The dark night is not very friendly to the new army.
Because the New Army is a firearms unit, it needs the help of sight lines.
Under the cover of night, it was impossible to see too far, and the power of the musket was greatly weakened.
This also gave the rebels some breathing room.
Most of the battlefield was quiet, except for sporadic noises in some places.
That was the battle that started when the New Army in charge of the search discovered the rebels who were hiding alone.
Usually this kind of battle does not last long and will end soon. But such a battle caused more casualties to the new army than during the day.
After all, the enemy may be hiding in the dark close at hand, and if he jumps out, he won't be able to react in time.
Not to mention, the Dongjiang rebels have a large number of bows and arrows, and they can hurt people silently.
The situation was quickly reported to Zuo Mengeng.
"Let all the troops stop, have a good rest tonight, and finish the battle tomorrow."
Zuo Menggeng cherishes his soldiers very much and does not intend to continue fighting at night.
Anyway, the entire battlefield is surrounded, and there are boats cruising on Anshan Lake. There is no fear that too many rebels will slip through the net.
Following his order, the battlefield became completely silent.
In the dark night, both the enemy and ourselves began to rest and recover.
The New Army was full of joy and had plenty of meat and fish to eat. Some troops in safe places could even take a hot bath.
But the rebels who huddled in the darkness suffered.
There was nothing to eat or drink. They had run out of gunpowder, and there was no treatment for injuries.
I can only huddle in the mud ditch and wait blankly.
They don't know what they are waiting for.
Maybe, wait until dawn...
Wait until it's over.
Geng Zhongming took off his armor with difficulty and felt relaxed all over.
The soldier returned with a helmet in his pocket, but he couldn't see clearly in the dark whether it was clean or not.
It must be unclean.
Because when I brought it to my mouth, the greasy smell of hair that had not been washed for a long time was clearly wafting in the water.
But Geng Zhongming no longer cared about this, and poured a whole helmet full of water into his stomach.
"Go get some more."
After sending the soldiers away and seeing that no one was around, Geng Zhongming quietly broke off a piece of steamed bun from his underwear and quickly swallowed it into his stomach.
After returning from Xuzhou, he took an opportunity to steal it from the cook and kept it hidden.
Back in Liaodong, he was enslaved by the Jurchens and was in danger of death. He had long understood the horror of hunger and the preciousness of food.
Therefore, when the crisis came, everyone else only focused on collecting gold and silver, but he hid food in his clothes.
Now everyone was growling with hunger, but he was the only one who had steamed buns to eat.
But he didn't dare to eat it openly, and he didn't even dare to let his own soldiers see it.
Otherwise, he was not sure whether these soldiers would kill him for food.
There were only a few steamed buns in total, so he had to hold on until he was out of trouble.
My hungry stomach finally calmed down after eating a steamed bun.
Geng Zhongming leaned against a big tree and his eyelids began to tremble. Unconsciously, he quickly fell asleep.
I don't know how much time passed during this sleep, but I felt like there were ants crawling on my body.
He closed his eyes and did not move, but his right hand was quietly groping for it, making it difficult to detect.
until……
"ah……"
A scream broke the silence.
After Geng Zhongming cut it off with a knife, he added a kick.
After doing this, he opened his eyes.
What he saw was his own soldier Wang Maocai rolling on the ground, covered in blood and flesh from his left shoulder to his right abdomen.
What made him even more stunned was that Wang Maocai was holding a steamed bun in his hand.
"You beast, how dare you plot against grandpa!"
He raised his sword and jumped up, intending to rush over and kill Wang Maocai.
On the verge of life and death, Wang Maocai has gone crazy.
While stuffing the bun into his mouth, he pointed at Geng Zhongming and shouted wildly.
"He hid the food, he has the food!"
The alarmed soldiers around them didn't understand what was happening at first, but when they saw that it was Geng Zhongming who was killing his own soldiers, they all remained indifferent.
At this time, he might die in the next moment.
Who dares to meddle in such nosy matters?
But after hearing Wang Maocai's words, everyone's eyes changed.
At that moment, several people touched the weapons and moved closer to Geng Zhongming.
