As night fell, a dense number of corpses floated in the backwater of Hezhou Pier, undulating in the river. Some of them were caught in the river current, and flowed down the river.
The upper reaches of the pier are peaceful, the river breeze is gentle and the river is green, and the lower reaches are like two different worlds.
Outside the reeds swaying in the wind, two semi-rigged sail masts were moving slowly. After passing the river mouth, the two small sentry boats sailed slowly toward the north bank, using the cover of the reeds on the shore to gradually approach the pier.
"Just now I saw that the smoke column from cooking was at least one or two miles away from the river. The smoke column was wide and dense. Cooking in ordinary towns is not like this. It must be a large bandit camp. Let the boat slow down and be able to see it when it reaches the dock.
Light it up, but not too bright, so as not to be discovered by the rogue bandits. When we dock, the marines will go ashore first, and then they will leave after catching the people."
Tang Er Shuan looked back and saw that the person speaking was the flag general of the cavalry. This time the outpost boat was a day and a half ahead of the brigade and was responsible for gathering information along the river. This was Tang Er Shuan's first time on such a small outpost boat. He had always watched the water camp coming from the dock.
Coming and going, this kind of small sentinel boat cannot carry out transportation. It mainly operates on the Anqing River, intercepting passenger ships and collecting tolls. I didn't expect that he would be able to sit on it one day.
This ship can only carry a dozen people, including four sailors, four horseless sentries, and six marines, and Tang Ershuan is one of them.
He only knew that the cavalry captain was called Chen Rulie. He had a handsome face but a bit of a ferocious attitude. It was said that he was a former captain and had made two great achievements in Shucheng and Huoqiu companies. He had just been promoted to flag general and was responsible for this outpost along the river. There were three small outposts in total.
When the ship and a cannon were approaching Hezhou, a sentinel ship did not take a good look at the channel and followed the cannon ship into the right branch of Jiangxinzhou. The sentinel detective Hezhou could not count on it.
When they docked at a fishing village on the west side of the river mouth, there were still several fishing boats that had not left. The news from the fishermen was that the rogue bandits had captured Hezhou, but there were many rumors, and Chen Rulie believed that he must go to Hezhou to confirm.
What made Tang Ershuan feel nervous was that the flag general had a lot of arrogance and used the marines as coolies. The main reason was that the marines had been established for too short a time. The current size was only a little over a hundred people and they had no status in the battalion. The army came on board.
They can rest and recuperate, but the Marines also have to serve as oarsmen. The sailors on the ship look down on them, and the Army actually looks down on them. There are irritated little wives everywhere. Now facing the highest-paid sentry, their status is even lower. On the ship, they are being treated by this flag general.
It's so hard to use them, usually that's all, but now the sentinels entering the enemy's territory are actually letting the marines take the lead.
The captain of the Marine Corps coughed dryly and said to Chen Rulie in a low voice, "Master Banner, we haven't practiced sentry detection yet, can we all come together?"
Chen Rulie raised his eyebrows, "Pang Pang said that the only thing Marines do is land ashore. Can't they do it if they haven't practiced it? I haven't practiced killing, how did I kill him in Huoqiu?"
The Marine captain was stunned for a moment after being scolded, and then he retreated dejectedly. Tang Ershuan didn't know how to refute.
The captain whispered to the others, "We have no armor or shields. We can only fight with all our strength when we go up. No one can retreat."
Several marines nodded blankly. In this case, there was no way to shirk this job. Tang Ershuan quickly inserted a short-handled ax on his waist and grabbed a seven-foot-long hook gun. This was his equipment.
, other than that, he only has one set of clothes. This short jacket with cuffs closed is warm and convenient for work, but it has basically no protective function, because the cotton armor was collected by Lu Ying in advance.
Tang Ershuan thought of this and inserted a ladder knife into his waist, which could at least block part of it.
"Marine to the oars."
When the reeds were about to end, the bow of the boat called out. He was the helmsman of Shuiying Pao Cao. He had been to Hezhou many times and was familiar with the dock. Tang Er Shuan had no choice but to put down his hook gun again and sat on the oar seat, looking at the boat.
