Chapter 3 THE RAT`S-NET

Lord Wu looked at the burnt body we dragged to the gate of the camp. After half a day's reflection, he suddenly said, "Eagle, ask Gao to join the army and come and have a look."

One of the soldiers behind the Marquis said, "Yes."

Gao joined the army named Gao Tiechong, he was a scholar, later joined the army, is the first counselor in the shogunate, it is said that he has a disability, can not see the sun, rarely appear, which makes people feel more mysterious. Marquis Wu this use of troops, four general encirclement plan, was first put forward by him.

After a while, in a small tent on the left of the Marquis Wu's tent, a man pushed a small wheelchair out. On the car sat a man wearing a big hat. The hat brim was still hung with green gauze, and the man's face was not clear.

When the man arrived at the Marquis, he said, "Your Majesty, humble high-speed train Chong, please give orders from your excellency."

Marquis Wu said, "Gao joins the army. Look at this."

The charred body was badly burnt and gave off a foul smell. High speed Chong effortlessly walked out of the wheelchair, his soldier held him to the burnt body before. He crouched down and said, "Give me a knife."

The soldier pulled out the sword to the high-speed iron Chong, his left hand lifted the veil, the right hand with the knife to dial the coke body, and cut the coke body mouth to look at it, the way: "God! It's the Snake Man!"

Snake man? I was a little puzzled, Marquis Wu said: "Gao join the army, are you sure? Make no mistake?"

The high-speed rail rushed: "Your majesty, there will be no mistake. In the book that Master Tianji left behind, there is a figure of a snake man with a forked tongue in his mouth. This corpse is just like the figure in the book."

One of his own soldiers handed him a piece of white silk. He wiped his hands and said, "More than 50 years ago, when the former Emperor was the new emperor, he traveled around the world and captured a half-snake, half-human monster in southern Xinjiang. At that time, Master Tianji was Shaobao, the crown prince. He traveled with the emperor and wrote a book of Emperor Yu's travels, which included the image of the snake man. According to Cang Yuegong, the former emperor who accompanied him at that time, this monster could occasionally be seen in the uninhabited mountain. It could eat a rat tiger alive, so it must be an ancient alien."

Marquis Wu said, "It is really a muddled affair. It is time to add to the confusion. Ha ha, he met General Chu, the champion of the Vanguard Battalion, this snake man is also bad luck."

Get Marquis praise, my heart since a little happy, knelt down and said: "you too much."

However, my heart is far from the Marquis so easy. The snake man didn't look like a beast at all. He could ambush me and use a spear. More like a man. If there are only one or two, of course, there is nothing to worry about, but if there are a dozen, I am afraid that a small group of people can not deal with it.

Farewell to the Lord, my heart is still a little apprehensive. Qi Lie was still waiting outside Marquis Wu's camp. When he saw me come out, he said, "What did your excellency say?"

I said: "You don't care too much. Well, it's too late today. Let's go back to bed."

Qi Lie smiled: "Naturally, today is Chu general spring night, by the monster wasted half the night, go back."

Everyone burst into laughter. I am not as strict as a general in running the army. Although I am still young and some of my commanders are over thirty years old, I cannot be too strict with them. They dare not be rude to me in battle, but usually they don't think much of me as a centurion. It's just, the woman

Thinking of the woman, I felt confused again. I said: "Go back to sleep, don't butcher the city tomorrow."

Qi Lie terrified terrified, immediately way: "That is, a good rest tomorrow, Tu three days of the city, we also don't tired."

Tan Qing said: "The high eagle city of the city people are really brave, are hungry to stand still, will fight with us street. Yesterday I took nine of my brothers and broke into a large house. There were only five men and two women left, and they kept guard for half an hour, not even the women would surrender. Alas, there was a beautiful young woman, and I put an arrow through her neck."

He was going on and on, when I cried out, "Stop!"

They all did a double take, kind of gawking at me. I said nothing and had nothing to say. For the soldiers, the slaughter of a city after victory is a reward, and I myself led them to slaughter the first few cities when I followed the Lord. But now I hated the blood, and even felt guilty for the blood on my hands.

Can you say that to them?

I jumped on my horse and walked in silence. It was almost light, and there was already some whiteness in the east, but the darkest moment was just before dawn.

