scourge the qing dynasty

Chapter 244

"Dong dong dong dong!" Amidst the earth-shattering sound of war drums, the Luoshan War has entered into a crucial battle to determine the outcome from the very beginning. Three land and water battlefields were arranged around the Jiangxin Island in the middle of the Luoshan River. Three bloody battles were launched at the same time, and the first battlefield started was the battle for the beachhead of Jiangxin Island between the general Han Daren of the Wu Army and E Nei, the guard of Jiangxin Island of the Qing Army.

"Bang bang bang! Bang bang bang!" To the old traitor Wu's surprise, the firepower of the Qing army guards on Jiangxin Island was quite dense. Judging from the continuous degree of gunfire, the Qing army muskets on the island It may even have reached about six or seven hundred guns, which made the old traitor Wu startled, and thought: "Why did Tuhai kid arrange so many muskets on Jiangxin Island? Could it be that he put half of the muskets in the army Have all the gunmen been sent to Jiangxin Island?"

The old traitor Wu’s surprise was not unreasonable, because the old traitor Wu was very aware of the musket equipment of the Qing army. On average, there were less than ten soldiers equipped with shotguns in a hundred infantry (Kang Mazi’s 13-year data). It has been repeatedly confirmed that there are 2000 troops in the battalion. It is reasonable to say that there are at most [-] muskets, but Tu Hai has arranged so many muskets on Jiangxin Island at once. Do the Qing army and the Qing army guarding the north bank still need muskets?

"Father-in-law, please take a look." In doubt, the young sharp-eyed Hu Guozhu was the first to see the clue, holding a binoculars in one hand, pointing at Jiangxin Island with the other and shouting: "Father-in-law, Mangou has used a new musket. Like a pipa, it can shoot continuously, is this the legendary new equipment of Mangou's Water Lianzhu?"

The old traitor Wu raised the binoculars unhurriedly, and searched carefully on the beachhead of the Qing army on Jiangxin Island. Sure enough, the old traitor Wu soon discovered that there were several Qing soldiers hiding behind the antlers. Holding a new-style musket that looks like a pipa, he is firing at the Wu army fleet that is gradually approaching the shore. It does not need to be filled with ammunition. The rate of fire is very fast, and it is fired continuously almost without pause. The gun can almost top the firing speed of seven or eight ordinary muskets.When the old traitor Wu suddenly realized it, he couldn't help but also felt a little timid—could his own landing army break through such a new-style musket blockade?

Because the distance is too far, and the quality of telescopes in this era is not very high, it is really difficult for the old traitor Wu to observe the specific power of the Qing army's water lianzhu, so he has to put this matter aside for the time being and concentrate on observing Han The charge of Da Ren's army.What made the old traitor Wu quite gratified was that Han Daren, who had been expected by him, did not live up to his expectations after all. The fleet he led did not back down from the intensive firepower of the Qing army, while protecting the bow of the ship with a shield, While shouting and moving forward at full speed, as soon as the boat touched the shore, countless soldiers of the Wu army jumped into the waist-deep river, waved their shields to block the Qing army's ammunition, bows and arrows, and roared to attack the island, even if they were hit by arrows and guns. They also continued to move forward one after another, charging towards the Qing army's fortifications with all their strength.

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At this time, a new violent roar came. As the first Qing army warship appeared at the eastern end of Jiangxin Island, the Wu Army artillery team led by Xia Guoxiang began to pour out crazily. The shells flew into the air, whistling and drawing terrifying tracks in the air, and smashed their heads and faces at the Qing army fleet. The first Qing army Ting-class warship immediately hit five shots in a row, and the deck mast was smashed to pieces. Three of the explosive bombs exploded on the deck and in the cabin, and the Qing army sailors on the ship either flew into the air with blood and screams, and fell far into the river, and the warship immediately lost control and swirled. Washed downstream by the river.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!" Wu Jun's powerful artillery team roared and roared one after another, pouring artillery fire, but the Qing army's navy experienced in water warfare also showed unimaginable courage and tenacity. Turn the rudder, go upstream against the current, and kill the Wu army troop fleet in the middle of the side of Jiangxin Island.

