On the official road leading from Susong County to Erlang Town, the Marine Brigade is advancing rapidly. The soldiers in the queue are wearing several different armors, one of which is half hanging on the waist, and the military uniform is still on the chest. As the soldiers advance
, the upper half of the leather armor kept shaking at the waist.
"You have done evil."
Tang Ershuan pressed down on the leather armor that was shaking back and forth, took off the coconut scoop from his belt, raised his head and took a sip of water. His parched throat suddenly felt much better.
The surrounding soldiers were also drinking water, and from time to time someone would choke and continue to move forward while coughing.
The queue marched at a brisk pace, usually taking a short break for water every five miles and a big break for dry food every ten miles, but there was none today, and they didn't even stop at Susong County. They took a break about fifteen miles ago, and they haven't arrived yet.
During the second rest, everyone was very thirsty. Normally, river water is not allowed during marches, but General Cai Banner had just conveyed an order that water could be drunk on the way. This was not a violation of military discipline.
After capturing the Baohun Banner last time, the blacksmith led the team back to the lake with satisfaction, just in time for the garrison camp to land. Tang Ershuan had no time to rest and returned to the team to participate in the offensive. This time going to Erlang Town was no longer sneaky.
.
He glanced around and saw no trace of Erlang Zhen in front of him.
The official road we are taking now is not a pedestrian road by the Erlang River, but passes through the east side of the western mountains of Susong. Although Tang Ershuan scouted Erlang Town many times, he did not go deep into this area.
His position was on the right side of the queue, and he had a relatively wide view. He was about to pass an abandoned village at this time. Most of the roofs had collapsed. Some people appeared among the broken walls. Many were carrying wood, hay and other things.
Some were busy doing something and looked around at the entrance of the village after hearing the footsteps on the official road.
Tang Ershuan's eyesight was very good, but most of those people were as skinny as firewood and dressed in ragged clothes. According to Tang Ershuan's experience in nearby reconnaissance, these people were in groups. They didn't look like the common people of Susong, but more like bandits who came out to collect firewood. There were many bandits in Erlang's town.
, the nearby firewood has long been used up, and it is normal to travel dozens of miles back and forth to find firewood.
These people obviously did not react to the arrival of the Marine Warfare Division, and were watching in a daze on the edge of the village.
The sentry cavalry leading the way ignored these people. The brigade quickly approached the village. The infantry ranger flag team serving as the vanguard separated into a small group and rushed towards the entrance of the village. Only then did the servants react and scattered in panic.
Before escaping, the team conducted a short search near the entrance of the village and immediately returned after confirming that there were no ambushes inside.
The team crossed the village and continued forward. Tang Ershuan turned his head to look to the right from time to time. Many servants rushed out of the village and fled towards the fields. Among them were two riders in red, who must be the leader of the team, that is,
The rogue cavalry soldiers, often called rogues in the army, fled in a frightened direction away from the official road. They would certainly not return to Erlang Town before the Marine Division who took the official road.
As the Marine Corps moved quickly, more and more bandits appeared on the roadside. Many of them obviously did not get the warning and were still searching for food in the fields. When they saw the Marine Corps' reaction, most of them were confused, and then they ran away.
The officers and soldiers were rushing on the road, and the bandits were running in the fields. There was no fighting between the two sides. Even the beam horses on both sides of the guard did not chase and kill Xiu Yang who was fleeing on foot. Tang Ershuan saw with his own eyes a large number of bandits in Erlang Town. During the reconnaissance,
He was cautious. When he set out from Chang'an Port, he thought that a bloody battle would break out soon. He never thought that the offensive would be such a ridiculous scene. He didn't know what it would be like when he arrived at Erlang Town. He estimated that he had walked more than 20 miles and was 20 miles away from Erlang.
The town isn't too far away.
Finally, a golden sound sounded, and the last break before the attack came. The flag general on the ship gave a briefing. It was about thirty miles from Susong to Erlang Town, and from Chang'an Port to Susong Bali, a total of thirty-eight miles. It was reminded that there might be something wrong on the way.
You will encounter a large group of rogues counterattacking, because the rogues have sentry horses everywhere. According to the fastest alarm speed of the cavalry, the rogues will gather people and horses to intercept, and the most likely battle will occur between ten and twenty miles away from Erlang Town.
But now, after two rests, we have walked thirty miles, and are only eight miles away from Erlang Town, but we have not encountered any large groups of enemies.
The brigade stopped on the road, and the suona sounded at the flag-recognizing place of the general. The chiefs of each bureau rushed to have a meeting. After the soldiers sat down, they each took out the dry food and wolfed it down. The flag general shouted loudly, asking everyone to eat and drink. From here on, there will be no more
After resting and recuperating, the troops patrolled back and forth. Discipline was not the focus now. The main thing was to check whether there were any missing combat readiness items, especially armor and main battle weapons.
The shield was on his back. Tang Erchuan lifted up the drooping upper half of his leather armor, touched the waist knife hanging on his belt, and then touched a wooden handle. It was a flying axe, only one foot long.
It can be used for long-range attacks, or it can be used as an auxiliary short-range soldier. The soldier card is also hung on the belt, but it is not important at this time. The war is imminent, and armament preparation is the most important thing.
The weapons were all there, and Tang Ershuan felt relieved. He wolfed down the dry food while looking outside. There were several beam horses in the field on the right side of the official road. They were responsible for guarding the far end of the flank, but because the number was too small, they could only
To warn the large group of enemy troops, the group stopped at this time, and they stayed where they were to let the horses drink water and eat beans. For the time being, they had no energy to pay attention to the livestock scattered in the fields.
As we get closer and closer to Erlang Town, we encounter more and more rogue bandits. There is a horse soldier escaping on the right front, and there are more than ten soldiers near the official road. The two closest ones are only twenty steps away from Tang Ershuan.
