stubborn thief

Chapter 269
The hounds galloped on the mountain road, followed by a group of hunters, leaving one person standing at the turn of the mountain road, holding a torch.

The sound of galloping horseshoes sounded shortly afterwards, and the pack horses carrying equipment were led to run across the mountain road, and then teams of lightly loaded horses rode forward.

This was the largest march of the Baili Army since Dunyue Dorji inherited the throne. Four nobles from all over the territory each led six Daiben into King Nangqian's territory, rushing in the direction of the Lion Army's retreat to the northeast.

Dunyue Duoji was very excited when he received the request for help from King Lin Cong. For a long time, considering the prestige of the Lin Cong family, he was reluctant to attack Chieftain Lin Cong. .

To him, King Lin Cong's request for help this time is no less than Chieftain Dege's tribute to him, and it is an opportunity for him to extend his tentacles of rule to the north bank of the Jinsha River.

It's just that it's hard for the people who are dispatched to Ula in Baili. According to the usual practice, when the army marches, it needs to be sent to Ula to deliver military supplies along the way, and provide food, grass, horses, cattle and sheep.

Since the army arrived in a certain place, the nobles here dispatched Ula, who were handed over by the people of Chauula to the territory of the next nobleman.

But at this time they are facing the situation of no successors. The southeast of Nangqian has been tossed into a white field by the coming and going wars. The most important thing is that there are no nobles in all the territories. Danba has become the last stop for their logistics supplies. .

After leaving the Danba territory, Wula, who was following the army, could no longer retreat and could only march quickly with the army.

The serfs and pack horses were being exhausted, but they could not be replenished in large quantities. The supply line from the Sumang territory to the Baili hinterland in the past collapsed, and the army's supply capacity was in jeopardy.

But Bailey's generals were insensitive to the situation, and they were on their way to victory.

Facing a large-scale attack, Basang, who stayed behind in Danba, could not resist, and retreated to the northwest of Nangqian Palace at the beginning of the war.

Basang ran in front, and his own army chased after him. In a short distance of [-] miles, the two sides fought three times, and Basang lost three battles.

But his slave soldiers did not collapse, because the direction of the rout was very clear, and the slaves had no other way to survive. The only way to survive was to escape to Nangsuo Qianmo Palace by the Zhaqu River.

When Basang fled to the banks of the Zhaqu River, not only were there many slaves, but there were even more slaves than before the war, reaching [-]. However, they almost lost all their weapons and materials, and had nothing but their lives.

The Daiben army behind him also led his army to pursue to the bank of the Zhaqu River, where Huang Shengxiao, the commander-in-chief of the artillery battalion who stayed behind, blocked him along the river, but returned without success.

The nine-hundred-generation army that burned and killed all the way to victory did not collapse under Huang Shengxiao's wooden cannon counterattack, but collapsed on the way back.

They ran out of food, their pack horses ran away to death, and Ula fled. The people along the way were taken away by Basang, and the villages along the way were set on fire by them.

In Nangqian's hometown, which was destroyed by the war, the army collapsed on its own, and Daiben was unable to restrain the minor nobles under him. Some fled back to their hometowns, and more divided into small groups and rushed to Leiwuqi, Yushu and other places. became a bandit.

Only a hundred or so people followed Daiben, looking eastward along the high mountains and deep valleys to find traces of the transfer of large troops.

And in the northeast direction where Bai Li's army is located, the Lion Army and Lin Cong Army are fighting around the chain bridge on the Jinsha River.

The landing of Luo Rucai's troops was known to Lin Cong's army from the very beginning, but it took time for the army to gather in his sleep, which allowed more than a hundred people from Luo Rucai's troops to cross the river.

Then hundreds of enemy troops rushed down from the mountain with open fire, and the advance crossing troops of the Lion Army faced a very embarrassing situation-their commander did not go ashore.

But there is a strong sense of presence.

Under the dark night sky, in the turbulent river, orders from the commander Luo Mou came from time to time: "Raise the gun and gurgle..."

Luo Rucai was the largest landlubber in the advance team to cross the river.

When those carefully selected soldiers crossed the river bank and went into battle, Mr. Luo Qian was still up and down in the river, swinging from side to side with the rope, popping up his head from time to time and shouting, telling everyone that he was still alive.

In any case, Luo Rucai in the river provided a great advantage for this battle.

The river-crossing team put their backs into position, the soldiers on the outer edge set up muskets, and some held spears to protect the soldiers inside from wearing armor, but it was actually very dangerous because they had no matchlocks.

The torch was extinguished, the matchlock hadn't been lit yet, and the soldiers inside the formation were looking for the fire scythe in the dark from the supplies drawn over from the air.

