Ever since he saw the thief coming from the west, Qi Shuangquan has been sullen on the southeast corner of Wen'an Yi City.
He is the commander of the third team of the Yan'an Camp Outpost Zuosi.
My brother-in-law's name is Ma Maoguan. He went to the west to behead his head and did not come back.
It’s broken, my brother-in-law is gone.
Then the rebels surrounded Yicheng on three sides, and bursts of cannon fire soon came from the mountains to the south.
I asked the general's servant, who was familiar with him, and he looked sad. He told him that there were too many thieves and the southern outpost might not be able to hold on.
Qi Shuangquan did not think that the people surrounding the post city were thieves. They were well-organized and well-equipped, and they were clearly an army.
It is completely different from Wang Zuoguai, King Huntian and even Cao Cao who were chased earlier.
He prefers to call these people rebels.
It's completely dark.
The rebels piled firewood everywhere under the city and lit tall bonfires to illuminate the city.
Qi Shuangquan took aim at the rebels with a blunderbuss, trying to avenge his brother-in-law.
He hit a soldier holding firewood, and the lead pierced the helmet with the word "Yong" in it. A handful of firewood fell to the ground. The soldier fell to the ground and twitched for a moment. He looked like he was just a young man in his fifteenth or sixteenth year.
There is also a soldier of his age who is a soldier from the Xi'an Guard. He was often bullied by the veterans in his hometown, so he always clings to him and sleeps back to back with him in the field.
The soldier had only seen money a few times since he was a child, and had never had a penny of his own, so he had an extraordinary desire for military pay, and even cheered when he was hooked into the Yan'an camp.
I kept asking him all day long.
"Sir, do you get military pay if you become a camp soldier?"
"How much military pay can I have?"
"What should I do after receiving military pay?"
Very annoying.
Qi Shuang didn't know how much money he would make in a year by following Yan'an Camp.
The wind in the turret at night was very cold, and Qi Shuangquan was huddled back-to-back behind the battlements, holding a gun and a small soldier. There were too many people crowded in the post city, and the narrow streets were full of soldiers lying down.
Although the bonfire was right next to him, it did not make him feel comfortable at all. On the contrary, he felt even more uncomfortable because he was cold and hot at the same time.
While half asleep and half awake, Qi Shuangquan had a very messy dream because of the soldier, who kept asking for military pay all day long.
In the dream, he took his three nephews and his sister into the military camp. His brother-in-law took them and said that they had been paid, a lot of pay, all the pay owed from the Wanli Year had been paid, and all the restaurants in Xi'an Fucheng were filled with soldiers.
A loud bang woke him up, and before he could react what was happening, a scream flew over his head.
The solid iron bullet smashed through the eaves of the turret, the tiles shattered in all directions, and half of the squatting bull's body spun and hit behind him.
Turning his head, the sleepy soldier covered the back of his head and slowly turned his face, giving him a labored and slow giggle, as if he wanted to say something.
Then his body went limp and he didn't even moan. He just twitched slightly every few breaths.
Before Qi Shuangquan could react from his stupor, the soldier lost his life.
There was chaos at the top of the city. The soldiers who were afraid of being surrounded woke up from their sleep and hung armor on their bodies randomly.
My own, someone else's, wearing someone's armor, holding someone's weapon, looking down nervously.
Looking at the bright lights below the city, looking at the darkness on the other side of the river.
The sergeants in the city, those who lived on the streets and those who slept indoors, gathered in groups amidst the sound of trumpets and climbed onto the city.
They first stared at the people next to them nervously, until they recognized the robe beside them, and then nervously looked outside the city.
No movement.
It was as if the sound of the cannon was their hallucination.
It’s just that the blood flowing out of Xiao Bing’s head is real.
Just when they relaxed their vigilance, someone pointed at the figure gradually appearing deep outside the city.
There were more than ten figures on horseback. They seemed to be worried about being bombarded. They stood scattered in a large line, pacing forward slowly in the shadows.
As they got closer, they shouted "Victory" by the bonfire, waving flags and running around the bonfire.
Under the light of the bonfire, Qi Shuangquan heard someone say that it was the flag stationed at the back post of Liangjiahe.
No one knows what the situation is at the back posts, but the morale of the soldiers in Yicheng is low.
General Ai climbed to the top of the city and paid a special visit to the southeast corner tower, his eyes full of compassion.
He asked Xiao Bing's name. He wanted to cut off a strand of hair and take it back to his family, but was told that Xiao Bing had no family, so he had to lean over and close his eyes full of curiosity about the world with his hands.
When the general leaves, everything will return to calm.
Qi Shuang leaned against the cold wall and closed his eyes but couldn't fall asleep.
He went to the southwest to fight against She Chongming, and saw many life and death scenes.
A dead person should not have trouble sleeping or eating.
