It was already dark.

Huaishui and his party, Xiong Gongzi was very satisfied with Shi Er's waterwheel.

The application of water power in this era is tantamount to an industrial revolution!

The only drawback is that the bearings can only be made of wood, which wears out quickly, resulting in a short life of the waterwheel.

But that's enough.

Anyway, wood is not a precious resource, and now the production capacity of the processing plant is increasing every day, and after the quyuan plow, you can build a large number of waterwheels.

Strive to make every piece of farmland in Quyang County able to use water wheels as soon as possible.

Although it gets dark late in the summer, it's completely dark now.

Xiong Wuliang and his party carried torches and ran towards Quyang City.

For some reason, Zhong Hua looked very uneasy tonight, and his hand kept groping around the hilt of the sword on his waist: "Lord, I have a bad premonition. ”

When the guards on the side heard this, they all became nervous.

Zhong Hua can be regarded as a battle-hardened general, and after countless life and death trials, his sixth sense is surprisingly accurate.

It was with this ability that Zhong Hua saved Xiong Wei's life many times.

Xiong Wuliang was stunned for a moment, and he was also worried: "Won't it?" This is in the territory of Dachu. ”

There were ten guards beside him, and there were more than a dozen craftsmen who came back from Huaishui, and these more than 20 people were all young and strong men.

Zhong Hua's face was solemn: "The Yue country on the side is in great chaos, and from time to time there will be rogues fleeing into the country, so you must guard against it." I'm feeling bad tonight, and there may be changes on the road in a while. ”

As soon as the words fell, I only heard an inexplicable wind.

Zhong Hua's face changed in an instant: "Raise your shield!" ”

Xiong Wuliang also reacted - it was the sound of a bowstring!

But where is the shield?

This time they came out in a hurry, and none of the guards wore armor, let alone shields.

A handful of arrows rained down in the dark night, and two guards and six or seven craftsmen fell in a pool of blood in an instant.

I only heard a whistling in the forest, and more than 30 big men with tattooed hair and tattoos like savages rushed out, roaring and rushing to the people in the middle of the road!

Zhong Hua drew his sword in his hand with a 'slap': "Protect the prince!" Reward for the dead! ”

I saw a reckless man rushing up to him, carrying a black copper sword in his hand, screaming and rushing towards Zhong Hua. This big man looks rough, and he seems to have a lot of strength!

"Uncle Zhong be careful!"

Zhong Hua snorted imperceptibly, his legs firmly planted on the ground, as if he didn't see the reckless man.

Seeing that the bronze sword had pierced the door, Zhong Hua did not retreat but advanced, leaned sideways to avoid the blade of the sword, and the short sword in his hand slashed upward, straight towards the chest and abdomen of the reckless man!

The reckless man's strength was already old, and he couldn't come back to help, so he watched Zhong Hua crash into his arms, and the short sword stabbed him through the cold.

With a face-to-face effort, Zhong Hua killed the enemy chief almost effortlessly.

The soldiers quickly gathered together, and the few craftsmen who were still alive also quickly grabbed their weapons and protected Xiong Wuliang's car in the center.

The soldiers of the hundred battles were really strong, and the thirty or so rogues fell in the blink of an eye, and the rest of the rogues fled in all directions!

"Don't chase!" Zhong Hua stopped the part that wanted to catch up, and the short sword in his hand was dripping with blood: "It is important to protect the son." ”

The team was counted - of the ten guards, one was killed and three were wounded; Seven other craftsmen were killed or wounded.

Most of them fell under the rain of arrows.

Zhong Hua's face was ugly, and he waved his hand: "Speed up and rush back to Quyang City!" On the other hand, he angrily spat at the corpse of the Yue people at his feet: "The rabble." ”

Xiong Wuliang knew that Zhong Hua was cursing those who were more than a crowd.