On the big river, successive explosions and roars completely covered all other sounds, and the flames continued to bloom on the river surface, and the sprays aroused by the explosions rushed higher and higher one by one. The top mast was broken, struggling hard. I don't know how many Qing warships caught fire, and I don't know how many Qing warships had their decks broken and their sides broken.

The drafts of at least two Qing army warships were hit by Wu Jun's flowering shells, blasting several large holes, the river surged into the cabin, the warships tilted suddenly, and the Qing army sailors who were standing unstable on the deck screamed. Fall into the river.

What's even more exciting is the scene where Wu Jun's flowering bullets hit the oars compartment of the Qing army's warship. The Qing army soldiers hiding in the cabin were shaking their oars profusely with sweat, but a black smoky man came in after a loud noise. The iron ball didn't even have time or opportunity to react and dodge, the iron ball exploded directly, and the violent shock wave deposited in the cabin, even if the Qing army paddlers were not shot by the shrapnel, they would be shocked to death by the shock wave, and the blood wave It sprayed out from the breach, as if the warship itself sprayed blood arrows, dyeing a large area of ​​the river red.

The most unlucky ones are small ships such as the sentry ships of the Qing army. Although these ships are light and flexible, once they are hit by shells, even if they are hit by solid shells, they will be penetrated through the bottom of the ship on the spot, and they are not far from sinking. If they were hit by explosive bullets, the fun would be even greater. Seven or eight soldiers in a boat could die miserably on the spot, and the rest would be wounded, completely losing their fighting power.

For a time, the river was full of flames and splashes, and floating wooden corpses everywhere. However, although Wu Jun's artillery fire was so fierce, Zhang Tao, the deputy commander of the Qing Army Navy who led the fleet, kept shouting orders, " Call the flag, call the flag, let all the ships charge faster, don't be afraid of Wu Gou's artillery, as long as you rush up and mix with Wu Gou's troop carrier, we will win! Go, go for me!"

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At the same time, the sound of an explosion finally came from the west end of the fish tail on Jiangxin Island, which was narrow and long into the fish, announcing the decisive battle between the main force of the Qing army navy and the newly formed Wu army navy, and the Wu army fleet occupying the upper reaches was arranged in a diamond shape , using the artillery at the bow to bombard the Qing army fleet going upstream desperately, while the Qing army warships, which have an absolute advantage in numbers, fired back and fired back, while paddling frantically, desperately closing the distance with the Wu army fleet.The flames and explosions on the river were endless, and shells of different sizes whizzed back and forth in the sky, like locusts, which was extremely spectacular.

"Rockets are ready!" When the Qing army's fleet was less than four miles away from the Wu army's fleet, Du Hui, the commander of the Wu army's navy, asked the flag station to play the flag. Du Hui resolutely shouted again, and a more spectacular and bright scene appeared in front of the soldiers on both sides. Hundreds of rockets dragged the gunpowder smoke, whistling and rolling towards the Qing army fleet.

After Xu Zhengming's skillful improvement, Wu Jun's rocket has obviously greatly improved in accuracy and flight stability - at least it will not suddenly circle and turn around while flying, and hit Wu Jun instead. Of the nearly 35 rockets fired by the [-] warships of the Wu army, at least [-]% penetrated into the fleet of the Qing army and exploded. The ship's mast was blown off at the same time, and the Qing soldiers on the deck were even more unlucky. They were either killed or injured by the rocket, or were smashed by their own mast, with broken tendons and bones. Black smoke rose from the middle of the fire, and the arrogant momentum of contempt for the Wu Jun Navy could not help but feel lame.

"Shhhhhhhhhhhhh!" The rockets of Wu Jun's warship kept firing, as if they wanted to launch all the rockets on board—and that's exactly what happened. Together, Wu Jun's direct rockets are too easy to accidentally injure friendly troops.And the navy of the Qing army knew very well that they were no match for the warships of the Wu army in terms of long-range weapons, so the flagship of the Qing army that Yang Jie was riding on had always played the same banner-charge!Rushing up to fight Wu Jun close to the side!