The enemy fought with open flames, holding muskets brightly on the mountainside, and then the sound of guns rang out, frightening the river crossing team.

No one was shot, the enemy was not targeting them.

Because there was no fire, the enemy army could not see where the river crossing team was, but could only hear Luo Qianzong's shout from the river, and mistakenly thought that they were crossing the river, so rows of lead shot towards the river.

When the lead was finished, Mr. Luo Qian's order turned into yelling: "Damn it, you know how to hit Gudu Gudu... grab the bridge, they can't hit Gudu Gudu..."

The river crossing team was relieved, leaving [-] people to guard the riverside, trying to find a way to fish Mr. Luo Qian out of the river, and the rest of them attacked the bridge head in the dark.

The enemy troops on the mountainside were still fighting wits and bravery with the river. They did not dare to fight close to each other in the dark night, so they could only use rows of muskets, bows and arrows to shoot towards the place where strange shouts came from.

They were also puzzled, why didn't the man in the river move?

He couldn't kill him, and kept shouting.

Luo Rucai was exhausted from struggling in the river. After his arm lost strength, he found that the river couldn't wash him away because of the rope.

He thought, anyway, with his swimming skills, there is no hope of swimming over. It is not easy to be killed in the river. What kind of feather arrows and lead pellets have no strength in the water, so he is floating in the water.

When I was almost out of breath, I would grab the rope and make a bubble, curse a few words, and then go down and mutter for a while.

It wasn't until some of his subordinates grabbed his arm in the water and dragged him to the river bank that Luo Ru finally relaxed and regained his senses.

Hearing the sound of gunshots over there, Liu Chengzong on the mountainside clenched his fists tightly. Tang Qi with Daozi withdrew twelve people from three directions, which meant that King Baili's army was advancing here from three directions. Back them four miles.

The enemy army is coming fiercely, and Dai Daozi is trying his best to find out the number of enemy troops.

Liu Chengzong sent Tangqi to pass orders to Zhang Tianlin, who was resting on the flank, ordering him to keep moving to the enemy's flank under the cover of Tangqi, and to support the main force in the pending battle.

According to the advancing speed of Bai Li's army, at the latest in the evening of the day after tomorrow, which is the time for the decisive battle, there is not much time left for the chain bridge.

Wang Wenxiu's twelve soldiers carried six guns on their shoulders and dragged a bench to walk up the chain bridge. The long bridge was covered with planks, but it was slightly shaken by the wind passing through the valley, which made people feel frightened.

They walked slowly and approached the bridgehead eighty steps away. The torches of the defenders stationed at the bridgehead in the distance were no longer blurred. They put down their guns and divided into the third group.

The two people in front of each group squatted, carrying their guns and tied them to a bench; the two behind them stood, holding their guns on the shoulders of the person in front, and tightened them with belts to prevent them from jumping up.

The Lin Cong garrison at the bridgehead is gathering. This army formation is the essence of King Lin Cong's subordinates. It has hundreds of heavy armored infantry, more than a hundred muskets, and heavy crossbows.

Such a force is enough to block any enemy from the bridge.

Whether it is for the initiator or the recipient, night battles are very dangerous.

The human eye cannot see the distance, and any sudden bright light is frightening, even Mars.

The fire sickle lights up under the night, a stream of sparks ignites the fire pocket, and the tiny flame ignites the torch, igniting the matchlocks one by one.

Luo Rucai's team crossing the river was very bold. All this happened fifty paces away from the flank of the army formation at the head of the bridge. Officer Daiben saw the sign of the flames, drew his bow and let it go there, shouting: "Turn to the right!"

Feathered arrows were flying under the night, and only heard a ding. No one knew where the arrow was going. Even the soldiers of the river crossing team couldn't be sure whether it hit the armor or the stones by the river. .

All they know is: shoot!

The four-barreled blunderbuss machine was lifted, and the matchlock blunderbusses fired first, and rows of shells were released towards the dense army formation. More bird blunderbussmen spread out from the flanks, and the light and heavy muskets fired in unison. No one could Aiming accurately, but for a short time, the muzzle of a gun burst into flames, dazzled by the loud noise, and was immediately covered by gunpowder smoke.

The moment when the flank was attacked was extremely terrifying. The wailing of the soldiers after being shot followed one after another, and the Lin Congjun in the army panicked.

The unarmored musketeer was knocked down with a muffled grunt, the matchlock touched the fire door by mistake, and the lead was released obliquely to the sky; bomb.

There are also huge gun projectiles, passing through the bodies and smashing pieces of armor, like an indestructible iron plow, plowing ravines in the flesh and blood army.

