It was originally a peaceful night, but unexpectedly, a caravan servant slept on a snake nest, attracting hundreds of sea buckthorn snakes. This snake was so venomous that several servants who went to rescue were all poisoned to death.
Everyone was so frightened that they did not dare to sleep. Some even said that the dead people had brought out the sea-buckthorn snakes. They came smelling blood and everyone had to leave. The three young ladies of the Gu family were also so frightened that they did not dare to sleep at night. Zhang Xiaowu and others
This was also the first time for a man to see a sea-buckthorn snake in the grassland. He looked carefully at the killed sea-buckthorn snake. Although it was only as thick as a thumb and as long as an arm, he did not expect that such a small snake could be so venomous.
Zhang Xiaowu asked: "Wusong, do you know this kind of snake?"
Wu Song said: "I don't know. I know everything I know from books, but there is no record of sea-buckthorn snakes in the books."
Zhang Xiaowu said with a smile: "So you don't read many books."
Wu Song shook his head: "No, no, actually very few people record insects and beasts."
Zhang Xiaowu suggested: "If you write a book called Bo Sheng Zhi, which specifically records the animals, livestock, insects and beasts in the world, I am afraid it will be remembered by future generations for thousands of years. After all, there are too few such books."
Wu Song suddenly jumped up and even laughed regardless of the image: "Yes, yes, why didn't I think of it before? If I wrote a book like this, wouldn't I become a famous person in the world?" After that, he went to his own mouth like a madman.
He ran away from the tent and was grabbed by Zhang Xiaowu. Wusong said anxiously: "Don't hold me back. I want to be the first person to write a history book on animals."
Zhang Xiaowu sweated profusely and said hurriedly: "I'm not stopping you, but first tell me what kind of snake is this? Aren't you well-read?"
Wusong said helplessly: "Sir, I am indeed well-read, but I really don't know about this kind of snake."
Zhang Xiaowu had no choice but to send someone to inquire. It happened that a medicinal herb dealer in the caravan who lived in Jincheng knew about this thing and said that the sea buckthorn snake is a highly venomous snake on the grassland. Just one drop of venom can kill a person in the tent. If it is mixed with food,
, can let the Yidu team
The humans and horses lost their combat effectiveness. However, sea buckthorn snakes generally do not attack humans. They often sleep deep in snake nests three feet underground. Unless someone has sandalwood on their body and is standing near the snake nest, the sea buckthorn snake will be awakened and attracted
Sea buckthorn snake attack.
Someone immediately checked the body and found that the man was indeed wearing a sandalwood bag, which was a token of love given by his wife. He wore it with him. Unfortunately, the token of love turned out to be a talisman for death. Everyone couldn't help but sigh with emotion.
Zhang Xiaowu felt that the sea buckthorn snake venom was useful, so he asked a businessman to help catch the snakes and asked for the venom. In fact, sea buckthorn snakes were not difficult to catch. The snake catchers in the caravan caught more than two hundred of them in less than an hour.
It was small and yellowish in color, making it easier to hide. Zhang Xiaowu stored the snake venom in a wine bag for other uses in the future, and roasted the snake meat for everyone to eat. It tasted very good.
Of course, not everyone can eat roasted snake meat. The daring Miss Gu Er and the feisty Princess Shi were so afraid of the sea buckthorn snake that they hid in the car and shivered. Zhang Xiaowu grabbed some wheat flour and cheated
They talked about this and spread the snake repellent around the car, saying that snakes did not dare to cross the snake repellent, so the two women settled down.
At night, the howls of grass wolves sounded outside the ruins of Luolan. Zhang Xiaowu sent people to light torches around the camp. The grass wolves did not dare to approach the camp, but they found thousands of corpses, so they gnawed on the corpses of the sand bandits. After a while,
Hyenas also came, howling and biting, disturbing the people in the camp.
The three young ladies of the Gu family were first frightened by a sea-buckthorn snake, and then heard the howling of wolves and the barking of dogs. Although they were protected by the Gu family's guards and the Death Soldier Battalion, they still could not sleep peacefully. In the morning of the next day, the three of them were listless and hurriedly ate their breakfast.
After eating, he caught up on his sleep in the car. Chen Boqing became worried and reported to Zhang Xiaowu that the ladies needed a rest, hoping that the convoy would leave later. Zhang Xiaowu did not embarrass the Gu family and started to drive almost at noon.
Because of the "good harvest" last night, the soldiers of the Death Soldier Battalion were able to equip all their horses with horses, and it became a real infantry and cavalry battalion. The extra horses were even lent to the caravan members. The speed of the team increased, and they could walk farther than yesterday in half a day.
It's a bit more walking in one day.
After the dead soldiers left the camp, almost all the corpses in the ruins were dug out by hyenas, wolves and vultures. Of course, because there were too many dead corpses, many corpses were just thrown far away. The carnivores on the grassland enjoyed a gluttonous feast.
, it was rare for them to live in harmony, the grass wolves no longer chased away the hyenas, and even the vultures stopped stealing food.
After seizing a large number of horses, everyone arrived at Mucheng smoothly in less than four days. The garrison envoy of Mucheng was General Cheng Chu of the Sixth Regiment. When he heard that the Gu family was coming, he immediately went out of the city to greet them. He thought it would be nice to see Fangzhen Longdu.
The second glance was what it looked like. But he was disappointed. The Gu family was sitting in the car, and only the general Chen Boqing was talking to him. Cheng Chu told Chen Boqing that the city had already prepared wine and food, and was just waiting for the three ladies to arrive.
