Liu Xiaoqi sent Lao Yan and the young master away, retreated back to Su Zheng's yard, stood under the old camphor tree and blew a whistle. After hearing this, Chen Ruijin found an excuse to go out. Liu Xiaoqi just passed by after saying this, and finally said
: "I'm a little suspicious."
Chen Ruijin glanced at him: "Is it because he is interested in Cheng'er?"
"Of course not." Liu Xiaoqi said, "Am I a person who doesn't know what is private and what is private?"
"yes."
"It's really not this time!" Liu Xiaoqi said seriously, "I was just sitting on this tree thinking," he raised his head and looked up at the tree crown, "If I were an opponent, how would I place the assassin so that I could succeed? It is now known that Master Su has many masters around him.
, and firearms, it may be difficult to rely on martial arts. Xu Qi and other bandits were good cards in their hands, but Xu Qi's death actually seemed unfathomable to Mr. Su. Quietly withdrawing the bandits and leaving them behind will always be useful in the future. Why bother?
Are you in a hurry to do it right now? Even if we lure Mr. Su to the city gate tower, none of us will die. How sure is our opponent that the assassination can be successful? If not, wouldn't it be a waste of losing the bandit soldiers?"
Chen Ruijin said: "Perhaps the Guizhou donkey has no skills, and he is unwilling to give up, so he puts all his money into it? Furthermore, you are afraid that you are using your own heart to judge the enemy's belly. There are 40,000 bandit soldiers, and there are only 3,000 grain guards in Nanchang City.
, there is a huge disparity in military strength. If Mr. Su climbs the tower to defend the city, he will surely die when the city is broken."
Liu Xiaoqi withdrew his gaze and shook his head: "They know Jia Cong's temperament, and they will never allow Mr. Su to die in the city. It's more like knocking him unconscious and carrying him away with a sack. Senior sister, they prepared poison-hardened hidden weapons twice when they tried to assassinate General Yang.
"Chen Ruijin frowned. Liu Xiaoqi continued, "Let's wait. If no one else comes to offer servants and bodyguards, the Lao family will be the most suspicious."
Chen Ruijin thought: "I have paid attention to that Lao Yanhe, he is really interested in Cheng'er."
Liu Xiaoqi said: "He thought Miss Su was Mrs. Su's niece. He really didn't know her identity. Senior sister, do you think she is very familiar?" Chen Ruijin looked at him. Liu Xiaoqi went into the room and pouted, "Senior brother-in-law likes to do this the most.
It's a matter. Use a real cover to cover up the false purpose. Lao Yan and this cover are real. It's hard to tell between his clan brother Lao Yanxiao and that ancestor."
Chen Ruijin frowned slightly but before he could answer, Jia Cong ran out and waved with drooped lips: "What's the matter?"
Liu Xiaoqi said: "It's okay."
Chen Ruijin said: "It's okay. Is there something going on inside?"
Jia Cong said: "My silly senior brother insisted on guarding the city gate, but the old man was persuaded by him. We still underestimated the Confucian scholars."
Liu Xiaoqi smiled and said: "He doesn't have to guard, just go and take a look." He winked and said, "I have already thought of a countermeasure." Jia Cong glanced at him.
Su Tao then put on the light armor sent by the Taiwan government. Su Zheng put on the helmet for his son with red eyes. It was quite tragic. The two men walked out of the yard hand in hand and walked all the way to the front yard. They were stunned. They saw the main center of the yard.
A big round ball slowly rose up with fire underneath. Su Zheng pointed at it and asked, "What is this?"
"Hot air balloon." Jia Cong said, "Senior brother, aren't you going to the battlefield to supervise the battle? This can overlook the overall situation."
Neither of the Su family had seen this thing before. They were very curious and gathered around to look at it for a long time. Liu Xiaoqi gave Su Tao a telescope, pointed at the basket and said: "I will accompany you on this thing. Don't worry, sir.
Stay safe and sound."
