The blade was covered with blood, and there was a horrific wound on the face of the rogue on the ground. The lower end of his nose was cut off, exposing the hole in his nasal cavity, and blood was pouring out of it.
The smell of blood stimulated his nerves. He twisted his face and howled twice. He slashed at the rogue bandit rolling on the ground with his knife. The blade tore open the outer cloth of the cotton coat, and gray cotton crumbs flew with the blood. The thick flesh was exposed under the open flesh.
Bones.
The crooked face became more and more excited as he chopped, and the request to attack the fatal part was thrown out of the window. The gangster was lying on his side, with a serious cut on his left upper arm. The wound severed the main muscles, and the lower part was half hanging. His cotton-padded clothes were completely covered with blood.
Soaked, the screams became lower and lower.
The waist knife fell violently again, and the blade sank into the back of the neck with a click, instantly cutting off the nerves in the spine, and the screams stopped abruptly. The crooked face and the shield were covered with blood beads, and he laughed twice,
At the end of the alley behind, there are a few men holding knives. They are dressed like ordinary people. There is a wall behind it. Many markets outside the city have blocked one end to ensure safety at night.
The servants could not escape, and they did not dare to come to help just now. Now, facing this murderous officer and soldier, they stayed on the spot and trembled all over.
The person at the front knelt down and said, "Master, please spare my life, I was forced to do so!"
There was a flash of sword light in front of his eyes, and red blood gushed out from his throat like a waterfall. He couldn't scream, and he knelt on the ground and covered his neck, with blood still flowing out from between his fingers.
The crooked face did not stop and walked directly towards the others. The servants kept retreating and finally pressed against the wall. Several of them had tears streaming down their faces and howled in despair on the spot.
The iron mesh boots stepped on the stone floor, making a snapping sound, and he approached step by step with a crooked face.
The servant in front was about thirty or so. He was holding a waist knife with only half of it left. He yelled with a distorted face and slashed at the crooked face.
With a crooked face, Tengpai blocked with skill, leaving the door wide open in the middle of Siyang's path, and stabbed him in the abdomen with a knife.
Unexpectedly, Si Yang spit out blood from his mouth and screamed at the top of his lungs. He dropped the broken knife and grabbed the shield of Crooked Face. With his other hand, he dragged the chainmail on Crooked Face's right hand and shouted, "Fight him!"
"
The remaining three people rushed forward, and Wai Lian was caught off guard. His hands were dragged down and he couldn't move. The first servant who rushed towards him was holding a kitchen knife, and it hit Wai Lian's shoulder with a sound. Several sparks burst out from the kitchen knife, and they were densely packed.
The lock ring blocked the attack of the kitchen knife, turning the slashing into a stick-like effect.
The other two wielded knives and attacked from the right side of the crooked face, which was not covered by the shield. The attacks were crazy and violent. The crooked face buried its head, and the right arm was arched to block. The helmet and iron arm clinked, and they were slashed continuously by the opponent.
He was also stabbed in the face, and his face felt greasy.
With a crooked face and panic, he moved his foot to the left, turning the servant who was dragging him around half a circle, blocking him in front of the other three people. With this little time, he kicked out towards the crazy servant, Sifu.
Yang was still screaming and refused to let go, but he used the strength of his legs to get a little space, and with a crooked face, he took the opportunity to pull out his left hand from the two arm rings. What he was grabbing was the edge of the shield, and he suddenly lost his balance.
The body tilted to one side.
With Si Yang's movements, the waist knife inserted in his abdomen dragged out a long wound. He tilted his face and pulled back violently, and the waist knife finally returned to his control.
There was a loud bang in Si Yang's abdomen, and a large ball of intestines fell to the ground, splashing a large amount of blood. The root was still connected to his abdomen. Si Yang vomited blood and fell to the ground with a shield in his hand.
Crooked Face took another step back, and the three of them were fighting like crazy. When their companions on the ground blocked the direction, they had no sense of coordination. The first one stepped on the intestines on the ground and rushed forward, but the two companions were caught.
His struggling companion blocked him, leaving him alone with a crooked face.
The crooked face did not give them a chance to attack together. He suddenly took a step forward and let the man's kitchen knife hit his helmet directly. The waist knife in his hand penetrated the opponent's heart. The fellow immediately fell to the ground. He crooked the face and learned his lesson, and then the collision was about to take place.
