In the misty night, firelight reflected in the sky, and the small county town fell into fighting and chaos.
The reason why it was chosen as a gathering place for green forest people is that Taoting, a small county town, was not a good place in the first place. There were many religions and nine schools in the county town, and they were already used to the occasional troubles. But tonight, the officers and soldiers who came over were obviously
The background is not small. Zhou Tong and Fulu got off their horses and sneaked in all the way. They saw three or four groups fighting in the dark. Some came out of the dark alleys, while others hid in the houses and were found by others. They rose up to resist.
. Those who were searching and fighting around the county town were not only officers and soldiers wearing police uniforms and military uniforms, but also groups of five to seven warriors.
These people did not wear formal court clothes, but they were able to move together with the officers and soldiers, and they had obviously greeted them before. Following the officers and soldiers, they were able to enter the residences to conduct searches. The people living here knew that something was serious.
, were all safely hiding at home and cooperating with the officers and soldiers' search. Zhou Tong and Fulu saw several Green Foresters sneaking into a house. They obviously knew the owner of the house and wanted to go in to hide, but the other party was convenient.
Inside, he blocked the wooden door and said: "You guys, leave quickly! Leave quickly, don't hurt me!"
Several Green Foresters outside the door just scolded him for being unloyal, and one threatened: "I'll burn his house down if he doesn't open the door." But then the sound of fighting spread on the street, and several Green Foresters quickly ran away.
As we walked along, the closer we got to the center of the county, the clearer we could see the fire ahead. Zhou Tong had been here in Taoting County before and knew that there was a large-scale inn and theater in the center of the county, which was the gathering place for the three religions and nine streams.
Tonight's hero meeting must be held there, but at this time, it seems that the building has been turned into a sea of fire, and the entire building has been burned and collapsed. There is a faint smell of burning in the air, and many people have obviously been killed.
In that sea of fire.
Zhou Tong had some vague guesses about what happened here. After passing the center of the county, he headed south.
The convenor of this Green Forest Conference was named Yan Huan, a named disciple he had mentored at the time. He was from Taoting himself and was quite famous in the world. Zhou Tong was originally going to Yanjiazhuang to find him.
But along the way, what really concerned Zhou Tong was the actions of the pursuers. It gave him a somewhat familiar feeling.
These warriors in groups of five to seven have taken on most of the hunting tasks. The reason why we look at them separately from the Green Forest people is because most of the people in the Green Forest act loosely. If they get along with each other for a long time, of course there will be good results.
Cooperation, but there is not much structure. And these people have obviously been trained. During the operation, the cooperation between them is like a whole - even if the perfect effect is not achieved, it seems that they are at least moving in this direction.
of.
The weapons they hold in their hands vary, some use fishing nets, some hold spears, some hold broadswords, some have hand crossbows, and some hold swords and shields - at least in the world of martial arts, warriors who use swords and shields together are rare.
At first glance, this group of people seems to be nothing, but after a few groups of people, it seems that they have some skills. The martial arts of these people may not be top-notch, but they cooperate well with each other. Once they fight, their shields can block the opponent's attacks.
, stabbing directly with two spears, slashing with a broadsword, and hand crossbows with amazing power at medium and short range, combined with fishing nets, the average three or five Green Foresters are no match at all, and they are often scattered and captured after a few fights.
Especially here with Zhou Tong, I can feel something else.
About ten years ago, when he was still a trainer in the Yuquan Gym, he once considered using his advanced martial arts in military formations - although he never made any progress after becoming the trainer of the Yuquan Gym, but
Zhou Tong is still enthusiastic about these things. Even if the spread of boxing skills violates martial arts taboos, he doesn't care.
For these things, he had put a lot of thought into it. For example, simplifying boxing techniques to pursue quick results, or simplifying moves to pursue practical results, or designing special formations to play a greater role on the battlefield. But later, most of these attempts failed.
The things passed down from our ancestors have their own reasons, such as boxing and martial arts. Firstly, we need talent, and secondly, we need to have enough to eat. In the army, even if they are well-educated, there are only a few who can learn boxing, so that’s okay.
Well, the biggest problem is that if the teaching is not done well and the teaching is not in place, the other party will be harmed if they learn it.
The disadvantage of this thing is that it is a quick success. Even advanced internal skills such as "Breaking the Six Paths" will still leave hidden wounds on people. If you want to alleviate this, someone with higher martial arts skills must push the palace for the opponent every once in a while.
