Jiangsu and Zhejiang are really not the place where war horses gallop, here is located in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River delta, the river network and waterways criss-cross, especially the official road is not passable, to cross the river usually have to detour a long way to find the bridge, sometimes even have to take a ferry.

Because of this, Xie Erjian's pursuit of the thieves was seriously slowed down, and there was only one person and two horses in a hurry, fortunately, there were many of these thieves, and the fleet of dozens of ships of all sizes was not small, so their whereabouts could be heard along the way, and Xie Erjian led a hundred brothers to bite the tail and chase after them.

It is said that Dongtai County, Rugao County, and Tongzhou (Haimen County) are coastal salt-producing areas under the rule of Yangzhou Prefecture, all of which are connected by canals, and the fleet of Japanese thieves fled along the canals to Rugao County and Tongzhou Haimen.

On March 18, close to noon, Xie Erjian and others finally arrived outside Rugao County, but at this time the city gate was locked, and there were officials and people on the city head patrolling back and forth with weapons, and they were heavily guarded.

Xie Erjian revealed his identity under the city, and the defenders at the head of the city opened the city gate after repeated confirmation. Since the 500 battalion was under the command of Lord Qincha, the magistrate of Rugao County did not dare to slack off, and the county commander personally went out of the city to greet him, and invited everyone into the city to eat.

It is said that Xie Erjian and others arrived in Dongtai County yesterday evening, and they didn't even have time to drink a sip of water, so they immediately followed the thieves along the canal non-stop, and only rested for two hours on the road. Therefore, Xie Erjian did not refuse, and led a hundred brothers into the city to eat and rest, and the horses also had their own people below to feed the food.

"General Xie, you are a step late, the thieves arrived here last night, and this morning they plundered the villages outside the city, causing great harm, and left about an hour ago." Rugao County Ling told Xie Erjian heartbrokenly.

Xie Erjian couldn't help sneering in his heart, if it was really people dying for money, birds dying for food, these thieves even looted everywhere on the way to escape, dare to love that my Ming army is all waste, I really don't know whether to live or die.

About half an hour later, the 100 brothers of the 500 battalion were full of food and drink, and immediately mounted their horses and left the city, and continued to pursue the thieves along the canal.

Rugao County Commander stood at the head of the city, watching Xie Erjian and the others go away, and couldn't help but sigh secretly: "It is worthy of being the elite of the Beijing camp, not to mention the combat power, this courage alone is not comparable to the local guard army, just a hundred people dare to pursue hundreds of murderous thieves, I hope it is not a silver wax spear, wasting a meal in the county." ”

Drive......

Xie Erjian rode his horse and galloped, his lips pursed into a cold line, at this time, he was like a one-armed county commander Zhu Kun, with an anger in his chest and abdomen that was about to be vented.

Everyone chased out seventy or eighty miles in one go, and just when Xie Erjian was a little anxious, a scout sent out to fight the front station finally returned, and reported excitedly: "Boss Xie, ten miles ahead, I found a fleet of thieves, and the two brothers are still staring at the front. ”

Xie Erjian's eyes flashed with coldness, and he shouted decisively: "Change horses!" After saying that, he jumped and landed firmly on the empty horse running beside him.

At this time, the other 500 battalion soldiers also changed horses in the gallop, and their movements were clean and neat, this kind of ability is not something that ordinary soldiers can do, and they must go through a long period of training, and these soldiers of the 500 battalion also trained hard for a year last year to be so proficient.

Drive......

Two hundred war horses let go of their hooves and galloped, and the spring grass on the side of the canal was trampled to pieces by the horses' hooves, and the sound of hooves roared, and the birds nearby fluttered their wings and flew high with a murderous aura.

After about ten minutes, a fleet finally came into view, this fleet consisted of dozens of large and small ships, each with several or more than a dozen people on board, and these guys were disheveled, all of them were armed, and they were the same gang of thieves who attacked Dongtai County.

At this time, the thieves on the boat obviously also discovered Xie Erjian and the others, and the originally noisy voices suddenly quieted down, and all the thieves stopped their movements and looked to the shore in disbelief.

Ergouzi is Chen Dong's number one henchman, after Chen Sipan hangs up, Chen Dong is already the big boss of the group of thieves on Dongsha Island, and Ergouzi's status naturally rises with the tide.

At this time, Ergouzi's goods stripped off a captive village girl, and was about to press the village girl on the deck to commit violence in full view of everyone, but the surroundings suddenly became quiet. Ergouzi sensed that something was wrong, so he let go of the village girl who was struggling and crying, stood up straight and looked at the shore, and suddenly his face changed: "My grass, where did you get a cavalry?" ”

Bang......

As soon as the second dog finished speaking, a gunshot rang out from the shore, and a bloody flower splashed on the temples of the cargo, and then it fell on its back on the plank, and after a few convulsions, it did not move, just in response to the sentence that the man died and the bird was facing the sky.

On the shore, Xie Erjian hung the flintlock pistol that was still smoking on the victory hook, and took off the two-stone bow he was carrying with his backhand. A hundred soldiers fixed their horses, raised their flintlock pistols and aimed at the thieves on the ship, hooked the board machine, and the sound of gunfire like beans rang out......

The canal was not very wide, and even though the thief's boat was in the center of the river at this time, it was still within seventy meters of the flintlock guns.

Bang bang bang......

Buckshot rained down on the thief boat, and in an instant, more than a dozen thieves were shot and wounded, and the order was immediately chaotic, and several bow boats lost their stability and capsized, and the thieves who fell into the water swam to the opposite shore crying wolves.

"What's going on?" The five thieves who were deliberating in the cabin of one of the large ships hurriedly ran out to inquire.

When he saw the situation on the shore, Monk Pujing couldn't help but change his face suddenly, and blurted out: "It's not good, it's five hundred battalions chasing after you." ”

Orixin Miko stared at Xie Erjian on horseback, gritted her teeth and said, "This person's name is Xie Erjian." After speaking, he immediately bent his bow, and an arrow shot towards Xie Erjian.

Xie Erjian also saw Orinobu Miko and the others on the big ship at this time, and immediately had a great killing intent, and with a wave of the bow in his hand, he swept away the arrows shot by Orinobu Miko, and then fired back with three arrows in a row.

Hosokawa Takeshu snorted lightly, and the sword swung three times as fast as lightning, shooting down all the three arrows shot by Xie Erjian, and asked, "Does Miss Miko recognize this person?" ”

Ori Shin Miko nodded and gritted her teeth and said: "This person is under the command of that despicable Qincha, and his martial arts are quite good, and I was captured and humiliated by mistake under this person that day." ”

Hosokawa Takeshu stared at him, and said proudly: "The other party is only a hundred people, or we can defeat them on the shore, and we can cut off this person's head to avenge Miss Miko's shame." ”

Ori Shin Miko shook her head and said: "It's not proper, this Ming army has powerful firearms, and its combat power is not comparable to that of the local army, so it's not appropriate to fight hard, let's avoid its edge first." ”

The thieves on the boat panicked and began to row as hard as they could, trying to get to the other side of the canal, so that the flintlock pistol could cause less damage.

Xie Erjian led his men to pursue along the river for several miles, but was cut off by a small ditch five or six meters wide, and he could only watch dozens of thief ships go away.

Ori Shin Miko stood on the boat and raised the sword in her hand defiantly, Xie Erjian couldn't help but be angry, but there was nothing to do.