Although as early as the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty, the Ming army had already used the world's earliest second-level rocket, Huolongchushui, under the leadership of that pervert Qi Jiguang, but Wu Jun's improved rocket was obviously a hundred times more powerful than Huolongchushui, and he did not hesitate to launch successive launches Next, amidst the sound of continuous explosions, the soldiers on the deck of the four Qing army sand-discharging ships rushing forward were almost wiped out, lost control and lay horizontally in the river, and more than ten Qing army warships soared into the sky Due to the fire, they were forced to dock and temporarily withdraw from the battle. The small warships and small boats destroyed by the Wu army's artillery and rockets were even more numerous. At least [-]% of the ships had withdrawn from the battle with hatred without even seeing what the soldiers of the Wu army looked like.

On Wu’s side, only four warships caught fire, and they were quickly extinguished by the soldiers. In addition, the losses of the small warships and boats were also quite slight. battleship.However, in the face of the victory of long-range weapons, Du Hui, the commander of Wu Jun's navy, did not smile at all. He just silently estimated the distance and the rocket consumption of his own army. In the middle, Du Hui stood up and shouted: "Show the flag, shoot all the rockets, beat the drums, and the whole army will charge! Spread out and rush up, mix with the full dog fleet, entertain the full with grenades and incendiary bombs!" Dogs! Remember, priority is given to burning bird and thunder boats full of dogs!"

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When the main force of the Wu Army navy launched a counter-charge, the Wu Army infantry led by Han Daren had all rushed to the beach of Jiangxin Island. While fighting back frantically with bows, arrows and muskets, they shot and killed the Qing soldiers behind the fortifications, and quickly seized the beachhead as the rear army. After freeing up space for landing, the troop carriers and civilian ships behind turned around one after another and rowed back to the south bank at full speed to carry the next wave of landing troops on the island.Seeing this scene, Tu Hai, who was watching the battle with a binoculars from a high place, was completely anxious, and shouted: "Immediately send a banner and send an order to let the army in Hubei charge back and drive the Wugou infantry off the beach! Let Zhang Tao Make a flag and let his fleet charge faster, no matter how many warships you lose, you have to stop Wugou's second wave of troop carriers, and buy time for the defenders of Jiangxin Island to wipe out Wugou who landed on the island!"

When the order was issued, the Qing army on Jiangxin Island made adjustments first. About [-] troops jumped out of their positions and shouted to charge at the Wu army Han Daren's department occupying the beach. Han Daren also understood the intention of the Qing army and pulled the gourd from his waist. He got down and threw it on the ground, raised his knife and shouted: "Brothers, tear up all the gourds, and fight Man Gou to the death!"

Numerous soldiers of the Wu army obeyed the order, tore off the gourds around their waists that they relied on to float across the river, and with the determination to break the boat, they followed Han Daren's back and launched a countercharge towards the Qing army. The two white torrents collided head-on. The moment the collision started, they immediately exploded like dynamite.The soldiers on both sides were like crazy, fighting each other in the sea of ​​knives and guns, hacking and slashing at the enemy on the beach with red eyes, stabbing spears and axes, stumps, broken arms and blood sprayed all over the sky, it was so cruel Pen and ink are completely indescribable.

At the same time, Wu Jun's infantry grenades also began to show their power. Although the grenade they carried across the river was limited, Wu Jun could only use the grenade in a concentrated manner. The Wu Jun grenade throwers who hid in the rear were divided into groups to pick out the densely populated Qing soldiers. However, the power of collectively throwing dozens of grenades at one time and exploding was not overwhelming. The soldiers of the Qing army were howling like ghosts and howling like ghosts, and ran away with their heads in their arms.In desperation, Tuhai had no choice but to send reinforcements ahead of time, using civilian boats and fishing boats to carry them to the island, increasing the defense strength of Jiangxin Island, dreaming of using superior forces to wipe out Han Daren, the lone Wu army.

Cruelty is definitely not limited to a battlefield on Jiangxin Island. At the eastern end of Jiangxin Island, the Qing army navy division Zhang Tao has been in the cruel hell of steel and gunpowder, struggling under the concentrated ravages of Wu army artillery. , Moving forward with difficulty, more than ten warships have been completely sunk by the artillery of the Wu army, and more than a dozen ships have been blown out of the slurry compartment or the rudder, and have become islands of waste floating on the river, not only becoming the enemy of the artillery of the Wu army. Practicing targets also greatly delayed the westward march of the remaining warships of the Qing army.It was also at this time that Tu Hai faintly regretted not following the advice of veteran navy admiral Yang Jie, but for the sake of face, Tu Hai kept urging the watchtower to put up a banner and urge Zhang Tao's fleet to move forward.

