"General Zhao..." Taking advantage of the opportunity for the horses to drink water and eat food at a checkpoint, Cao Yun walked up to Xu Ping and winked, and stabbed Xu Ping's ribs heavily with his elbow: "Does it look like Miss Zhao?"

Xu Ping raised his head and glanced at General Zhao on the horse in front of him, and shook his head blankly: "Miss Zhao doesn't have a big beard, so it's hard to compare."

"What a heartless guy." Cao Yun muttered dissatisfiedly, but he had no chance to ask again. A group of people mounted their horses again and continued to rush behind General Zhao.

"General Zhao," when everyone stopped to rest again, Xu Ping finally found an opportunity and walked to Zhao Jingzhi's side: "May I ask, sir, where are we going?"

"Go to Wuqiao first, and then go to Dezhou." Zhao Jingzhi gathered together dozens of volunteers recruited along the way, waved his arms to the south, and explained to everyone: "The New Army Headquarters received an urgent report from Shandong.

The rebel general Ji Tuisi sent his powerful generals Xiao Bailang and Chen Yuanlong to suddenly attack from the plains southeast of the old city the day before yesterday. The Dongsen Camp stationed in the plains unexpectedly collapsed. The rebels had opened a gap from the plains and poured into the fire fighting camp.

Behind the defense line. The exact number of people has not yet been obtained, but there are at least thousands, or even tens of thousands of soldiers.

"After losing the protection of Dongsen Camp, it is impossible for the defenders close to the plain to survive in front of thousands of fierce bandits. The New Army Staff believes that the plain has been lost and the rebels have crossed the Ma River and are preparing to pass through from the flank.

Dezhou, sweep across the front line of our army’s fire-fighting camp, and cut off the official road from Dongguang to the ancient city.”

According to the consistent tradition of the fire fighting camp, Zhao Jingzhi did not make any cover-up of the dangerous battle situation in front of his men. He waved his arm vigorously again: "The rebels have indeed found the weak link of our army. But the reaction of the headquarters was also very

Quickly. Now that the rebels have moved their main force to the rear of the fire-fighting camp, General Jin has already sent people to the old city, letting General He lead the fire-fighting, Panshi, and Xuanfeng battalions to launch a thunderous attack on the rebels in front of the old city.

The offensive will soon defeat the weak enemy in front of us!"

Xu Ping asked: "Master Zhao, what is our mission?"

"Our mission is to get to Wuqiao as soon as possible. There is a supplementary battalion belonging to the Dongsen Camp between Wuqiao and Dezhou. There are currently two thousand supplementary soldiers there. The order from Mr. Jin to Zhao is very clear. I must try my best.

Collect every soldier who can fight, and then build a strong defense in Texas - a defense that will not flinch. If I understand correctly, this is what I want to lead you heroes to do. General He defeated the enemy on the front

After that, they will quickly turn south to reinforce us, and the direct guards of the new military camp may be on the way now."

"Is it ok for us to hold on to Texas until the direct guards arrive?"

Xu Ping's last question caused a burst of laughter, and Zhao Jingzhi couldn't help but smile. Among the volunteers who volunteered to follow Zhao Jingzhi this time, there were also several fire-fighting battalion officers whom he collected from along the way, although these were not among the volunteers.

Many of the officers serving on the front line were on the battlefield for the first time, but at least they were much older than Xu Ping and had received more adequate training. Perhaps these people felt that Xu Ping's problems were embarrassing to the fire-fighting camp.

So they all raised their chests and assured Zhao Jingzhi: "Mr. Zhao, we will not let you down. Our firefighting camp has never let anyone down."

After Xu Ping joined the fire-fighting camp, Chief Qian led everyone to stand under the fire-fighting camp's snake flag and told about the fire-fighting camp's glorious victories again and again. When Xu Ping's commander handed over the flag to him, he still treated him with kindness.

Said: "As long as you still hold this snake flag in your hand, you will be invincible!"

Including Cao Yun, the volunteer officers with white feathers on their heads were infected one after another: "Don't worry, Mr. Zhao, as long as our fire-fighting camp is here, the defense of Dezhou will be indestructible!"

"Yes, I will rely on you all." Zhao Jingzhi thanked everyone: "The Dongsen Supplementary Battalion in Wuqiao has received less training than the Dongsen Battalion in the plains, and has almost no non-commissioned officers. Now that you have all of you with us, I will

I am confident that I will be able to use this force as well as my body and arms, and as my arms use my fingers."