Su Cheng laughed and said, "Don't worry, dad, I've been there."
Su Tao turned to look at his daughter with a strange look on his face: "Have you ever sat on this?"
"I sat in it during military training in Taiwan last year."
Su Tao felt vaguely uncomfortable, but the city gate was in danger at the moment, so he couldn't care about anything else, so he had to put it aside for the time being. Su Tao, Liu Xiaoqi, a sniper and an operator went into the basket with the hot air balloon.
Slowly took off and flew to the city gate. Chen Ruijin was left guarding the Su family, while Jia Cong led several guards on horseback and rode over from the ground.
Outside the west gate of the city, the bandit soldiers were as red-eyed as migratory locusts, swarming toward the city gate without fear of death. The oil was already boiling hot, and Yang Guotai ordered the city defenders to pour it down in basins. Suddenly, ghosts were crying and wolves were howling under the city wall.
The clear oil that had not yet boiled was packed in a large oil paper bag and tied to a long crossbow and shot out with the crossbow. The paper bag smashed to pieces. Immediately, a rocket followed, and the boiling oil burned into a piece in the blink of an eye, and a human world suddenly appeared under the city wall.
Purgatory. When Su Tao and others flew close to the west city gate, they saw the karma fire below like a huge wave swallowing up all living things, and the sound of crying could be heard for miles. Su Tao was a good man, and he could not help but shed tears of pity when he saw this, and sighed: "
Why bother to be a bandit?"
The fire below was so fierce that the hot air balloon operator was afraid that the air flow would change and he did not dare to go over, so he told Su Tao to prepare for landing. Su Tao said: "I want to fly over the heads of the thieves to persuade them to surrender."
Liu Xiaoqi hurriedly advised: "How can they care about listening to you at this moment? They are crying or shouting, and there is the sound of wind and fire. Besides, it is very high here, and your voice is not that loud."
Su Tao clenched his fists and said: "This big ball is hanging in the sky, so it can use the wind to transmit sound." Liu Xiaoqi was stunned, not knowing how to explain the physical principles of sound wave transmission to him.
Then I heard the operator say: "If the hot air balloon was damaged in the past, what should we do if we landed outside the city?"
Su Tao straightened his back and stroked his beard: "I can only kill the enemy from the left..."
Liu Xiaoqi hurriedly said: "Mr. Su, you don't know the rules on this hot air balloon. Once you get up there, the operator is responsible. We all have to listen to him. He is the biggest official here." Su Tao looked embarrassed.
.
The operator said calmly: "It is my responsibility to ensure that everyone comes up alive and survives. Everyone is not only Mr. Su, but also Liu Daxia, the sniper brother and myself. Once we land outside the city, we
All three of us must work hard to protect you, and it is impossible to guarantee that someone will die. We are soldiers and are not afraid of death, but this kind of death can be avoided. To die even if you can not die is a failure of a soldier. There is no honor in death.
It will always be used as a negative teaching material to teach future generations not to make the same mistakes as us." He paused, "It will almost be infamy for thousands of years."
Su Tao frowned: "That's unreasonable! How can you be infamous for thousands of years by fighting bravely against thieves and dying on the battlefield? My brother, if your robes are damaged, I will write an article to make you famous forever!"
The operator didn't even blink: "Who cares about being famous forever?" Su Tao was stunned. The operator said, "We come to serve as soldiers to protect our parents, wives and children at home, and earn a share of military pay to support them.
It is obvious that the legacy that lasts forever has been sacrificed. My parents lost their children in old age, my wife lost her husband in youth, my children lost their father in infancy. Is it possible that people who will come after a thousand years can help me fulfill my filial piety in front of my parents and raise my wife and children?"
Liu Xiaoqi said leisurely: "Sir, the most worthless thing on the battlefield is reputation and morality. Only by killing the enemy yourself and Pao Ze can you survive. Besides, so many strong men are not engaged in production and rely on robbery for a living. I don't know if they are injured."
How many lives of common people and merchants passing by.”