But when he closes his eyes, the soldiers are asking him for military pay.
This is abnormal.
He touched Xiao Bing and found that he was already cold. Everyone else was fast asleep, but he was the only one who was still thinking about what Xiao Bing wanted to say before he died.
After thinking about it for a while, Qi Shuangquan took out a penny from his waist bag and first put it in the clothes on Xiao Bing's chest. After thinking about it, he took it out and opened Xiao Bing's closed mouth, put the Jiajing Tongbao in and closed it. This time he was finally able to fall asleep.
During the night, the rebels fired two more cannons. One was a long-range shot from a large cannon, and the other was to push four small cannons to the river bank, fill them with powder and shoot towards the city head.
Qi Shuangquan slept intermittently for more than an hour that night.
When I woke up in the morning, it was still dark, but the rebels outside the west gate were fighting. I heard that they were outpost troops stationed in Huoshuogou and launched an attack on the enemy's flank.
Therefore, the rebels' eastern siege troops are also mobilizing westward.
The general issued an order in the post city without blowing the golden drum, selected five teams to go out of the city to delay the rebel reinforcements, and sent horsemen to Yulin to ask for reinforcements.
As soon as the city gate opened, the artillery on the other side launched a bombardment from 200 steps away. Hongyi and Franji fired solid iron bullets into the city gate hole.
Qi Shuangquan listened to the screams not far away, rubbed his beard irritably, and cursed: "Who the hell was the first to build the city gate?"
Those who want to come in can't get in, and those who want to get out can't get out.
The supporting infantry were all shelled by artillery shells and could not reach the city. In the end, only about 20 cavalry rushed out of the city. The rebels were hit by a row of muskets across the river bank and half fell down. The rest were also scattered and were defeated by the enemy cavalry.
Chase.
The sound of fighting in the west soon stopped, but the bandits did not stop, leaving the troops trapped outside the city, and the large forces attacked Huoshaogou in the west.
The Hundred Corps to which Qi Shuangquan belonged was pulled down from the corner tower.
They can sleep in a house tonight, eighty-seven people, four rooms, one of which has no roof.
But the brothers couldn't be happy after carrying the soldier's body down to the city.
The corpses were carried to the official office in the north of the city, where more than twenty corpses were placed. Those who were directly killed by artillery were miserable, and the soldiers were pretty good-looking.
Even when we retreated to the city, we couldn't be idle. The old trees and roofs in the post city and the weeds in the city were damaged.
In the afternoon, the stinking general's eldest son and his servants took away all the untanned leather belts, leathers and boots of the infantry and horsemen, and also collected spare straw sandals from the army.
There are three wells in the city, but only one is functioning. It is difficult to supply drinking water for thousands of soldiers even if they draw water day and night.
One of the other two wells was blocked by rubble, and there are still soldiers going down to dig it out.
There were dead people soaking in the last well, and I heard that the first official seal was fished out. It seems that the Yi Cheng was pushed down during the Yi soldiers' riot.
The well had been cleared out in the morning under the general's order, and the one who went down to carry the body was the eldest son Ai Huaiguang.
Otherwise, many people would rather be thirsty and grab water from others than go down a well to do this.
On the second night of the siege, the Guanzhong soldiers had the most luxurious and humble meal since they were dispatched.
Boiled noodles with horsemeat roots and hay.
General Ai's three sons in the army all took their servants to join the team and ate with the sergeants from Guanzhong.
The eldest son Huai Guang ate quickly. His clothes were dirty, so he changed into the clothes of a dead man with blood on him. After a brief wash, he sat in the queue and chatted with the sergeant.
Qi Shuangquan asked him: "Major General, why didn't you put the leather back on today?"
"Do you want to eat it?" Ai Huaiguang shook his head with a smile: "I tried it, but I can't bite it. I have to soak it for two more days. The water issue has been solved."
"The general asked me to dig a well today, um..." Ai Huaiguang felt like vomiting when he mentioned digging a well. He gritted his teeth and endured it, saying: "I wiped the bottom and waited for two days to wash out the dirty water.
If we go, we have three wells with enough water."
"Don't worry about military rations. We carry four-day military rations for more than a thousand people, as well as six-day emergency military rations, as well as mules, donkeys, oxen, and war horses. The four-day military rations are mixed with grass roots, hay, rawhide, and large animal meat.
, enough for eight days, and then kill the animals when the time comes."
"There are no ordinary people around here, so why can the thieves outside the city surround us for a month? We have asked Yulin for help today, and General Du will send troops to help us soon."
Ai Huaiguang sat cross-legged on the ground like a soldier, waving his hands and saying: "Brothers lived a good life in Guanzhong, but were recruited by the general to eat grass roots and skin in this post city."
