Dongting Lake, the island in the middle of the lake, the moonlight is like frost.
The navy camp has calmed down, all the guards in the camp have taken a rest, and all the guards from afar have fallen asleep. There are only the footsteps of patrolling guards, and the horses in the camp are chewing grass by the manger.
whimpering lowly.
In the central military tent, on the tent of General Gao Dashan, the figure elongated by the light looked quite forlorn.
"I have decided to quit the army and no longer trouble the court or the prince."
Gao Dashan said in a deep voice, his tone full of relief and happiness from the bottom of his heart.
Gao Dabao held the wine glass and watched his eldest brother's sleeves fluttering in the wind, helpless, as if he had nothing to rely on in his future life.
The warm yellow light outlined the silhouettes of the two people on the tent. There was silence outside the tent, and the sound of frogs croaking in Dongting Lake was low and silent, slowly carried by the night wind.
Gao Dabao raised his glass and drank it in one gulp.
"Brother, if you want to go home, I won't stop you, but you have spent most of your life in the army. If you go home, all your hard work will be in vain."
Gao Dashan shook his head, holding the empty wine glass, and said with a lot of sadness in his tone:
"Yes, after spending half of your life in the army, you have to go home and farm in the end. I'm afraid all your efforts will be in vain."
Holding the empty wine glass, Gao Dashan suddenly looked at his younger brother opposite, with a smile on his face:
"When our father was still alive, he sighed and said that since both of us were in the army, we were afraid that no one would care for him until the end of his life, or that the man with white hair would give up the man with black hair."
"When dad left, I was in front of the bed. He held my hand and said with a smile, I finally died in front of you two bastards. It's great."
As he spoke, Gao Dashan shed tears from the corners of his eyes and his body began to tremble.
Gao Dabao patted his brother's shoulder, picked up the wine bottle, filled it for his brother, and then filled it for himself, put down the wine bottle, and picked up a chopstick of fish.
"Dongting Lake is famous all over the world for its freshness, but I have never tasted the taste of saury anywhere else."
Hearing this, Gao Dashan glanced at the saury on the plate. The white saury was about the size of a palm. A few green onion leaves were sprinkled on the fish, making it refreshing.
After picking up a pair of chopsticks, the taste was delicious, with the aroma of green onions mixed in. It reminded Gao Dashan of his childhood when he and his brother would go down to the river, catch fish, and then return home to make stewed fish for their mother to eat.
Because the family was poor, the only seasonings used to stew the fish were salt, and the only ingredients to remove the fishy smell were eggplant and finely chopped chives sprinkled on top of the fish.
After the fish is stewed, the smell is just like the taste of the saury now, it is extremely delicious.
"I miss my mother's braised fish."
Gao Dashan put down his chopsticks and suddenly covered his face and said.
Gao Dabao was stunned when he heard this, but in an instant his eyes were filled with tears, his whole body began to tremble, his head fell on his arms, and he started sobbing.
"I miss my mother, brother."
Gao Dabao's hoarse voice came out from between his fingers, sad and plaintive.
The two brothers sobbed at each other, their sobs and sad tones slowly spreading in the dark night.
After a long time, the two of them calmed down.
Gao Dabao said seriously:
"Brother, please go back. I support you. If you need anything in the future, feel free to ask your brother. Although I am not talented, I still have some salary and money. I will definitely support my brother in building an old house."
Gao Dashan looked at his younger brother and nodded heavily.
On the second day, Gao Dabao said goodbye to his elder brother, took charge of the imperial guard camp, and continued northward.
His main mission this time is to go north and rescue Beiyang City.
Beiyang is the place where the prince and your majesty met, and it is also the place where the prince started his career and the fiefdom of Princess Beiyang.
The prince sent two imperial guards this time to protect Beiyang.
According to the intelligence from the Dingxiang Guards, General Xie Ningyun is moving closer to Beiyang. However, since the guards have no horses, General Xie may not be able to defeat these mixed rebels of grassland horse bandits and Xuanfu bandits.
He must rush there as soon as possible to contain the horse bandits and create conditions for General Xie to defeat this rebellion.
The imperial guard basically consisted of one man and two horses, running day and night. Six days later, they finally arrived in Beiyang and came into contact with the Dingxiang guards who had already ambush here.
Xie Ningyun has already set up a stronghold under Beiyang City. The army is confronting the bandits, but has no intention of attacking.
Gao Dabao frowned when he heard Dingxiang Guard's report. What did General Xie mean?
"Let's go, I'm going to see General Xie."
Gao Dabao urged his horses forward and ordered his personal guards.
The deputy lieutenant asked and said:
"It's getting late. Commander, do you want the brothers to set up tents and rest?"
Gao Dabao raised his head and looked at the sky. The moon was in the middle of the sky, but it was not suitable to march anymore.
"Okay, bury the pot and make rice. After eating, take a rest immediately and don't set up a tent."
Gao Dabao ordered the guard next to him:
"Lead the way, I want to see how powerful these bandits who are besieging Beiyang are, and how dare they challenge General Xie in the ring."
When Gao Dabao saw Xie Ningyun, Xie Ningyun was eating. When he saw Gao Dabao coming in, he nodded and motioned for Gao Dabao to sit down and continue eating.
Gao Dabao pulled up a stool and sat down, looking at his nose with his eyes and his heart with his nose, without moving, listening to Xie Ningyun sitting there eating.
Xie Ningyun didn't say anything. He ate his meal slowly and ordered his guards to remove the food. Then he asked Gao Dabao:
"Commander Gao is here at Xingye, but are you ready for a night battle?"
Gao Dabao sat up straight and said without hesitation:
"But thanks to General Xie's orders, I will not hesitate to die even if I die."
Xie Ningyun raised her eyebrows and said with admiration in her voice:
"Well, he is indeed a brave general that both the prince and your majesty value."
Gao Dabao said modestly:
"The general is so complimentary. I'm just a guard. I don't deserve the general's praise."
Xie Ningyun raised the corners of his eyes and ordered:
"I have been here for four days. Every night, I will send out my troops to harass the bandit camp. I think they have developed a habit in the past few days. Today's first attack will have to trouble Commander Lao Gao."
Gao Dabao suddenly stood up and said loudly:
"I am willing to listen to General Xie's instructions."
Xie Ningyun clapped his hands. The lieutenant opened the curtain and came in with several generals. He greeted Gao Dabao and the lieutenant handed the military affairs booklet to Xie Ningyun.
Xie Ningyun scanned it and threw it to Gao Dabao:
"These are rebel bandits that our army has gathered. Later, our army will take advantage of the night to make noise. After a quarter of an hour, the bandits will think that our army is still harassing them as usual. At that time, General Gao will command the Imperial Guard Camp and must
Break through the north gate of the rebel camp."
Gao Dabao loudly accepted the order.
They just broke open the camp gate and the troops were still exhausted. Gao Dabao thought there was no problem at all.
The night is getting dark.
Inside the bandit camp outside Beiyang City.
Aguda, the big boss of Flying on Grass, had fallen asleep, but was woken up by his horse bandits.
"Boss, there seems to be something wrong with the sound this time. The Han army seems to have horses."
The horse thief who came to report was very worried.
A Gu kicked the horse thief in return and cursed angrily:
"What's wrong with Arima? I've been kept awake for four consecutive nights. Can you still attack me tonight? Get out of here."
"I want to sleep."
"roll roll roll"
Aguda walked to the bed irritably, wanting to lie down and sleep.