As evening approached, a rebel soldier named Pang Xiaoer leaned against a tree pole and took a nap. His brows were furrowed in his sleep, and his expression looked a little twisted.
The sharp whistle sounded again, and he woke up from his nightmare and stood up quickly. Not long after, several comrades came out of the woods cursing, and they appeared in all directions.
"Eating dog intestines, have you found your uncle?"
"The team has found it."
Pang Xiaoer thought they had found Xue Bai. When he turned around, he saw Kong Rang, the captain of the team, was holding a hare's ear in his hand and said, "Isn't that Prefect Xue a rabbit?"
The soldiers suddenly burst into laughter.
"Captain, I heard people say that the Yang sisters are so beautiful. It's really a good thing that they slept with them and got promoted."
Kong Rang nodded solemnly and said: "When we take Xue Bai and cook his meat and eat it together, we will be able to make beautiful women fall in love with us easily."
"real?"
"Idiot!" Kong Rang scolded: "To enter Chang'an, what kind of woman do you want? How can you go to such trouble? Hahaha."
The laughter got louder, which was also a sign of high morale, but Pang Xiaoer couldn't understand what they were saying.
Pang Xiaoer originally did not belong to this team. His team leader Nie Pinglu had a conflict with Sun Rang and was killed by General Lu before he was assigned to Kong Rang's command. After experiencing all this, he could not explain how he felt.
My mind is confused.
Kong Rang then led his men to roast rabbits and eat them. After the fire was lit for a while, the frequent and sharp whistle sounded again. Soon a cavalry came running from a distance and shouted: "Xue Bai has entered the south."
Bai Cun, go and surround us immediately!"
The flames burned the rabbit skin, and the fat was baked out, making a "sizzling" sound. Kong Rang looked at it and said, "We can go there after we finish eating. It's too late."
"No! The general is ordered to go immediately without delay!"
"All right."
Kong Rang kicked the sand on the ground hard and covered the fire, extinguishing the dissatisfaction in his heart. Since the rebellion, they had received a lot of rewards, and they had been burned, killed, robbed and kidnapped. When their morale was high, they all looked forward to it.
He was planning to rush to Luoyang as soon as possible to fight, so it was a bit boring to be assigned to besiege Xue Bai.
It's like saying you're going to go hunting, but when you're about to set out, you end up saying, "Go, catch that mouse."
"Come on, let's grill it. How long will it take for so many people to deal with one Xue Bai? Nanbai Village is not far away. I've done a good job and I'm just in time to come back to eat."
"Hahaha, yes." Kong Rang laughed, "Brothers, we have been to that village, and we will go there again today."
"good!"
They quickly rode away, leaving behind a bonfire still roasting the hare, turning the skin into the most attractive golden color bit by bit.
~~
The setting sun dyed the clouds on the horizon red. In the past evenings, Nanbai Village would often be filled with smoke, which was the most lively time. But today it seemed extremely quiet, with no chickens or dogs heard.
Deng Siniang ran out of the woods and couldn't wait to rush into the village. She accidentally tripped to the ground. What tripped her were two corpses lying on the ground. They were neighbors she knew. As she walked further, her man's body lay on the ground.
Beside the small bridge.
She ran across the small bridge and threw herself next to him. When she looked up, she saw that the village was full of corpses, some of which had been eaten by wild dogs. This sight made her eyes sore and she burst into tears.
There was a flapping sound in the woods behind me, and the sudden movement frightened the birds away.
It only took a short time for the entire Nanbai Village to go from silence to movement. As if it was agreed upon, noises started to come from all directions. The sound of galloping horse hooves, the sound of horns used to convey signals, and various shouts.
"Shrink the encirclement, don't let them escape!"
Deng Siniang, who was kneeling beside the corpse, turned her head and saw dust and smoke flying in the last rays of the setting sun. Rows of cavalry appeared across the bridge like mountains and forests.
Although there were hundreds of people, it was like thousands of troops came just for her.
A sense of oppression hit her face, as if she were a small ant and the entire Mount Tai was pressing on her head. Along with the fear, there was another illusion.
Even though she is just a village woman, she actually has the pride and pride that makes her worthy of being an enemy of thousands of troops.