"Tutang, look! Our navy and Wugou navy are getting mixed up!" Chani's exclamation interrupted Tuhai's remorse.When Tuhai turned his head to look, he found that the situation was indeed the case. After Wu Jun's navy fleet charged with a weak force, it rushed into the Qing army's fleet almost instantly by taking advantage of the upstream and smooth water. The team is completely mixed up.Seeing this scene, Tu Hai couldn't help being overjoyed, and secretly said: "Okay, as long as Wu Gou's naval fleet is wiped out, this battle will be won!"

"A master! Du Hui really deserves to be Zheng Chenggong's favorite general back then, and he really has a skill in water warfare!" Contrary to Tuhai, who has no experience in water warfare, he saw that Wu Jun's warship did not use a diamond formation to cut and charge, but instead Scattering the already insufficient number of warships and charging them into the fleet, Yang Jie, the experienced naval commander of the Qing army, couldn't help but sink in his heart, knowing that he had run into an opponent——Du Hui's move , It is clear that I want to give full play to the flexible and maneuverable characteristics of the Wu army's bird ships, limit the steady and crashworthy power of the main warships of the own army to rush against the sand, and restrain the main warships of the own army with spirit and clumsiness.

"Flag the flag, the sand-rushing boat will continue to move forward, leave the battlefield and gather upstream!" Admiration is in admiration. In history, Yang Jie, who wiped out the entire army of Wu Jun Han Daren in the Jiujiang River Crossing Battle, was not a vegetarian, and decisively ordered: "Birds!" The boat, the thunder boat, and the sentry boat stayed behind, entangled with the Wugou fleet, waiting for the sand-washing boat to turn around and meet..."

"General——! Look! Wu Gou is using incendiary bombs again!" The piercing screams interrupted Yang Jie's order. Yang Jie jumped up and looked around, and found that the situation was indeed the case. As soon as the ship approached the Qing army warship, a dozen or twenty incendiary bombs were thrown out immediately, and Wu Jun's incendiary bombs were obviously more powerful than during the Wuchang War. Immediately there was a sea of ​​flames in Zhang Nei, which would not be extinguished when exposed to water. The soldiers of the Qing army were so burned that they screamed, howled ghosts and wolves, and ran away with their heads in their arms.

What made Yang Jie even more frightened was that Wu Jun's throwing weapons such as incendiary bombs and grenades turned out to be the bird boats and thunder boats that concentrated on calling for his own army, but he almost ignored the heavy, slow and easy-to-burn sand-washing boats.Yang Jie couldn't help being furious, and scolded: "Well, you Du Hui kid, you want to kill our flexible warship first, and then clean up our sand-washing boat? The abacus is very good, but it's a pity, it's a dream! Use the banner to change the order just now. , the sand-washing boat stopped moving forward, approached the Wugou warship, and jumped onto the deck to fight hand-to-hand!"

When the flag was raised, all the sand-crushing boats of the Qing army that carried the most troops stopped advancing, turned the bow awkwardly, tried to get close to the warship of the Wu army, and jumped onto the deck to fight hand-to-hand with the soldiers of the Wu army.After Du Hui discovered Yang Jie's evil plan, he immediately yelled: "Show the flag, try to avoid hand-to-hand combat, shuttle combat, use incendiary bombs to greet the full dog warship, and use the grenade to call the full dog soldier!"

On the one hand, they were desperately wanting to fight hand-to-hand, and on the other hand, they were desperately trying to avoid hand-to-hand combat. On the broad Yangtze River battlefield on the north side of Jiangxin Island, a rare battle between warships was staged. The warships of the Wu army rely on the lightness and flexibility of the ships to shuttle and swim among the enemy fleet, like swimming fish. Once they get close to the Qing army's bird boats and boats that can catch up with their own army's warships in terms of flexibility and speed, they will immediately burn a series of battleships. Bullets and grenades were thrown at them, but the sand-washing boats that carried the most troops in the Qing army did not come close at all. After packing up the mobile and flexible bird boats and boats, relying on the supply of ammunition and firearms on land, and then packing up the heavy and slow sand-washing boats. Isn't it easy?I'm afraid the enemy won't have this chance if they want to run away, right?

