Spring is cold. Although it is already March, when the spring sun is shining brightly during the day, the east wind caresses the temperature and the temperature is warm. But as soon as the sun goes down and night falls, the night wind becomes cold.
To the southwest of Shili Changgang, at the southernmost end of the camp of Lu Zhongtian's army, and on the embankment on the north bank of the Bian River, there are many black figures with their heads hunched in the cold wind on patrol at night. They are soldiers and horses of the former Zhou Guard Infantry Division.
They were responsible for guarding the open area from the hill opposite to the bank of the Bian River. Strict orders were issued from above, asking them to keep their eyes open and be on guard to prevent the Luoyan Army from going down to the Bian River to fetch water in the dark. Prime Minister Lu said that it must be done
Trapping the entire Luoyan Army soldiers and horses on the hill to death, cutting off their food and drinking water, leaving them with no way out.
Of course, the people who issued the orders just talked about it, but the soldiers who patrolled at night had to really suffer in the cold wind of early spring. Especially the soldiers who patrolled in the middle of the night, it would be even more difficult.
A small group of patrols had been patrolling at the forefront several hundred steps away from the hill for more than an hour. The cold and exhaustion made them grumble and curse.
"Damn it, why do we, the Infantry Division, have to do such hard work? The Front Division and the Horse Division are those who march without walking and can ride horses. Their armor and weapons are better than ours, and they have more money and wages than us. Why?
The hardest part is our Infantry Division. We are the ones doing the hard work of building fortifications and digging trenches. We are also the ones patrolling at night. When a war breaks out, we have to be at the forefront. Are all those cavalry masters? Right now.
They eat well and sleep well, but we have to endure the cold and tired patrols here."
"That's right, mother, do you think we are your little sons? We do all the hard work. Those cavalrymen have no ability to fight, but they are really bad at bullying me."
"Hey, stop talking, who taught them that they were all the confidants of Prime Minister Lu? Our Infantry Department was originally the troops commanded by the young prince of Prince Liang. After Guo Kun rebelled from the capital, of course our Infantry Department was discriminated against by them.
Of course Prime Minister Lu trusts them but doesn’t trust us. Hehe, in Prime Minister Lu’s mind, we are just doing odd jobs to die. But we don’t really regard the soldiers and horses of our Infantry Division as our own."
Several patrol soldiers were walking hunched over inhaling the air-conditioning, muttering curses in their mouths. Chief Huo, who was walking behind the team, couldn't listen anymore and cursed in a low voice: "Give it all to me."
Just shut up and do your job well. Where are all the complaints coming from? If anyone hears them, they will lose their fucking heads. How dare you make up for Mr. Lu? You don’t want to live, but I still want to live. I’m a member of everyone
You guys are still living off my little food and salary. Don’t you think about it, in the capital now, who else has food to eat except us soldiers? Can’t you bear it for the sake of your own family’s survival?”
The soldiers were silent for a while. What Huo Chang said was right. The capital has now implemented a comprehensive rationing system of food and supplies. Materials are in short supply and the lives of the people are already very difficult. At this time, no identity is useful, and the identity of the Imperial Guard is the most popular.
Being a Forbidden Soldier, with this status, you can still support your family and make a living. No matter how difficult the situation is, you will not be short of food and salary as a soldier, so you can support your family. Therefore, the identity of the Forbidden Army now belongs to their whole family.
Life-saving card. So although I am full of complaints, these things are true.
"Boss, it's already the fourth watch. Let's just find a place to stay. It's so cold. No one will feel sorry for someone who's freezing. I didn't see anyone camping during the day today.
At that time, when Zhang Laosi and others from Wuziying were injured while digging trenches, no one took care of them at all. They were also scolded for being careless, saying that they deliberately injured themselves before the battle. Not only were they not allowed to rest and get medical treatment, but they were also fined.
They are half paid. They are so damn cruel. Zhang Laosi has to grit his teeth and continue working. The bones can be seen in the wounds on his legs, so what? If our brothers get sick from the cold, not only will they not be able to work tomorrow,
We will be taken care of, but we will be scolded like crazy. No one cares about our bodies at all. We have to pity ourselves. It’s okay to die on the battlefield. We have ruined ourselves so much, but we can’t help ourselves.
We don’t have any family members. We can be lazy as long as we can. It’s almost dawn anyway, so what’s going to happen?” A soldier whispered in the fire chief’s ear.
The fire chief pondered for a moment, nodded and said: "Mother, that's right. Why be stupid? No one cares about this anyway. The body is yours, and you will be kicked out if you get sick. No one will pity us at this time.
, we have to pity ourselves. Let’s go and find a hut to sleep in. But don’t say it out loud, I’m taking the risk for your own good.”
"That's right, the boss will take care of it, don't we know it?" Everyone nodded and said.
A dozen patrols walked dozens of steps forward, and then found a grassy leeward slope on the inside of the river embankment. A dozen people huddled together and hid in a grass nest, and then they felt a lot warmer. At first, they felt warmer.
They exchanged a few words about each other, and soon their eyelids were twitching and they became sleepy.
