Zhigu Village, later known as Tianjin, is bustling with activity, with groups of people with shackles on their feet busy on various construction sites. For the sake of efficiency, all the iron shackles were wrapped around the feet with strips of cloth, and the squinted-eyed Mongols were given thicker shoes of various colors and Huihui. to prevent senseless wear and tear.

The overseers were divided into two groups, one was the Song people who were of higher status and much taller than the captives, and the other was the Japanese who were much shorter than the captives. For the sake of daily food, these Japanese people held wooden sticks, stared at them, and supervised the hard work of the captives.

Every other section of the road, some heads are hung. The large sign next to it reads 'Mongols' and 'traitors', and any captives who try to resist will be killed.

General Li Yun, who passed by on the road, turned a blind eye to this, and he never left prisoners in the last Battle of the Yellow River and the recent Battle of Shaanxi. Allowing these people to live is already Admiral Li Yun's compromise on the lack of labor. He was thinking about taking hundreds of thousands of Goryeo people to work as coolies after conquering the Mongol province of Dongxing, and there was no reason for these captives to continue to exist. Yesterday, he received a telegram with a brief account of Zhao Guanjia's appreciation of Admiral Li Yun. A little punishment for Goryeo's tricks can be appreciated by Steward Zhang, which makes Admiral Li Yun especially think of Goryeo.

When the carriage arrived at the port, a large group of captives were building something that resembled a reclamation of the sea. It was a hexagonal thing, and the captives were carrying things up the outer ram of the thing, and several waterwheels were draining from the inside. Admiral Li Yun had seen this drawing and probably had the impression that a deep-water wharf was to be built here. But the exact method is complicated, and he is not very clear.

In the vicinity of this important wharf site, there is already a temporary wharf made of sacks, hemp ropes, stones, etc., far into the sea, and the appearance of this wharf looks dilapidated, as if it has been used for more than ten years or more. But it's been less than three months since the temporary pier was built.

There were steamers docked near the temporary pier, and a large number of soldiers disembarked from the ships. The servicemen who landed first had already assembled in the square next to the pier. As soon as General Li Yun stood still, two major generals ran over and saluted, "Commander Li, Yang Tiexin, commander of the 23rd Division, reports to you. ”

Li Yun returned the salute, and then stepped forward to shake hands with Yang Tiexin and the division chief of staff next to him. Both of them were subordinates under Li Yun's command, and the troops were sent to the front again after being supplemented and repaired.

The three of them discussed the situation on the road a little, and Yang Tiexin said that the road was unexpectedly smooth. With the introduction of steam cars and ships, the dependence of sailing on wind was greatly reduced, and the ships went as straight as possible. In addition to the relatively small space on board, problems such as seasickness are greatly reduced.

After saying this, Yang Tiexin asked, "Commander, how is the recent battle situation?" Is there a new list of rescuers? ”

Li Yun is about the same age as Yang Tiexin, and he is very sympathetic to this brother's situation. Since it was confirmed that his wife had been taken captive, Yang Tiexin had not given up his efforts to find his wife. Li Yun replied: "We are still investigating this, and we will tell you as soon as there is news." The battle was more intense than I thought. ”

The chief of staff of the division hurriedly asked: "Does Mongolia have the guts to fight with us in the field?" ”

Li Yun shook his head, "I can't talk about field battles, I just don't know what these Hebei landlords are thinking." ”

"More stubborn than the landlords of Shaanxi?" Yang Tiexin asked.

"Let's go to the camp first." Li Yun said to the two subordinates.

The situation on Zhigu Zhai Street did not surprise Yang Tiexin and others, but the new scale of the city made the two feel a little surprised. These people had recently been to Hangzhou, a metropolis with a population of more than two million, and had conquered famous cities such as Kaifeng, Luoyang, and Chang'an in the war. Of course, I have also seen the cities of the north. In the eyes of these veterans, at a glance at the branch, they know that the scale of the city is larger than they think.

As soon as I arrived at a guard point on the periphery, I saw a large group of people passing by the road. The generals stood on the side of the road and watched as the group, which had about a battalion in leggings, set off with marching packages on their backs. Watching them walk away, Yang Tiexin said with interest: "This is the Red Turban Army." ”

"Hmm. It is said that there are many spear masters inside. Li Yun said to Yang Tiexin, the successor of the Yang family's gun.