When we got to my place, they all went back to camp. Because I lived alone outside the camp, alone in the room, lit the oil lamp, looking at the very clean room, suddenly, a sudden sense of loneliness seized me.

The former owner of this house must have been a corpse, burned to the bone in the National Square. Life, so fragile.

After sitting for a while, I did not feel sleepy and went out of the room. There was a great deal of noise from the brightly lit camp. The men of the Vanguard battalion did not even sleep for three days or three nights while they were slaughtering the city, killing people during the day and playing with women and gambling at night.

I went out of the house and walked to the tent.

Today it was the first Battalion's turn to stand guard at the gate. The first battalion's centurion, Lu Kyoxing, is 27 years old. He is my senior brother in the military academy. He is also in charge of the forward battalion. The Vanguard battalion had always been organized in this way. The commander was also the centurion of the first battalion. That was the rule handed down by Lord Wu. The Lord Wu ordered that no officer should stay behind in the battle, and even his own army was always in the front.

Road Gong line is the son of tiger Bo Lu Xiang, but also the children of the family. He was not, however, a member of Beauly's party; he got on well with us civilian officers, and was the leader of that branch of the Vanguard. Seeing me coming, the two soldiers on guard under his command straightened up and saluted, saying, "Good morning, General Chu."

I returned a salute, said: "You road control sleep?"

One of the soldiers said, "No, I'm still consulting with Lord Deyang."

As I walked into the camp, I heard women crying and men laughing all around me. After the killing of the city, as usual by the Chinese army sent people to choose the captured women into the army, the other all belong to the army. Marquis Wu didn't like women very much, but the emperor gave orders to send beautiful women and gold and silver after the class, and the girls were prepared for the emperor.

Somehow, I thought of that expressionless woman playing the pipa.

She survived that, but not much better in court.

My heart ached a little.

It never felt like that. I shook my head.

Ahead is the tent of Lu Gong Xing. Unlike me, he still lives with his underlings. I called from the door, "Is the road control there?"

Lu Gongxing came out and smiled when he saw me: "General Chu, you are really good at drinking. Now my head is still a little dizzy, and you are all right. Hehe, come and sit in."

I couldn't help smiling wryly. I can't drink as well as a scion of a family like him, but anyone who meets such a monster wakes up from all sorts of drunkenness.

Inside, De Yang is holding a cup of wine, drink face also a little red, a very beautiful woman standing on the side, also must be his butcher city. I frowned unconsciously, but De Yang shouted: "General Chu, you have come, come, drink, drink."

I sat down and the woman brought me a glass of wine. Lu Gong said, "Why did General Chu come to sit here with me?"

I put my glass on the table and said, "Road Control, did you know there was a monster called the Snake Man?"

As soon as he said this, De Yang opened his eyes wide and said, "Is it someone like a snake?"

"Yes," I said.

Lu Gong said, "You know what? I'm talking about it with the university of Texas."

I was surprised, said: "You also know?"

The road said, "During the day, some brothers in my camp came across one of them. A dozen men surrounded the other one and let it escape, injuring two of us."

"Where did you meet him?" I asked.

"It is in the west of the city."

The west of the city is the defense area of Shen Xiping. Shen Xiping and Lu Jing Yu, known as the military double bi, public opinion under the two brave generals, Lu Jing Yu wisdom and courage, and Shen Xiping is such as fire wind, there is "fire tiger" nickname. He was not good at siege warfare, but no one could defeat him in the field. Marquis Wen once commented on both of them that if they attacked the land, they would be a little less able to sink. But if each unified hundred people to fight, Shen Xiping's charge of the art, but the world is unparalleled. This time, Shen Xiping unified the right army to attack the west of the city, the Marquis Wu was afraid that Shen Xiping would not obey the military order, he was strictly ordered not to act, only outside the city, so his troops received the least battle. Probably the troops hold for a long time, after entering the city is the butcher the most ferocious.

Lu Gong said, "General Chu, how did you meet the snake man?"

I told the story of my encounter with the Snake Man. When I finished, I saw that Lu Gongxing looked very serious. I said, "I have reported it to the Lord, but the Lord has not taken it to heart."