After an unknown amount of time, Huo Zhang, who was still alert in the hazy state, suddenly heard a strange noise. Someone seemed to be walking down the river embankment in the distance. Their footsteps were very light, but there was a rustling sound on the grass.
"There's someone!" Huo Chang was startled and stretched out his hand to slap the soldier beside him.
The soldiers woke up with a start and looked forward in panic. In the darkness, there seemed to be two or three figures coming down the river embankment quickly. The soldiers were so frightened that they broke into a cold sweat. This was the forefront of the patrol. There could not be anyone.
Soldiers from my own army are patrolling here, so the two or three people in front of me must be Luoyan Army soldiers who came down from the hill.
"Boss, let's... let's run, it's too far from the camp." A soldier said in a trembling voice.
"Fuck you! Didn't you see there were only three of us? They didn't notice us either, let's see what they did." The fire chief cursed in a low voice.
Everyone huddled in the grass and stared at the three black figures. Although it was dark, the actions of the three people could be seen clearly against the background of the Bianhe River. They went straight down the river embankment and lifted a raft out of the grass somewhere.
Lifting up the same thing, they went straight to the river, threw the raft into the river, and the three of them jumped on it.
"This...is this the Luoyan Army soldier who escaped from the hill?" The fire chief immediately thought that these three people were deserters. Under such a besieged situation, it would be nothing if someone on the hill escaped overnight.
Surprised. It is common for soldiers to escape before a war, let alone a side that is besieged.
"They seem... not wearing armor or carrying weapons." A soldier with good eyesight shouted hurriedly next to him.
After the fire chief confirmed it, he determined that this was a deserter on the hill. Because only those who wanted to escape would not wear armor or carry weapons. Firstly, it was easier to move and avoid making noise. Secondly, they wore armor and carried weapons.
Then he will be regarded as a soldier and cannot pretend to be a civilian. Armor and
The weapon will kill them instead.
"Brothers, our opportunity has come to make a meritorious service, and we have to take advantage of it. By catching these three guys, we will make a meritorious service." The fire chief said in a low voice: "What's more important is that they have no weapons and cannot resist.
How about it? Do you want to do something?"
The soldiers nodded repeatedly. Are you a fool if you don't want this opportunity to perform meritorious service? No matter if he is a deserter or not, if you catch him, you will be a prisoner. It may not be a big achievement, but as long as it is beneficial, even if it is to reward them for not having to patrol at night, then it is
What a deal.
"It's done!" Everyone was gearing up.
The fire chief spat, took out his sword and took the lead in rushing out. A dozen soldiers rushed out shouting and rushed straight to the shallow water on the river bank. The three deserters seemed to be fifty or sixty steps away.
They were not good at controlling the raft either. When they saw someone shouting and rushing towards them, the three of them panicked and rowed the raft around in circles, unable to move at all. Seeing the other party rushing towards them, the three of them jumped into the water and ran away.
.More than a dozen soldiers followed in pursuit, but these three people ran very fast, wading into shallow water and escaping even faster than the dozen soldiers chasing on the shore. The noise seemed to alert the Luoyan Army defenders on the hills ahead.
, lanterns were raised on the slope, and torches were lit.
Chief Huo breathed heavily and stopped everyone from chasing: "Stop, stop, stop, we can't catch up. In front of us is the slope of Luoyan Army. If we continue to chase, we will die. That's all. Damn it, you can run faster than
The rabbit is still fast."
The soldiers were dejected and cursed for a while, but there was nothing they could do. They thought they could catch these three people at once, but they ran away. Now they complained to each other that they should not have shouted too early to alert them and should have sneaked in secretly when chasing them.
At this point, while complaining, he turned around and ran back.
"There seems to be something on the raft." The sharp-eyed brother did not forget to pay attention to the empty raft that had floated several feet away.
The soldiers quickly looked over and saw something dark like a package on the raft.
"Take it out and see what it is? It may be silver." A soldier said.
Everyone was happy, it was possible. If the deserters escaped, they would not lose the gold and silver on them. There was no way of knowing that there might be some property in the package. If no one was caught, some silver would be considered as compensation, and the savings would be in vain.
A busy day.
Soon the two soldiers braved the biting cold and rushed into the waist-deep water to retrieve the package from the raft. It was a tightly wrapped sheepskin package, as if to avoid getting the contents wet.
, wrapped tightly, tied at the mouth, and heavy.
A dozen soldiers were full of expectations and hurriedly retreated to the windy place under the river embankment. They lit up the fire and illuminated it. They used knives to cut open the sealed sheepskin package and take a look. There were a few clothes, shoes and some dry food inside.
There was only a wooden box wrapped in sheepskin outside. All the people's hopes were placed in that wooden box. The impatient Huo Chang cut open the lid of the wooden box with a knife, and was immediately disappointed. There was only a letter in the wooden box, and the rest were
There is nothing.
The disappointed soldiers cursed endlessly. One soldier reached out and was about to tear the letter apart. However, the sharp-eyed soldier could read and suddenly shouted: "Wait a minute, there is something fishy about this letter. Look, what's on the envelope is there."
I know those two words, and they are 'top secret'. I'm afraid these three guys are not deserters, they are delivering messages. We need to report them quickly."
