"General Zhao ......" Taking advantage of the opportunity for the horses to drink water and eat at a checkpoint, Cao Yun came to Xu Ping's side and squeezed his eyebrows, and stabbed his elbow heavily on Xu Ping's ribs: "Is it very similar to Zhao Xiaoniang?" ”

Xu Ping glanced up at General Zhao on the horse in front of him, and shook his head blankly: "Little lady Zhao doesn't have a big beard, it's not easy to compare." ”

"What a righteous fellow." Cao Yun muttered dissatisfiedly, but he didn't have a chance to ask again, and a group of people got on their horses again and continued to hurry behind General Zhao.

"General Zhao," when everyone stopped to rest again, Xu Ping finally found an opportunity to walk to Zhao Jingzhi's side: "Dare to ask my lord, where are we going?" ”

"Go to Wuqiao first, then go to Texas." Zhao Jingzhi gathered together dozens of volunteers recruited along the way, waved his arms to the south, and explained to everyone: "The New Army Command received an urgent report from Shandong, and the rebel general Ji Huisi sent his fierce generals Xiao Baiwolf and Chen Yuanlong to suddenly attack the plain from the southeast of the old city the day before yesterday. The Dongsen battalion stationed in the plains unexpectedly collapsed, and the traitors had already opened a gap from the plain line and poured into the flank of the fire battalion's defensive line. The exact number of soldiers has not yet been obtained, but at least thousands, if not tens of thousands, of soldiers.

"Without the protection of the Dongsen battalion, it is impossible for the defenders close to the plain to survive in the face of thousands of bandits. The General Staff of the Forces Nouvelles believed that now that the plains had been lost, and that the traitors had crossed the Ma River and were ready to pass through Texas from the flank, sweep the front of our firefighting battalions, and cut off the official road from Dongguang to the old city. ”

According to the consistent tradition of the fire battalion, Zhao Jingzhi did not make any cover for the treacherous battle situation in front of his subordinates. He waved his arm vigorously again: "The traitor has indeed found the weak link of our army. But the High Command also reacted very quickly. Now that the rebels have moved the main force to the flank of the firefighting battalion, now General Jin has quickly sent people to the old city, and let General He lead the three battalions of firefighting, rock, and Xuanfeng to launch a thunderous offensive against the traitors in front of the old city, and will soon defeat the weak enemy in front of the front in one fell swoop! ”

Xu Ping asked, "Lord Zhao, what is our task?" ”

"Our task is to get to Wuqiao as soon as possible. Between Wuqiao and Dezhou there is a supplementary battalion subordinate to the Dongsen Battalion, and now there are 2,000 supplementary soldiers there, and the order that Lord Jin gave me Zhao is very clear, I must try my best to collect every soldier who can fight, and then build a strong defense in Texas - a defense without flinching. If I'm not mistaken, this is what I'm going to lead you men to do. After General He has defeated the enemy forces in front of him, he will quickly turn south to reinforce us, and the new barracks may be on his way by now. ”

"Let's just hold on to Texas until the Naoke arrives, right?"

Xu Ping's last question caused a burst of laughter, and Zhao Jingzhi couldn't help but laugh. Although most of these officers who did not serve on the front line were also on the battlefield for the first time, at least their qualifications were much older than Xu Ping's, and they had been more fully trained. Perhaps these people felt that Xu Ping's question was a bit embarrassing to the fire camp, so they all stood up and assured Zhao Jingzhi: "Lord Zhao, we will not let you down, our fire camp has never disappointed people." ”

After Xu Ping joined the firefighting battalion, Chief Qian led everyone to stand under the snake banner of the firefighting battalion and told about the brilliant victories of the firefighting battalion again and again. When Xu Ping's commander handed over the general flag to him, he also said to him: "As long as you still hold this snake flag in your hand, you will be invincible!" ”

Including Cao Yun, the volunteer officers with white feathers on their heads were infected one after another: "Don't worry, Lord Zhao, with our firefighting battalion here, the defense of Texas will be indestructible!" ”

"Yes, I'm going to rely on you." Zhao Jingzhi thanked everyone: "The Dongsen Supplementary Battalion in Wuqiao has less training than the Dongsen Battalion in the Plains, and there are almost no non-commissioned officers. Now that he has all the kings with him, he is confident that he will be able to use this force like an arm and a finger. ”

