Before Liu Rui had time to react, Xia Houlan was already anxious. Liu Xin had extremely strict requirements on military discipline, and Xia Houlan was in charge of military discipline. Not to mention that Liu Rui was the eldest daughter of the lord's family, no matter how beautiful she was.
With ten times the number of ordinary civilian women standing in front of him, Xia Houlan did not dare to have the slightest thought. This unruly and willful young lady staying in the military camp was not only not a beautiful scenery for Xia Houlan, but also an interesting thing for him.
It was a big trouble that gave me a headache. Finally, Sun Ce jumped out and wanted to take over. Xia Houlan naturally wanted it. Who knew that Sun Ce would regret it all of a sudden? How could Xia Houlan not be in a hurry and said hurriedly: "General Sun, you
Didn't you just say that you are willing to escort the eldest lady? Why now..."
Sun Ce cupped his hands and said, "General Xiahou doesn't know. After my lord ordered me to capture Wuguan, I must return to Xiangyang immediately to report the news. The military orders are overwhelming, and the general does not dare to delay, so he must travel all night. Just now, the general was not paying attention for a moment, but now I want to
Get up, the eldest lady is worth a fortune, I’m afraid..."
Liu Rui interrupted Sun Ce with disdain and said: "I'm going to drive all night. I'm not one of those pampered people. I have nothing to be afraid of. Just pack up and set off now."
Xia Houlan looked up and saw that the dark clouds had gradually dispersed, and a sunset over the mountains in the west reflected half of the sky. Although the rain had passed and the sky was clear, Xia Houlan found it difficult to make a decision. After all, marching at night is always prone to accidents, and he couldn't help but wonder.
He said: "Excuse me, General Sun, how many troops will you take with you this time?"
Sun Ce raised his head, let out a hearty laugh, and said arrogantly: "From now on, the south is already the border of Jingzhou. What are you going to do with so many people and horses? Even if there are thousands of troops and horses, the general will have a spear and a hundred followers."
, so why be afraid!”
In fact, Sun Ce's official rank is now higher than Xiahoulan's. Although he and Xiahoulan do not belong to each other, they have always called each other the junior generals. This is because Sun Ce once worked under Xiahoulan for some time when he was recruiting new soldiers.
Therefore, when facing Xia Houlan, he always regarded himself as a subordinate. From this point of view, Sun Ce has matured a lot in the past two years and is no longer as irritable and irritable as before. He only occasionally shows a little bit like this
Domineering.
It is said that beauties love heroes. When Liu Rui saw Sun Ce's heroic spirit, he could not help but blush. He couldn't help but said: "General Xiahou, there is nothing to worry about. I
There are also more than a dozen personal guards around him, all of them are extremely brave. Even if there are a few thieves, it’s only because they don’t have eyes.”
Xia Houlan hesitated for a while and said: "Well, since the eldest lady is eager to return, the general will not dare to stop her. The general will allocate another thousand elite soldiers from the camp to escort the eldest lady back to Xiangyang."
The group of people brought some dry food and hurriedly set off on the road without even eating dinner.
Liu Rui normally had some snacks on her carriage, but she had eaten them all on the way here. This time she had to eat rough dry food and drink some cold water with the soldiers when she went back.
For Liu Rui of Mufu Food, these things are really hard to swallow, but she has just praised Haikou to Sun Ce, and she is not the kind of spoiled, weak young lady, so she has no choice but to frown and endure it. Fortunately, there are car curtains and curtains to cover her.
Outsiders cannot see the expression on her face.
The sky was getting dark, and a cry of death suddenly came from the front. Liu Rui, who had finally swallowed half a piece of dry food, was startled and quickly looked out through the curtains. We had already passed Champion County, and we had to walk a few dozen more
Wancheng is right inside. How could bandits dare to cause trouble here, not to mention that this area has been peaceful for five or six years.
Although the accompanying guards came from the Flying Tiger Guards and different legions, the same hard and strict training made them feel like comrades living together all year round. They quickly arranged a defensive formation, each performing their duties and interacting with each other.
The coordination is perfect.
Sun Ce rode on the horse, secretly glad in his heart. He didn't expect that even the hinterland of Jingzhou was not safe now. Fortunately, Xia Houlan mobilized another thousand men and horses. Otherwise, if something happened to Liu Rui, he would have a hard time explaining it. Sun Ce
The horse took the lead, followed closely by the soldiers, cautiously moving forward along the road.
A full moon in the sky shines on the earth, and the cool evening breeze blows away, blowing away the heat and irritability of summer. However, the people in the team did not feel relaxed at all. Everyone was highly nervous and always paying attention to the road.
There would be some movement in the dark fields on both sides. Suddenly, the shouts of killing stopped abruptly, and only the clear chirping of insects could be heard around them.
Sun Ce suddenly reined in his horse, raised his spear, and the entire team immediately stopped marching. A column of people rushed out of the roadside, and a man who looked like an officer at the head shouted sharply: "Who is in front of you?"
Under the bright moonlight, Sun Ce could see that the soldiers on the opposite side were dressed as the Jingzhou local army, but he did not dare to be careless. He pointed his spear directly at the opponent and said, "I am Sun Ce, the deputy general of the First Army. Who are you?
Blocking the way in the middle of the night!”
The officer glanced at Sun Ce and was unmoved. He raised his hands and said, "General Sun, it's hard to tell the truth from the false in the dark. I don't dare to let you go. General, please wait here until I inform you."
Decision."