He just said that, and the operator began to adjust the position and look for a place to land. The streets in the west part of the city are narrow, and there are few houses with large courtyards, so there is no cheap place to land. The operator had no choice but to raise the hot air balloon higher again and go elsewhere.
go.
While the hot air balloon was hovering in the air, something happened outside the city. Su Tao and others could see clearly that a group of men and horses came out of the thorns, wearing the uniforms of the Yan army, and all of them had scarves on their faces.
They covered their mouths and noses, and fired with muskets from a distance. When they got close to the city gate, they shouldered their muskets and took off their swords to fight. The two leading generals wore steel helmets, one held a broadsword, and the other held a spear tightly, sweeping away like tigers.
They were killing each other like a flock of sheep. The one with the sword was the most brave. The sword flew up and down, catching death and death, and no one could stop it. There were cavalry behind, holding a tall flagpole in their palms, with a big "Douda" floating on it.
"Li". Su Tao was overjoyed: "Could it be that General Li's reinforcements have arrived?" He urged him to go down.
The operator said: "There is nowhere to land in this area. A hot air balloon is not a carriage. It is not easy to land at a fixed point. You need a wide area." For half a day, he still couldn't find the landing point. Su Tao was so anxious that he wanted to turn around, but the basket was too small.
, can't turn.
After a long time, I finally saw a large yard, and the hot air balloon slowly landed. When I got there, I asked, and it turned out that it was a soy sauce workshop that usually dried beans. Today, I was drying beans, but because bandits came from outside the city, I was not in the mood to do anything, and even the beans were dried.
They were all put away. Suddenly hearing that the magistrate had descended from heaven, the boss of the workshop was so frightened that he knelt on the ground. Su Tao laughed and said: "Don't worry, General Li Guopei's reinforcements have arrived!"
While they were looking for a place to land, the soldiers and horses outside the city had also arrived in front of the city gate. The soldiers behind them took off their muskets again to shoot at the bandit soldiers. The leading sword-wielding general took out an apricot-yellow flag from his arms and waved.
. Above the city gate, Yang Guotai had already ordered people to prepare it. When he saw the flag, he ordered the city gate to be opened wide and reinforcements to come in. More than 2,000 people were seen majestically stepping into the city gate, shouting: "We are waiting for you."
Lord Li Guopei's advance camp - came to report - Lord Li will arrive with his army soon -" There was a burst of cheers from inside the city gate. As soon as the advance battalion came in, the city gate was closed at the back.
Liu Xiaoqi borrowed two horses from the soy sauce workshop, leaving two soldiers to pack up the hot air balloon. He protected Su Tao and rushed to the west city gate. Far away, someone heard the noise and blocked the road. Liu Xiaoqi looked for it.
I asked a novice to inquire. It turned out that the wealthy households in the city heard that bandits were coming, and ordered their stewards to lead housekeepers and guards to help defend the city. Yang Guotai, who was leading the troops, refused to accept them, saying that there were enough officers and soldiers.
Zizheng sent a little leader to persuade the stewards to go back. Then he heard the little leader shout loudly: "Did everyone hear it? Lord Li Guopei's army will arrive soon, and the advance battalion has entered the city - Xu Qi has been dead long ago.
——The only ones left now are just shrimp soldiers and crab generals——I would like to thank you all on behalf of Mr. Su, General Yang, and General Qi——Please go back, please go away——”
These stewards, Ding Ping, just oppressed the unarmed people. How many of them would be willing to let them fight the bandits? I heard that there were officers and soldiers in the city, and Li Guopei's reinforcements had arrived, so Duba had no choice but to fight. So he dispersed.
They came one after another, one after another, but this little leader couldn't leave yet, so he stayed to wait for the next group to be persuaded.
Suddenly someone asked loudly: "This military master, I have heard that the grain guard sent by Lord Li to guard the grain is named Qi. Who is General Yang?"
