Dawn of the Empire

Chapter 57: Fate is a big fallacy (1)

Zhao Xingde, who was staying in the camp, was awakened by the running of soldiers and the noise outside, only to feel that the flames were dazzling, so he hurriedly put on his clothes, hesitated for a moment, took out the chain mail vest given by Song An from his bag, and put it on. , Hastily put on the helmet, picked up the saber, bow and arrow, lifted the curtain and went out of the tent, only to see soldiers running around everywhere, some holding torches, some holding swords.In the absence of the commanders of the various armies, many battalion commanders and capital heads took the initiative to lead people to support the nearest camp wall. This is also a common practice in the Hebei army.According to military law, it is strictly forbidden to ride and gallop in the camp at night, but in the case of night attack by the enemy cavalry, it is more important to guard the outside of the camp than anything else.

Compared with the armies in the Hebei camp, the Zhenbei Army has the best military discipline. After most soldiers put on their armor, they formed a team in the open space next to the camp. Ask the battalion for countermeasures, and barely grab the soldiers. Some of them were dispersed by friendly troops as soon as they lined up, and some were pushed to the side of the road.

Zhao Xingde followed the soldiers and ran towards the wall of the village. He passed one piece after another of the tents, and his ears were full of military orders shouted in various Hebei dialects. From time to time, cavalry passed by, and some officers rode and shouted as they ran: "Everyone returns to the base camp, don't move without authorization!" More officers shouted: "The barbarian is stealing the camp!" "Reinforce the wall!" "Put on armor and line up!"

When he came to the place close to the wall of the village, Zhao Xingde saw that outside the Langzhong’s tent accompanying the army, several soldiers wounded by arrows were bandaging up. The arrowheads of the Kelie people were not smooth enough to penetrate, but it was more troublesome to take them out. Generally speaking, the poison is also quenched.The wounded cloth strips were thrown in a mess on the ground, and the pot for boiling the medicine beside it hadn't boiled yet. Some soldiers could not bear the pain and began to groan and even curse.Zhao Xingde didn't dare to stay, and hurriedly followed the other soldiers to the wall of the village, only to see rounds of flames flying randomly in the sky, which were thrown by Klein's cavalry and stuck in the mud-smeared village There is nothing wrong with the wall, but it is more troublesome to tie it on the tents and soldiers.

The soldiers in the camp were all hiding behind the wall and the carriage, quite embarrassed. "Why didn't you shoot the arrows?" Zhao Xingde asked a soldier who looked kinder.

"The commander-in-chief has an order, no barbarian rushing in, no arrows! Anyone who disobeys the order will be beheaded!" A cavalry soldier with an arrow in his hand carefully reined in his horse outside the arrow range of Kret's department, and shouted loudly. It was the sixth order, and his loud shout attracted the hostile eyes of the camp soldiers hiding behind the wall and the carriage. The order did not dare to delay, and after roaring twice, they immediately turned the horse's head, Run away.

"I'm yuck..." A Hebei soldier beside Zhao Xingde spat on the ground, pulled out a steel knife, and made a sharp "chachacha" sound with a whetstone.

Arrows flew randomly in the sky, Zhao Xingde leaned his back against the wall of the village, panting heavily.The wall of this village is made of wooden boards 'inserted' on the rammed earth mound, which is quite simple.The Hebei Camp in the Wuzong Dynasty was a bit crude. The government is mobilizing Xiangjun and civilians to renovate. The Hebei Army will move in about ten days later. Therefore, the camp is now considered temporary, and no trenches have been dug. It was originally in the Song Dynasty. In the hinterland, there are three dangerous passes in the north, and no one thought how solid a temporary camp should be built.

Xingde could hear the curses muttered by Hu Qi through the wooden planks. It is conceivable how close these arrogant Hu Qi rushed when there were no archers in the camp to fight back.More and more battalion soldiers gathered on the inner side of the wall, and some of them were hit by stray arrows. The situation became a bit chaotic for a while.Hearing the wall of the village he was leaning on was shot by the arrows of Kelei's department, Zhao Xingde couldn't help but recall the night when the caravan was besieged by horse thieves, a feeling of shame and humiliation welled up in his heart. Take out five arrows and 'insert' them in the soil beside them one by one.

