At the foot of Lingshan Mountain is the location of the Chinese Army, which has the commander-in-chief Tianbao. According to the arrangement of Mr. Xiang Rong, the governor of Liangjiang, just a few days after he moved his camp, the men of his thirteenth battalion only followed the eighth battalion temporarily. After dividing the battalions into camps, he ordered a tentative attack on Qilin Gate.
The Taiping Army in the city may have a limited number of people, but they just stick to it without any sign of counterattack. After several attacks with no results, Ma Tianbao withdrew his troops and began to plan how to continue to expand northward and completely block the connection between Changmao and Zhenjiang in the city.
He sent two battalions, led by deputy general Chen Xingzu, to the north for more than ten miles, and then began to request the governor to quickly call the other battalions to return to build up to ensure their own safety.
Chen Xingzu set up camp at the fortress and sent out sentries in all directions. Chen Xingzu did all this in an orderly manner. In order to facilitate the long-term defense, he also asked his soldiers to drive out all the nearby people, regardless of gender, old or young, who could move, and began to dig trenches and build suspension bridges in front of the camp day and night.
It must be said that Chen Xingzu is still a talented general. While doing all this, he even left a team of troops in an unknown small village between the general camp and the general camp, and made arrangements for emergencies. Contact details and disposition decisions below. One is to ensure the connection with the general camp, and the other is to fear that the Taiping Army in the city will take advantage of this gap. He felt that since it was going to be a blockade, the blockade should be made as dense as possible, preferably so that not even a fly would be missed.
Being prepared is the only way to avoid danger, and carefulness paid off. A long-haired team carrying grain and grass into the city under the cover of night was discovered in time by people in a small village. An alarm was issued. Chen Xingzu immediately led his troops to cover up and kill the soldiers from the general camp. Men and horses immediately came up as reinforcements. Although only a small part of the grain and grass cart was intercepted due to Chang Mao's desperate response from the city, this is enough to illustrate his foresight. While he received the commendation from the Commander-in-Chief, Chen Xingzu did not forget his brothers who had made meritorious service. Zhang Fu, the officer in charge of the small team, was promoted to a registered sentry officer by him. In the future, he would be replenished and rewarded with a lot of wine and meat.
After awarding the rewards, Chen Xingzu looked at Zhang Fu who was about to leave with a proud face. He patted him on the shoulder and reminded him, "Don't be careless when you go back. Your mission is to be a sentinel. If you can, fight. If you can, fight." If you can't help it, just avoid it. If Changmao has suffered a loss, he won't pay attention to you. Just in case, I will send you fifteen more brothers."
"Thank you, sir!" Zhang Fu held his fists and looked arrogant, "Don't worry, sir, I sleep with one eye open, and I will never let Changmao find anything cheap."
"That's good," Chen Xingzu smiled, "Follow me and you will have many opportunities in the future."
"It all depends on the cultivation of adults!"
Zhang Fu left the camp with satisfaction and returned to that humble little village.
"It is inconspicuous because the village is too small. There are a dozen thatched houses built scatteredly on a hill. Due to the chaos of the war, most people have fled to unknown places, and now there is only one family left, an old couple. It's not that the old couple didn't want to hide, but they were too old to run away and had nowhere to go. It is true that people do not rush things, but things rush people. The old couple who originally wanted to resign themselves to their fate encountered a military disaster. Since the thirty or so officers and soldiers arrived the day before yesterday, the old couple have become natural servants, diving, feeding horses, and cooking. If it weren't for a poor family with only four walls, there might have been some disaster.
When the sun was about to set, he saw that the leader who had gone out in the afternoon had brought back more than a dozen officers and soldiers. The old man looked at his wife, who looked sallow and sick, and felt uncomfortable for a while, and secretly complained. . It's all this old woman's fault. What's there to love about a broken family? It was better to go into the city. When he thought of this, the old man couldn't help but laugh at himself. I heard that the Taiping Army in the city has a men's and women's branch. If I really want to go, the old couple will have to live separately, and they won't even have a home. Besides, he is already quite old and cannot exert any strength anymore, and the old woman is suffering from all kinds of problems. Even if she is gone, who would be willing to adopt a father for free? Since ancient times, I have only heard of people choosing their children to raise, but I have never heard of people choosing their fathers and mothers.
"The military men have been rewarded, and you two can also take advantage of it. Make good use of it, and you can use the rest as a tooth sacrifice. Don't feel that I have wronged you. I hope that the military men will stay longer and save you from having to eat for yourself."
Zhang Fu directed his men to throw the meat and vegetables they had just brought back to the old couple, grinning widely, "I ate one of your old hens when I came here the day before yesterday. I saw how distressed you were, and I will make it up to you today." ¡±
Watching Zhang Fu leave the house, the old man spit hard on the ground.
"That's an old hen for laying eggs!" The old woman lamented and muttered.
"Where can I find some arsenic?"Just feed these beasts. "The old man looked at his wife beside him and whispered bitterly.
"Don't dare to talk nonsense!" The old woman hurriedly reached out to cover the old man's mouth, and looked at the door in panic. Seeing that there was no one outside, she breathed a sigh of relief, "This is a fatal thing, and it's terrible for them to hear it."
In another thatched hut not far away, dozens of people filled the room to the brim, flattering and flattering him, making Zhang Fu feel light all over, and the pockmarks on his happy face trembled.
"Brothers, let's blow after blowing, and let's have fun again. We still can't forget the truth." When he said this, Zhang Fu changed his face, "I'll eat and drink enough in a while, but I'll be more prepared as before. I'll But I patted my chest in front of Mr. Chen, no one can afford to take the blame if something goes wrong."
"Don't worry, Sir Sentinel, we all sleep with one eye open. Not even a long hair can slip under our eyelids." A soldier raised his eyelids with one hand and made a weird gesture.
"That's right, we are all still waiting to benefit from the Sentinel." "It would be best if we could be rewarded with some money in the future."
"Haha, I think you would be happiest if you could reward a few girls." The soldiers cheered.
Zhang Fu slapped his chest haha, "No problem, as long as the long hairs are wiped out, everything is available. But the most important thing now is to repair the fences on the outside first. Once the long hairs invade our nest, Then everything you eat won¡¯t taste good.¡±
After finishing the so-called village wall made of dozens of fallen trees, the sky had darkened. Almost all the soldiers were rubbing their shriveled stomachs that had already begun to growl, and watched eagerly as the old couple watched the roof rise. There were bursts of smoke from the kitchen, and I swallowed and spit from time to time.
Zhang Fu looked at the lackluster look of his men, and told the two soldiers who were on duty, "Keep your eyes open, good things are indispensable for you." Then, he waved to his men, "Let's go and have dinner. .¡±
Looking at his smiling subordinates, he still couldn't help but say, "Drink less wine. If you mess up too much, remember it for me."