stubborn thief

Chapter 177 Clay Figure
The mountains and rain are faint.

The giant Buddha of Yueping Grottoes sits on the top of the mountain, looking through the heavy rain, looking at the battlefield where the shells are flying.

Huang Shengxiao didn't know what kind of Buddha was sitting on the lotus seat in Shibi Kiln, but he knew that even a Buddha would be horrified by the battlefield at this moment.

The gunpowder smoke dissipated in the rain, and the two sides stood still to bombard thirteen cannons, which ended with the cannon sheds in front of the Ningxia Army's formation being scattered by projectiles and the cannons getting wet by the rain.

The backpost of the Lion Camp began to march. Seeing this, the Ningxia army had no choice but to abandon their artillery and move forward to meet them.

Huang Shengxiao has been in the army for eight years, and he has never seen such a fierce firecracker battle.

His earliest name was Huang Xiao, he was small in size, and he was the Dunjun of Baichengzi outside the side wall of Yulin Town.

In the second year of Tianqi, he was already 15 years old when he was hooked into the army.

There was no one left in that pier, so he and six other recruits were recruited from Yulin Guard. Among them, he was the youngest, so he was called Huang Xiao.

No one is interested in knowing what other people's real names are. Anyway, no one can live for a long time on the pier outside the side wall.

Only the youngest Huang Xiao is a real soldier.

There were also seven people before Dunli, all of whom died.

There were two people who did not accept them at night, both Mongolians.

One colluded with the mutiny deserters and killed Dunjun, and the other was shot by an arrow and risked his life to send the news to the side wall, but he was not rescued.

None of them are soldiers.

The deserter leader of the rebellion was the leader of the Mongolian tribe who summoned the herdsmen to go out to grab the territory. The herdsmen went to the Great Wall and asked the Han military households to help herd the sheep, so they stayed outside the Great Wall and became herdsmen.

The two Mongolian piers were not collected at night. The Han general wanted to mobilize troops to Huamachi for autumn defense. The Qianhu Banner Army in Jingbian was afraid of delaying the grain harvest, so they went to the Mongolian tribe to borrow herdsmen to help collect the land.

Born in the frontier fortress, the great achievements are the work of the generals and Bo'er Jijin, and the herdsmen and farmers are just numbers.

As long as the general and Bo'er give orders, they will go all out. The blood feud between generations cannot be resolved, and the difficulty of livelihood is imminent.

They are like raindrops, falling from the sky and infiltrating into the soil. Between the sky and the earth is life, short and hasty.

Dunjun is the soldiers guarding the pier outside the Great Wall.

The pier is a square high platform with no door underneath, and you have to climb a soft ladder to get in and out. The mission is to set off cannons and light wolf smoke.

As long as the cannon is fired, the pier and castle behind will hear it. After one cannon, the mission is accomplished.

Since then, his life has been lackluster.

Many things have become out of reach, such as longevity, such as marrying a wife and having children, such as the emperor's reward and the world inside the side wall.

In his world, there are only six thieves who know nothing but bragging in the pier, and there are hundreds of Mongolians at every turn.

These guys who came over from the exile are the most fucking bad.

There was a bandit in the army who said that in some places, it rains in season, and it rains for a long time, and the clothes are so wet that hair grows.

It is also said that there is so much water in the world that it is called the sea.

Huang Xinxin said that this is not farting, the little grandpa is from Yulin, who lives near the sea at the door.

There is Mao Us Sea under the feet, except for the sand and the Mongolians, there are no chicken feathers.

You told grandpa that the sea is full of water?

There is also a big fool who agrees.

It's easier to urinate out of your mother, you thief army, than to urinate in Mu Us Sea.

They just think that grandpa is too young to be fooled.

Afterwards, the Mongols came a few times and shot all the thieves to death.

Huang Xiao was the only one left in the pier, a dunjun who was born in a serious frontier military family.

It took him two full days to pull out the arrows, 530 for two arrows, iron, copper, stone, bone, all kinds of arrows.

Huang Xiaozhi was injured in half of his ear.

With half an ear, I got the chance to go to Yanshuiguan to be a defender.