He pushed his body away, moved his steps back at the same time, and successfully withdrew the waist knife.
The remaining two servants were still in a state of madness. They rushed over without any fear. Regardless of their own safety, they slashed without any spare effort. They twisted their faces to avoid the sharp edge and successfully circled a half circle in front of the wall, with their backs facing towards the wall.
After entering the alley, he gained space to retreat. Relying on his experience of more than a dozen people during training, he constantly adjusted his position and patiently used one person's body to block the attack of the other person, so as not to fall into a situation of being besieged again.
Finally, the man's movements slowed down, and Crooked Face chopped him to the ground. The remaining person was no longer his opponent. Crooked Face once again used his chainmail to resist, and successfully killed the last opponent.
The wounds on his face were dripping with blood, and his crooked face was covered in red, almost blending into his fat coat. It was impossible to tell who belonged to him. This life-and-death struggle almost exhausted his physical strength. When he was in danger,
When removing it, I was so tired that I didn’t even want to cover the wound.
There was a river of blood at the end of the alley, and the walls were covered with splatters of blood.
Just when he was leaning on his knees and trying to catch his breath, a figure slowly stood up in front of him. The man with a ruptured intestine was holding on to the shield, struggling to stand up from the blood on the ground.
His face was bloody and bloody, and his true face could not be seen at all. Only his two eyes were still black and white. He stared blankly at the crooked face, and a low growl came from his throat. The two of them gasped in the bloody alley,
After looking at each other for a moment, the servant walked towards Crooked Face step by step with difficulty, still dragging the puddle of trampled intestines under his body. As he walked, the intestines were gradually extending.
A smile appeared on the crooked and bleeding face, and a cruel light shot out of his eyes. He propped up his body and slowly raised the sword.
…
In the wilderness to the west of Yinding Bridge, thousands of horse soldiers had just arrived outside the town. Several plumes of white smoke came out of the town ahead. Thousands of bandits ran out of the streets and alleys, fleeing in all directions in the wilderness, and even
Some bandits appeared from the river, their bodies wet, and they had obviously jumped from the bridge or crossed the river from the other side.
Zhang Xianzhong looked carefully at the street intersections, and there were still servants running out from everywhere. The defense of Yinding Bridge had been completely defeated in such a short period of time, which also made him a little anxious. The houses blocked his view, and he had not yet seen the weapon.
Traces of officers and soldiers.
Although thousands of horse soldiers and old battalions have arrived, and there are more soldiers behind, and the number will soon reach tens of thousands, everyone is still panic-stricken, and the giant bandits present do not dare to throw their troops into the market in front of them.
Zhang Xianzhong was also a little shocked. According to their thinking, the delay at the Xinhe River was not long. It would always take time for the officers and soldiers to land on the shore. They took the cavalry to Yinding Bridge to help guard, and they could not get ahead of them.
Unexpectedly, the opponent has already reached the west end.
The officers and soldiers who came from nowhere caught them off guard. The Yinding Bridge might not be able to be defended, and the biggest casualty was Ma Shouying, who was stationed nearby.
It is a custom formed during many years of traveling that when they arrive at a place, they will rest in a house temporarily to allow their physical strength and spirit to recover. This is especially true in winter. When they leave, they will set a fire to let the officers and soldiers chasing after them
There is no way to use it.
As an important transportation route on the river, Jiangpu County has always been a wealthy area. There are also a large number of houses outside the city. Although Yinding Bridge is not as large as the city, it serves as a market with a large amount of supplies and houses. Ma Shouying's men are stationed in this area.
It can be prepared for the reinforcements at Puzikou and has good conditions for storage and protection from the cold.
Although they only broke the whole pepper when they came out of Luzhou, the people in the area along the river in the north of the Yangtze River were prosperous and there were many large and small market towns along the official road, so they still looted a wealth of supplies.
With the sentinel capabilities of the rogue horse soldiers, they can give early warning to most of the land pursuers. By destroying the infrastructure along the way, they can gain the advantage of retreating after a short march. However, this time the water transport officers and soldiers obviously exceeded their experience, because the horse soldiers
There is no way to detect the movements on the river.