Although he was an engineer officer, Xu Ping also received basic command instruction. After getting on the horse again, he began to silently review the knowledge he had learned in his heart, trying to recall every word that the instructor had said in the past few months. Cao Yun looked a little worried, he secretly leaned over to Xu Ping's horse and whispered: "Old Xu, we are a petty officer in the engineering team, and we have never commanded the infantry, if we read the wrong order at that time, it will be a big crime." ”

"There will be nothing wrong with doing it according to the regulations and military regulations." When this sentence reached Xu Ping's mouth, he swallowed it again, and he smiled at Cao Yun: "We are officers of the fire battalion, and the enemy army has always fled in front of us. ”

There is a road of nearly 100 miles from Dongguang to Wuqiao, Zhao Jingzhi and others changed horses all the way and arrived at Wuqiao at dark. It was learned that the garrison of the Dongsen battalion was still thirty miles away from Wuqiao. Zhao Jingzhi immediately ordered a hasty meal, and then set off with a fire, and must rush to the station of the Dongsen camp before dawn.

The group of officers who were found by Zhao Jing immediately obeyed the order to eat, changed horses one last time, and then lit torches and set off in the cold wind.

Along the way, Zhao Jingzhi made the final arrangements, and gradually it was the turn of Xu Ping and Cao Yun, who were lower in rank, and Zhao Jingzhi sent someone to ask them to ride their horses to the front row to listen to his deployment mission.

Along the way, as soon as Xu Ping found an opportunity, he leaned over to talk to Zhao Jingzhi. Hearing that he was going to explain the task, Cao Yun smiled and whispered to Xu Ping: "Mr. Xu's opportunity has come again, this time I want to see what Mr. Xu can ask Master Zhao." ”

Xu Ping asked rhetorically: "Is there anything wrong with knowing more about the situation?" ”

"Nothing bad, haha." Cao Yun said with a smile: "Mr. Xu has asked so many stupid questions along the way, and it is estimated that Lord Zhao must be impressed by Mr. Xu." ”

The two rushed to the front of the team, one left and one right, and hugged their fists at the leading Zhao Jingzhi at the same time: "Lord Zhao, please make it clear." ”

Zhao Jingyi continued to ride his horse forward, and waved his hand to let the two of them come close to him: "Mr. Xu, I will hand over a team of one hundred and twenty people to you, you are their temporary team officer, and your adjutant will be your temporary team deputy." ”

"Yes, my lord."

"When you take over the one hundred and twenty men, pick out three of them and twelve of them, and get acquainted with them as soon as possible. You don't have to strictly follow military regulations, and the order should be as simple as possible, as long as they can understand you. ”

"Yes, my lord." Xu Ping replied neatly.

Zhao Jingzhi nodded with satisfaction, and confirmed again: "You two are both engineer officers, right?" ”

"Yes, sir."

"Then you've learned how to build fortifications in the field when you were teaching the team, right?"

"Yes, my lord, we've all learned a little."

"Very good," Zhao Jingzhi explained, "Xu Ping, your position will be on the left flank of my main formation, and you need to build a strong field fortification to guard against the surprise attack of the thieves." ”

"My lord......" Xu Ping hesitated for a moment and asked, "Aren't we going to stick to Texas?" ”

Zhao Jingzhi smiled and said, "The traitors want to sweep the flank of our army through the official roads near Texas, and at the same time seize our supplies along the way. Our mission is to stop the traitors from passing through the official roads near Texas, not just defending a city. ”

"So we're stationed outside the city?"

"Yes, it's fine to have a magistrate guard in the city. With our field troops stationed outside the city, it is impossible for the traitors to ignore us and storm Texas. Zhao Jingzhi paused and asked, "Is it clear to Mr. Xu?" ”

"Understood," Xu Ping bowed and said, "I understand, our task is to block the traitors in Texas and wait for the fire battalion and direct guards to annihilate them in one fell swoop." ”

"If I don't understand General Jin's order correctly," Zhao Jingzhi nodded at Xu Ping: "That's it." ”

A sharp whistle suddenly sounded in the night sky, and the sound of sharp arrows breaking through the air came from both sides of the dark official road, followed by the explosion of firearms. Xu Ping tried his best to control the restless mount under his crotch, looked back at the queue behind him, and saw that the originally quiet and orderly column was now shaking torches, and from time to time there were feathered arrows flying into the Ming army's horse team.