Lu Gongxing thought for a moment, then turned and said, "Lord De, sit down for a moment while I go to the west of the city with General Chu." Out of the camp, Lu Gongxing ordered his men to prepare two horses, and we walked to the west gate. It was beginning to get light. There were no civilians left in the area except the captive women and the craftsmen, and only the loud voices of the soldiers of the forward battalions could be heard. I said, "General Lu, is the snake man really so worrying?"

Road Gongxing looked at the sky, in the east, there was a dawn, a hook eyebrow moon is still slanting on the horizon, a few stars have blurred. He looked at the sky and said, "When my father and Master Tianji became friends, Master Tianji left a manuscript under his house before he emerged. When I was a child, I read it. Most of it is about Master Tianji's travels and experiences.

I don't know why Lu Gong Xing said all this. I have not read many books, the kind of paper method of making books has been lost, most of the books now use vellum, is the cattle and sheep skin carefully polished and decolorized, a thick book will need to use five or six sheep sheep, equivalent to the average family of three a month, so many people have not even seen the book. Lu Gongxing said this, of course, not to show off his many books, but I still feel a little uncomfortable.

He added, "Master Tianji remembers the Snake Man very well in the book. He also said that when he accompanied the crown prince around the world and captured the snake man in southern Xinjiang, it took 200 Praetorian guards and 100 guards of the Duke of Heaven and Moon. But even so, it took a lot of trouble. Master Tianji once advised the crown Prince that if he could tame an army of 10,000 snakes, he would be invincible in the world. But at that time, the world was peaceful and the snake man was so rare that the Emperor didn't take it seriously."

I said: "This is really not feasible, the snake people are so fierce, it is impossible to tame, and the number is so small, to train an army of ten thousand, I am afraid it is difficult."

"Anyway, I heard Lord Deyang talking about seeing a figure on the roof as we entered the city, and somehow the Snake Man came to mind. As you said, there are more than one snake man in the city, but I'm afraid there are more in the mountains."

I said: "Much is not a big deal, anyway, the three armies to class division, and what matters?"

The road Gong line just said: "preparedness is better than trouble." He shook the REINS and the horse quickened its pace.

Around, everywhere is dilapidated houses, between the ruins, rubble and blood, sometimes see one or two incomplete decayed bodies, is probably too lazy to pick up after the city. The bodies had been cleaned up near the camp; it was a long way from there, and the baggage camp was lazy. I looked at the back of the road Gong line, I do not know why, feel a chill. The forward camp I had worked with for two years suddenly seemed like a stranger.

I flapped the REINS, too, and ran after him. If we say that the land and fish are like the ice that never melts away, and once we enter his defense area, we can feel the seriousness of the killing, then Shenxiping is the fire that has become a prairie fire in the wilderness. The discipline of his right army was strict to severe. The commander was in charge of every soldier. If one soldier retreated, all the soldiers were killed in front of the formation.

As soon as we reached the right Army camp on the west side of the city, we could hear the noise inside, louder than the wet market, and no one was standing guard at the gate. We have lax discipline in Forward, and this is worse than Forward.

When I entered the camp, I found a lot of drunk soldiers everywhere. Gaohucheng was famous for producing a kind of wood bamboo wine. The wood bamboo was a fruit native to the southern part of the Empire. It was a little like loquat, larger than loquat, and ripening in autumn and winter, but far more luscious than loquat. The emperor had named Cangyue Gong every autumn and winter tribute wood bamboo hundred jin, but this fruit is difficult to store and afraid of turbulence, every year Cangyue Gong with a flying foot transfer. This bamboo is a common fruit in southern Xinjiang, but it is not too expensive, but shipped to Wuyun City, a jin of bamboo almost equal to a jin of gold price, this is also a reason for the Cang Yue Gong rebellion.

Every autumn and winter, the high eagle city in the wood and bamboo production is extremely abundant, even the native people to tea and dinner. I do not know which year, someone tried to make wine with it, the wine made according to Tianji Master's Emperor Yu Zhou Travel record recorded "bright yellow as gold, clear as water, fragrance of human. When a family makes wine, everyone outside is drunk." Of course, this bamboo wine was also a tribute requested by the Empire. This wine is also very popular in the city of Wuyun, is the dignitaries banquet essential things, many people in southern Xinjiang is based on the trafficking of bamboo wine. In the heyday of Gaohu City, there were 30 wine shops in the city, among which the largest 19 were located in the west of the city. At the beginning, Master Tianji followed the prince here, singing the sentence "bamboo wine fragrance at the beginning of the rain, half the city in the drunken wake up". Last night, Marquis Wu used Muzhu wine for his banquet, and nearly half of the craftsmen were from the distillery.