Yang Tiexin looked at the large amount of armor and spears on the army's baggage cart from a distance, and subconsciously nodded slightly.

The unit that set off this time was a battalion of the Red Turban Army, the first company commander Qin Mohuan was a master of gunnery, and the second company commander Li Fangfang had a pear flower gun in one hand, which was rarely met by an enemy in the army. They were ordered to exterminate the landlord forces south of Zhigu Village.

Now there are basically no pikemen in the new Song army, and the military establishment of the Red Turban Army is the same as that of the Song Army, but it is the Song Army establishment of a few years ago. The musketeers and pikemen were divided half, plus six ten-pound field bronze cannons. The Red Turbans have also begun to rapidly transform into regular troops.

After the Mongols invaded Hebei 50 years ago, it was already sparsely populated. This is especially true after the main Mongolian forces withdrew from Hebei, the vast land of Hebei looked barren and overgrown with trees and weeds.

There were some faint villages in the distance, and Song Jun had no intention of approaching. On the map, most of those villages are unoccupied. The Mongols will not leave anyone who will not follow them.

Resting overnight at the station, the troops advanced again the next day. By noon, it had reached more than 60 miles south of Zhigu Village, and the green flat fields finally appeared in front of me. Looking through the binoculars, there was a high lookout tower built around the outer circle of those fields, and the people on the lookout platform were waving flags desperately. The farmer, who was working in the fields, quickly fled to the grange farther away.

The troops were originally on first alert and stopped to put on their helmets and armor on the pikemen, and then began to march in battle formation. Not long after, the troops arrived outside the village.

Someone in the Song army began to call out, "Outside Zhu Yuan, your master has been beaten out of Hebei by us, you better hurry up and surrender with your family." Our Song army will surround your life. If you continue to resist stubbornly, then you will not be forgiven. ”

"Fuck you!" There was a sound of scolding from the wall of the grange, "Who doesn't know that your Song army is more murderous than the Mongols." How can we survive in your hands? If there are eggs, you will come in and let us surrender, but don't even think about it. ”

Zhu Yuanwai was so stubborn, and Song Jun had no other way. The troops first set up the array, and the ten-pound field artillery toppled down a place sixty or seventy meters away from the gate of the Zhu family. Although there were also people on the walls of the Grange who were constantly shooting arrows, it had no effect on the artillery at all.

Not long after, a cannon was heard, and a large pit was punched out of the wall of the grange. The people on the wall no longer dared to shoot arrows, and the whole battlefield stopped a lot.

Qin Mohuan couldn't help but be speechless. He had long known that the Song army was powerful, but he didn't know that it was so powerful. If such a way of playing, the outer wall of Zhujiazhuang can be broken with cannons alone. Then Qin Mohuan heard the artillery platoon commander scolding and shouting: "Grandma, I didn't expect a pickled talent in the countryside here to build the wall so thick." ”

Qin Mohuan didn't know what to say about it at this time. Listening to the meaning of this artillery platoon commander, he actually thought that the outer wall could be collapsed with a single shot.

But scolding and scolding, the artillerymen continued to work in a lazy manner. After a little adjustment, another cannon passed, and this time the shell accurately hit the Zhuangmen sixty or seventy meters away. The wooden gate was obviously not as big as the wall, and with a loud bang, the sawdust flew and a large hole had been punched in the door.

Qin Mohuan sighed in his heart. Although he is good at spearmanship, he is not good at bowing and arrows. When I heard people say three points, there is a sermon that Lu Bu of the Three Kingdoms is extremely heroic and can shoot halberds. If Qin Mohuan was asked to shoot an arrow, he really didn't have the confidence that two arrows would accurately hit the wooden door.

The Song artillery continued to fire, and the next three shells accurately hit Zhuangmen. The thick wooden door could not withstand such a blow, and after the fourth shell hit, the village gate made a miserable sound, and it fell staggeringly, smashing up the dust.

"Company commander, ready to enter the village." The battalion commander shouted.

Qin Mohuan hurriedly gathered the troops, his subordinates were all spearmen, and they had already prepared. Soon, the cavalry probed the horse and ran to the entrance of the village, where the gate had fallen, and came back to report, "Report to the battalion commander, no one is blocking the gate of the village." ”

"One company, let's go!" The battalion commander ordered.