"He's 'grandmother', he bumped into this eggless marshal, and fought an eggless battle!" An old soldier beside him suddenly swears, because Xingde is wearing a new officer's uniform. Clothes, the old soldier looked at Zhao Xingde provocatively. "Worthless!" "I've never been so useless!" The soldiers below complained.

At this time, Xin Xingzong, the commander of the First Army in the north of Zhenbei, was ordered to go out of the village to appease the cavalry of Kelei. He came to the back of the archery tower on the wall of the village. The soldiers shouted loudly together: "Listen up, the first army in the north of the town outside, Marshal Tong has an order. If you come here to avenge General Clemachus, go back to the camp to rest for a while, Marshal Tong will definitely do it for you." Wait for the master!"

Tongshi's words are more complicated. The three megaphones are inaccurate. The clansmen of the Kret tribe are galloping and riding 'shooting', but they can't hear clearly. The 'shooting' arrows have never stopped. He didn't want to go out to die just like that, and he didn't dare to go back and report like this. The Hebei soldiers next to him had a little bit of barbaric language when they were patrolling, so they just watched the joke with cold eyes at the moment.

After waiting for a while, the rain of arrows outside the camp hadn't been sparse. Xin Xingzong was heartbroken and asked Tong Shi and the three megaphones to call out Tong Guan's words of comfort. Yes, also selling favors. "Marshal Tong shows pity on him, and pays [-] bolts of cloth to pay for Lord Kelei's funeral."

When the Kelie tribe was on the grassland, some people would come to collect mink fur, cattle and sheep, animal skins, etc. The main material of the transaction was cloth, so the word "cloth" was very accurate, and the number five thousand Be clear, and the rules on the grassland, the defeated side can give cattle and sheep supplies to the victor to seek peace. This person from the Kret tribe came from the hinterland of the Song Dynasty, and the patriarch died again. He didn't intend to go back alive, so he vaguely heard When the Han people came out to pay tribute to ask for peace, the arrows were thinned out. Several small leaders discussed with the patriarch’s son Huer Zhahusi. The horses galloped in the middle of the night, and they should rest for a while, so that the Song people could bring out the tribute first. Besides.

Tong Shi translated the request of the Kelie people to Xin Xingzong. Xin Xingzong was overjoyed and beckoned the soldiers to send Bubo out of the camp as soon as possible.Five thousand pieces of cloth is not a small amount, and it needs more than a dozen officials and subordinates under the secretary Zhou Dingcheng to handle it. Although they are all arranged for adults to intervene in person, it is extremely rare that there is no lucrative errand, so the efficiency of the logistics camp is by no means high. , About half an hour later, the five thousand cloth was loaded and delivered to the gate of Daying.

During this half an hour, the cavalry of Kelei's troops stationed outside to rest, and many soldiers in the Hebei camp also relaxed and crowded around the wall. Many people poked their heads out from behind the wall and looked around curiously. It is the cavalry of the Fifth Army of Zhenbei. Although the chief general was assassinated, it is really rare for him to be so domineering and dare to attack the army of the camp.

Xin Xingzong was waiting anxiously, when he saw that the five thousand cloths had finally arrived, he said anxiously to the soldiers under his command: "What are you still doing in a daze, open the gate of the camp and hand over these pensions outside." The ground winch turned, the gate of the camp opened, and more than 50 soldiers of the North First Army in the town, some driving mule carts, some pushing wheelbarrows, filled with cloth, slowly left the camp, not far away, More than two thousand riders got on their horses one after another, opened up a sparse formation, and watched vigilantly the soldiers of the Southern Dynasty who were approaching.

Zhao Xingde was behind the wall of the stronghold and saw from a distance that the convoy delivering the cloth was marching in front of the cavalry of Kelei's department. The leading officer and Tong Shi were together, comparing and painting, as if to ask the barbarians to inspect the cloth on the spot. Go back to work.The leading few Hu Qi casually flipped through the cloth for a while, chattering at no idea what to say, and then the officer who delivered the cloth started arguing with them. Soon, the officer waved his hand and ordered his soldiers to leave the carriage and wheelbarrow at the place, He turned his head and walked away. After a dozen or so steps, a Hu Qi behind opened his bow and set an arrow, and shot it straight through the back of his head. The officer didn't make a sound, and fell face up on the ground.