"The general said that after we are beaten out and the brothers can eat a lot of meat and fish, he will take me to eat bear paws; but as long as we are in this city, whatever the brothers eat, we father and son will eat what is left in the pot, as long as
We are not starving to death, so you don’t have to worry about starving to death."
As he said that, Ai Huaiguang turned his head to the south, which is the direction of the rebel camp outside the city: "If I am going to starve to death, I will go out and catch two thieves for you to eat."
Amid the applause of the sergeants, Qi Shuangquan looked at the high-spirited Ai Huaiguang and realized.
People say that three generations of generals from the Ai clan have always brought their sons into the army.
In the past, Qi Shuangquan always felt that father and son soldiers still had the courage to go into battle, while father and son generals seemed useless in going into battle, and they would be wiped out once they died.
But today his mind changed.
It is really useful for the general to have his son in the army.
The son can do what the soldier doesn't want to do; the son can eat what the soldier doesn't want to eat.
The general's sons have done it, so what can't the soldiers do? The general's sons have eaten it, and they still enjoy it, so what can't they eat?
Ai Huaiguang walked back to the gate tower of the south gate at night. The morale of the sergeants had been greatly boosted. The rebels fired a few more shells at the city, which made him very troubled.
‘This thief can’t run out of gunpowder?’
The roof of the city gate building was covered with dust from cannonballs. When he walked into the city gate building, Aimu was covering his rice bowl with a military book and waving his hands to drive away the falling dust.
"Ahem...Huaiguang, how is your military morale?"
Ai Huaiguang cupped his fists and said, "Father, your military spirit is available."
This made Aimu feel relieved. He blew away the dirt on the chair and sat down again. He sighed without knowing what he thought of, then smiled and took away the military book covering his rice bowl.
In the shallow soup base of the bowl, there were two square pieces of skin with teeth marks. Aimu smiled and said: "I should have listened to you, I really can't bite."
Huaiguang glanced into the bowl, showing an embarrassed look as if he wanted to laugh but didn't dare. Then he said sternly: "General, you have to put your health first, and let the children eat the skin and grass roots."
Ai Mu chuckled and said: "Your father is in very good health and can kill a cow with one punch. If your grandfather's military exploits hadn't overshadowed the general, I would have taken the martial arts examination like your uncle Yuhua."
”
"These pieces of skin can't kill me."
When the word "death" was mentioned, Aimu was obviously stunned.
When his father Ai Yingzhao was still alive, Ai Mu never thought that one day he would die.
I always thought I had unlimited time to do whatever I wanted to do.
But when his father passed away, it seemed as if a stopped hourglass was suddenly turned upside down, containing the rest of his time.
He can clearly see the end of his life.
Like a big hand behind his back, pushing the person forward, and making him look back for fear of leaving the doll behind.
Ai Huaiguang didn't understand his sudden silence. He just cupped his fists and asked, "General, what's wrong?"
"Huaiguang..."
Aimu shook his head, took a deep breath to adjust his mood, and said seriously: "Sergeants must treat each other with sincerity. Some things can be concealed, but some things must not be concealed."
"As a father, you can tell the soldiers that we have enough rations to last until next month."
In fact, their food supply is very tight. Even if they follow the rations that cannot guarantee their combat effectiveness, they can only last for half a month.
Because there is not enough sauce and vinegar.
Without sauce, there is no salt, without salt... After fifteen days, the entire team will become soft-footed shrimps.
Moreover, Du Wenhuan and Ai Mu are not sure whether Du Wenhuan has the courage to lead troops to help.
If Ai Wannian can bring troops here, it means that the incense in the Ai family's ancestral tomb this year has not been burned in vain.
It's just that Ai Wannian may not be able to leave now, so about reinforcements...Ai Mu actually doesn't expect reinforcements in his heart.
"But you can't lie to the soldiers and say that the father and the soldiers eat the same food, but in fact they eat different things."
Ai Mu pointed at Ai Huaiguang and said with a smile on his face: "In your opinion, this is a trivial matter, but in the eyes of the soldiers, it is an insult. According to the laws of the Ming Dynasty, soldiers and civilians beat their own officers, and if they do it for themselves,
Humiliation is innocent, do you want your father to be beaten?"
As the moonlight shone on the earth, the sound of fighting came again from the west of the city.
This time the battle lasted longer and became more intense.
Aimu hurriedly walked out of the city gate tower. He saw that this time, the bandits outside the city made no move, and the troops besieging the east side were still firmly in place.
This made him frown.
Immediately afterwards, a sergeant from the city wall ran quickly and reported to him: "General! Zhang Qian, the commander of the outpost, led his troops to rush into the enemy formation and pushed back the enemy troops in the west of the city for two miles. Now they are walking along the moat pontoon to the west gate, but they can't open the door.
?"
"Open the door quickly, what are you waiting for?"