"Night Raid! Night Raid! ”

Hearing the cry of "enemy attack", Xu Ping subconsciously took the second half of the sentence in accordance with the regulations of the teaching team: "Extinguish the fire!" ”

Almost after Xu Ping reflexively shouted, countless of the same "fire extinguishing" sounds sounded in the column at the same time. Xu Ping was about to throw the torch in his hand as soon as he shook his hand, but suddenly a loud roar exploded in his ears: "Don't put out the fire, rush!" Rush over! ”

It was Zhao Jingzhi who made this roar, and in a blink of an eye, he reflected that the ambush here could only be a small group of rebel rangers who infiltrated the Ming army's defense line, and there would not be many people, and the strength was that they could rob and kill a few messengers, and it was impossible to fight with a cavalry team of dozens of people. Their sudden attack was to count on the Ming army to extinguish the fire itself and then fall into chaos, Zhao Jingzhi followed the Marquis of Zhendong for many years, and also encountered the enemy many times in the southern and northern wars to use similar tactics.

Only Xu Ping, Cao Yun and a few other people heard Zhao Jingzhi's voice, and the voice of the order was drowned out in the shouts of "extinguishing the fire" in the long column. As the rear of the entire column quickly turned into darkness, all the fire of the rebels pressed over, and one of the guards who was close to Xu Ping was shot in the neck by an arrow, screaming loudly and falling off his horse with a rollover; The other guard's horse, frightened or frightened, jumped into the dark jungle by the roadside, and the knight threw down the torch and hugged the horse's neck in an effort not to be thrown off his horse.

"Rush, hurry, leave them alone." Zhao Jingzhi knew that he had fallen into chaos at this time. After extinguishing the fire according to the regulations, those officers will definitely quickly enter the sides of the road according to the regulations, and prepare for a night battle with the enemy lurking in the shadows. Another guard turned over and fell off the horse, and Zhao Jingzhi rushed to the front with a torch high: "Follow me and rush over, sons, they don't dare to raise fire, they can't catch up with us." ”

Xu Ping clamped the horse's belly without saying a word, followed Zhao Jingzhi's example and galloped with a torch, leaving behind the sound of firecrackers and sharp whistles in the blink of an eye. After running for several miles in one go, Zhao Jingzhi reined in his horse and looked back: "Are you two the only ones following up?" ”

Xu Ping turned his head, there was only Cao Yun behind him, Zhao Jingzhi shook his head and said: "By the time they lurk until dawn, those traitors won't know how far to escape." Alas, regulations, regulations, after all, still cannot replace actual combat. ”

"Keep going, we must arrive before dawn......" Zhao Jingzhi didn't finish his words before he fell off the horse's back with a somersault.

"Lord Zhao!" Xu Ping exclaimed in surprise and turned over and dismounted to pick up Zhao Jingzhi, whose face was covered with blood, he felt that his hands were warm, and through the beating flames Xu Ping saw the blood on his hands - just now Zhao Jingzhi was hit by a stray bullet from the firecracker, gritting his teeth and persevering until now.

Zhao Jingzhi struggled to take out a few things from his arms: "I...... My waist card, still ...... And the ...... of Lord Kim Warrants, you must ...... before dawn Be sure to arrive, order...... Ordered them to set off at once, in ...... In Germany...... Morality...... Texas deploys good ......"

Watching Xu Ping lay Zhao Jingzhi's body on the ground, which was starting to get cold, Cao Yun sighed: "It's not far from the Dongsen camp, we are a little bit behind." ”

Since Zhao Jingzhi fell, Xu Ping was like losing his soul. As if he hadn't heard Cao Yun's words, he stared at Zhao Jingzhi's corpse motionless like a wood carving, and only let out a sleepwalking voice for a long time: "How should this be explained?" “

"Take General Zhao's body, quickly return to the Wuqiao outpost where we came, and ask them to report to the General Staff of the New Army in six hundred miles." Cao Yun said as he turned his head to look at the pitch-black surroundings, and there was a dead silence everywhere.