The Red Turban Army had been fighting in Hebei for several years and knew the equipment of the Hebei landlords. Now everyone is wearing steel armor, and there is a mask on the helmet, so naturally there is no fear. Under the leadership of Qin Mohuan, he quickly rushed to the door of Zhuangzi. From the outside, Zhuangzi is unremarkable. It is no different from those manors from the Han army. When I got to the door, I saw that there were many streets in the village, and there were houses on both sides of the street. No matter how you look at it, it looks like a prosperous town.

At this time, the streets are empty and the doors of the houses are closed. Qin Mohuan shouted: "Below A!" ”

Many of the Red Turbans wore their masks to prevent them from being suddenly shot cold. Some soldiers who were very confident like Qin Mohuan didn't do it. Although the visor increases its protection, it limits its sight and hearing.

The troops lined up in battle formation, shouting and touching the inside of the Zhuangzi. It didn't take long for them to rush to a thick earthen wall. Seeing that there were fleeing Zhuang Ding figures on the roads on both sides of the earthen wall, Qin Mohuan called the deputy company commander and asked loudly: "Deputy company commander, do you want to chase with a platoon, do you want to go left or right?" ”

The deputy company commander's expression was obviously not as excited as Qin Mohuan, and he asked a little uneasily, "Company commander, don't you think it's too quiet here?" ”

"How quiet?" Qin Mohuan was puzzled. When such a fierce battle is in danger, of course the people will hide in the house, and who will run out stupidly to die.

"There's no other movement here. In a normal village, there are always people raising something, and at least there must be a dog barking and a baby crying. There's no sound here. The deputy company commander explained.

I thought it was a big deal! Qin Mohuan complained in his heart. At this time, he heard the sound of a donkey barking faintly in the distance, and then Qin Mo smiled and said, "Their livestock shed is in the village." If you don't feel at ease, take a platoon here to check on the troops behind. ”

After speaking, Qin Mohuan beckoned a few platoon commanders and chased to the left. After chasing for a while, Qin Mohuan finally felt that something was wrong, the streets of this Zhuangzi were one after another, and it seemed that they couldn't finish running anymore. At this time, I saw that the courtyard gate in front of me was open, and there was a rammed earth shadow wall inside the door. Qin Mohuan said to the warrior: "Go in and have a look." ”

Although the Song army was not allowed to harass the people, they could not take these things into account when fighting. Immediately a warrior rushed in, and as soon as he entered the door, he heard a brief exclamation. But I saw that the warrior actually fell directly from the ground. This frightened Qin Mohuan, he thought that the warrior who rushed in first was tripped. When I looked closely, there was a big hole in the ground, and the warrior had fallen into it.

At this time, Qin Mohuan was horrified, just now he actually had the urge to go in and take a look first. If this idea had been realized at that time, it would have been Qin Mohuan himself who had fallen into the hole.

The other comrades-in-arms hurriedly and cautiously leaned up at this time and shouted to their comrades-in-arms below. But there was no response. Someone lay down to listen, but suddenly an arrow shot from below. Although it failed to hurt the warrior in armor, it startled everyone. It turned out that there was an enemy in ambush underground.

The second platoon commander was at the entrance of the cave at this time, and when he saw this situation, he was already furious, and shouted at the entrance of the cave: "The dog thief below, come out and take your life." ”

But no matter how the second platoon leader scolded, the monster's mouth-like hole was always silent. The second platoon leader was even angrier, he cautiously walked to the shadow wall and the earthen wall, and just walked around, he heard the second platoon leader shouting: "Hey! Why is there nothing in this? Let's take a look, there is no house here. ”

Qin Mohuan was shocked, he carefully bypassed the shadow wall and earthen wall, but saw that his eyes suddenly opened up. It was a small courtyard, empty except for the rammed earth wall and the shadow wall at the entrance. Qin Mohuan was shocked, and after coming out, he asked the troops to smash open other doors, only to find that some courtyards were the same. Some yards also have rammed earth walls, but only the walls have no roof.

On closer inspection, there is no sign of human habitation, except for the occasional traces of defecation that I don't know who left behind. Although it was daytime, there was not the slightest sound on the streets of Zhuangzi, and the silence was unsettling. There was no movement except for the sound of armor and weapons clashing and footsteps.

"It's too evil! Company commander, what to do? The second platoon leader asked.

Qin Mohuan only felt that his heart was beating faster, and it was the first time he had seen such a strange situation. Where the hell is the enemy and how can we get to the real nest of the enemy. Qin Mohuan is at a loss.