The two of them were catching fish in a fish pond, and the people on the shore ran away. The man who came down from the pond just showed his head, and half of his body was thrown on the ridge of the field, staring blankly at the Land War Department, as if he was frightened by the scene in front of him.
The leather armor of the garrison camp was all painted red, and the shields were painted with the patterns of beasts based on the northern frontier army. Pang Yu chose a crocodile head with a wide mouth for the Marine Division. Although neither the soldiers nor the bandits recognized it, from that point on
Even though he is full of sharp teeth, he knows he is not a kind person. The huge red background on the official road at this time is mixed with sharp blades and rows of beasts, which has a strong visual impact.
It took the gangster a long time to climb up and stand on the field ridge. His head and body were covered with mud and water, and the whites of his eyes were particularly conspicuous when he blinked. He neither ran nor surrendered, but his whole body kept shaking, and the mud and water on his body shook with it.
The pitter-patter dripping.
The marines who were feasting on the official road were also looking at him. Everyone knew that he was a bandit, but because there was no order, no one went to kill him.
This bandit had no weapons and did not pose any threat to the army. The officer probably did not want to waste his arrows and the archer's physical strength. There was a paddy field in the middle, and even the guards who were on guard did not kill him. The two sides were speechless to each other.
They looked at each other, the atmosphere was weird and a little tense.
"You have done evil."
Before stuffing the last bit of white flour steamed cake into his mouth, Tang Ershuan muttered, "Escape for your life, go."
The rogue seemed to have heard it. He finally took two trembling steps, then stopped and looked at the marines here. Seeing that there was no movement, he continued to take two more steps.
"Go ahead, Gu" Tang Ershuan raised his head to drink water, still staring at the bandit.
At this time, President Bai had already returned from the meeting. He strode along the queue without even looking at the strange bandit. He said loudly to President Qi, "It's still the same as before. We marched along the official road in the first round."
Inside the town, the left is the third inning, and the right is the second inning. There is only one change in the order. No matter whether you encounter a large group of thieves or not, you have to wait for the artillery guns to sound before looking at the flag."
General Qi agreed loudly and quickly turned around to explain to the three captains. Tang Ershuan's captain quickly ran over. He was Lu Xianfeng, his former subordinate. He took over after Tang Ershuan was demoted. This was the only such case in the entire battalion.
As a newly promoted captain, Lu Xianfeng must have behaved differently. When distributing armor, he carried forward his style and distributed all leather armor to the soldiers. He wore cotton armor. This cotton armor was not popular along the Yangtze River in April.
It was stuffy and difficult to dry. Naturally, Lu Xianfeng suffered a lot. He drank water all the time on the road. The coconut scoop was empty just now. Now he is not allowed to leave the team to get water from the well. He is not allowed to drink the water in the field. Tang Ershuan is thinking about it.
Do you want to give him some, but I don’t have much.
Before I could think about it, there was a command cannon from the front, and the general manager recognized the flag and started lighting it. After each bureau answered the flag, there was a conch bugle sound, and the flag general shouted loudly. Tang Erchuan stood up with everyone. The bandits on the field ridge were frightened and stopped again.
He didn't dare to move and looked at the officers and soldiers in fear.
The queue moved forward one by one, returning to a brisk pace. When it was his flag team's turn, Tang Ershuan took one last look at the bandit and saw that he was still on the field ridge. After a while, the army left, and he could probably save his life.
Suddenly there was a muffled sound, and a light arrow flew out from the rear team. The sharp arrow easily cut through the tattered coat on the bandit's chest. The mud, water and muscles penetrated deeply into his chest. The bandit's whole body stopped shaking, and his white eyes blinked.
He fell backwards into the fish pond, causing a large splash of water.
"You have done evil."
Tang Ershuan shook his head and followed the team forward. He had also fought two battles and even smashed the head of a cavalry soldier by the Qingliu River. He could not remember those scenes later, but now he always has that blink of an eye in his mind.
Moved and rolled his eyes.
I kept my head down and walked for who knows how long. Not only did I forget to lend Lu Xianfeng water, but I also forgot about the feeling of fatigue, until I heard the voice of General Qi, "When encountering bandits, all wear armor!"
Tang Ershuan's whole body trembled, and he woke up from the sight of white eyes. Without waiting for the captain's urging, he quickly reached out to touch the hook behind his back. He took the time to look outside and saw a beam horse holding up a yellow and green triangular flag.
Indicates the presence of a small group of enemies.
Feeling the hook in his hand, Tang Ershuan lifted the upper half of the leather armor and pressed it on his chest, and pulled the hook to the front. This kind of leather armor is made of cowhide dipped in iron filings and solidified. The upper half is a whole piece, and the abdomen is made of six rows or more.
It is composed of seven rows of small pieces of cowhide, and the shoulders are empty. The upper body can be opened when marching to facilitate heat dissipation and prevent soldiers from suffering from heatstroke. It is more suitable for use in the Jiangnan area. When encountering the enemy, it can be fixed from the shoulders with hooks to become a complete and close-fitting armor.
(Note: The leather armor included: "If you hang it with a hook, you can roll it up and relax freely.") The whole process is very simple. You only need to do it yourself. The team doesn't even have to pause. Tang Ershuan completed donning the armor while marching and fixed the leather armor.
After that, he put the shield on his left arm again, ready to fight at any time.
Armed and equipped, Tang Ershuan felt a lot more at ease. At this moment, he looked up and saw that the surrounding fields were full of fleeing figures. Outside these figures, there were rogue horse soldiers. They screamed loudly and were many in number but not in formation. The team's
Directly ahead, the outline of Erlang Town appears on the distant horizon.