"There's someone there!"
"Get her!"
A group of knights ran straight towards her, moving from horizontal lines to columns like water, raising their weapons.
The next moment, a sudden change occurred.
"boom!"
The small bridge exploded with a bang, and the two cavalrymen and horses on the bridge were blown to pieces in an instant. Two of the cavalrymen who had already rushed across the bridge were lifted high and fell to the ground, split into two pieces.
The lively offensive that had just been going forward suddenly stopped, and everyone was stunned, staring at the half-body body on the ground in a daze.
"Eating dog intestines."
Kong Rang finally calmed down the frightened war horse. When he came to his senses, he cursed a curse word to relieve the fear in his heart. He found that his body was already soaked with cold sweat.
He was the second team to rush across the bridge. He was only about ten steps away from the man who was thrown away. He could clearly see how the armored body was torn into pieces. The fragments of the armor also wounded him not far ahead.
One of the soldiers, half of his nose was cut off, and he screamed in agony, which was shocking.
"Is this the thunder and fire that day?"
Kong Rang's general Lu Ziqi was killed in the bombing. He was lucky not to be transferred to Zhending City at that time. He also thought that the descriptions given by his colleagues present were too exaggerated. After seeing it with my own eyes today, I have already retreated.
No wonder everyone attaches great importance to Xue Bai. How can an ordinary pawn like him defeat such a character?
"There's someone in the river!"
Suddenly someone shouted, and everyone took a closer look. Sure enough, someone was running by the river beach below.
"Quick, shoot him!"
The arrow then "swooshed" and fell towards the river beach.
Kong Rang also shot an arrow, but before he could recover from the fright, his hands were shaking so much that the arrow floated directly into the river.
He didn't say it, but in fact, he was already timid before fighting.
I originally thought it would be a simple matter to just rush into the village and capture people, but now, the rebels must reorganize across the river and build a bridge.
~~
The rabbit placed on the fire was scorched bit by bit, the skin and flesh gradually turned from golden to charred black, and finally, even the bones were burned to carbon.
The firewood was finished and the fire went out.
~~
Kong Rang was so hungry that his chest pressed against his back. He thought he would just surround the village tonight to prevent Xue Bai from escaping, but after nightfall, Tian Tinglin arrived in person.
The captains rushed to greet him, looking ashamed.
"What's going on?" Tian Tinglin looked ugly, "The army is about to leave camp at five o'clock, and the general is still waiting for news!"
He used to call Tian Chengsi "Brother", but calling him "General" now seemed more solemn. He must have been reprimanded severely by Tian Chengsi before setting off.
"Another thunder and fire broke out. There were people in front of and behind the village. Six people were killed and more than thirty people were injured. The casualties were minor. I was afraid that there would be thunder. I acted rashly at night, allowing Xue Bai to escape in the chaos.
not good."
"I don't want to listen to the explanation!" Tian Tinglin shouted: "The army has been here for sixty miles day and night, how many days will it be delayed because of a mouse?!"
He was very strict, and he also brought two hundred people with him. He immediately ordered these two hundred people to open the siege, and the rest went into the village to capture and kill Xue Bai.
More torches were lit, and the fire became brighter.
"Cross the bridge."
Kong Rang held the torch in one hand and the reins in the other. He looked at the newly built bridge in front of him. He was still frightened. He turned around and shouted, "Pang Xiaoer, you cross first!"
"Here."
Pang Xiaoer was also afraid of being blown to pieces, so he received the order with a pale face, kicked the horse's belly, and drove the horse forward. However, the horse was also frightened by the loud noise, smelled the pungent smell of gunpowder, and refused to get on.
forward.
"Little beast, let's go."
Pang Xiaoer had no choice but to dismount his horse and pull it across the bridge. There was no explosion this time. When he reached the other side, he walked forward for more than ten steps and saw several corpses lying in front of him. This was the leader of his team.
Leading people to kill.
"Search from room to room!" Kong Rang urged, walking behind.
This village is quite large, and the houses are all made of loess. There are pitted earth walls on both sides of the alleys. When you shine a torch, you can see the spider webs on the walls, but the long and narrow road ahead is still dark.
