Chapter 154 After this bowl of wine, tomorrow, kill the slave!
Tall turrets were erected at the four corners of the village wall and at the gate of Jiazhuang, so as to observe the enemy's situation and observe the enemy's movements during war. Turrets were also built on the walls of Yang Guozhu and Hu Dawei's camp.
Zhang Yan was standing on the turret of the east gate of Jiazhuang, watching the movements on the official road in the distance. The construction of the fortress had basically been completed, and the rest was handed over to General Qian below, who was responsible for it.
At Shenshi, Lu Xiangsheng, Supervisor of Biao Battalion, and General Zhang Guodong led 300 knights back to the camp, along with more than a hundred wounded soldiers and dozens of corpses of fallen soldiers.
Of course, there were hundreds of Qing army heads, all tied in a string of hemp ropes, which was very terrifying.
In addition to these, there were hundreds of dead horses, all dragged back with hemp ropes. Fortunately, these dead horses were tied with three layers of Qing army armor, but the horses' bodies were not seriously damaged.
Zhang Yan had already gathered all the army's medical officers in the Jiazhuang camp, and immediately arranged to treat the wounded soldiers, untied all the dead horses, and stewed them in a pot.
At this moment, he was on the turret, worried about the safety of Lu Xiangsheng, Zhang Cheng and others who were going to fight, when he saw dust flying on the official road in the northeast.
Zhang Yan hurriedly shouted to the corner tower: "Lin Zhiyi, there is smoke and dust on the official road in the northeast. Go up and see the situation."
I heard a loud shout from below: "I've got your order."
Then more than two hundred people galloped out on horseback and went straight to the official road. Among them, about a hundred riders were divided into two teams on the official road, one team went south and the other team ran towards the wilderness to the east.
Lin Zhiyi, the commander of Zhang Yanzhong's military sentry, led only a hundred cavalry, headed north along the official road, and galloped towards the billowing smoke and dust.
After a while, Lin Zhiyi galloped back on his horse and loudly reported at the east gate of Jiazhuang: "Reporting to the general, it is Shanxi's General Tiger Soldier who has returned. The governor has achieved a great victory, and General Tiger Soldier is back to report the victory."
After Zhang Yan heard the news, he immediately came down from the corner tower, walked onto the official road, and personally greeted Hu Dawei and other knights.
…………
In the Jiazhuang camp, piles of bonfires were lit, and all the soldiers gathered around the bonfire, gnawing on newly cooked horse meat, drinking broth, and freshly steamed buns beside them.
They swept away their fatigue and talked about the battle in the afternoon with great interest. The infantry who were left behind to build the camp listened attentively, causing bursts of laughter from time to time.
In the tent prepared for the wounded soldiers, pots of red charcoal fire crackled in the brazier, heating the entire tent. The doctors accompanying the camp were busy nervously, cleaning the wounds of each wounded soldier.
Hemostatic dressing.
Outside the camp, there were also piles of bonfires burning, illuminating key places. Wherever the bonfires could not be found, the ground was covered with iron caltrops, and horse-drawn stakes were placed in front of the passages to prevent slaves from entering.
Thieves stole the camp at night.
The sergeants who were assigned to keep watch at night, patrolling in groups, and sentries lurking in the dark, stood firm at their posts and protected the safety of the camp.
In the center of Jiazhuang, there is a large house, which is where Lu Xiangsheng's Chinese army tent is located.
The front of the big house here has been completely cleaned up and formed into a small square. A bonfire is lit in the middle, and there are some small fires around it, with an iron pot on top.
There are horse meat stewed in these iron pots, and there is also broth simmering. Not far away, there are fire soldiers roasting horse meat, cooking noodles, and steaming steamed buns on the charcoal fire.
Tonight, Lu Xiangsheng summoned all the generals from all the battalions under his command to this place. At this moment, they were all sitting around the bonfire in the middle.