We jumped off the horse, Lu Gongxing looked at the chaos, pulled up a soldier who was walking in a shambles and said, "I am Lu Gongxing in charge of the forward battalion. May I ask where is the loyal uncle's army?"

The soldier's tongue was so short that he blurted out, "Ask Lord Shen. He has no visitors."

I looked around. It was a mess in the right camp. Most of them were drunk. The twenty thousand people had probably drunk all the stock of the wine shop, and many of them had women in their arms and gourds in their hands, and were gambling as they drank. It was a pleasure only for the right, and no one else could drink so much if they wanted to.

Lu Gongxing patiently said, "Are there any officers among you?"

The soldier said, "You mean General Tian? Well, there it is."

He pointed to a camp not far away, where a group of officers, still in their soft armour, were sitting in groups at a large round table on a clearing, all with women in their arms and wine gourds in their hands.

Lu Gongxing and I hitched our horses to a nearby stone and walked over to the gang. The men did not lift a head when they reached the edge. Lu Gong Street: "Excuse me, is General Tian there?"

A bearded man looked up and said, "I am. Who are you?"

Lu Gongxing said, "I am Lu Gongxing, commander of the vanguard battalion and centurion of the first battalion. This is Chu Xiuhong, centurion of the fifth battalion."

The man heard my name, but pushed away the woman in his arms, stood up and said, "General Chu, ha, I am Tian Wei, an officer in the right army. Your name is now heard all over the army, but you are too handsome."

I noticed that Lu Gong Xing was a little unhappy. Tian Wei's words did not respect me. I said, "General Tian, we have something to find General Shen. Can you find him?"

Tian Wei smiled: "Adults now do not see guests, unless you have Jun Hou will."

Lu Gongxing and I looked at each other. We just wanted to ask, where's the trick? For this matter to go to the order, I'm afraid will also touch a nose.

At this time, an officer sitting under Tian Wei impatiently tunnel: "Tian beard, it's your turn, you throw that can count as you lose."

Tian Wei Road: "It's coming." Ignoring us, he reached out to grab the woman standing on the side and grabbed some dice with his other hand.

They played a three-roll game popular in the Empire. It was a long game, too. One to six pits were carved on each side of each die, and the pit was painted red. Three dice thrown in the bowl, if three of the same, called leopard, six leopard known as the supreme leopard, is the largest, there are some miscellaneous flowers, name color is very complicated, in addition to the long gambling people, generally can not remember. This type of gambling is most popular in the military because it is simple and easy to carry. They used bony dice, probably new, and very white.

What else could Lu Gongxing say? Tian Wei had already reached out his hand, threw the dice into the bowl, and shouted, "Supreme! Supreme!"

Three dice rolled in the bowl for a while, but it was just a motley color, although I do not know how big, but watching the other officers cheering, I knew that it must be very small, I was afraid to pay.

An officer laughed and said, "Tian Beard, your luck is a little back."

Tian Wei murmured: "Sure enough, or change luck."

He pressed the hand of the woman in his arms to the table and drew his knife so quickly that, before I could cry out, he cut off her left hand with one stroke. The woman let out a scream, and the blood sprayed Tian Wei all over his face. Tian Wei wiped the blood from his face, pushed the woman aside, reached out his hand and threw the severed hand to an engineer beside him, Shouting: "Xue Gongzheng, make three new dice!"

They play dice made of human bones!

I was furious and shouted, "General Tian!"

Tian Wei looked at me, sneer: "General Chu what advice?"

I ignore the road Gong line on the side of the wink at me, swear: "beast!"

Tian Wei stood up and said, "Chu Xiuhong, you don't think you are the red man in front of the marquis we are afraid of you! I've never seen anything before in battle, and it's up to you to scold?"