There was a warship of the Wu army surrounded by enemy ships because it was too much of an enemy group. The sailors on the enemy ship jumped onto the warship of the Wu army like dumplings, and fought bloody battles with the soldiers of the Wu army on the deck. It is not uncommon to see scenes of soldiers hugging each other wrestling and rolling into the river.However, more warships of the Qing army burst into flames in front of the guerrilla tactics of the warships of the Wu army. Jumping into the river with the scorched smell of his body, he was burned to death, and then ignited more parts of the ship.

The nearboard battle was so fierce, and Yang Jie, who encountered such tactics on the water for the first time, realized that he still underestimated the enemy army too much, and even more so underestimated Wu Jun's magic weapon of water warfare, the incendiary bomb - a mere year , the power has actually been raised to this point.But when the battle has reached this point, it is impossible for Yang Jie to go back and adjust. He can only bite the bullet and continue hand-to-hand combat tactics. Relying on the large number of soldiers in the boat, he plans to lose half of the warship and pull the entire Wu army. Sailor buried with him!As a result, the boat battle on the north side of Jiangxin Island naturally fell into a stalemate, and it was impossible to decide the winner in a short time.

The water battle fell into a stalemate, and it was impossible to tell the winner for the time being; relying on reinforcements, the Qing army on Jiangxin Island had re-stabilized the front line, and began to gradually compress the space for the activities of Han Daren's army inch by inch. Although it took the initiative, it was difficult to quickly For Tu Hai, the coach of the Qing army, the only one who can break the deadlock is naturally the Zhang Tao fleet of the Qing army on the east side of Jiangxin Island—if Zhang Tao can break through the blockade of the Wu army's artillery and cut off the Wu army's transport. If the soldiers go to the island's waterway, then the battle on Jiangxin Island is naturally the Qing army's chance of winning. After annihilating the Wu army that landed on the island, the Zhang Tao fleet that was freed up will go to reinforce Yang Jie. If they won, the Qing army would surely win the decisive battle at Luoshan without losing.

After weighing the pros and cons, Tu Hai couldn't help roaring again, "Send another order to Zhang Tao. Within half an hour, you can't break through the blockade of Wu Gouhuo. Come and see me! Also, send another [-] reinforcements to Jiangxin Island. Let me kill all the Wu dogs on the island, and don't take any prisoners!"

"Long live—!" The loud cheers came suddenly. It turned out that finally two Qing army warships broke through the blockade of the Wu army's artillery and broke into the safe corner protected by the cliffs of Jiangxin Island. It was obviously much sparser, and the morale-boosting Qing army fleet took the opportunity to rush past seven or eight warships.Seeing this scene, the old traitor Wu, who knew that the Qing army's warships would break through the Wu army's artillery blockade sooner or later, gritted his teeth, and shouted: "Command Xia Guoxiang, the artillery team suspends firing, repairs the cannons, reloads ammunition, and gives the full dog fleet time to assemble. Catch them when the dog warships flee down! Send another [-] single-engine rocket vehicles to wait on the shore, wait for the full dog fleet to retreat, once they escape into the range of the rockets, they will be blown up by the old man immediately!"

The order was conveyed, and all the artillery formations of the Wu army that hadn't disconnected their guns just now suddenly stopped firing. They took the time to move the ammunition, cool down and clean the barrels. Zhang Tao, who had only twenty or so medium and large warships left, was surprised to see the artillery formations of the Wu army suddenly cease firing. Without thinking about it, he immediately ordered the whole army to charge, seized the time to bypass the cliff at the east end of Jiangxin Island, quickly assembled into a team, and rushed towards the Wu army's troop transport route with a murderous look.

However, what Yang Tao never dreamed of was that at the time of Wu Jun's troop transport fleet, forty small boats full of Sanhao brand high explosives had already quietly turned around under the driving of [-] Wu Jun death squads with gourds hanging from their waists. Head, gearing up, aiming at the Qing army's Zhang Tao fleet that is struggling upstream...

