room poked their heads out and cursed the street, and when they saw the boys who were rushing down quickly, they quickly retracted their heads again. Wang Yuantong and others don't like to bully people, but the yellow uniform is enough to ensure that they are not bullied by others. (Note 1)

"Master, master, you haven't paid the bill yet!" The shopkeeper of the restaurant saw that everyone wanted to leave, so he hurriedly rushed out. Wang Yuantong pushed him away and scolded: "Grandma, I've blinded your dog's eyes, when did the master take your account on credit!" Get out of here, Tang Gong points soldiers! ”

The shopkeeper didn't dare to stop again, and squatted on the edge of the door frame with a sad face. Qi Poning, who was walking behind Wang Yuantong, casually threw down a money bag and shouted, "Count it yourself, and the rest will be stored on your cabinet." If you dare to hack your money, be careful of your ass! ”

"Hey, hey, don't dare, villain don't dare!" The shopkeeper, who already considered himself unlucky, was overjoyed and held a small bag of copper coins again and again. From the weight, he could deduce that the copper coins in the bag were probably half hanging. Huaiyuan Town is a small place, and there are no expensive dishes. Five hundred dollars is enough for these plague gods in front of them to come ten times or eight times.

A guy had already brought everyone's war horses closer, and he didn't know if he had drunk too much or was too nervous, Qin Ziying's boots slid around on the side of the stirrup, but he couldn't recognize the stirrup. Liu Hongji looked impatient, stretched out his big hand, and carried him on the back of the horse by the collar. In Qi Ziying's screams, everyone shook off the reins, and the wind rushed towards their own camp.

Along the way, officers who had come out to drink joined the team, and in a few moments they had gathered into a small group. Some people take the lead, some people break off, even if they don't have such a tacit understanding when they go out to exercise.

The entire military camp was awakened from sleep by the sound of horns, and the boys who usually did not train hard were crooked in their helmets and stood in the wind and snow with pale faces watching the fire. And the light of the fire that illuminated half of the sky was five miles outside the city, and the faint shouts of killing and the sound of war drums were sent into the ears by the wind from time to time.

Tang Gong Li Yuan had already come to the barracks, and took his eldest son Jiancheng and more than a dozen personal guards to inspect back and forth. The performance of the young men under his command who had never been to the battlefield had long been expected by him, so he did not feel angry, at most he sneered at the officers who had returned late, or glared at them, and walked away.

The composure of the commander slowly calmed the chaotic morale of the army, and the soldiers no longer ran back and forth, but found their respective partners in a sloppy manner, and lined up under the orders of the brigade commanders.

"Brother, where is the war?" Li Xu heard someone in the nearby team whispering inquiring.

"I heard that some Koreans tried to cross the river and accidentally stepped on the ice! Xin Shixiong, the general of Zuotunwei, had already brought his men to meet him, and the two sides were fighting at night! A slightly more sane team replied in a low voice.

"His grandmother's, the grain and grass are in a pile, right in front of someone else's house. Of course people are going to come and burn it! "Someone whispered, accidentally louder, and the swear words were blown out by the wind.

Immediately, someone loudly echoed: "It's just, I don't know which bastard's idea, I haven't started fighting after yelling for a year." The guys on the other side of the river, even fools, are ready! ”

In an instant, the audience was silent. A son of a bastard made everyone mute. Anyone with ears has heard that this expedition to Goryeo was personally planned by His Majesty the Emperor of Shengming, who vowed to make the Great Sui forever ruined. There doesn't need many such bastards, one can make everyone raid their homes and wipe out the clan.

The scolding soldier knew that he had lost his words, and lowered his head and tried desperately to hide it in the crowd. Those who participated in the discussion also lowered their heads, lest they be remembered by someone with a heart.

"Dot!" At the critical moment, Li Yuan's voice came from the front of the team, which made everyone breathe a sigh of relief.

The soldiers joined the army and shouted the names of the officers in the squad one by one. The time from blowing the horn to gathering troops to the official order was long enough, and all the officers rushed back with great shame. Although most of them were out of breath, two others were shaking all the time, and the wind blew away the stench of wine from their bodies, and the smoke made the front row of soldiers twist their noses.

"From tomorrow onwards, if you don't want to be stabbed, don't leave the barracks at night!" Li Yuan frowned and shouted.

"Honorable Order!" The soldiers replied in unison. The Liaoshui, which is the boundary river between the Great Sui and Goryeo, has frozen, and the other party's men and horses may kill them from the ice at any time. This season, it's really much safer to stay in the barracks than to hang out.

"The brigade on duty led the troops and horses of the headquarters to patrol the warehouse to strictly prevent spies from sneaking in and setting fires. The rest disbanded and went back to sleep! Li Yuan glanced at these rookies under his command and ordered loudly.

"Yes!" The soldiers agreed, but did not move, and almost all of them could not believe their ears. Back to camp to sleep? How is this possible, once the enemy army kills ......?

"Go back to sleep, the black light is blinding, and the ice collapses once, who has the courage to step on it a second time. Sleep, refresh your spirits and watch a good show tomorrow! Li Yuan waved his hand generously and repeated his command again.

"Yes, General!" The soldiers replied happily and dispersed grinning. Tang Gong was right, the Goryeo people were unlucky, and they were in a hurry to cross the river before the ice froze. I've already knocked the ice down once tonight, and I'm sure I'm not stupid enough to try it a second time.

The faces of Liu Hongji, Li Xu and others gradually became solemn. They have lived outside the Plug and know that the rivers outside the Plugs, no matter how wide, freeze in the winter. From now on, the north wind and snowflakes will freeze the entire Liao River. On the nearly 100-mile border between Dasui and Goryeo, there are bridges made of ice everywhere.

Isn't it time to remind Tang Gong? Li Xu inquired with Liu Hongji with his eyes. The latter shook his head slightly, giving him a slanted glance out of the corner of his eye.

Li Xu followed Liu Hongji's gesture, and in the dim light of the fire, he saw Tang Gong's general Li Yan slowly walking towards the outside of the camp with more than thirty henchmen and veterans. Tilting his head slightly, he inadvertently saw more than two dozen other veterans of a hundred battles, following Li Shun, the general of the family, to the granary.

"You two go back to the camp, stop taking the lead and messing around!" Li Yuan, who was moving forward, turned around, as if he expected Liu Hongji and Li Xu's performance, glanced at them meaningfully, and admonished.

"Yes!" The two bowed down and strode to their barracks.

Note 1: Great Sui military uniform, yellow clothes and red flags.