Although he was an engineer officer, Xu Ping had also received basic command lessons. After mounting his horse again, he began to silently review the knowledge he had learned in his mind, trying to recall every word the instructor had said in the past few months.

Cao Yun seemed a little worried. He secretly leaned next to Xu Ping's horse and whispered: "Old Xu, we are junior officers in the engineering team. We have never commanded infantry. If we misread the order, it will be a serious crime."

ah."

"There will be nothing wrong if you follow the regulations and military regulations." This sentence came to Xu Ping's lips and he swallowed it again. He smiled at Cao Yun and said: "We are officers of the fire fighting camp, and the enemy is always there.

We fled in front of the wind."

There is nearly a hundred miles of road from Dongguang to Wuqiao. Zhao Jingzhi and others changed horses and hurried all the way, arriving at Wuqiao at dark. When they learned that the Dongsen Battalion's supplementary troops were stationed thirty miles away from Wuqiao, Zhao Jingzhi immediately ordered a hasty meal.

Then go out with a fire and make sure to get to the camp of Dongsen Camp before dawn.

The group of officers who were found by Zhao Jingzhi immediately followed the order to eat, changed their horses for the last time, and then lit torches and braved the cold wind to go out.

Along the way, Zhao Jingzhi was making final arrangements, and gradually it was the turn of Xu Ping and Cao Yun, who had lower military ranks. Zhao Jingzhi sent someone to ask them to ride their horses to the front row to listen to his deployment tasks.

Along the way, as soon as Xu Ping found an opportunity, he went over to talk to Zhao Jingzhi. When he heard that he was going to hand over a task, Cao Yun smiled and whispered to Xu Ping: "General Xu's opportunity has come again. This time I want to see Xu Ping."

What else can I ask Mr. Zhao?"

Xu Ping asked, "What's wrong with knowing more about the situation?"

"Nothing wrong, haha." Cao Yun said with a smile: "Mr. Xu asked so many silly questions along the way. I guess Mr. Zhao must be deeply impressed by Mr. Xu."

The two rushed to the front of the team, one on the left and the other on the right, and bowed to the leader, Zhao Jingzhi, and clasped their fists: "Mr. Zhao, please make it clear."

While Zhao Jingzhi continued to ride his horse, he waved the two of them to come closer to him: "Mr. Xu, I will give you a team of 120 people. You will be their temporary team officer. Your

The adjutant will be your temporary deputy."

"As you command, my lord."

"After you take over these one hundred and twenty people, select three handles and twelve fruit leaders from them, and then get familiar with them as quickly as possible. You don't need to strictly follow military regulations. The order should be as simple as possible. Just let

As long as they understand what you mean."

"As you command, my lord." Xu Ping replied neatly.

Zhao Jingzhi nodded with satisfaction and confirmed again: "You two are both engineering officers, right?"

"Yes, my lord."

"Did you learn how to build fortifications in the field when you were in the training team?"

"Yes, sir, we have all learned some."

"Very good," Zhao Jingzhi explained again: "Xu Ping, your position will be on the left wing of our main formation. You need to build a strong field fortification to prevent the enemy from attacking."

"Sir..." Xu Ping hesitated and asked, "Aren't we going to stick to Texas?"

Zhao Jingzhi smiled and said: "The rebels want to sweep through the rear of our army through the official road near Dezhou and seize our supplies along the way. Our task is to prevent the rebels from passing through the official road near Dezhou, not just to defend a city.

"

"So we're stationed outside the city?"

"Yes, it is enough to have local officials guarding the city. With the banner of our field troops stationed outside the city, it is impossible for the rebels to ignore us and attack Dezhou." Zhao Jingzhi paused and asked: "Mr. Xu

Is everything clear?"

"I understand," Xu Ping leaned forward and said, "I understand my humble position. Our mission is to hold the rebels in Texas and wait for the fire fighting battalion and the direct guards to come and annihilate them in one fell swoop."

"If I understand General Jin's order correctly," Zhao Jingzhi nodded towards Xu Ping: "That's it."

A sharp whistle suddenly sounded in the night sky, and the sound of sharp arrows piercing the air came from both sides of the dark official road, followed by the explosive sound of fire cannons. Xu Ping tried his best to control the restless mount under his crotch, and looked back

Looking at the queue behind me, I saw that the originally quiet and orderly column was now swaying with torches. From time to time, arrows flew into the Ming army's cavalry. Someone seemed to have fallen off the horse in the firelight, and people were shouting and horses were neighing.