I felt hot and said, "Tian Wei! Are you still human? No beast would have done such a shameful thing!"

Tian Wei was also a little angry and said, "Chu! If you call names again, I'll be on your ass. The forward battalion is good, and we on the right are not vegetarian!"

Lu Gongxing stopped me and said, "General Chu, don't be impulsive."

I shook off his hand and said, "If you control the road, you will be punished. I don't care."

I looked at the woman whose hand had been cut off. The captive girl, if she had any beauty, might have had a better result. That woman is not bad looking, but now missing a hand, I am afraid she has no money to live. She sat on the ground, holding the broken wrist in one hand, and did not move, as if she had nothing to do with it. I felt in my arms, but there was no cloth. I drew my knife and cut one from the hem of my dress. I went to the woman and fastened the wound tightly.

If she hadn't been tied up like this, she'd have bled to death in no time. But by doing so, I'm sure Tian Wei won't be able to stand down. I just don't think about it. I just do it mechanically.

Like, that would make me feel a little calmer.

When I had patched her up, and had just stood up, I saw the flash of a knife.

The cut was so quick that I was caught off guard. I reached to my waist to pull out the Babie knife. As soon as my hand was on the handle, the light disappeared and the woman's head rolled to the ground.

I looked back, and Tian Wei was blowing blood on the blade. The drop of blood rolled like a bead on the bluish blade, but his eyes were cold with sarcasm.

I pressed the knife and said, "General Tian, please be ready."

I was very angry, but my words seemed calm.

Tian Wei smiled and said, "Well, in order to have a good time, we'd better set up a life and death situation."

"Stand up!" I shouted.

The people at the edge began to heckle, forming a large crowd. Lu Gongxing also did not expect the situation to develop to such a point, said: "General Chu, you don't be so impulsive"

I said: "Road control, please be my insurer."

Lu Gongxing's face also a little angry, shouted: "General Chu, you are a little presumptuous!"

He had never spoken so sternly. I stopped and looked at him. Road Gong line to Tian Wei road: "General Tian, General Chu rude, please forgive." He turned and said, "Chu Xiuhong, centurion of the fifth Battalion forward, apologize to General Tian."

He called me by my official title, which was a way of putting me down. "General Tian, I beg your pardon. I was so rude."

I was not so well connected as Pu Anli, and I never dared to be rude to the officer.

Tian Wei's face showed a smile: "General Chu don't care, women, originally just a plaything, don't treat them as people. Road control, you want to play a game?"

The road reverted, "No. General Tian, we're here to ask if you've ever seen a monster whose upper half is like a man and lower half is like a snake."

That's what we came for, but we didn't find out until now. Tian Wei was still polite and said, "Have you ever seen the road control system?"

We were all taken aback and almost said in unison, "Have you met?"

Tian Wei said, "That's not a big deal. Yesterday we saw one flee from the city, and we could not catch him. It must be some kind of monster in this town. There's a lot of weirdness in the south."

He said it lightly, but it weighed on our hearts.

Snake people in the city, it seems, are not a rare few. Those monsters are never that simple. They already know how to use weapons. They're almost human beings.

As I left the west side of town, I was still a little angry. Lu Gong said, "General Chu, are you still dissatisfied with me?"

I said: "Road control, you are the officer, I dare not say anything. However, when the Emperor took over the kingdom, he explicitly forbade killing. Now we do not treat prisoners as human beings. How can we win the hearts of the people? This rebellion has been put down, and if such a thing happens again, it will be very difficult for us to make people surrender."

Lu Gongxing sighed and said, "I don't know. But Wuhou also has his reason, now the country is rife with rumors, if a woman's benevolence, and how can be deterred? There is a time and a time. The Emperor gave this order because it was not long before he had conquered the kingdom, so he had to serve the people with benevolence and virtue. Now the world has been peaceful for a long time, in this era, only the strong can win respect. General Chu, you were invincible in battle, but to be honest, after the war, you were a little weak."

I was speechless for a moment. Lu Gong line, and the Marquis criticized me can be said to be the same. Perhaps, in my character, or the nature of cowardice, although the battlefield can risk life and death, but in peace but revealed.

Perhaps, this also doomed me not to be a general. In fact, the land has been a lesson in fishing.

