weaving

Chapter 666
"Great heat and heavy rain, frost in a hundred days. Great heat and small heat, drowning mice."

On June 14, the 23th year of Chongzhen, it was the season of great heat, the sky was dark, the sun was covered by dark clouds, and it was raining heavily.

It is the season of midsummer, but because of the sudden heavy rain, people feel a little chilly. In a mountain forest about [-] miles north of Xingshan Station in Liaodong, there are more than ten human-shaped figures lurking.

The rain fell like hemp, and the surrounding fields were silent, except for the crackling sound of raindrops hitting the branches and leaves of the big trees and the grass.

The world is desolate, the earth is clean, surrounded by rolling mountains, and two miles to the north is the Nuerhe River, which is twelve miles away from Jinzhou and sixteen miles away from Songshan Fort.

In a depression not far from where a dozen people were lurking, more than a dozen strong horses were resting in the forest, and two rough-looking men in hardcover were guarding here. They were both covered with cloaks and hats. .

The rainwater fell on the bamboo hat and flowed down the side again. One of the men cursed and said: "The weather of the prodigal, this rain makes me upset."

Another rough voice said: "Okay, Prince Ma and the others have been lying on the ground for almost an hour. It's good for us brothers to stand here."

It has been raining heavily for almost an hour, and finally I am a little tired. The raindrops are no longer as rapid as they were at the beginning, and it seems that they will stop soon.

There are also traces of bright light in the sky, looming through the thick clouds, as if giving people hope.

The leader was about thirty years old, with a weathered face and sharp eyes. He wore a white oilcloth felt hat with a cortex hanging down his neck, and his burly body was wearing leather armor. Scratch, and some brass nails.

He wrapped his bamboo hat tightly, wrapped the double-pronged ones, and there was a cooked copper mace beside him. The rain dripped on him from the branches and leaves of the big tree, but he lay down firmly on the muddy ground. Among the grass, there was no movement.

Beside him was a slightly skinny man, about the same age as him, but not tall, and his face was full of furrows and wrinkles.

He is also a felt hat and cloak, with leather armor inside, and an oilcloth bag next to him, which looks like it is wrapped with double inserts, and a hammer is placed on the right hand side.

The heavy rain gradually subsided, and the cold wind picked up again. Gusts of cold wind hit like knives, blowing the branches of the trees and making a "crash", blowing on the faces of everyone like knives, and blowing on the rain-drenched body like a knife. Frosty cold.

The thin man raised his head and looked at the sky, and said, "Master Ma, the rain has soaked through the armor of brothers. We squatted for a long time, but there was no sign of a tartar. Should you let the brothers go to the temple on the east side of the mountain?" Warm up by the fire, warm your body, and rest your feet."

Master Ma turned his head and looked left and right. The people around him were indeed exhausted, and many of them huddled together, shivering in the cold wind.

He twisted his body and took out a water bag from the cloak, and said: "This place is too close to the Tartars, you may encounter Tartars at any time, don't be careless, it's better to be careful, take a full sip of strong wine, and get a bite first .”

Everyone took the water bag silently, and one took a big gulp. The mellow shochu made their throats so hot and sore, and the real line of throat went down into their stomachs, and immediately felt a surge of heat , five body comfortable.

The thin man next to Master Ma took back the water bag at last, he raised his head and gulped down a big gulp of wine, and let out a big mouthful of air in a "sigh hiss".

He handed the wine bag back to Master Ma, and said: "Our family's shochu must be strong enough. I just can't get used to drinking the stuff in the Guan."

The group of people are none other than Ningyuan's chief military officer Wu Sangui's sentry detectives, Ma Zhenyuan, Zheng Zhitai, Sun Dongri, Su Shigao, Qian Yusheng and others.

Under the orders of the general Wu Sangui, they came here to investigate the layout of the slave army in Songjin area. The two leaders are Ma Zhenyuan, a rough man, and Zheng Zhitai, a thin man.

Both of them are veterans of the battalion for many years, they are not only Wu Sangui's servants, but also Lao Yebu who has years of scouting experience, and they have made quite a lot of achievements on weekdays.

In the early years, he was the family member of his ancestors. He lived in Liaodong for a long time. In the eighth year of Chongzhen, the two followed Zu Kuan into the pass to suppress the bandits. Later Zu Kuan was arrested because of the 11th year of the invasion of the Tartars and the inability of his teachers to assist Shandong. , He was executed for the crime of "losing the vassal feudal title".

The two of them went back to Liaodong, and then returned to Wu Sangui's command. They were still used by the writer Ding, but they started as small pawns, and now they are no longer at the head of the team.

Ma Zhenyuan, Zheng Zhitai and the others were just one of more than ten outposts sent by Wu Sangui, and they had left the camp for four days.

By virtue of their familiarity with the terrain and mountains of Songjinjian, coupled with their rich experience as scouts, they had a lot of dealings with the Tartars, and the two of them had been in the same camp for more than ten years. There is nothing to say about riding.

Seeing that the heavy rain had stopped, Ma Zhenyuan led the rest of the people to the place where the horses were stored, leaving two sharp eyes to continue to watch the trail down the mountain and the direction of Nuuhe in the distance.

They took a rest in the mountains and forests, dried their cloaks, and arranged their equipment. As a cavalry team, they were not collected at night. Press quiver.

In this way, the arrows are stuffed in the quiver, no matter how bumpy the horse is when galloping, the arrows will not fall from it.

However, only Ma Zhenyuan and Zheng Zhitai used the one-stone strong bow, and the rest, such as Sun Dongri and Su Shigao, all used the seven-power bow or the eight-power bow.

It can be vaguely seen that Sun Dongri and the others have a three-eyed gun stuck in their waists, from which it can be seen that there is still a certain proportion of firearms in this team.

Ma Zhenyuan, the leader of the team, always felt that the seven or eight power Kaiyuan bows they used were not strong enough, and the eight power bows could only shoot through the iron cotton armor within a distance of fifteen steps, which slightly injured the flesh.

But the vests worn by the Tartar sentry are at least two layers of heavy armor. There may be iron-inlaid cotton armor weighing [-] to [-] catties on the outside, and short iron armor weighing [-] to [-] catties on the inside. The shot pierced through a layer, but it still couldn't hurt anyone.

If you encounter small bosses such as Zhuangda, Pashiku, and Fende Pashiku among them, there will even be a layer of chain mail or triple armor inside, and the damage caused by bows and arrows on it will be even more powerless. up.

However, training in the use of weapons is a matter of years and months. Once you are used to it, you should not change it rashly, otherwise the combat power will drop suddenly. This can only be done by ear.

"Fucking donkey, what the hell is this weather? The horses are exhausted, let alone people, and they're carrying tens of catties of armor. Damn..."

Sun Dongri on the side was gulping down wine while straightening the saddle cursingly. Like Su Shigao next to him, he was a servant of the younger generation, and he was also a stout man. cloak.

He took off his felt hat, under which a scarf covered his black hair.

(End of this chapter)