"General, do you really have food? Give it to your brothers."
A guy with green eyes spoke very sadly, but he kept walking.
Geng Zhongming sounded the alarm and retreated while defending.
"Wang Maocai is crazy. Don't listen to his nonsense. What time is it? Where is the food?"
His defense was weak.
Because everyone saw Wang Maocai eating steamed buns.
"General, we are all your brothers, how can you just watch us starve to death?"
A group of people gathered around, eager to try.
Geng Zhongming's scalp was numb, so he had to say: "Okay, I'll give you the food. Let's eat and drink enough and fight out together."
When everyone saw him reaching into his arms, their expressions relaxed, but they didn't expect that his toes had already been inserted into the soil, and he flicked it. In an instant, dust flew up, and everyone's face was covered.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, Geng Zhongming turned around and ran away.
"You bastard, kill him!"
"Kill Geng Zhongming and seize food!"
Everyone was furious and chased after him, shouting.
It was already dawn, and the new army had had breakfast and continued to search the battlefield.
Ren Dong walked at the front of the team, feeling very anxious.
He had sworn to avenge his fellow villagers in Laizhou.
But where is Geng Zhongming?
The battlefield was so huge that he alone was like a drop in the ocean, and the hope of finding Geng Zhongming became increasingly slim.
Ren Dong only had one thought at this time.
That is, if you want to see people alive, you want to see the corpse if you die.
Without seeing Geng Zhongming with his own eyes, he would have no shame to face the dead Laizhou elders.
Their team was divided into three small groups, forming a "pin" shape, covering each other and moving forward slowly.
The terrain in this area was complex and the vegetation was dense. For safety and to search carefully, they walked very slowly.
As Kankan turned around the foot of a mountain, a faint cry of murder suddenly came from the wind.
Ren Dong listened carefully, his face suddenly changed, and he ran forward.
The team leader behind was startled and shouted: "Ren Dong, what are you doing? Come back quickly and pay attention to the formation."
However, Ren Dong was running like a leopard at this moment and had already forgotten his shouts.
The squad leader was so anxious that he quickly grabbed a soldier and ordered, "Hurry back and report the news."
"The rest of you, follow me!"
The team also ran quickly, chasing Ren Dong.
Ren Dong's eyes were already red and he didn't care about what was going on ahead.
The three words "Geng Zhongming" gave him supreme courage.
After running over two small slopes in succession, I saw a large muddy area in front of me.
A few dozen steps ahead, a very embarrassed figure was running towards this side.
Their eyes met and Ren Dong shouted loudly.
"Geng Zhongming, accept your fate!"
He raised his musket and immediately pulled the trigger.
Geng Zhongming also recognized him.
In fact, Ren Dong's poisonous oath by the river that day made him unable to forget it.
Seeing Ren Dong raising his gun, Geng Zhongming's soul was filled with fear and he quickly rolled on the spot.
The hot bullet passed by his ear, making Geng Zhongming's scalp numb. Seeing Ren Dong touching the bullet again, Geng Zhongming hurriedly ran to the side.
Among the tangled grass that is as tall as a person, I turned around three times and couldn't keep my eyes locked.
Ren Dong was so anxious that he had no time to reload his bullets and hurriedly chased after him.
The pursuers behind Geng Zhongming and the squad behind Ren Dong collided with each other. When the squad leader saw it, he couldn't care about Ren Dong anymore.
"Fire!"
After a random shooting, seven or eight of the pursuers died.
When the one who was still alive saw him, he immediately fell to his knees and raised his hands in surrender.
The team leader only saw endless grass swaying in the wind, and Ren Dong and Geng Zhongming had long since disappeared.
"Tie these people up, and one group will follow me."
The New Army's admonitions are engraved in our bones.
【Do not abandon, do not give up】
No comrade is allowed to be left behind.
Ren Dong didn't know what his comrades were thinking.
All he could see was the hurried figure in front of him.
It's been almost a year.
But he still couldn't forget every bit of his time in Laizhou City.