Going through acupuncture points and massaging the body, in the end, the cost of developing a little master is to be taken care of by a big master. It is really not worth the gain.
And even those who have truly learned advanced martial arts will not have many people, but often have a large appetite. If there is such an army, they are strong in martial arts and good at cooperating, they will first deplete the country.
As for the simplified moves, the training method in the army is an extremely simplified killing technique after thousands of years of hard work on the battlefield. The repeated moves with a knife are the simplest and clearest points. According to the requirements of the military manual,
The soldiers practiced simple chopping, poking and stabbing thousands of times every day. In terms of simplification, Zhou Tong really had nothing to simplify.
Due to various reasons, Zhou Tong eventually realized that most of his ideas were empty talk. As a warrior, his mastery of his own body had reached its peak, but as a general, he was actually not as good as those junior generals with low martial arts skills.
In the end, Zhou Tong recorded some of his thoughts. Later, these manuscripts were stored in the Yuquan Hall, and not many people could see them.
But in front of him, the formation of five to seven people was quite similar to the small formation he had designed before for use on the battlefield - although there were many changes, the combination of several footwork, positioning, and progress
The knack of approaching and retreating clearly bears traces of his original vision.
Zhou Tong's original idea was to arrange a formation so that the soldiers could fight independently after being divided and surrounded on the battlefield, fighting for survival in small groups. With his martial arts skills, the cooperation between several people could not be imagined
It's quite exciting. If they practice well and cooperate with each other, and the rhythm of blocking, killing, blocking, and killing rises, a few people can deal with a steady stream of enemies well. But this is still a fantasy after all. In the army,
Naturally, the daily training is carried out with the entire army. How can you practice the cooperation of a few people all day long? Even if you practice, once they are scattered on the battlefield, strangers will gather together. This kind of mutual responsibilities
With a clear formation, it actually doesn't make much sense.
However, these people in front of me have obviously adopted the forward and backward steps in his formation. At first glance, although everyone has different weapons and the formation is a bit chaotic, there are traps everywhere. Those who are walking at the front, seemingly unorganized
Once a person is attacked, he will immediately retreat. Then block with a shield, slash with a broadsword, seal the retreat with a long spear, threaten with a crossbow and throw fishing nets, even a top-notch expert will suddenly suffer a loss. I watched a few battles at random.
Two green forest warriors were knocked to the ground in such a dilemma. The useless formation on the battlefield became a weapon in small-scale combat at this time.
Zhou Tong did not originally design the coordination of so many weapons. As he looked at it, he also considered it again in his mind. Before arriving at Yanjiazhuang, the master and the servant suddenly discovered the target they were looking for. It was a
A middle-aged warrior in his forties, cooperating with a small team of searchers, came from the other end of the long street, knocked on the door of a house, and then told the house that he wanted to go in and search, and the other party moved the door out of the way.
Already.
Zhou Tong and Fulu looked strange. The reason why Yan Huan earned a reputation in the Green Forest was because of his generosity and loyalty. Now that the Green Forest Conference is like this, he actually cooperated with the government? Although Zhou Tong's position
I have always been on the side of the government, but it is really hard to understand at this time. After today, will Yanjiazhuang still have a foothold in the world?
After watching in the dark for a moment, Zhou Tong walked out from the street and shouted in a deep voice: "Yan Huan." Several people on the other side were coming out of the yard. Yan Huan's body was shaken and he looked over here. For a moment,
, staring, his hands trembling a little. On the contrary, the hunter who was following him immediately formed a formation. The man who looked vaguely like the leader of the team was about to shout "take it", but heard Yan Huan say:
"Teacher, master!"
"you……"
"ah--"
The next moment, Yan Huan gritted his teeth, suddenly attacked, and struck out with a palm towards the leader, but the other party also reacted at this moment, raised his hand to block, and was beaten back two steps.
When the others were about to attack Yan Huan, the leading man shouted: "Back off! Don't fight! It's 'Iron Arm' Zhou Tong!"
As soon as the name came out, everyone with swords and guns looked here. They all subconsciously took a step or two back, but subconsciously formed a small formation. Yan Huan looked at them, took a few steps to the side, and then moved towards
As Zhou Tong came over, the forty-year-old Jianghu man actually had tears in his eyes: "Master, master... this disciple is guilty." After saying that, he knelt down on the long street and knocked his head to the ground.