He lowered the sail a little, then asked the oarsman to row backwards to slow down the boat.
"There are no reeds in the back section, so you have to get to the shore quickly. If there is no one at the dock, the Marines will stay behind to guard the ship, and the sentries will follow me inside to catch people." Chen Rulie looked up at the light and waved, "Get to the shore!
"
"Off!" shouted from the bow of the boat, and immediately raised the sail.
The two small sentinel boats accelerated at the same time and moved quickly along the river to the dock. At this time, the sky was dark and the river bank of Hezhou was a blur.
Tang Ershuan's mouth was dry. The legendary ferocious bandits were on the river bank. He wanted to go slower, but it would never be the best, but his hands and feet followed the call of the bow of the boat and rowed very fast. The ax stuck in his waist
He had a stomachache due to the Yunti Knife.
The small sentry boat cut through the waves and rushed to the dock quickly. Everything went smoothly.
Chen Rulie stood on the bow of the boat and looked at the river bank attentively. There seemed to be something in the river, but the light was not good at this time, so Chen Rulie ignored him. The dock was near, there was a faint light of fire, and there were figures moving around.
The distance continued to get closer, while Tang Erchuan was paddling, he secretly looked towards the pier. There seemed to be many figures in the firelight there, his heart beat violently, and there were no more thoughts in his mind.
"Lower the sail! Stop the port oar!" A shout came from the bow of the boat, and Tang Erchuan quickly stopped.
Someone kicked me on my back, and I heard the bow of the boat yell, "I only want the left oar to stop!"
Tang Erchuan knew that he had confused the direction again, so he quickly continued paddling. The helmsman behind him suddenly turned the steering wheel, and the bow of the boat quickly turned to the left, aiming at the dock.
The ship made a banging sound, and it was unknown what it hit. Tang Erchuan didn't think about it and just looked at the dark pier steps coming towards him.
Getting closer and closer to the steps, there were a few shouts on the shore. Tang Ershuan secretly looked at Chen Qi to see if he would give up the plan to land because he was discovered, but Chen Rulie didn't even turn his head.
"Swipe backwards left and right!"
Several oarsmen rowed hard, the speed of the boat began to slow down, and several sailors picked up bamboo poles.
Chen Rulie shouted, "Marines prepare!"
Tang Erchuan quickly threw away the oar and prepared to grab the hook gun. At this moment, a figure appeared on the dock. Before he could mentally prepare himself, several sailors pushed the bamboo pole into the water together.
The bamboo pole bent with a rattling sound, and the ship's speed immediately slowed down greatly. Tang Er Shuan's center of gravity was unstable and he failed to catch the hook gun for a moment. The bow of the ship bumped slightly in front of the steps and stopped. Another small sentry ship on the side also came close to it.
The other five marines from above followed and poured out.
"Ashore!"
The captain roared and jumped up the steps. The hull of the ship was heaving. Tang Ershuan didn't bother to look for the hook gun anymore. He took two steps and stepped onto the shore in one step, following the rhythm of the ship's heaving and undulating hull.
Tang Ershuan held his axe, took three steps and then two steps at a time, and ran up the steps quickly, just like he was picking up goods at Shengtang Ferry.
There was a dark figure in front of him. He almost collided with Tang Er Shuan. They were both startled at the same time. The man quickly raised his knife. Tang Er Shuan didn't think about anything. He subconsciously raised his ax and slashed at it. With a click, the man hit his forehead.
No sound came out, and he suddenly collapsed to the ground. Hezhou Pier appeared in front of Tang Ershuan's eyes.
This place is similar to the dock in Anqing. The side facing the river is full of shops. The shop doors are all open, the lights are flashing inside, and they are crowded with people.
"Kill the fuck!"
There was a shout from the captain in front of him. Tang Erchuan ran forward with his head down, and followed the captain's back directly into a store. There were more than ten people inside, all gathered around to warm themselves by the fire. They looked at the rushing marines,
I haven't realized what happened yet.