The Gu family is one of the four major imperial merchants and a relative of the emperor. They have properties in every state capital across the country and even have mansions in remote Mucheng and Jincheng. Chen Boqing declined the general's kindness on behalf of the Gu family. After all, there are differences between men and women, and
The Gu family still has a mansion in Mucheng where they can rest.
Even so, Cheng Chu also felt that he had benefited from the Gu family and had a relationship with the Gu family. In the future, when the crown prince succeeds to the throne, the crown prince's young master Gu Yong will definitely be the prime minister, and he will also be able to be in the imperial class. Cheng Chu
Chu then personally saw them escorting them to the Gu family's merchant, and then turned and left.
Zhang Xiaowu, who was standing far away, saw Cheng Chu's flattering expression and smiled disdainfully. Hu Sanwan coughed as a reminder, and Zhang Xiaowu hurriedly restrained himself.
Zhang Xiaowu and his troops had just returned to the Death Soldier Camp and had not repaired yet, so they were ordered to go to the regimental general's camp to report on their journey.
Zhang Xiaowu knew that Cheng Chu did not care about the escort situation along the way, but only cared about the news about the Gu family, but he knew very little about the Gu family. The only thing he knew about was the bandits who intercepted and killed the Gu family. The Gu family said that it was most likely the seventh prince.
Zhang Xiaowu did not hide anything and told Cheng Chu everything. After hearing this, Cheng Chu broke into a cold sweat, shook his head and said, "It's a bad thing."
, What a bad thing, how can you get involved in the struggle for imperial power again? What a bad thing! I won’t go to Yashan just because I don’t want to get involved in this matter. You kid, you are so capable of causing trouble for me!" Some people in the Ministry of War teased Cheng Chu.
Although he was an armchair general, it cannot be denied that Cheng Chu had his own abilities. He was always alert to the internal struggles within the imperial court, lest he get involved deeply in them.
Zhang Xiaowu felt that a disaster fell from the sky and hit him on the head. He could not interfere in the affairs of the court, and he did not want to get involved, so he pretended not to understand and said: "Although there are many sand bandits, they are just a mob and will be defeated in one battle.
Vulnerable."
"I'm not talking about bandits, but...sigh..." Seeing that Zhang Xiaowu was tired, Cheng Chu asked him to go back and rest immediately.
Returning to the military camp again, Zhang Xiaowu was finally able to take a hot bath. He asked a veteran in the army to rub himself hard with mud. After taking a bath, he felt that his whole body had lost more than ten kilograms. The bath water was changed.
Three basins, you can see how slovenly he looked after not being able to take a bath for twenty days.
Lying on the bed, Zhang Xiaowu felt more relaxed than ever before and slept soundly all day long.
The next day, Zhang Xiaowu still woke up early. After eating fried noodles, he went to visit the wounded again, and even changed the gauze for Niu Mugen himself. Seeing that Niu Mugen's wounds had all closed, Zhang Xiaowu was greatly surprised.
Happy, after some preparation, cut the thin thread, and then pull out the suture thread.
Pulling out the thin thread from the flesh, Niu Mugen once again experienced what it means to live worse than death. If he hadn't been firmly held down by the surrounding robes, he would have been so painful that he would fly to the sky.
After the "suture removal operation" was completed, Zhang Xiaowu, the doctor who performed random operations, was also laid off. He handed over Niu Mugen and other injured people to doctors in the epidemic camp, and reorganized the death camp, reducing the six capital teams to five
, the Xiadu team became a pawn team, specifically responsible for logistics work.
The number of soldiers in the Death Soldier Battalion was reduced to 800, but its combat effectiveness was not reduced much. Instead, it gradually gained the momentum of a strong army after experiencing several killings.
When the other sergeants of the Sixth Regiment learned about the experience of the Dead Soldier Battalion, they became more convinced of Zhang Xiaowu, the "ghost general". The test on the battlefield was the basis for the sergeants' trust. Although Zhang Xiaowu was young, he was trusted by everyone, and each battalion
Every team has begun to spread stories about ghost generals and the dead soldiers camp.
At noon, Huang Sheng and Huang Qicai arrived late to express their condolences to the sergeants. Zhang Xiaowu reported as usual. Huang Sheng listened while nodding and smiling, then waved his hand and said: "Come on, each sergeant will enjoy a jar of wine. Silver
One or two."
The sergeants expressed their gratitude outwardly, but in their hearts they were very dissatisfied with Huang Sheng's stinginess. Huang Sheng then pulled Zhang Xiaowu and said, "Colonel Zhang, you have worked very hard on this trip. In a few days, five thousand soldiers will come here.
You still need to train them to become soldiers."
"The general has informed me that I should bear the responsibility." Zhang Xiaowu cupped his hands and said.
Huang Sheng asked again: "What kind of suffering is there?"
Zhang Xiaowu said: "Sixty-four people were killed during this escort, 14 were seriously injured and disabled, and nearly a hundred were slightly injured. The dead soldiers have been buried on the spot, but it is useless for the disabled soldiers to stay in the army. It is better to let them return home."
."
Huang Sheng looked embarrassed and said that soldiers usually only returned home after the war was over. If they were allowed to return home at this time, they would not be dealt with as deserters, but they would not be resettled. If the wounded soldiers only brought a return order,
, I couldn’t even get the money to buy dry food on the way back home.
"Their injuries were all caused by my incompetent command, so I will pay for their travel expenses." Zhang Xiaowu said proudly, "In addition, the sixty-four fallen soldiers also need to be cared for. I know that the captain is in trouble, but fortunately they were captured this time.
The property of some bandits is enough to appease the sergeants, so that everyone will not complain in their hearts, and they have been loyal to the country without even a little compensation. I wonder if your Excellency agrees?"