Pang Xiaoer kicked open a door and saw the body of a child lying inside. He was immediately stunned. He felt a chill on his back and sweat dripped from his forehead.
"It's not here, let's look for it again."
A group of people turned back to the alley.
Pang Xiaoer was distracted, looking around, and finally asked: "Did you hear...the child's voice?"
"Eating dog intestines, don't talk nonsense, look for it carefully."
"I don't think it's right." Kong Rang said, "We are walking in the open with torches. If we run into Xue Bai head-on, can we kill his people?"
He thought that Tian Tinglin was too hasty. Whether 300 or 500 people dispersed into the village and encountered Xue Bai's men, there would be some casualties. It would be better to have a good night's rest and search again during the day.
"Walking in this alley like this, it's easy to be ambushed..."
"puff."
Kong Rang felt blood splattered on his body, looked back, and immediately shouted: "Here!"
Behind the alley, two fierce-looking men appeared at some point. They were fully armored and holding sharp long-handled swords. They had raised their swords to strike down again.
These two people didn't bring torches. They just waited and waited and didn't need to bring them.
"Someone is coming!"
Kong Rang clearly had the numerical advantage, but he was timid at first. It took him a while before he remembered to blow the whistle, and he brought the whistle to his mouth in a panic.
"Shh-"
Just as the whistle sounded, Mo Dao had already slashed down with a "swish" sound, diagonally slashing into his neck.
Pang Xiaoer, who was walking at the front, turned around and couldn't see clearly what was going on across more than a dozen of his comrades. He could only hear his comrades shouting "The team is dead" and pushing him forward.
There were also soldiers among them who wanted to fight to the death. However, in such terrain, they could only be pushed and pushed. If they escaped too late, the sharp Mo Dao would strike at them without mercy.
Before Pang Xiaoer could even see the enemy's face clearly, he was pushed to the point where he dropped his weapon. He simply ran forward regardless, and then he noticed that several people were shouting "Here!"
The whistles came and went, as if the whole village was filled with Xue Bai.
The front suddenly opened up, and the alleys extending in all directions converged into an ancestral hall in the middle of the village, and the soldiers who had escaped from each team rushed to the same place.
One of the captains was trying to control the situation, shouting: "Don't mess around, line up, line up!"
Pang Xiaoer subconsciously wanted to run over, but what Kong Rang said just now came to his mind again, causing him to wake up suddenly.
Xue Bai was not the prey hiding somewhere in the village, but the hunter who laid an ambush and waited for his prey to come to him.
They rebels are the prey...
"boom!"
This was the third explosion, but the damage caused was by no means comparable to the previous two. When dozens of rebel soldiers huddled together in chaos, the explosive exploded among them.
Following the trend, the fire ignited from the center of the village and swept away in all directions.
~~
Tian Tinglin also knew that she was a little anxious. Xue Bai was not an ordinary opponent. He was an official and a prefect, and he could also use money to mobilize a lot of civilian forces. Although he could not withstand a large army, he was very advantageous in this kind of small-group battle.
An eager search will probably result in a lot of casualties.
Of course, this was also done for the sake of the overall situation. Because Taiyuan was not captured, and Li Guangbi was recommended by Xue Bai as the deputy envoy of Hedong Jiedu, if Xue Bai was not captured and killed, the Hedong governor would most likely go to Taiyuan to attract reinforcements.
Fight back to Changshan and cut off the rear of the army.
Compared with this concern, Tian Chengsi could completely afford the price of injuring a few soldiers and getting rid of a heart attack as soon as possible.
The rumble in the distance came, once again causing quite a commotion among the soldiers, but Tian Tinglin had expected it. He knew that Xue Bai must still have gunpowder, but when the gunpowder was always used up, it would take more than ten or twenty people to
It is worth spending the lives of soldiers.
Afterwards, the fire in the village lit up, getting brighter and brighter.
"They set fire to it."
Tian Tinglin frowned, realizing that the casualties might be greater than expected.
Seeing this situation, the secretary-general of his army also stepped forward and whispered: "General Tian, I'm afraid something is not right. Xue Bai has this weapon of thunder, thunder, earth and fire. It is not difficult to break through. Why is he cowering in Xiaoyinan?"
Bai Cun?”