The captain took a ladder knife and stabbed the nearest person in the neck, causing chaos in the room.
Tang Ershuan followed closely behind, slashing wildly in the narrow room with the ax in his hand. Blood spurted out in the room, and those who escaped rushed out of the door screaming in panic and fled in both directions.
There were shouts and shouts elsewhere on the pier, and thousands of figures rushed out of the houses. It was unclear what was going on in the darkness, and they fled in all directions like headless flies. Eleven marines chased and attacked each other, making the situation even more chaotic.
"Fuck you, arrest people." Chen Rulie shouted from behind, but the dock was already in a mess, and there were screams everywhere. Chen Rulie never expected that an operation to capture prisoners would end like this by the Marines.
Chen Rulie had no choice but to call three sentries to accompany them, and captured several people fleeing along the street. They were all old and weak. The tenth person he caught was a young man with a red cloth on his head.
A gong sounded from behind the pier. Chen Rulie did not dare to stay any longer. The man wrapped in red cloth in front of him was regarded as a prisoner. The four of them dragged the prisoner while Chen Rulie blew the bamboo whistle and retreated down the steps.
Tang Ershuan had just chopped down a man from behind. The man's cotton-padded clothes were in tatters. He couldn't remember how many he had chopped down. His head was dizzy. Those people rarely resisted. It felt worse than the previous fight between the Anqing Pier Cao Gang.
It's easy, I didn't expect the bandits to be like this.
The bamboo whistle sounded for a long time before Tang Ershuan reacted and ran away to the shore. There were many corpses on the road. When he reached the front of the steps, Tang Ershuan tripped and fell, and just in time two arrows shot from the opposite side.
It flew overhead.
Tang Ershuan was startled and jumped up in a hurry and ran down the steps. When he saw the bow of the small sentinel boat had left the shore, he pounced on it desperately.
There was a splash, and Tang Erchuan's legs and feet fell into the water. Fortunately, his hands were hanging on the bow of the boat. The boat was violently shaken by his attack, and several figures on top came over, still holding weapons in their hands.
After hearing Tang Ershuan's cry, the captain yelled and came over to hold his hand. At this time, figures appeared on the steps, which were very clear under the light of the fire in the store. They shot arrows randomly into the river.
The two small sentry boats had left the shore and were turning their bows in the river. Tang Erchuan's feet were soaked in the cold river water and he hung on the bows, listening to the arrows whizzing through the air.
The captain ignored the arrows and dragged Tang Er Shuan up with several other marines. Tang Er Shuan fell on the deck, panting, unable to even speak.
"What kind of war are you fighting? How did I tell you? Raid the nearest store, catch the person and leave, you fucking go up and chop him down. You can take a look to see if he is a bandit." Chen Rulie asked angrily after scolding,
"Did you count them?"
The captain was stunned for a moment, and after calling his name on the deck, he said to Chen Rulie calmly, "There are less, there are less, two."
Chen Rulie was furious, "I only caught one, but I lost two out of six. You guys fought a damn good fight!"
At this time, a voice came from another small sentry ship, "There's one more here."
"That's one less." Chen Rulie breathed a sigh of relief and lowered his head to look at the tied young gangster. Fortunately, he had gained something.
Seeing that Chen Rulie's mood had calmed down a bit, the man on the boat came over and said carefully, "Mr. Chen Qi, the bottom of the boat was hit and it's leaking."
Chen Rulie rubbed his forehead. This sentinel boat was more troublesome than the sentinel horse. He had to ask at that moment, "Can I still cross the river?"
The bow of the boat hesitated and said, "There is a sandbank ahead where fishermen usually stop. It is easy to stop there in winter. Let's go there first and we can repair it."
Chen Rulie nodded and picked up the lying bandit, "Tell the boat and go there first. Wait until dawn to cross the river to Dangtu and join the canal boat."
After he finished speaking, he walked to the inner cabin and asked quickly from the bow of the ship, "The sandbar crosses the river and is downstream of Dangtu..."
Chen Rulie shouted without even turning his head, "Let the Marines stretch back and go back!"