He lived there for another seven years, until Feng Fu climbed to the top of the city and served as an artilleryman in the Lion Camp.

His name was also changed. Feng Ru said that the name Huang Xiao is not good for a man who is five big and three thick.

So I named him Huang Shengxiao.

In fact, Feng Rou's original intention was to raise nitrate with sulfur.

But among the many words that raised nitrate, Huang Xiao chose Sheng Xiao.

Now he belongs to Cao Yao's artillery post. As the former commander of the team, he led eleven subordinates, carrying four Yongzhu cannons, and walked along the left slope of the army formation, wading through the mud.

Commander Cao's order was for them to find ways to provide support for their own infantry from the left mountain slope after the two battles.

Whether it is direct bombardment of enemy infantry, or bombardment of enemy artillery with the same purpose by small artillery, it will do.

Another such mission.

"Don't be afraid, the order is like this, let's go up, fire a cannon, and run up the mountain."

Huang Shengxiao was shirtless and covered the cannon with his armour, and the cold rain slapped on his body, making his lips purple from the cold.

In the beginning, the auxiliary soldiers on the side could hold their shields above their heads to block him, but as they walked up the mountain slope, the auxiliary soldiers also had difficulty maintaining their balance. On the road, smashed into the rear sentry formation.

The soldiers in the back all looked about the same, holding the pearl cannon in their arms, some could be supported by auxiliary soldiers, and some were like him, stumbling along.

They were not as fast as the rear sentinel infantry, and the sound of shouting and killing could be heard through the heavy rain. Two armies with the same armor collided violently on the official road ten steps wide, and started a bloody fight.

At the foot of the left-wing mountain chasm, Feng's subordinates were gathering in the ravine, tying the carrying ropes to the tree trunks, and the soldiers climbed the ropes and stepped up the hillside.

But Huang Shengxiao thought that they couldn't climb up. They climbed halfway up the mountain. There was a cliff on the mountain ridge, and the smooth cliff made it impossible to get on.

It was the mountain ridge on the right wing, and there was the troops of the commander Gao. They had almost climbed to the ridge, and they would soon be able to provide support to the Chinese army with bows and arrows.

Amidst the sounds of swords colliding and arrows clashing, there were a few muffled sounds in the rain.

Huang Shengxiao was very familiar with this sound, it was the sound of a bird gun.

He speculated that the preparations of the officers and soldiers were more adequate, and their bird guns should be equipped with rain covers on the gun machines.

Huang Shengxiao looked forward with awe-inspiring eyes. After the rain, the two teams of officers and soldiers were also climbing the slope.

A group of people had already stood obliquely on the hillside, about thirty people were drawn into three rows on the hillside, facing the cracks in the rear sentry formation, and there were two trees in the middle of the team, which looked irregular .

But they used bird guns. After the soldiers in front let go, the soldiers behind fired them. As soon as the gunpowder smoke came out of the gun mouth, it was blown away by the rain.

However, even with the rain cover, the rain still had a lot of impact on the muskets. Nearly half of the musketeers moved very standardly, but the gunpowder was still wet and could not be ignited.

In the beginning, the side of the rear sentinel formation left a channel for the luggage team, which could move the wounded soldiers to the rear one by one, but as the two formations collided, the officers were dispatching troops to the two wings in an attempt to semi-encircle the enemy. , to create greater advantages.

Soon the soldiers occupied the entire official road crookedly, densely packed with shields and armors, confronted each other with spears, and even spread to the hillside.

People tried their best to form a group in a military formation, but it still inevitably caused chaos. Soldiers fighting on the hillsides on both sides kept falling to the middle, rolling and hitting the legs of their own or enemy soldiers, causing more people to fall.

When the person in front fell, the people behind rushed forward, screaming and fighting with spears and knives.

According to this trend, the front of the squad will soon be occupied by fighting soldiers.

He couldn't speak, he had a match in his mouth, and he didn't dare to look up, because the match would be extinguished by the rain.

I can only go to the higher hillside on my own.

