The Red Chamber begins with a bastard

Chapter 234 Abnormal

Haimen County is about three to four hundred miles away from Yangzhou City. In addition, the road was slippery and muddy after the rain, so the marching speed was very slow. It only covered more than 50 miles a day. At this speed, it would take seven or eight days to reach Haimen County. .

Lin Ruhai was already weak. Coupled with the hot weather, he accidentally got caught in the rain yesterday. Under the combination of cold and heat, his condition suddenly worsened. He was short of breath and had tightness in his chest. He could not ride a horse at all and could only ride in a sedan. As a result, his marching speed was reduced. More slowly.

Jia Huan and Lu Xiangsheng stood guard on the left and right worriedly. In Division Lin's current situation, normal marching would be a problem, let alone commanding the army to fight. If he continued to struggle, he might lose his life.

Yi Hong was a border general and had some courage, but he was very happy with his achievements. He was afraid that if he left too late, the group of pirates would be wiped out by the Yangzhou Guards commanded by Dai Li. He didn't even have to drink soup and saw that the march was so slow. , and Lin Ruhai was half-dead from illness, so he only sent someone to inform Lin Ruhai, and then he left the large army with fifty cavalry and royal guards and rushed directly to Haimen County.

The sky was gray, but very hot. It looked like it was going to rain again. The army was marching slowly on the muddy road. The sedan that Lin Ruhai was riding in suddenly stopped. Jia Huan and Lu Xiangsheng hurriedly dismounted and approached. Ask about the situation.

Lin Ruhai coughed a few times and ordered with a somewhat rapid breathing: "Brother Huan, you'd better make a hard trip and lead two hundred cavalry to catch up to protect Commander Yi's safety. If you are in doubt, send someone to inform me immediately." official."

It turned out that although Lin Ruhai was dissatisfied with Yi Hong's decision, he was the emperor's confidant after all and could not allow any mistakes. Therefore, after careful consideration, Lin Ruhai decided to send Jia Huan and two hundred cavalry to protect his safety.

The reason why Jia Huan was sent was naturally out of trust. Although Jia Huan was young, he was flexible in mind, good at adapting to changes, brave and resourceful, and could stand alone. These are facts that are obvious to all.

In addition, Yi Hong has always been self-willed and his methods are cruel and brutal. Now that he has Shang Fang's sword in his hand, he is going his own way and refuses to listen to others' advice. However, not long ago, Jia Huan successfully persuaded Yi Hong to release the captured troops. He joined the Yangzhou Guardsmen and created a "miracle", so Lin Ruhai felt that it might be safer to send Jia Huan to follow Yi Hong.

However, although Jia Huan didn't understand why Yi Hong looked at him differently, he knew that this so-called "look at him differently" had its limits. If his own interests were really involved, he believed that Yi Hong would never give him a chance. No ounce of face.

Of course, if Lin Ruhai really wanted to send himself to protect Yi Hong, Jia Huan had no choice but to take the order, gather two hundred cavalry, and chase Yi Hong with Tie Hu and Shi Tou.

Let us also say that Jia Huan led two hundred cavalry in the direction of Haimen County. They did not catch up with Yi Hong until dark. The men and horses were all exhausted, sweating and panting, so he had to order to rest for half an hour and eat something casually. dry food, and then continue to catch up.

Fortunately, after another hour of traveling at night, Jia Huan and others finally caught up with Yi Hong.It turned out that the official road in front of him was flooded with water, and it was dark and he could not see the strength of the water. After all, Yi Hong did not dare to risk dipping into the water, so he could only stop and rest, waiting for dawn before making a decision.

After all, Yi Hong was born in the army, so he was very vigilant. He saw a cavalry galloping down the ground from a distance, and immediately ordered his fifty cavalry guards to take a defensive posture. When they found out that the person coming was Jia Huan, they He breathed a sigh of relief, gestured to release his defense, and said with a smile: "Who is it? It turns out to be Jia Xiucai."

Jia Huan approached the horse, cupped his fists and said, "Jia Huan is here to protect Commander Yi on orders from Lord Lin."

"Protect this commander? Haha, Mr. Lin is really thoughtful!" Yi Hong laughed and was quite disapproving. Lin Ruhai actually sent a little scholar to protect a certain family. It is really ridiculous. How could he not know that a certain family is in the border town? When we were struggling, Jia Huan wasn’t even born yet!
Jia Huan didn't seem to hear the ridicule in Yi Hong's tone. He just calmly rolled off his saddle and dismounted, and ordered Bai Shilin to find a higher ground to camp. Then he asked Tieniu and Xing Wei to lead a dozen mounted scouts to guard the surrounding area. reconnaissance.

Yi Hong saw that Jia Huan was actually doing his best in front of an old gangster like him, and couldn't help but sneered: "Jia Xiucai, don't be nervous, but there are only thousands of thieves, you can't commit a crime like a powerful enemy, not to mention that we have the Yangzhou Guards in front of us. There is the main force of the army led by Lord Lin behind us, so the thieves will only get into the urn if they are blind."