Lu Gong said, "You go back first. I will report this to the emperor and hope to attract his attention."

I looked at the day, said: "still early, I accompany you to go together, I wait outside is."

The road said, "Well. It always strikes me that those snake people are far from insignificant monsters."

I said: "Although the snake man is powerful, but will not make any big waves? Are you afraid the Republicans are taming snake men?"

The road said, "Yes. There are not two snakes in the city, and they already know how to use weapons. If the Republicans have domesticated an army of snakes somewhere outside the mountains, I don't know what to do with them."

I laughed. "Even if they were domesticating, it must not be productive. At least, the serpents didn't help us when we stormed the city. And those snake people are so fierce, I'm afraid no one can tame them."

By this time, they were already outside the camp of Marquis Wu. Lu Gongxing jumped off his horse and said, "General Chu, wait a minute."

The general's orders were so severe that junior officers were not to be summoned and were not allowed to enter the army tent. Yesterday, I was in a hurry to see Marquis Wu, perhaps with wine did not blame me. Now if I go in again for this, I am afraid the Lord will be angry.

After a long time, road Gong line face downcast, walked out. I said, "What's wrong?"

Road Gong street: "Wuhou is drinking, I went in to report this matter, he only when laughing."

I said, "If you call me cowardly, I'll admit it. I'll also say you're paranoid. Hehe."

Lu Gongxing usually has no AIRS, although he is a forward battalion control, but with us, he always regards himself as a centurion, we often talk and laugh with him. He just sighed and said, "I hope I'm just being paranoid."

I looked at the sky. The sun was high in the middle of heaven. It was noon. I haven't had a break since last night. I yawned and said, "I'm exhausted, General Lu. Aren't you going to rest?"

He yawned back. "All right. I haven't slept a wink since last night, and it's time I got some rest."

When they reached the barracks, he said, "I'm going to bed. You're going back to your little room?"

"Yeah," I said.

Lu Gongxing gave a hahaha and said, "You can stand loneliness, but you can also live in that small house?"

I said, "No matter what you say about me, I don't like the noise here."

Returning the horse to Lu Gongxing, I went back to the hut alone, it was afternoon. It was a little quiet, and even if the Imperial sergeants were made of iron and had been slaughtering the city on the third day, there were still many people who were tired. Now only a few distant cries could be heard, broken, like fragments with sharp blades. I do not know how long I slept. When I woke up, I felt very hungry. I reached into my haversack and felt for some dry cakes. Outside the window, it was dark and the day had passed.

Five days to slay the city, two days to go. That was my first thought. Maybe it's because I hate that kind of endless killing. I can't stop the slaughter. I have to hope that it will end sooner.

I walked out of the hut, and outside, the sun was burning. It gets dark late in the South, unlike in the capital. A sunset hung in the west, staining the clouds like drops of blood. The crenelated crenels of the city looked bleak in the sunset.

I stretched, walked to the head of the city, and nibbled on some dry cake. Mountains of property were found in the city, but food was scarce and they still had to eat dry food to survive. I really admire the republican army in the city, in such difficult conditions, still hold so many days.

The south gate is the garrison of the Chinese army. I stepped on a floor of rubble and walked to the end of the city. Look down, near the gate, row upon row of tents, row upon row. Can be compared with the military discipline and appearance of the PLA, also only Lu Jing Yu left army.

I sat down on a cleaner piece of battlement and drank. The dry bread in the mouth is wet, although only a little salty, but also can make people have the comfortable feeling of fullness. I nibbled the cake and watched the sun sink.

The emperor is called the Sun King, but his light shines only on the dignitaries and harem. I thought somewhat mockingly. For a common people, to praise the majesty of the emperor, it is too much. But if you want to be loyal to the emperor, is it necessary to become such a ruthless, murderous person? For those who don't want to do this, do they have an alternative? So come to think of it, Cang Yue Gong's rebellion, perhaps also excusable.

I stopped my movements. Is that disloyalty? My heart beat a little violently. Perhaps, if I were in the position of God and moon, I would rebel.

I looked at the cake in my hand, that piece of cake has been bitten by me only a small piece. I sighed and chewed it in my mouth. The hard, dry crumbs of bread are like gravel. I pulled out the stopper for the hyacinth and took a sip of water.