This force of officers and soldiers came with great ferocity. They immediately launched an offensive after landing ashore and captured the Yinding Bridge five miles away within an hour. This force was incomparable with the sluggish movements of ordinary army infantry.
Ma Shouying's face was gloomy. He had a group of horsemen stationed here. Although most of them escaped, the supplies they looted were all left in the market town and there was no time to move them out. It can be said that they suffered heavy losses.
Liu Guoneng turned around and looked at a few people, "It's only ten miles away from our camp. We can't help the officers and soldiers here. Can we win this market?"
Before anyone could answer, a guard team fled out of the street, scattering money along the way. The onlookers knew that the officers and soldiers were behind them.
The first officer and soldier appeared at the intersection of Market Town Street. This man was wearing iron armor and holding a spear in his hand. The upper part was dyed red. He actually ran faster than the guard team and caught up behind the guard team in a few steps.
, in front of thousands of bandits, he shot the guard team through with one shot. After stepping on the corpse and pulling out the barrel of the gun, the officer and soldier stopped and stood at the intersection of the street, turning a blind eye to the silver ingots on the ground.
Other officers and soldiers appeared behind him, all of them wearing iron armor. Someone shouted orders, and these spearmen stopped one after another and formed a defensive formation at the street entrance. The formation was still quite strict.
There was some commotion among the bandits gathered in the wilderness. They had been on the battlefield for a long time, and the officers and soldiers could tell at a glance whether they were strong or not.
The leader of the bandits present looked solemn at this time. When he saw this equipment, it was thicker than the armor of the frontier army. Generally, the servants of the frontier army also used chain armor, cotton armor or cloth armor, because they had to consider the weight of the horses, like this.
Scale armor is only used by the general's bodyguards, because they have many horses or have servants to carry them.
This kind of heavy infantry is slow. If they are chasing after them, no one will be afraid at all. But if they are asked to attack a market guarded by such armored soldiers, they will never obey.
The sweeping king looked at Liu Guoneng and said, "Look at this, don't mention taking back the market. Everyone needs to discuss where to evacuate."
Zhang Xianzhong's sallow face trembled, "With the cooperation of Fourth Brother, we have even killed the Great Cao, because we are afraid of these stupid Jiangnan soldiers."
The horse under Ma Shouying moved uneasily. He pulled the reins to control it, "It makes sense. There are many people who cannot evacuate today. Old man, please give me an idea. They have occupied the bridge now. Where are we?"
Stop them at every turn."
Zhang Xianzhong looked around and said, "It doesn't matter if the general of thousands of soldiers has some armor. I don't believe he dares to go to Jiangpu City. We have many horses. Who the hell can stop them? Take your old camp through the sky and take the bridge to the north."
…”
Liu Guoneng suddenly said coldly, "Everyone has to work hard to solve our problems."
Ma Shouying turned his cold eyes and glanced at Liu Guoneng. He was the one suffering the biggest loss at the moment. Liu Guoneng obviously didn't want to fight this army alone and had to drag all the families to send troops.
The Sweeping King observed the other people for a moment, then he chuckled and said, "What I mean is that the dog officer only has a thousand men. They want the horse soldiers to drag them from behind. They don't dare to attack the Yinding Bridge, but they can't break through the collapsed sky."
You are right to be afraid. It is easy to cross the bridge on the north side, and there is only one way to retreat. If we are blocked by officers and soldiers like this, not a single horse will be able to return, and whoever lives in the old camp will not feel heartbroken."
Zhang Xianzhong waited expressionlessly for a moment, then suddenly burst out laughing again.
"Then each family will send out one hundred, whether it's the cavalry or the old battalion." He turned his head and looked at it. At the end, there was a small and powerful Shake Tian Dong, and he added, "Shao Tian Dong will send out fifty, all veterans."
Is there anyone willing to take the lead?"
Several bandit leaders didn't say anything, and they didn't even want to go to Shake the Sky. The camp heads of the bandits were all loosely organized, even within each battalion. They needed to attack towns as a group, and sometimes they needed to work together to deal with the pursuers.
But when faced with combat missions that have no direct benefits, they are often not too united.
"Wenxiu, go get it."
After Zhang Xianzhong finished speaking, each family ordered their men respectively. They were very efficient. Several hundred cavalry quickly gathered together and roared towards the north.