The little leader smiled and said: "General Yang is under Master Su. He fought against the Tatars in northern Xinjiang in his early years. The pile of heads of foreigners who died in his hands is enough to cover a mountain."
Another asked: "Are there really enough officers and soldiers?"
The little leader said: "If it is not enough, how can our general not ask you to help? There are enough people to fight, and there is enough rice and food. But if you are added, there will not be enough people to cook. It is getting dark now, everyone should go back.
Everyone, let's go have a meal - it's not that our master can't afford the food, but we really don't have that many cooks." Everyone burst into laughter. Seeing that this military master was so generous and generous, and he really didn't look like he was short of officers and soldiers, they all believed it inside.
.
When Su Tao was about to speak, Liu Xiaoqi pulled him and whispered: "Master, your clothes are not suitable." It turned out that in order to lose weight in the hot air balloon, Su Tao took off his armor before climbing to the basket. Before
When he put on his armor, he took off his official robe, and now he looked like he was visiting privately incognito. Su Tao thought about it, it really undermined his official authority, so he let it go.
The two pretended to be ordinary passers-by and walked forward. Naturally, the little boss had to stop them. Liu Xiaoqi gave a military salute: "Comrade, we have something to see Comrade Jia Cong." Then he took something out of his arms. The little boss
He took it in his hand, looked at it, saluted with a military salute, and let them pass.
When they arrived at the city gate, they saw Yang Guotai, Jia Cong and others looking down with smiles - the bandits had temporarily retreated. Su Tao hurriedly asked who the advance officer sent by Li Guopei was. Everyone clapped their hands and laughed. Yang Guotai
Pointing at Zhen Ming and General Qi, he said, "It's those two!" Su Tao was stunned.
General Qi cupped his fists and said: "General Yang has a good plan, and I will finally be convinced."
There were no reinforcements from Li Guopei at all. It was General Qi who led 2,500 grain escorts out of the North City Gate early and hid outside the city. Yang Guotai thought, we are outnumbered and the enemy is the most afraid of being surrounded on all sides. Fortunately,
After receiving Li Tao's warning, he learned that the enemy intended to assassinate Su Tao, and that even the bandits' attack on the city was just a pretense. He then deduced that the opponent would not besiege the city at first, but would only attack from the west to lure Su Tao to the city gate in person. Moreover, they were
There are many people in the green forest who are highly skilled in martial arts, and they will want to rely on their martial arts to climb into the city wall and open the city gate.
So at first, Zhenming was left on the city gate tower, and after the five Taoist priests were dead, he would bother him to take a long way out of the city wall to meet with General Qi. Yang Guotai suppressed the morale of the bandit soldiers with artillery and fire attacks, and waited for them
Caught in a sea of fire, burning until people's hearts collapsed, they sent out fireworks. Relying on Zhenming's martial arts to open the way, General Qi and the 2,500 grain escorts pretended to be reinforcements and broke into the enemy's formation. The bandit leader Xu Qi was dead, and now they
I just heard that there were no soldiers in Nanchang Mansion, so I risked my life to attack the city in order to plunder the city. Unexpectedly, I first suffered the loss of firearms, and then suffered a fire attack. Then I heard that Li Guopei's army was approaching, and people's hearts were set.
scattered.
Su Tao stroked his beard and nodded: "Sure enough, soldiers are not tired of deceit, and I will be taught by my subordinates." Then he asked again, "Since we only have more than 3,000 people, why don't we accept the young men sent by the rich families?"
Jia Cong said: "There must be collaborators among those people. In such a big city, if we close the city gate, we can only stop the Muggles, not the Green Foresters who are good at flying over eaves and walls, nor the homing pigeons. Now the news has spread from the city,
Those who collaborate with the enemy are rarely allowed to send messages outside the city."
Yang Guotai said with a smile: "Mr. Jia is planning an empty city against the city."
Jia Cong handed over his hand and said, "I'm nothing like Xiao Qiao. I can't compare to General Yang's flowering tree. It's really a good idea!" The two of them complimented each other for a long time.