It was getting dark. Half of the sun into the back of the mountain, the blood in the sky more like condensation, between heaven and earth, but like a piece of smoke rolling.

As I was drinking, all of a sudden chaos broke out in the camp below the city.

What's going on?

Startled, I stuffed the gourd, hung it by my waist, and ran down to the city.

At the top of the city, but saw a horse also seemed to run to the army tent. At the gate of the camp, a group of soldiers were huddled together. I ran over and said, "What's going on?"

One of the junior officers looked at me. I was attacked by Bo Anli's men that day, for fear of being mistaken again, has been wearing soft armour. The little officer looked at me and said, "You are."

I took out my token and said, "I am Chu Xiu Hong, centurion of the fifth Battalion forward. What happened?"

The little officer was awed and said, "It is General Chu. Your name is known to all these days."

I'm a little impatient, but it's not nice and rude to be complimented. "Thanks a lot," I said. What's the matter?"

The humane: "southwest side, smoke all over the sky, there seems to be an army coming."

'What?

I was shocked. There were many tidbits in the southwest, and only a few scattered hunters lived at the foot of the mountains. When Marquis Wu decided to encirclement the four generals, he also sent a repulsed army to investigate and make sure there were no ambushes. Besides, if the Republican forces had ambushed the city for so many days, they would not have come out until today. But if not the Republican Army, where did this group come from?

At that moment, a horn suddenly sounded in the tent. It was an emergency assembly order. At the sound of the horn, all the troops must return to their positions at once, and the senior officers must enter the accounts of the army at once.

I did not speak to the officer again, and ran to the forward camp.

As soon as we reached the gate of the camp, we met the road where the Pegasus came out. Without greeting me, he sped past me. As soon as I entered the camp, the men from the forward camps were rushing back. I found his barracks, Qi Lie has been inside, is scrambling to pick up some messy things, probably just gambling bar, a woman on the side of the pale, probably Qi lie captured. He is not old enough to learn to kidnap women.

Qi Lie saw me, said: "General, you have come."

"Hurry up," I said. "There's an army coming."

He, too, was surprised. "What? Who is it?"

I said, "I don't know. Get the boys together."

"Yes," Qi said. He pushed the girl and said, "Quick, go to the baggage camp and wait. If it's all right, I'll come and get you."

After the city received Rupp, craftsmen are all shut in the camp, the camp of captives are some women. But even the women had to be guarded, so if there was an urgent order, the women were guarded by the baggage battalion. This is the rule laid down by Lord Wen. I thought it was too detailed, but now it seems that Lord Wen has been very thoughtful and has even thought about this.

When I went out of the camp, there were already dozens of brothers from the fifth battalion standing outside. There are eighty-three men in the fifth battalion. On this trip, the army lost over 4,000 men, including about 500 in the forward battalion. There were only two thousand men in the Forward battalion, and I was the one who lost the least. The squad will get new recruits. It's the only way. I looked at some of the men who were standing in front of me. There were still three who had not come. Among them was Tan Qing, a master archer.

There were ten forward battalions, all of them with horses, and all of them with lances, but each had his own partiality. The seven were for attack, all of them with axes, and they were in the front. The eighth and ninth were shield troops, and the eighth and ninth were arrow battalions. In the field, they attacked far away with long arrows and armed with shields. When they approached, they mainly attacked the front eight. However, the ten archers led by Tan Qing are all good at penetrating the Yang, which is one of the reasons why I was able to break into the city first.

I looked at the men. These days, the butcher's eyes are red, and his armor is not neat. I can't say that for them. I'm wearing soft armor myself, not iron armor.

At this time, hear noisy to come a group of people, it is Tan Qing they three. Tan Qing's staff was full, but the other two were much reduced, and the three were down to a total of twenty-four. That's why they're going out together. When Tan Qing saw me, he cried out, "General Chu, I hear someone is attacking?"

"I don't know," I said. "It's just that there's a team coming this way. Wait for orders."

After waiting for a long time, suddenly a loud voice called from outside: "The soldiers of the vanguard battalion have heard the Lord Wu's order. The horses are ready, and the whole army is marching to the city." Lei Baihui, the herald of the Chinese army at that time. His voice was so famous in the army that people called him "Thunder Drum" instead of "Thunder Drum".