, couldn't get up for a long time.
Zhou Tong frowned. He didn't understand the reason for this scene at all. He had to take two steps and raised his hand to help Yan Huan up: "It doesn't have to be like this. Although you and I are regarded as masters and disciples, I really haven't taught you anything."
What...what's going on."
"They." Yan Huan pointed to the back and gritted his teeth, "They... arrested thirty-nine members of my family and threatened me to set the Green Forest Conference to death. I... my eldest son has been killed by them...
…Master.”
Zhou Tong fell silent. He could see that the tears in Yan Huan's eyes were not for the death of his son, but for the guilt of betraying so many people. After a while, he heard the leading man over there speaking first.
: "Senior Zhou, my master once talked about you. You are not here just to 'get together' with these people, are you?"
The other party's words were sonorous and forceful, and he obviously did not feel any guilt about what happened in front of him. Zhou Tong glanced at him and cupped his hands: "Is your master Ning Liheng?"
"That's that person!" Yan Huan spoke slowly, his eyes were bloodshot. After saying this, he suddenly took a step back, "Teacher, my family of thirty-nine people is still in the hands of that devil. Yan Huan is being held hostage by others.
, if you take this wrong step, you will no longer be able to live between heaven and earth, just take one step first!" After he said this, he waved his palm towards the top of his head. Only when he waved it in the air, Fu Lu took a step forward and cut him with his hand.
His strength dissipated on his arm, and then he grabbed his hand.
Zhou Tong's eyes were serious and he glanced at him: "A man must stand upright. Don't imitate this daughter's attitude. I had a relationship with Ning Liheng once. Let's go and see him." There was not much in his words.
Happiness and anger come.
The leading man over there cupped his hands and led everyone towards the northeast of the county. As they were going, they saw another group of people arresting two Green Foresters. One of them was dragged into the fishing net and beaten with a stick until he screamed.
, he began to beg for mercy. When Zhou Tong saw this scene, he frowned and tilted his head slightly.
While walking along the way, Zhou Tong also learned what happened that night from Yan Huan's mouth. In fact, it was quite simple. The Green Forest Heroes Conference was held in the inn in the center of the county. The other party took Yan Huan's family and
The kerosene was prepared and the gunpowder was buried in the venue. Halfway through the meeting, the devil appeared and met everyone. Then they surrounded the venue and lit a fire. These green forest people knew the situation at a critical moment.
, some people rushed out desperately, and most of them were blown up and burned to death. At this time, only a small part of the people who escaped were arrested.
When Yan Huan said this, his eyes were blood red. Zhou Tong just listened silently without speaking. After a while, he said to the leading man in front: "Your name is Tian Donghan. If I remember correctly, in Mount Tai
I saw you once at my feet."
The man turned around in surprise, then handed over his hand and nodded: "I met my senior from a distance five years ago. I didn't expect that my senior would still remember it."
"Your master brought you out to see the world. He said that you inherited his mantle, but it was a pity that you were too loyal and feared that you would suffer a loss. You acted as a nurse for others, but instead injured the landlord's son... Your master three years ago
When he passed away, I thought at that time that he had a disciple like you." Zhou Tong said, "Why did you work for Ning Yi?"
Natian Donghan thought for a moment, and as he walked away, he said in a deep voice: "Last year there was a famine, and my family had no money to buy food. My family... I got sick, and later died of starvation, and the woman also died. I took my two children with me.
I was performing arts and begging all the way to Beijing, and I met officials from the Ning family giving porridge, and they went to the nursing home, so I went there."
Zhou Tong nodded, and after a moment, he asked again: "Why did you kill his son?"
Tian Donghan walked in front and tilted his head: "I don't know how many people there are. I went to the Ning family last year. The owner of the family has been running around for disaster relief and offended people. In a few months, a total of thirteen groups of assassins came to the door. Half a month.
My former master married two girls, and they came to make a fuss. His son killed a nurse and a maid. After escaping, he said he was doing justice for heaven. The man surnamed Yan even celebrated.
.My master came over to force him to submit, but he didn’t want him to bargain with his son’s life, so he first beheaded his son in front of him, and then threatened him with the lives of his whole family.”
Tian Donghan said this and paused: "I also know that this is inappropriate, but thinking about it... there is no other way."
Yan Huan clenched his fists, trembling all over, and almost rushed forward. Zhou Tong just followed and stopped talking. (To be continued...) t