At this time, the officers and soldiers at the street entrance stood up a little, and obviously there were more people arriving from behind. Sword and shield soldiers continued to arrive, and they lined up in front of the spear soldiers one after another. Then there were archers standing on both sides, and the top of the wall also
There are some scattered archers and light infantry, and the defense becomes stronger and stronger.
Zhang Xianzhong touched his nose and said, "Whose dog officer leads the soldiers? Your mother's hair is not easy to beat."
…
"The guard at Puzikou will not open the city gate."
Pang Yu waved his hand and asked the soldiers to retreat. He was not surprised after hearing this. He had been leading troops for a long time. When officers and soldiers went to other places, local officials were more strict than thieves. This was the norm at this time.
He was standing on the river embankment, watching a tanker below unload artillery. Speaking of unloading, it was actually eight marines divided into two rows and carrying it down two gangplanks.
The eight Marines, who were former dock porters, had blue veins bulging in their necks. They moved cautiously. One person on the steps was still directing them. They usually carried large objects, but it was rare for them to be so heavy.
The nearly 1,000-pound gun barrel bent the gangplank downwards, and it swayed up and down with the footsteps of several people, making a rattling sound. The people around held their breaths, fearing that the gangplank would collapse if it made any sound.
The first two people stepped onto the steps, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief. However, the part that followed them up the steps would cause the cannon body to tilt. If the ropes on the cannon body were not tied tightly, not only would the cannon be broken, but the porters would also be disabled.
Pang Yu turned around and walked a few steps inside. He needed to take a look at the artillery, but he would not keep staring at it. At this time, many grain bags were piled up along the street on the pier, and braziers were set up in several broken shops.
.
More than a dozen cavalrymen passed by with their horses, and the hair of two of them was still wet. The cavalrymen made many mistakes when boarding the ship and landing. Fortunately, the Puzikou pier was wide. As the infantrymen disembarked, the cavalrymen began to land one after another.
The best riders have started to head north.
"Sir, the sentinels reported that there was a group of bandits on horseback coming from the north, with about hundreds of horsemen. The king parked the General's Second Division outside Wanfeng Gate, blocking the official road from the north, waiting for your order.
"
"Where did the horse soldiers come from?" Pang Yu flipped over the map in his hand, and there was only one bridge marked on it. He thought that these horse soldiers were blocked between the city and the river, and had become something in his pocket.
A batch of horses can be captured.
Before he could be happy, the sentry rider continued, "General Wang captured a horse soldier outside Wanfeng Gate and said that they were crossing the river from the Tiger Bridge in the northwest, and the leader was Zhang Xianzhong's command."
Pang Yu's heart sank. There was no Tiger Bridge on his map. To the northwest of Puzikou, only the official road from Jiangpu to Liuhe was marked. Apparently there was something wrong with his intelligence.
His information came from the ships coming and going at Anqing Pier. These people were running water business and might not have gone north at all, or they didn't care about the bridge, so he had only wanted to control the Yinding Bridge.
"The Second Division stayed outside Wanfeng Gate and deployed defenses on the spot to ensure that rogue horse soldiers could not pass through the official road." Pang Yu said decisively.
At the moment, the Third Division and the soldiers are still at the pier. There is a large amount of supplies piled here, and many of them have not been unloaded on the ship. They must not let the rogue cavalry soldiers rush into the pier. But this made him a little panicked. He didn't know that he had missed something.
those important situations.
Mr. Hou came over and whispered, "There is already a battle ahead. Should your lord be stationed at the pier or at Wanfengmen?"
Pang Yu glanced at the river, and saw that Pang Ding was still staring at him from the bow of the boat. The closer to the shore, the more dangerous it was. You could just run away if you saw something bad happening on the dock, but it wasn't that easy when you went to Wanfeng Gate.
At this time, several marines shouted slogans and climbed up the steps step by step. The thousand-pound copper cannon gradually raised its weight. The sailors and soldiers around them cheered loudly, and the pier was in a noisy situation.
Pang Yu kept watching as the artillery reached the top of the steps amidst cheers and was placed firmly on the ground.
He said to Mr. Hou with a crooked mouth, "The third division is ordered to stay at the dock, and the personal troops will be stationed at Wanfeng Gate with me."