Almost at the same moment, all the soldiers standing and watching on the wall of the camp exclaimed together.Just when the transporting soldiers began to run desperately towards the gate of the camp, the barbarians behind urged their horses one after another, some drew out their scimitars, some drew their bows and arrows, and the cavalry of Kelei sent out the unique sound of hunting and fighting. The yelling of the horses and the sound of horseshoes are mixed with the screams of soldiers who were cut down or shot. Many people fell to the ground with bewilderment on their faces. ' And the expression of fear.

"Run!" "He's grandma!" "Open the camp gate and let grandpa fight!" Hebei soldiers watching the battle on the wall of the big camp cursed everywhere. Although the world has been peaceful for a long time, but The frictional battle around the Zhaibao of the military state along the border has never stopped. When did the soldiers of Hebei die so uselessly!

The commanders of the other armies are still deploying their tents. Xin Xingzong, the commander of the First Army in Zhenbei, looked pale as he watched his soldiers fall into the dust one by one until the last one was ten thousand. A few steps away from the gate of the camp, a knight galloping from behind with a scimitar in his hand cut off his neck without any suspense. on the ground.That Hu Qi shouted excitedly, waved his scimitar at the Hebei army guarding the gate of the camp like a demonstration, turned his horse's head, and left in the dust.

With the death of the last soldier outside the camp, the emotions of the soldiers gathered in the camp were out of control. Xin Xingzong's face was still pale, and the fifth army in the north of the town, no, the damn Kreb barbarians ate five Aside from thousands of pieces of cloth, he also killed the members of his first army without authorization, so he must be rewarded and severely punished by the commander in chief.However, the rioting soldiers at the gate of the camp need to be controlled. Before the commander-in-chief's order to calm the chaos comes down, if these people rush out and disturb the situation, the commander-in-chief will be angry , is about to send towards oneself.

Thinking of this, Xin Xingzong rode on his horse and told the lieutenant next to him: "Before the commander-in-chief's order comes down, you must not let a single soldier go out, and you are not allowed to shoot an arrow or a stone at Hu Qi, otherwise you will not be able to explain clearly." Then Only then, under the protection of dozens of personal soldiers, squeezed a way out of the "chaotic" soldiers and ran to the commander's tent.The Deputy General of the First Army who was in charge of guarding the gate of the camp was Xin Xingzong's confidant. The battle was so-so, but the execution of military orders was in place. He immediately ordered the gate to be closed tightly, and the bow and crossbow on the wall turned their heads to point at the raging crowd. , The rebellious soldiers who want to rush out to fight the barbarian cavalry for life and death.

Xin Xingzong had just left in front, but the situation behind got out of control.The Hebei army soldiers who witnessed the whole incident began to be furious. The Zhenbei First Army, which was originally responsible for maintaining order, was demoralized because more than a hundred of its comrades were killed just now. Don't let people live!" "Being a soldier eats food, there is no such thing as being trampled!" "Worthless!" "It was all caused by that eunuch!" "It really is a 'treacherous' minister!" "You took away Marshal Liu, Let these barbarians humiliate us again!" "Go to the camp and kill the eunuch! Then find the old man to argue!" "Kill that eunuch!" "Kill!" "Kill!" "Kill!"

The anger of the soldiers who were unable to go out of the camp finally turned around. They resigned from Liu Yanqing and were forced to bid farewell to their families and leave the Daming Mansion to move to Hejian. At this moment, more and more soldiers blamed their misfortune on the deployment of Tong Guan, the new commander, and began to flock to the center of the camp in groups.

Zhao Xingde squatted under the crenel of the wall of the village, looking palely at the scene happening before his eyes. Outside were the cavalry of the Kret troops roaring wildly, their hoofs galloping wildly, and their arrow feathers flying chaotically. The "rebellion" soldiers have lost control, and even lost their ranks. No officer can control these soldiers who are usually suppressed by military law, "Ying Xiao?" "Mutiny?" These two words flashed in Zhao Xingde's mind , I don't know how to deal with myself, two lines of sweat slowly trickled down my spine.