The soldiers at the back sentry were withdrawn one by one, and another group was sent up. At first, they were the reserve squad, and then the wounded soldiers who suffered minor injuries that did not affect the battle were also sent to the front line.

Then the two squads of Captain Gao also joined the battle, pushing the front line to the west.

Only by pushing the front line over can the baggage sentry save the wounded soldiers in the rear.

Huang Shengxiao was still walking forward, they stood taller than others, and walked far more carefully than others.

They were close to parallel with the front line of infantry engagement.

Under the hillside more than [-] steps away to the north is the front line where the Ningxia army and its own infantry are fighting.

In the northwest, there is a row of bird musketeers of the government army.

Huang Shengxiao took a deep breath, his whole body was shaking from the cold, they can put the cannon here.

A few shields set up a shelf, he took the matchlock out of his mouth, but was extremely discouraged.

His match went out.

Suddenly there was a scream, and an auxiliary soldier tripped over the mud, rolled and fell more than ten steps away, and hit a tree heavily in the middle.

On the mountain ridge diagonally behind them, the sound of killing erupted. At this time, the fire rope could no longer restrain the movement of his neck. Turning his head, Huang Shengxiao realized that they had penetrated a little deeper into the enemy formation.

Behind them on the left, soldiers from Ningxia climbed up the mountain ridge on this side. At this time, they had already climbed the mountain ridge, and shot at Feng Ru's department on the other side of the ridge with bows and arrows.

The rear right is the front line of the two battles.

At this moment, Huang Shengxiao had four well-loaded, undrenched pearl cannons in his hands, no matter where they were fired, they could injure a large number of enemy troops.

"A match! Whose match is not extinguished?"

The fire ropes soaked in water were handed to Huang Shengxiao one by one.

The team is completely wiped out, and all thoughts are lost.

The eleven sentinels and auxiliary soldiers looked at each other in blank dismay.

Huang Shengxiao suddenly stretched his arms forward.

Bird Gunner.

The bird gunner of the official army.

Their matches were not extinguished.

Zhan Fubing looked at him with shock in his eyes, there were only eleven of them out of thirty bird gunners.

"Put the cannons in place first, set up a shelf, and a few people come with me to grab the guns and come back."

As he said that, Huang Shengxiao began to take off his clothes. He was shirtless, but now he took off his cotton trousers and trousers, rolled around on the ground, took out his waist knife to wipe the mud, and grinned, revealing his yellow mouth. tooth.

"Go around from a high place, they can't see it!"

All the shields and armor were set up in a small cannon shed under the tree. Huang Shengxiao finally checked the condition of the four cannons. One of the muzzles was slightly soaked in water, which probably did not affect the shooting.

Eleven bare-bodied artillerymen who painted themselves as mud monkeys climbed up the higher hillside with birds and knives in their hands. Using trees, shrubs and rainy weather, they went deep behind the enemy's rear.

Cao Yao has already forgotten the artillery squad he sent.

He was fighting the snail with all his heart, and the loaded Hongyi cannon walked slower than the snail behind the army formation.

The horses and mules could no longer pull in the front. Thirty or so sergeants were pulling and pushing in front of and behind the red cannon. Everyone, including Cao Yao, was barefoot, pushing with their shoulders and hands, and their feet were on the muddy road. Slippery step by step.

The throwing in front and the throwing in the back can't use any strength at all.

But Cao Yao must transport this cannon to the front line.

He must shoot a cannon at the official army formation. Hundreds of irons can strike five feet horizontally and wipe down all the officers and soldiers in front of the formation. They will definitely win.

Wang Wenxiu, the frontline whistle chief, is gone.

The bearded man had been supervising the battle on the front line, raising his sword and shouting to cheer up the soldiers, but then he rolled down the hillside and knocked him to the ground.

Then the enemy army rushed up, and his soldiers followed suit. The gun formations on both sides intersected, and the swords and shields squatted under the spear formations to fight.

Wang Wenxiu prostrated herself on the ground, with a dozen spears stabbing her head alternately, unable to get up at all.

He could only scratch the countless calves with the dagger in his hand.

But his soldiers are very upbeat. Even when the chief disappears, they can still maintain high morale and fight. This is the hope that supports him to lie on the ground and continue fighting.