The ground rang.

"Night attack! Night attack!"

Hearing the cry of "enemy attack", Xu Ping subconsciously followed the instructions of the training team and followed the second half of the sentence: "Put out the fire!"

Almost as soon as Xu Ping reflexively shouted out, countless similar sounds of "extinguishing fire" sounded simultaneously in the column. Xu Ping waved his hand and was about to throw the torch in his hand outwards, but a sudden roar exploded in his ears:

"Don't put out the fire, rush! Rush over!"

It was Zhao Jingzhi who made this roar. In a blink of an eye, he realized that the ambush here could only be a small group of rebels who had infiltrated behind the Ming army's defense line. There would not be many of them, and their strength could only kill a few messengers.

, it is impossible to fight a cavalry team of dozens of people. Their sudden attack is to expect the Ming army to put out the fire on its own and then fall into chaos. Zhao Jingzhi has followed Zhendong Marquis for many years, and has encountered the enemy many times during the southern and northern campaigns.

Similar tactics.

Only Xu Ping, Cao Yun and the few closest people heard Zhao Jingzhi's voice. The command was drowned in the shouts of "put out the fire" in the long column. As the rear of the entire column quickly turned into darkness, the rebels

All the firepower of the army came over. One of the guards close to Xu Ping was shot in the neck by an arrow. He screamed loudly and fell off his horse. The other guard's horse did not know whether it was hit by a fire cannon or frightened.

Jumping towards the dark jungle on the roadside, the knight dropped his torch and struggled to hold the horse's neck, trying not to be thrown off the horse's back.

"Rush, hurry up, leave them alone." Zhao Jingzhi knew that the situation behind him was already in chaos. After extinguishing the fire according to the regulations, those officers would definitely quickly enter both sides of the road in accordance with the regulations, preparing to start a night battle with the enemies lurking in the dark. These officers who entered

The officers in the dark night could not be summoned again until dawn. Another guard fell from his horse. Zhao Jingzhi held the torch high and rushed to the front: "Follow me and rush over, men. They don't dare to raise fire, so they can't catch up."

Come on ours.”

Xu Ping clamped the horse's belly tightly without saying a word, imitating Zhao Jingzhi's example of holding a torch and galloping, leaving behind him the sound of firecrackers and sharp whistles in the blink of an eye. After running several miles in one breath, Zhao Jingzhi finally

He reined in his horse and looked back: "Are you two the only ones following?"

Xu Ping turned around, and there was only Cao Yun behind him. Zhao Jingzhi shook his head and said: "By the time they lurk until dawn, those traitors will have no idea how far they have fled. Alas, regulations, regulations, after all, cannot replace actual combat.

."

"Keep going, we must arrive before dawn..." Before Zhao Jingzhi could finish his words, he somersaulted and fell off the horse.

"Master Zhao!" Xu Ping exclaimed, turned over and dismounted, and picked up Zhao Jingzhi, whose face was covered with blood. He felt his hands were warm, and through the beating flames, Xu Ping saw the blood on his hands - Zhao Jingzhi was killed just now

Hit by a stray bullet from a firecracker, I gritted my teeth and persisted until now.

Zhao Jingzhi struggled to take out a few things from his arms: "I... my waistband, and... and Mr. Jin's... warrant, you must... arrive before dawn, order... order

They immediately went out and deployed in... in Germany... Germany... Texas..."

Seeing Xu Ping lay Zhao Jingzhi's cold body flat on the ground, Cao Yun sighed: "We are not far away from Dongsen Camp, we are just a little bit behind."

Ever since Zhao Jingzhi fell, Xu Ping felt as if he had lost his soul. He seemed not to have heard Cao Yun's words, staring at Zhao Jingzhi's body motionless like a wooden sculpture, and for a long time he uttered a sleepwalking voice: "What should we do?

What is the explanation?"

"Take General Zhao's body and return to the Wuqiao post where we came from, and ask them to report to the New Army Staff Headquarters six hundred miles away." Cao Yun said, turning his head and looking at the dark surroundings. There was deathly silence everywhere.

But Xu Ping seemed to still be in a dream, kneeling on one knee and repeating in his mouth: "What should we do? What should we do?"
To be continued...