It is indeed a rabble - the correct method of warfare should be to continue to fire arrows in the shadows. Xiong Wuliang and his party did not have a shield, and once they were passively beaten in the middle of the road, they would definitely pay more casualties.

After a round of arrows, these Yue people rushed down with a roar, obviously unwise.

……

didn't dare to light the torches again, the group felt the darkness all the way to the speed, and after half an hour, they finally saw the brightly lit Quyang City, and everyone couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

At the city gate, a platoon of armor soldiers is fully armed and ready for battle!

"Lord!" The city gate captain strode forward, glanced at the wounded, and his pupils constricted: "Has the prince ever been injured?" ”

Xiong Wuliang stepped down from the car: "This gentleman is fine. ”

The city gate captain was obviously relieved, and immediately beckoned: "Come on, treat the wounded." ”

Immediately rushed up a few soldiers and carried away the wounded behind Xiong Wuliang.

Xiong Wuliang frowned: "The county seat has been attacked?" ”

The captain of the city gate arched his hand: "Back to the lord, Quyang City has not been attacked - but tonight there was a sneak attack by the Yue people, and many villages were robbed. ”

Xiong Wuliang: "What about the loss?" ”

"There weren't many casualties, but a few villages were burned." The city gate captain showed a resentful color on his face: "It must have been done by the Shaohu thieves!" ”

In this era, the folk can be described as full of martial virtues.

Because most countries do not yet have the concept of a professional army, the source of soldiers is temporary conscription - farmers in peacetime and soldiers in wartime.

Therefore, every peasant household has a few weapons to a greater or lesser extent, and even a very small number of peasant households still have armor.

Such civilian combat effectiveness can be imagined.

If they have the strength to plunder villages and towns, the strength of the bandits is bound to be extraordinary.

Near Quyang County, there is only one rogue with this strength - Shaohu Bandits!

Seeing Xiong Wuliang's suspicious face, Zhong Hua began to popularize science to solve his doubts.

"The lord doesn't know that this Shaohu thief was a soldier of the Yue people."

"After the Chu-Yue War, the soldiers of the Yue Kingdom scattered and fled, and many of them failed to escape back to the territory of the Yue Kingdom."

"Some of the more soldiers simply occupy the mountains as thieves, just for the sake of rogues."

"Quyang is very close to the border of the Yue Kingdom, and it has become a place where many rogues are concentrated - in the years of mergers and battles, these rogues finally gathered together, enveloping thousands of people, for the Shaohu pirates!"

"These rogues don't have the courage to rush into the county seat, but they often plunder villages and towns, which can be regarded as a harm to Quyang."

Xiong Wuliang furrowed his eyebrows.

These Shaohu thieves turned out to be the old department of the original Yue Wang.

Thousands!

If it really comes to impact the county seat, Quyang City may not be able to withstand it.

"Didn't Ying's send troops to suppress the bandits?" Xiong Wuliang asked.

Zhong Hua coughed lightly: "The king also ordered the thieves to be suppressed, but this Shaohu pirate is entrenched in the Shaohu Lake, and the army will scatter in all directions, and the army will come out to plunder again when it leaves—but there is no way." ”

Xiong Wuliang nodded, this is a typical rogue.

It seems that if you want to farm with peace of mind, this Shaohu pirate must be eliminated!

Zhong Hua saw Xiong Wuliang's thoughts, and advised: "Son, don't be reckless—I, the major general of the Quyang soldiers, am afraid that I will not be able to defeat the Shaohu thieves!" ”

This is true.

In the Battle of Danyang, not only the previous generation of Quyang Jun Xiong Wei was killed, but also the 800 parts under his command were also killed and wounded.

These 800 soldiers are basically the entire national defense force of Quyang.

At present, Quyang City is empty in garrison, and in front of the Shaohu bandits, it is very difficult to defend the county seat, not to mention taking the initiative to attack and annihilate the enemy.

The young man smiled slightly.

"My son has his own way!"