But that hope had nothing to do with him.

As soon as he discovered that Wang Wenxiu had disappeared in front of the battle, Liu Chengzong rushed down from the hillside and led his servants to take over the command of the frontline battle.

The post-sentry auxiliary soldiers may not know any sentry leader in the battalion, but they certainly know the Lion General who gave them pocket money.

The soldiers who were still able to fight gladly forgot the disappearance of Chief Wang, and their morale was greatly boosted by the general's side-by-side fighting.

The left wing's resistance was unsustainable. The officers and soldiers attacked the mountain ridge from a high position, but Feng Ru's troops were frustrated by the cliff, and could only attack against the enemy's condescending arrow rain.

Then the officers and soldiers occupied the cliff, and the two sides started a close fight on the hillside.

The right-wing Gaoxian troops finally attacked the ridge, but they met the officers and soldiers on the ridge. The two troops, exhausted from staggering in the rain, fought fiercely. Soldiers from both sides rolled down from the ridge every moment.

Liu Chengzong and the Han brothers were the sharpest spearheads in the entire army. Under the protection of the front-line shieldmen, they shot with bows and shot one enemy after another in the face.

A gap was opened in the middle, and the battle line was pushed forward for a full seventeen steps.

Until Liu Chengzong broke the bow.

Wang Wenxiu on the ground was stepped on several times before he escaped from his own formation. He saw that Liu Chengzong's face was bloody and the inside of his arm was also torn, and he shouted to him, "It's impossible to fight like this."

Liu Chengzong looked back, Cao Yao's cannon was still more than [-] steps away from the front line.

Before Wang Wenxiu could react, Liu Chengzong held his clothes and asked, "Can you retreat thirty steps and stabilize the formation?"

It is easy to retreat, but it is difficult to stabilize the formation during the retreat.

Especially on such muddy ground.

But Wang Wenxiu said: "Yes!"

Then the military order was conveyed to the captains one by one, and then the captains informed the commanders in the fight until the news reached the ears of the two whistle chiefs Gao and Feng on the left and right wings.

During this process, the transporting soldiers tried their best to transport the wounded soldiers, picked them up from the ground, and dragged them to the rear. People fell down again and again, and got up again and again, turning into clay figurines.

When the news came back, Liu Chengzong gave the order to the Chinese army to retreat ten steps.

The advance of the battle line to the east greatly encouraged the fighting officers and soldiers on the front line. Seeing the hope of victory, the Ningxia soldiers continued to attack fiercely.

The Lion Camp was unable to hold its ground at Shibu, and Liu Chengzong's servants once again took over the line of defense, fighting with short soldiers one after another, but they still couldn't hold back the retreat.

The battle line retreated another fifteen steps before it could barely stabilize.

At this time, Liu Chengzong was already standing with Cao Yao, the red cannon was parked in front of the formation, and the eight shields overlapped to block the rainwater from the muzzle to the tail of the cannon.

Old Thief Cao took out his clothes from the muzzle of the cannon, wiped it off the cannon body, and gritted his teeth, clutching the wooden pole with the matchlock tied, his eyes fixed on the front: "Stay away from the lion, or your ears will be damaged."

The soldiers in the front row retreated in an orderly manner, while the officers and soldiers launched a fierce attack in front.

One step, two steps, the auxiliary Zhan soldiers retreated from both sides of the Hongyi Cannon like a tide, and the ferocious muzzle of the cannon was finally exposed in front of the officers and soldiers.

The officers and soldiers hesitated. They frantically wanted to retreat, but they were blocked by the friendly troops behind who didn't know where they were going.

Amidst the roar, the Hongyi cannon hit the back seat heavily, and hundreds of iron particles sprayed out, sweeping across the front of the army formation, knocking the fierce officers and soldiers on their backs.

At the same time, four cannon shots were heard from the side of the left-wing officer army, and dozens of one or two bullets flew into the reserve team of the officer army.

Liu Chengzong was delighted to see several clay figurines dancing with knives.

　Good afternoon, I fell asleep while writing yesterday.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)