Then the front was attacked by guns from the bridge. There were no drums or flags. People shouted and ran and fell. Some people were tripped by the wounded. There were groans everywhere.

Some people fled to the darkness to avoid the shooting, others ran to the fire to keep the formation. In the scattered formation, soldiers were looking for officers, and officers were looking for soldiers. Everyone was shouting, and panic spread.

On the other side of the Jinsha River, horns sounded one after another, and Liu Chengzong beat the drums himself, waiting for Wang Wenxiu, who was at the bridge head, to lead his troops to the opposite bank with swords.

Following the first team of soldiers who crossed the bridge and arrived at the opposite bank, the Lin Cong Army guarding the shore announced its disintegration in the chaos, and the people ran madly into the mountain fort. The soldiers crossing the river also dispersed.

Eager to expand their advantage, they rushed into the stockade with their knives in hand. Many of them just subconsciously saw an enemy in a bright place and chased after them. Then fleeing became a habit, and chasing became a habit.

Until both sides lost their physical strength, some people suddenly found that more than a dozen of them were being chased by one person and ran for a long distance, and suddenly turned around to chase and kill them, and the offensive and defensive momentum was changed.

The pursuit started in disorderly chaos and ended in orderly resistance. The battle lasted only a quarter of an hour, and then Lin Cong's army, who came back from the pursuit, slowly retreated up the mountain under the blocking of Wang Wenxiu's troops.

Piles of bonfires rose in the distance, announcing to Liu Chengzong that his troops had acquired the chain bridge.

Soon a casualty report was sent, the lion soldiers injured eight people and killed one, while Lin Cong's army only left sixteen corpses and a dozen wounded soldiers, but there were quite a few captives lying on the ground pretending to be dead .

The biggest casualties of the battle between the two sides occurred in the initial salvo of muskets, followed by running around in the dark, with little engagement.

Luo Rucai was fished out of the river by his subordinates, wrapped in a big blanket and returned across the bridge, still trembling with purple lips, Liu Chengzong was full of worry and thought he was freezing.

"It's okay, Commander, I, I... was scared." Luo Rucai couldn't stop trembling, shook his head and said, "I, I, I'm not cold, just take it easy."

Luo Rucai was indeed frightened, he acted quite calm in the river, but there was no other way, in fact, he was terrified.

In his words, it would be better to give him a gun.

He alone in the river attracted at least the firepower of the entire centurion. Twenty or thirty muskets and thirty or forty crossbows shot at him non-stop. Every time a projectile fell into the water or a feather arrow flew through the air, he was terrified.

The reason why he came to look for Liu Chengzong wrapped in a blanket was because he felt that Liu Shizi was safe with him from the bottom of his heart.

Even though the battle on the other side was over and Wang Wenxiu occupied two fortresses, Luo Rucai would still hear the sound of lead pellets piercing through the air when he was there, and the slightest disturbance made his heart pound with fright.

As for the purple lips, on the one hand, it was very cold in the river, and on the other hand, it was because of the chain bridge, and it was scary to walk across the bridge.

Liu Chengzong smiled and said, "Do you dare to go there again?"

"Dare, but the commander-in-chief let me rest for a while." Luo Rucai thought that as long as I was not allowed to swim in the river again, he would dare to do anything: "Now I just want to cross the river, and my legs are numb. "

After Luo Rucai finished speaking, he raised his thumb towards Liu Chengzong: "The rope is so good, the commander-in-chief. Without these two ropes, I would really be sinking."

Liu Chengzong warmed up some ginger soup for him by the fire, and asked, "You are floating in the river, who is leading the soldiers on the opposite side?"

"President Li Baliang, from Wen'an Station, used to be a peddler." Luo Rucai held ginger soup in both hands: "After the drought, there is always a shortfall in selling things. The disaster star, as soon as he defected, my soldiers were defeated by Ai Mu gone."

"Oh... someone stabbed his ass, and Yang Chengzu almost died." As soon as he said this, Liu Chengzong knew when it happened: "It's a veteran, it's ok, and he played pretty well."

Veterans are obedient, but in fact the old men under Luo Rucai are old thieves.

No wonder this group of people can fight at night. In the past in northern Shaanxi, they had little ability and could only go out to fight big households at night. Like Li Laojie, when it got dark, those people's eyes lit up like fucking wolves.

"You rest tonight. Tomorrow morning, lead 200 people from the headquarters to cross the river and replace General Wang. I will deal with Dunyue Duoji, this Lin Cong here."

Liu Chengzong patted Luo Rucai on the shoulder: "I'll leave it to you. Hit as far as you can, and as much as you can. Hit back and forth, and hit hard."

　Good morning!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)