"Why did Wu Sangui's artillery stop?" Seeing that Wu Jun's artillery stopped firing, Tu Hai, the coach of the Qing army, was also taken aback, thinking that Wu Sangui's old thief had shown kindness, and would stop firing to give our fleet time to break through and assemble?Is there some kind of conspiracy?
"Commander! Commander Tu!" At this moment, another sentry ship of the Qing army rushed up on the river downstream of Luoshan Mountain. Crying and shouting, "Master Tu! Something is wrong! Last night at the second watch, Wuchang Wugou suddenly crossed the river and killed him at the Hanyang Wharf!"

"Wuchang Wugou has broken through the defense line of the Yangtze River?" Tu Hai's head was dizzy, and he almost passed out on the ground.Chani rushed up and grabbed the Hanyang messenger with both hands, and lifted him up by the collar, and shouted in disbelief: "Wuchang Wugou broke through the Yangtze River? How is it possible?! How is it possible? Wuchang Wugou has a battle There are no boats, what are Cai Yurong and Fang Zhengse doing?!"

"Lord Baylor, Wu Dog is attacking at night!" The messenger cried and replied: "Because today is the day for the exchange of prisoners of war, Governor Cai and Fang Junmen did not expect Wu Dog to attack last night, and no warships were arranged to patrol the port. , all were feasting and drinking in the city of Hanyang, and when Wu Gou suddenly killed the wharf with a civilian ship carrying troops, our warships had no chance to set sail again!"

Chani was stunned, and unknowingly let go of his hands, allowing the Hanyang messenger to fall to the ground.And just behind Chani, Tu Hai jumped up like crazy, drew his knife and slashed at the table in front of him, screaming frantically, "Cai Yurong! Fang Zhengse! Sang E! You bastards, you all deserve to be exterminated!" ! The crime deserves to be delayed———!”

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Almost at the same time, Ge Bingzhen, the lieutenant general of the Huguang Navy of the Qing Army stationed in Huangzhou, had already led the Huangzhou fleet with ten warships as the core to set sail, sailing upstream, at full speed after receiving the Hanyang defenders' request for help. Came to the Shakou water surface of Hanyang Prefecture.Just when Ge Bingzhen ordered the whole army to speed up again, the scout ship in front suddenly turned around and reported that a warship of our own army had been spotted ahead. Ge Bingzhen was both happy and worried, and hurriedly sent scouts forward to question.

After a while, the scout ship turned around again and reported that the fleet that appeared in front was the fleet of Fang Zhengse, the deputy commander of the Hanyang Navy. Because of the sudden attack, the soldiers on board suffered heavy losses, and the governor Cai Yurong had already retreated to Hanyang City. There was nowhere to replenish soldiers, so he had no choice but to go down the river and go to Huangzhou to replenish soldiers in order to fight again.Ge Bingzhen was overjoyed when he heard the news, and hurried the whole army to speed up to meet the friendly fleet.

After a while, eleven warships of the Qing army flying the flag of the Qing army appeared on the river. All of them were covered with bloodstained hulls, covered with bullet holes, arrows and scorched marks, and several warships were still braving. Slight black smoke, obviously just experienced a fierce battle.When Ge Bingzhen took a closer look, he found that although the eleven Qing warships were in a state of distress, they were still complete and could continue to fight. He couldn't help but feel even more happy, and hurriedly ordered: "Give the flags to the warships ahead and let them Stop and wait, I will divide the troops directly to them."

After the flag was played, the Qing warships in front stopped advancing, and Ge Bingzhen's fleet accelerated and gradually approached the eleven warships. When Ge Bingzhen's flagship approached the Qing army flying the flag flag At the time of the flagship, Ge Bingzhen, who was concerned about the battle in Hanyang, was the first to jump on the flagship of the friendly army, and shouted at the soldiers of the Qing army who stood up to greet him: "I am Ge Bingzhen, the deputy general of the Guangshui Division of Daqing Lake, and the commander of the Huangzhou Navy. Whose official position is here?" Biggest? Come out and talk."

"Why don't you talk?" Ge Bingzhen suddenly found that the group of Qing army generals and soldiers in front of him not only did not answer him, but also looked at each other in blank dismay, as if they were all inconceivably surprised.Ge Bingzhen couldn't help being furious, and shouted again: "I will ask again, general, who has the highest official position here? Is Fang Junmen on board...?"

"Hey! What are you doing? Oh, bold, whose subordinates are you, are you so brave? Dare to take this general?"

(End of this chapter)