Seeing that this man's answer was neither humble nor arrogant, Sun Ce actually believed his words. He immediately raised his hands and said, "Then you go and come back quickly. I, the general, is on my way in a hurry."
The officer turned around and was about to leave, when another group of soldiers came behind him, dressed in black clothes and armor, but in the uniform of a regular regiment. Yang Fan, the captain sent by Xia Houlan to escort Liu Rui, had sharp eyes and blurted out: "Old Zhang, you
How are you here?"
The leader of the newly arrived group of soldiers was also a school captain. When he heard Yang Fan's voice, he said in surprise: "It turns out to be Brother Yang, why are you here?"
Convinced that they were all on their own, both sides heaved a sigh of relief. Sun Ce lowered his spear and asked loudly: "Brothers, why are you so threatened by the enemy?"
Lao Zhang saw Sun Ce's attire. Although he looked a little unfamiliar, he knew he was a general. He hurriedly knelt down on one knee, clasped his fists and said: "General, Xiangyang was suddenly attacked by Cao Cao's army in Yanzhou today and has been repulsed.
, but the defeated soldiers of Cao's army fled in all directions, and some even ran here in panic. They burned, killed, looted, and raped women here, causing harm to the countryside. The generals were ordered to arrest them, and they just wiped out a group of defeated troops in front. The future.
It's very dangerous. The general is going to Xiangyang, so why not go to Wancheng to rest and wait until dawn?"
Sun Ce raised his hand to signal him to get up and said: "I didn't expect that besides Lu Bu, even Cao Cao would take the opportunity to peek at Xiangyang. Huh, these villains may have made the wrong calculation. In this case, I can't stay here for a long time! Please get out of the way.
the way."
Lao Zhang waved his hand, and the soldiers stepped back to make way for a thoroughfare. Seeing the exquisite carriage slowly passing by, he couldn't help but said to Yang Fan who was passing by him: "You are so lucky, you actually have
Chance escorts the big shots.”
In his eyes, someone who could ride in such a luxurious carriage and be personally escorted by a deputy general must be a high-ranking official. Yang Fan did not dare to tell him clearly that the person in the car was the eldest lady of the State Mufu Mansion, so he had to say haha
: "Brothers, like you, are all under orders. However, no matter what errands you do, everyone should do your best. If you can write down a credit in the future, joining the army will not be in vain."
Lao Zhang couldn't help but puff up his chest and said loudly: "Brother Yang is right, I have to patrol again to see if I can catch a few fish that slipped through the net."
Cao Cao was attacked from behind by Zhao Yun. After the defeat, many of Cao Cao's soldiers fled. They didn't know the roads in Jingzhou. At first they were just running for their lives and running around. Then they encountered this heavy rain and couldn't even tell the direction.
The roads in Jingzhou are not like those in Guanzhong. As long as you are not afraid of the rain, even if it rains heavier than this, there will be no problem in rushing. These soldiers just follow the main road, but they don’t know that the roads in Jingzhou extend in all directions, especially towards Nanyang.
In areas such as Nanxiang that have long been firmly controlled by Liu Xin, even many relatively wealthy villages have built wide gravel roads. Cao's soldiers who did not know what was going on just took the wider road and walked forward, making many twists and turns.
I lost my way when I bent.
Most of these soldiers of Cao's army were adapted from the Yellow Turbans of Qing and Xuzhou. They were usually restrained by officers and their military discipline was slightly better. Now, those officers only focused on escaping for their lives. The soldiers of the defeated army had been hungry for another day and saw the rain.
Once the situation gained momentum, they began to plunder local people everywhere.
After Liu Xin took charge of Jingzhou, he implemented the policy of optimizing the military. Local young men and women were proud to join the army. In order to be selected when recruiting, many boys began to exercise and practice martial arts from an early age. The style of martial arts among literati
The dominant Jingzhou land has gradually become popular and has expanded to some counties in Yizhou.
Not only did these defeated soldiers encounter strong resistance during the robbery, but they were no match for the villagers. They did not dare to attack the city, so they had to rob passing merchants and inns along the way. However, the news soon spread.
They went to the local government and reported it at every level, so the regular army, local army, police officers, and Minzhuang were dispatched to hunt down these Qingzhou defeated troops.
From here to Wancheng, we encountered this situation several times along the way. The entire Nanyang was shrouded in a tense atmosphere, not only the local army, government officials, police officers, but also the first division of the First Army Corps stationed in Wancheng.
Even the people of every village and town were mobilized, and almost all the people were in arms.
Although Liu Rui was bold, she was just a woman. She had never been through such a battle. Being in the dark night, she could not help but feel a little scared. She couldn't help shouting from inside the car: "Hey, Sun Ce, stop!"
Sun Ce didn't know what happened and hurriedly reined in his horse. He couldn't see what was going on inside the carriage, so he had to salute towards the carriage and said, "What are your orders, Miss?"
Liu Rui was sitting in a specially made carriage, but she could see the situation clearly. She originally wanted to persuade Sun Ce to find a nearby county town to rest, but seeing Sun Ce's firm eyes, Liu Rui felt calmer.
, changed his words and said: "Sun Ce, it's too dark outside, I'm a little scared."
Sun Ce turned around and said, "Come here, light some more torches."
In fact, there were already a lot of torches around this carriage, and lighting a few more would have no effect. Sure enough, Liu Rui said in the carriage again: "It seems to be very dark, Sun Ce, why don't you sing a song for me?"