But Xu Ping seemed to be still in a dream, knelt on one knee, and muttered in his mouth: "How should this be? How can this be? ”

"Brother Xu......" After making sure that there was nothing abnormal around, Cao Yun leaned over and gently patted Xu Ping's shoulder, and shouted softly again: "Brother Xu." ”

"We are not bad," Xu Ping suddenly jumped up, looked up at the night sky, and looked at the official road leading to the direction of Texas: "We still have to continue our journey, go to the Dongsen camp, and order them to set off immediately to deploy defenses in Texas." ”

Xu Ping's face was full of determination. Cao Yun looked at his face and shook his head lightly and said, "Old Xu, I know you are very sad now, but don't talk nonsense, okay?" ”

"I'm not talking nonsense." Xu Ping's voice became more firm and powerful, and he patted the dirt on his body: "I just want to rush to the Dongsen camp immediately and let them carry out the orders of General Jin and General Zhao." ”

"Why should they listen to you?" Cao Yun retorted: "Why did they listen to a small engineer of the fire battalion? ”

"Brother Cao is right, they really won't listen to a firefighting battalion engineer general." Xu Ping nodded repeatedly. He knelt on the ground again and picked up several of Zhao Jingzhi's relics from the ground, including Zhao Jingzhi's telescope. The telescope is such a good thing that it is even a status symbol in the New Army. Engineer officers like Xu Ping should also be equipped with telescopes, but the production of weapons in the new army has only just begun, and few of these precious monoculars have not yet been produced, and only high-ranking officers on the front line can have them. Xu Ping took Zhao Jingzhi's talismans, waist cards, and Jin Qiude's documents, raised them to Cao Yun as if demonstrating, and carefully stuffed them into the bag on his horse's back: "But they will listen to General Jin, and they will listen to a guerrilla general." ”

"But Lord Zhao is dead, why should they believe that you are talking about Lord Zhao's orders? Listening to Lord Zhao's meaning just now, what Lord Jin gave was just a vague order, just asking the Dongsen battalion to obey the command of the people he sent. ”

"That's right!" Xu Ping agreed, a smile appeared on his face, and he reached out to untie the armor on his body: "I am the person sent by Lord Jin to command the Dongsen camp. ”

Xu Ping took off his armor, squatted down again and began to untie Zhao Jingzhi's military uniform and armor: "I am a guerrilla general, and the Dongsen battalion will listen to Lord Jin and will listen to me." ”

Cao Yun watched Xu Ping put Zhao Jingzhi's armor on himself, and said in surprise: "Pretending to be a commander is punishable by death according to the regulations of military law." ”

"I know," Xu Ping continued to tie his military uniform and armor carefully without care, "But what I am carrying out is General Zhao's last order, and General Jin will definitely understand this when the time comes." ”

Each soldier of the Forces nouvelles was issued a waist badge, which was the identity card of the new officer and soldier, with his name and fingerprint on it. But there will be no position of this person on the waist card, otherwise every time there is a change, the waist card will have to be redone, and temporary appointments on the battlefield will become impossible. Therefore, all new armies rely on the markings on military uniforms and armor to identify each other's ranks. Xu Ping fastened his belt, pinned Zhao Jingzhi's waist card in his arms, and smiled at Cao Yun: "Now I am the guerrilla general Xu Ping." ”

When Xu Ping made these movements, Cao Yun, who was standing quietly on the side, became more and more gloomy, and when Xu Ping straightened up again and looked at him, he heard Cao Yun say coldly: "According to the military law regulations, I have to report you." ”

"I know, but I want you to put off this report until after our army has won." Xu Ping turned over and stretched out his hand to Cao Yun: "Come, give me the torch, you can hide with the others all night, and then report that I am missing." ”

Cao Yun still stood motionless. Xu Ping sighed and leaned down, and snatched Cao Yun's torch with an extension of his arm. Xu Ping held the torch high above his side, and his fearless face became brighter in the firelight, and there was even a smile that gradually floated on it: "Be careful not to freeze to death, Brother Cao." ”

At this time, Cao Yun slowly withdrew his empty arm, he looked at Xu Ping with a cold face for a while, shook his head and said, "No, I still have to report you personally." ”

Saying that, Cao Yun also turned over and got on his horse: "But I agree to wait until our army wins a big victory to report you, let's go, let's go to the Dongsen camp together, and see how the two small engineer officers and two thousand supplementary soldiers fight against the thousands of thieves who are swarming in." ”

Author's note: Thank you for your votes, I am very touched to see so much, and I hope you will continue to support and discuss more. In addition, this book has just started to be serialized, and I hope you can help me make some advertisements and recommend it to the forums I usually go to, thank you.

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