Jia Huan smiled and said: "As the saying goes, be careful when sailing a thousand-year-old ship. It is always right to be more careful, and Sun Tzu's Art of War also says: Don't rely on the enemy to come, rely on me to be prepared for it. Being prepared is better than being unprepared. Commander Yi, do you think so?"

Yi Hong just sneered and thought to himself, scholars are just scholars after all. No matter how smart they are, no matter how many military books they have read, without the courage of a soldier or the courage to lick blood with a knife, they will always be timid and unable to achieve great things. No matter how smart you are, you love Just keep tossing, I have nothing to lose anyway.

So Yi Hong ignored Jia Huan, asked his men to clear a clean area, and then lay down to rest.

There was no talk all night, and it didn't rain. When daybreak, the flood had already receded, revealing a road full of mud. Fortunately, this was not a big problem for the cavalry. Yi Hong, who was eager for success, immediately ordered to continue on his way.

Let's say that Yi Hong, Jia Huan and others traveled for most of the day and finally entered the boundary of Haimen County in the afternoon. However, just as Yi Hong rushed to the vicinity of Haimen County in excitement, he was showered with a bucket of cold water on his head. It turned out that Haimen County It was actually recaptured by Yangzhou Guards, and they are currently cleaning the battlefield.

Yi Hong couldn't help but feel extremely annoyed when he saw this, and immediately lowered his face. He caught a Yangzhou guard who was cleaning the battlefield near the city gate and asked, "Where is Dai Li?"

Although the soldier did not know Yi Hong, he recognized the flying fish suit and knew that these uncles were not easy to deal with. Moreover, not long ago, the Jinyi Guards had made the Yangzhou Guards miserable, so he cautiously replied: "The thieves are brave and brave." After being defeated in Lu Sijiang, Commander Dai is leading his army to pursue them."

Yi Hong was overjoyed when he heard this, thinking that it was okay, the thieves had not been completely wiped out, and the leader of the thieves had not been captured yet, so his trip was not in vain, so he asked for the direction, and immediately chased towards Lu Sichang to regain Haimen. He didn't get the credit for the county seat. The credit for wiping out the thieves and capturing the leader of the thieves must go to Yi Hong.

Jia Huan felt strange when he saw Yi Hong galloping away with fifty cavalry guards. He raised his head and glanced at the row of heads carried on bamboo poles on the top of the city. They were all rotten and covered with maggots. These should be the ones who were killed. The heads of the Haimen County Magistrate and other local officials killed by the thieves had not yet been released. In other words, the Yangzhou Guards should have just taken Haimen County not long ago.

Tiehu suddenly pointed to the distance, frowned and whispered: "Third Master, look at those prisoners, they are all women and children!"

Jia Huan raised his eyes and saw a group of Yangzhou guards escorting dozens of prisoners towards this side. However, these prisoners were all old, weak, and women, not even a strong adult man. He couldn't help but secretly He frowned.

At this time, the group of Yangzhou guards had already brought the prisoners closer. The leader of the group, the man from Baihu, had a beard on his face and looked a little familiar. It was Zuo Dashou who was captured by Jinyi that day and returned to patrol the Salt Censor's Prison.

Zuo Dashou obviously recognized Jia Huan on the horse at this time. He was stunned for a moment, and immediately stepped forward with clasped fists in joy and saluted: "I have met Mr. Jia!"

Jia Huan smiled and said: "It turns out to be Zuo Baihu!"

Zuo Dashou grinned and said: "It turns out that Mr. Jia still recognizes humble positions!" "Zuo Baihu even dared to kick the Jin Yiwei, how could he not recognize it!" Jia Huan joked.

Zuo Dashou chuckled and scratched his head in embarrassment: "Being humble is a bull's temper. When you get angry, you don't care about anything. I didn't think it was a big deal at the time, but afterwards I was a little scared. It's a blessing that Mr. Jia interceded for us. Otherwise, we If a person falls into the hands of the Jin Yiwei, his skin will be peeled off even if he is dead. Brothers, why are you still standing there and not kowtow to Master Jia to thank him for saving your life?"

As soon as the words were spoken, the soldiers in the group knelt down and kowtowed to Jia Huan to thank him. It turned out that a considerable number of these soldiers were the same ones who were captured and taken back to prison by the Jin Yiwei that day.

Jia Huan hurriedly turned over and dismounted and said, "Brothers, you don't have to do this. It's just a little effort. Get up quickly." After saying that, he reached out to help Zuo Dashou.

But Zuo Dashou insisted on kowtowing three times before standing up, and said seriously: "I'm not afraid that Mr. Jia will make you laugh. Although I, Zuo Dashou, am a rough man and don't know a single Chinese character, I also know how to treat a drop of kindness like a spring. In terms of retribution, I owe Mr. Jia my life due to my humble position. If Mr. Jia can be of use to me Zuo Dashou in the future, please feel free to ask. No matter whether it is going up the mountain of swords or going down into the sea of ​​fire, even if I, Zuo Dashou, frown, it will not count. hero!"