"You mean, he is setting up an ambush?" Tian Tinglin looked ugly.
"I also heard that he also has a thing called a 'thousand-mile mirror'. It is hard to say whether it can see a thousand miles away, but at least it can see things several miles away. Not to mention breaking out, he should not be easily surrounded."
"No matter what, he must go west." Tian Tinglin said: "I even guarded against him."
"Let me tell you, why is it so quiet in the west? It turns out that the general surrounded three buildings. Is there an ambush in the west?"
Tian Tinglin suddenly raised her hand, interrupted the staff, and said, "Listen."
The wind blew up the fire in the village and brought screams. But that was not what Tian Tinglin wanted to hear. He turned around, looked behind him, and murmured: "Someone is coming."
"The general has sent troops again?"
Tian Tinglin raised her head and looked at the sky. It was already the third watch. Tian Chengsi must have ordered the army to make food and prepare to break camp. She was tired of waiting for news from Xue Bai and wanted to come again.
Gradually, a group of cavalry appeared dozens of steps away from him, showing a solemn silhouette in the moonlight.
"Who is coming? Yes to the flag!"
The other party did not respond, so they stopped their horses one after another, adjusted their queues, and let the horses rest.
Although it was dark and far away, Tian Tinglin could feel that the horse on the opposite side was scratching its hooves on the ground, preparing to charge. He took a deep breath and shouted: "It's the enemy!"
The whistle sounded urgently again. There were many rebels, but they were too scattered in order to encircle and hunt them. They rushed to respond to the enemy, and they had to be gathered in the shortest possible time.
But Xue Bai's men had already begun to charge. There were not many of them, but like a sharp dagger, they stabbed Tian Tinglin's heart unexpectedly.
~~
In Nanbai Village, the fire became stronger and blood splattered everywhere.
Pang Xiaoer ran away frantically, and finally escaped back to the river, shouting to the other side: "General! He was ambushed!"
However, all he received in response was panicked shouts.
"The enemy came from outside the village..."
Pang Xiaoer didn't understand that the enemy was clearly in the village, so how could he be outside the village? In any case, Tian Tinglin's attack destroyed his last will. He only had one thought in his mind, which was to escape as far away as possible.
He looked around and saw that the west side was the quietest, so he fled to the west side. Feeling that the armor on his body was heavy and inconvenient, he simply took off his armor and felt much relieved.
As he ran, the sound of water flowing in front of him got closer and closer. Nanbai Village was on the bank of Hutuo River. In front of him was the bend of the river, and there was a large lake. Finally, he saw a piece of sparkling water.
Pang Xiaoer couldn't swim. Hearing the killing cries in the distance, he kept running along the river. He gradually couldn't run anymore. When he was desperate, he saw a small boat moored by the river. He quickly ran up to it.
, reached out to untie the cable.
"Huh-huh-"
He was so tired that his fingers had no strength. The more anxious he became, the more unable he was to untie it. Suddenly, he received a heavy blow on the back of his head and fell into the mud by the river.
"Forgive me, I'm not rebelling, no!"
Pang Xiaoer didn't bother to look back and begged for mercy.
There was severe pain in his head, but the knife on his back did not strike again. Seeing the use of begging for mercy, he was sure that the person who came was not his comrade.
"Really, I went north to join the army because I wanted to guard the border for the country. Captain Nie was telling me, 'Don't teach Huma to cross the Yinshan Mountains.' I really didn't want to rebel. They forced me, forced me..."
As he said this, Pang Xiaoer burst into tears.
He is the second son in the family. His brother is fifteen years older than him and died in the war with the Khitan in his early years. His mother is fifty-two years old this year, with gray hair and is getting old. He
I eagerly hope to earn military honors and return home as soon as possible to serve my mother-in-law.
"Really, I haven't read a book, but I know the word 'loyalty and filial piety'. General, please spare my life for the sake of my poor mother-in-law."
"I will spare you, but who will spare my child?"
Pang Xiaoer was stunned when he heard the sound behind him. He turned around and saw a peasant woman standing behind him holding a knife.
The original fear in his heart immediately dissipated a lot.
"You killed my child!" the peasant woman roared and slashed with her knife.