Zhang Cheng, Yang Guozhu, Hu Dawei, Zhang Yan and other generals gathered around Lu Xiangsheng. The commanders and sentry commanders of each battalion all found their own places around the campfire. They were almost all gathered together in each battalion.
Lu Xiangsheng made a special exception tonight and allowed the soldiers to drink. However, he was sitting here in linen clothes and mourning robes, but everyone did not dare to drink freely. However, after holding it in for so long, they all quenched their thirst tonight.
Guo Yingxian sat carelessly on a wooden pillar next to Zhang Cheng, holding a wine bowl and saying: "Come on, Brother Cheng, I'll give you a bowl."
Zhang Cheng smiled and raised the bowl to touch him, and said to Chen An on the other side: "General Chen, let's have a bowl too."
Chen An raised the bowl and said, "Supervisor, I have to patrol the camp later, I will only take a sip."
Guo Yingxian stopped and shouted: "Don't do it, mother-in-law, it's just one bowl, come on..."
After finishing speaking, he moved his big hand forward, and the wine bowl hit Zhang Cheng and Chen An's bowls with a bang. With a grin, the wine bowl was returned to his mouth, and he drank it with a tilt of his head.
Zhang Cheng looked at Guo Yingxian, shook his head, picked up the bowl, raised his head and drank it all. He deliberately touched Chen An with his elbow and gave him a look, indicating that he didn't care and just drank as he pleased.
The two looked at each other and smiled. Guo Yingxian took the wine bottle and filled it up for himself and Zhang Cheng.
Suddenly, Lu Xiangsheng stood up, still holding an empty bowl in his hand. He walked a few steps forward and came to the bonfire. Several staff members who were sitting next to him also stood up, and everyone also picked up their wine bowls.
.
Lu Xiangsheng was still wearing linen and mourning clothes. In front of the bonfire, his thin figure looked extremely majestic. He called all the soldiers present to gather over and stand in a semicircle around him.
Then, he bowed four times to the generals and said loudly: "Soldiers, although the generals and I fought hard to drive back two groups of captives today, there are still several groups of slaves and thieves gathering towards Jiazhuang;
Xiang Sheng and all of you have received great favor from the imperial court. Now is the day for us to serve the imperial court;
Everyone should understand that when you join the army, you have to lick blood with your sword and fight for your life on the battlefield. What we are afraid of is not being able to die for the country, but we are not afraid of dying for the country;
Since Xiang Sheng led the army, he decided that he would rather be a beheaded general and die on the battlefield than live up to the country's favor, cower in the face of the enemy, live in an ignoble way, harm his descendants, be ridiculed in front of others, and be unable to hold his head up for several generations;
Although the slaves and thieves have gathered from all directions, we have established a stronghold here. Even though there are tens of thousands of slaves, it is difficult to break it. Moreover, the tens of thousands of Guan Ning's cavalry from the Gao Jianjun are dozens of miles away, rushing to support our army and will arrive in an instant.
;
Even though we are here to sacrifice our lives for our country, we must prevent the slaves and thieves from despising our Ming generals, promote our Ming country's national prestige, boost the morale of our troops, and make our Ming people with lofty ideals hear the news and rise up to fight against the Tartars;
Sons and daughters, after drinking this bowl of wine, tomorrow we will kill the slaves!"
When Lu Xiangsheng spoke, all the generals gathered here stood up. After he finished speaking, Chen An picked up the wine pot and walked forward, filling Lu Xiangsheng's bowl with wine.
All the generals also filled each other's cups. Zhang Cheng took a step forward, knelt on one knee, raised the wine bowl in his hand above his head, and said loudly: "Died on the battlefield, wrapped in horse leather, this is my true nature as a soldier. Zhang Cheng is willing to follow the governor and kill the slaves.
Never give up!"
All the generals in the field knelt down on one knee one after another, imitating Zhang Cheng's example, holding up their wine bowls and shouting in unison: "...I am willing to follow the governor to kill the slaves, even if I die... I will not hesitate even if I die..."