Zuo Dashou was already rough and rough, and he also had a loud voice and a booming voice. Now he patted his chest and made a promise, which added to his heroic spirit. Both Tiehu and Shitou couldn't help but cheer and praised: "Good man!"

Jia Huan also had a great impression of Zuo Baihu, who had a clear sense of grudges. He said a few more polite words, then took the opportunity to point at the women and children and asked, "May I ask Zuo Baihu, are these pirates captured by you guys?"

Zuo Dashou was slightly embarrassed and said bluntly: "They are not pirates, they are just confused local people."

Shitou asked curiously: "Then why arrest them? Could it be that you want to kill good people and take credit for them?"

Zuo Dashou glared at Shitou and said: "Fart, although I am not a good person, I can't do such despicable things. Although these people are not pirates, they have also received pirates' money and food, and they have been with pirates. Catch them." It’s not unfair.”

"The civilian woman was wronged. The civilian woman did not want to associate with the pirates. However, the pirates captured the civilian woman's man and burned the house. If the civilian woman did not rely on the pirates, the whole family would have to starve to death. The civilian woman had no choice but to ah!"

"Yes, the men of civilian women were also captured by thieves..."

The trembling women and children didn't know Jia Huan's identity, but seeing that this handsome young master was so majestic that even the officers and soldiers kowtowed to him, it was obvious that his identity was extraordinary, so they all cried and cried loudly. .

Jia Huan frowned, gestured, led Zuo Dashou to a quiet place, and asked, "Zuo Baihu, how many prisoners have you captured in total?"

Zuo Dashou scratched his head and said: "I haven't had time to count them yet, but there are probably between 3000 and [-] people."

"So many?" Jia Huan asked in surprise.

Zuo Dashou nodded and said: "After the pirates captured Haimen County, they opened warehouses to release grain. I heard that they also distributed money. Many people from the surrounding areas came to seek refuge in order to beg for food. In just seven or eight days, they gathered together. Over [-] people.”

Jia Huan's heart moved and he asked: "Then how long did it take you to capture this county? How many casualties were there?"

Zuo Dashou smiled and said: "It only took one day to conquer, and the casualties were very light. These pirates are all a mob, and their weapons are crooked. Although the number of common people who joined the thieves is large, they don't even have the weapons at their disposal, and they have no fighting power." It’s not worth mentioning that as soon as our army arrived, they fled in all directions before the fight started. After a battle, they did nothing else but captured prisoners for a long time.”

Tiehu and Shitou couldn't help but look at each other. To be honest, although those pirates were a mob, their combat effectiveness was not bad, at least better than that of the salt soldiers, especially those Japanese pirates who were dying. Their combat effectiveness should not be underestimated. The two of them had experienced it personally. of.

Jia Huan's eyes flashed and he asked: "Does that mean you easily captured Haimen County without encountering any decent resistance?"

Zuo Dashou nodded and said, "Absolutely. Isn't this normal? They are just a bunch of thieves and thieves. When they encounter a well-equipped regular army, they turn into chickens and dogs!"

Jia Huan couldn't help but frowned. Kang Dayong sent out thousands of pirates and captured Haimen County with great fanfare, but they couldn't hold it for even a day. Is this because the pirates' combat effectiveness is too rubbish, or do they have ulterior motives?
Zuo Dashou saw Jia Huan's eyebrows furrowed and looked thoughtful, so he couldn't help but ask: "Does Mr. Jia think that the pirates are cheating?"

Jia Huan asked, "Does Zuo Baihu think that the main force of the thieves has been killed in this battle?"

Zuo Dashou was stunned. Although the Yangzhou Guards defeated the thieves this time and successfully regained Haimen County, the damage to the main force of the pirates seemed really limited. Even the thousands of prisoners they captured, seven or eight There are some old, weak, women and children in Chengdu.

Zuo Dashou scratched his head solemnly and said to himself: "Is there really a fraud in it?"

Jia Huan said solemnly: "Regardless of whether it's a scam or not, be careful of sailing the ten thousand year ship. At this time, you need to be very alert. By the way, how many brothers do you have left to clean up the battlefield?"

Zuo Dashou stretched out his hand and replied: "There are five hundred households, almost 600 people. Three hundred households are responsible for guarding the baggage, and two hundred households are responsible for cleaning the battlefield."

"Luggage?" An idea flashed in Jia Huan's mind, and he turned to look at the open space in the distance. Sure enough, a group of officers and soldiers were guarding a large amount of baggage, which seemed to be ready to be transported into the city.

It turned out that the commander of the Yangzhou Guards, Dai Li, was eager to pursue the Kang Dayong brothers. After capturing Haimen County, he immediately led the main force to pursue in the direction of Lu Si, leaving only [-] soldiers to guard the baggage and clean the battlefield.

(End of this chapter)