Zhu Wannian was roaring and killed under the city, Xu Congzhi was killed by artillery at the top of the city, Zhai Sheng was killed on the bank of the Shah River, and the old, young, women and children used their bodies as bridges to allow them to retreat...
Just wait!
I'm here to avenge you!
Thinking of this, Ren Dong's blood boiled and he threw away all the unnecessary things on his body.
Finally, he even threw away his musket, took out his bayonet, and walked even faster.
Geng Zhongming was already out of breath from running. Hearing the footsteps behind him getting closer and closer, he knew that he could not run no matter what.
He secretly observed and saw that Ren Dong was as aggressive as a wild bull, and immediately hatched a plan in his mind.
He deliberately slowed down his pace, which made Ren Dong happy. He thought he couldn't run anymore and immediately pounced on him.
Seeing that Ren Dong's figure was old and there was no possibility of change, Geng Zhongming suddenly turned around and staggered from his original position, revealing the tip of the knife.
Ren Dong didn't guard against his deception and couldn't avoid it when he saw the tip of the knife.
But hatred has filled his heart, and there is nothing else.
He simply waved the bayonet in his hand and took it straight to Geng Zhongming's neck, not caring about the tip of the knife at all.
Geng Zhongming didn't expect him to risk his life. When he saw the bayonet coming in front of him, he hurriedly avoided it.
Danger after danger, the bayonet scraped across the flesh and skin of his neck, causing a layer of blood.
But because he moved, the knife also moved. As a result, it did not pierce Ren Dong's body, but only made a long gash in Ren Dong's left rib.
Ren Dong groaned in pain, but still ignored it and shouted: "Geng Zhongming, pay for the life of my Laizhou elder."
Geng Zhongming was panting and cursed angrily: "If you want to kill me, how about you? I will kill you today and let you go to see the King of Hell with Laizhou City."
Ren Dong pounced on him again, but Geng Zhongming didn't have the strength to come over anymore, so he had to swing his sword to block Ren Dong's bayonet.
Although the weights of the two weapons were different, Ren Dong still had the strength, but Geng Zhongming had no strength, so he managed to get rid of them at the same time.
But Ren Dong had already used his flying force to knock Geng Zhongming down.
However, he was also punched on the left cheek by Geng Zhongming, and several teeth flew out.
Ren Dong's time in the army was too short after all, and he was obviously no match for Geng Zhongming with his fighting skills.
But he is determined to take revenge, which is completely the way of a madman.
Seeing that he couldn't beat Geng Zhongming with his fists and kicks, he simply knocked him away.
Both of them felt dizzy and unsteady at the same time.
Geng Zhongming was so angry that he grabbed Ren Dong's left leg and twisted it hard, breaking his ankle.
"ah……"
Ren Dong screamed in pain, raised his other foot, and hit Geng Zhongming's jaw, causing him to fall backwards like a broken sack.
Ren Dong spat out dirty blood and crawled over to grab Geng Zhongming's throat and strangle him to death.
Just as he crawled closer, he stretched out his arms, but Geng Zhongming grabbed his wrist. At the same time, his feet flew up. Ren Dong flew out from Geng Zhongming's head and hit the ground heavily.
The fall was so severe that Ren Dong couldn't get up for a long time.
Geng Zhongming also knew that if he didn't kill Ren Dong, he would never run away today.
He fumbled around and what he touched turned out to be Ren Dong's bayonet.
After picking it up, he moved forward and rode on Ren Dong's body. The tip of the knife was aimed at Ren Dong's chest.
"Fuck you, go to hell! Damn bastard, go die with those bastards."
Ren Dong tried his best to push, but Geng Zhongming put all his strength on the bayonet. He could only watch helplessly as the bayonet got closer and closer to his chest!
Suddenly, Ren Dong laughed.
He suddenly let go and let the bayonet pierce his heart.
But his left hand hugged Geng Zhongming tightly, using up all his strength.
Geng Zhongming didn't know why, but soon he saw Ren Dong's raised right hand.
In that hand, there was a grenade emitting white smoke.
"Ah ah ah ah ah……"
Geng Zhongming wanted to break free, but Ren Dong's hands were like iron pliers, carrying the faith of the people in Laizhou.