There was a sudden noise in the camp and nobody knew what was going on. At the same time, the thunder drum ran past to give orders to the next camp, but the voice of Lu Gongxing said, "The whole camp shall proceed to the city in order, no noise shall be made."

His voice was not loud, but it sounded authoritative. The camp quieted down, and we boarded the city one by one.

I whispered to Qi Lie way: "Little lie, you go to my room."

Qi Liye winked at me and smiled: "Is that woman? General Chu, you really don't know how to pity Xiangyu, she alone."

My face sank. "I asked you to bring me my armor. The woman died that day."

He started and opened his mouth. Probably he was going to ask me how the girl had died. Seeing my cold face, he did not tell me, but ran back to my hut.

This gathering was so sudden that many of the men's armor was not in order. We led the horses under the city head. Once on the city head, many of the men were adjusting their armor. As soon as I reached the head of the city, I looked to the southwest. It was getting dark and it was hard to see anything. Though torches brim the city, they do not shine far.

Qillie brought the armor. I'll dress at the head of the city. Now, without looking, a rumbling sound could be heard.

At this time, Thunder Drum galloped around the city again, Shouting all the way: "All troops, take care, swords and guns out of their sheaths, guard against mistakes."

I leaned against the wall. Around him, the torches cast a ghostly reflection on a man, and the iron armor remained unpolished for a long time. Now and then there was a dull reflection among the blood and rust. All this makes me feel like a dream.

I do not know what army is advancing on the city of High Eagle in the dark. If it was the enemy, the city defences were in tatters, and the provisions would not last more than a few days, precisely the position of the Republican Army at the time of the siege. Everyone in the heart, there is a kind of fear.

The army was about five miles from the city. I could not see clearly in the dark, but I felt the earth seemed to tremble. I was trying to look into the darkness when someone behind me said, "My Lord!"

I turned my head and saw the Lord Wu and his two soldiers approaching the city. We kneel down, way: "Marquis."

The marquis looked at us and waved: "Please get up."

There was a ferocity in his face. He looked at the kneeling road and said, "General Road, how is the forward battalion getting ready?"

"The Vanguard Battalion is full of 1,473 men."

Marquis Wu said, "Good."

He looked down, snorted, and said, "Whoever you are, I'll give you a taste of my Imperial cavalry."

My heart turned over. According to the Lord, it would be a field battle with this unknown army.

That's also true. Although the terrain of the southern frontier is not suitable for horses to gallop, but if we take a defensive position in the city, the city has been attacked by us everywhere in ruins, if useless, it is better to fight in the field. But this army came just as we were taking the city, and the timing was just right. It was a brilliant way of catching them off guard. How on earth did they get it so right?

At this time, the Lord Wu's camp set up a tent at the head of the city. All his military advisers from the shogunate went in. I noticed that there was no high speed train.

By this time, Thunder Drum was riding along. When he reached the Marquis Wu's temporary tent, he dismounted and knelt down. "I tell you, my Lord, that your post has been announced to the four gates, and all the armies are ready for it."

Marquis Wu said, "Good. You go down and rest."

Before the thunder drum went down, a clapping soldier ran up and knelt down in front of the tent. He was out of breath and said, "Let me tell you, the army set up a fortress two li away from the city.

Indeed, we could feel the earth shaking at the top of the city. This noise, at least more than 100,000 people.

I thought of these ominous thoughts, but naturally in the mind of the army saint that court days of march seven to a paragraph: "arrogant soldiers can not attack, tired soldiers can not defend." When Lord Wu set out to fight, the whole army was no more than one hundred thousand. He had killed very few soldiers and lost four thousand. But now the whole army is less than one hundred thousand men. If the other side has 100,000 men, and we can say that we are both exhausted and arrogant, it is hard to say whether we will win or lose.

I looked around. Everyone looked serious, but they weren't too upset.

That's just as well. I thought, if everyone is my pessimistic idea, then I am afraid that the battle is already won.

I gritted my teeth. In any case, to this point, even arrogant soldiers, but also hard to rush.

I touched the waist of the Babie knife, I do not know why, think of the two words: "Only knife Babie, idealism is not easy."