Pang Xiaoer stretched out his hand to block her, grabbed her hand, and pushed the knife towards her neck with all his strength, and the two started fighting.
He was fighting to the death with all his strength. Pang Xiaoer's whole face turned red, and he finally managed to press the knife onto the peasant woman's shoulder little by little.
His eyes almost exploded, and then he looked at her, and immediately felt an extremely strong hatred. At this moment, he guessed who she was - the two people who died before him
The mother-in-law of The Child Under the Knife.
But the first thing Pang Xiaoer felt was that he had been wronged. What could he do? The king of Dongping County rebelled, the general rebelled, and the captain was killed. If he hadn't taken action at that time, he would have died.
This is the helplessness of troubled times, which the two of them have never experienced before.
When troubled times come, it's like a huge wave hits them, smashing small fish and shrimps like them to pieces.
A trace of guilt appeared in Pang Xiaoer's heart.
"puff."
At this moment, the knife had pressed heavily into his neck, and blood gushed out.
His eyes widened and he let out one last sob.
In troubled times, he and Deng Si's little black dog suffered the same fate.
"Woo."
Deng Siniang stood up and when she heard the murderer of her child whimpering like a puppy, her nose became sore and she cried.
She has already returned home.
When she rushed to the backyard, she saw two big stones placed above the water tank. She was stunned at the time. She rushed forward and pushed the stones away, along with the lid of the water tank to the ground.
The force was so strong that she fell to the ground.
"Five babies!"
At that time, she cried and shouted, but did not hear a response for a long time. She did not dare to look into the water tank, but in her mind she imagined the scene after she fainted in the main room.
"Captain Kong, those bitches even hid a baby in this vat."
"Then help her hide it and cover it, hahaha..."
Deng Siniang had the desire to die at that time.
When it was dark, the explosion on the bridge prevented the rebels from entering the village immediately. She dug a big hole in her backyard and buried her dead child.
After crying loudly, she walked back to the bridge to bring her man back and bury him.
It was at that time that she saw a group of soldiers holding torches and leading their horses across the newly built bridge. The faces of some of them made her feel hatred at the sight of them.
So, using the cover of darkness and her familiarity with the village, she quietly followed them, thinking of exchanging her own life for one with one of them.
During the process, Deng Siniang actually caught a glimpse of another group of people. She knew that they were the subordinates of Prefect Xue. She did not dare to get close and witnessed their surprise attack on the rebels from a distance.
Those people would not chase after an escaped fish, but she could not let go of the hatred in her heart, so she chased after her and finally killed an enemy, even though she knew that the other person was forced to do so.
At this time, her last wish was gone. Deng Siniang picked up the long knife in her hand, but her eyes caught sight of the corpse on the ground. She did not want to die with the murderer, so she boarded the boat, cut off the cable rope, and propped up the pole.
Paddling deep into the Hutuo River.
She leaned down and looked at the dark and deep river, hoping that it would wash away the dirt on her body.
Just as he was about to jump, suddenly, there was an earth-shattering sound from the west bank.
That was the true momentum of thousands of troops and horses. The momentum was more majestic than the hundreds of cavalry in the evening, and the heaven and earth seemed to be moved by it.
The fire was bright, like the sun rising from the west.
“Right by the river!”
Deng Siniang once again felt the sense of oppression and pride of being surrounded and suppressed by heavy troops, which made her forget to die for a moment. She watched the changes in the firelight from the other side, imagining the brutal fighting she had never seen before.
The boat kept being pushed downward by the river water.
She rowed hard, but she was still getting further and further away from the battlefield.
Until she could no longer hear the cries of death, she felt the surroundings became quiet again, and prepared to throw herself into the river again.
At this moment, a ray of rising sun fell on the river, dispelling the darkness.
The water reflected the morning sun and fell into Deng Siniang's eyes. She was stunned for a moment and found several corpses floating on the river.
One of the corpses caught her attention. Judging from the attire, it was clearly one of the people she met with Xue Prefect yesterday. She quickly pushed the boat over, hooked it with a bamboo pole, and pulled it closer. Taking advantage of the rising sun, she took a closer look.
But it was not the Prefect Xue she thought she was.
I don’t know what happened to the battle last night.