After the Shenji Battalion was captured by Deputy General Lee Shau-kee out of the city, the battalion affairs were taken care of by General Song Shouren.

But Song Shouren is nearly sixty years old, and he is frail and sickly, and he is only in the camp for more than ten days a year.

In desperation, Wei Guogong, who was guarding outside and supervising Caojiang, ordered the guerrilla Ma Kui to temporarily take charge of the camp.

After Ma Kui was ordered, he was ordered by the Duke of Wei to lead his troops to garrison outside Shangfangmen.

There are more than 1,000 soldiers in his department, but most of them are temporarily transferred, and they are not as good as the men and horses that the deputy general Li Shauji took out of the city, so in the process of confrontation with the Wei eunuchs and horses on the opposite side of the Shangfang Bridge these days, Ma Kui has been worried, lest the Wei eunuchs and horses on the opposite side will be difficult to attack and cross the bridge.

Fortunately, Wei Gelding's soldiers and horses looked like elites, but they didn't dare to provoke without permission. only blamed Shenji and the second patrol battalion on the grounds that the soldiers were missing, but they were always bluffing and did not dare to take action.

After a long time, the whole Shenji battalion knew that this battle could not be fought. In the final analysis, this is Nanjing City, not Liyang County, so no matter how arrogant the Wei eunuchs are, they don't dare to mess around in Daming.

Late today, there was suddenly another water and land standard barracks stationed in Shangfangmen, which made the Shenji and the second patrol battalion outside the city even more emboldened.

Everyone is waiting to see tomorrow's jokes, so whether Wei Gelding dares to enter the city or not, and how can he have a way to enter the city. If you just retract back to Liyang with a disgraced face, then there will be a joke in the southern capital.

Ma Kui was in the prime of life, and he was a close confidant of Wei Guogong, so he did not dare to slack off when he was ordered to be in danger, and he had been patrolling all over the camp in the first half of the night.

At about two o'clock in the morning, the sergeant guarding the camp suddenly came to report that the adjutant general had returned.

This shocked Ma Kui for a long time and didn't come back to his senses: Didn't the deputy general call Wei Gelding to arrest him, why did he come back?!

Soon, Ma Kui, who was confused, met the deputy general Lee Shau Kee.

The deputy general looked very embarrassed, with ragged clothes and fluffy hair, with six or seven people like a Fengyang beggar singing the lotus fall, and Ma Kui was stunned at first glance.

Not to mention that Ma Kui was stunned, the sergeants guarding the camp were stunned. They really didn't recognize it at first, and almost drove away the deputy general as a food.

The news of the adjutant general's return quickly spread throughout the barracks, and the officers in the battalion arrived one after another, looking at the adjutant general, who looked sluggish, as if he had not eaten for many days, and the officers were also stunned.

"What are you looking at, let's get some food for Lao Tzu first!"

The adjutant general didn't care to talk to his subordinates, he was really hungry. After gobbling it up, he had some spirits, and then told his subordinates with a sad and angry face how he was killed.

"It's all Zhu Guozhi who sold Lao Tzu, otherwise how could Lao Tzu be so miserable!" The adjutant gritted his teeth.

The people who came back with the adjutant general, you said, I said indignantly how Zhu Guozhi, the general of the Shenwu Battalion, colluded with the Wei eunuchs, and how he designed to deceive them, leading to the annihilation of their entire army.

After listening to this, the officers knew what had happened. They were all in the camp that day, and many people still knew from the recent rumors that the adjutant general led his troops out of the city that day to "crusade" against Eunuch Wei, otherwise they didn't know what was going on.

As for how the adjutant general was defeated, he only heard from the soldiers of the Wei Mansion who fled back, but the specifics were not clear, only that he was suddenly ambushed, and then he was defeated. And then it's what happened these days.

Now that they have heard what the adjutant general himself said, everyone knows that it was the Shenwu Battalion that betrayed them.

The officers hated it, and scolded bitterly one by one, and they couldn't wait to go to Zhu Guozhi and the people of the Shenwu Battalion to settle accounts now.

Think about it, if no one betrays him, the deputy general will take the elite out of the city, and they are all the elite of the battalion, with all the weapons and equipment, even if they are not defeated by the soldiers of the Wei eunuch, it is impossible to wipe out the whole army.

Just when everyone was scolding Zhu Guozhi, Ma Kui thought of a question, he hesitated, and asked the deputy general how he escaped back.

"What escape?" The adjutant general said angrily, "Lao Tzu asked Eunuch Wei to put it back!" ”

"Put it back?!"

Ma Kui was startled when he heard this, and the rest of the officers were all stunned when they heard it, and Wang Qing, the battalion officer sitting alone, and Jiang Wei, the garrison, and a few others secretly glanced at the adjutant general, and their eyes were a little ghostly. Only everyone on the side stared at the adjutant general, and no one noticed this scene.

"My lord, Eunuch Wei is so kind to let you come back?"

Ma Kui couldn't figure it out, but the Wei eunuch was shouting every day that the nobles in the city would take money to ransom people, how could this kind of money-greedy ghost be so kind to let people go for nothing.

The adjutant general snorted: "Eunuch Wei has a fart kindness, and he let Lao Tzu come back to ask Lao Tzu to raise money to ransom people." ”

"Scrape together money to ransom people?" Ma Kui was stunned again.

"If you don't make up the money, you won't want the thousand-numbered brothers?"

The adjutant general was a little annoyed, patted the table, and asked the subordinates: "Lao Tzu will ask you now, do you want the thousand number brothers!" ”

“……”

No one dares to say no.

How can it be redeemed?

The adjutant general was also refreshed, saying that he had thought about it on the way, and when he came back, he asked everyone in the camp to pool money to ransom people. The part of the officer, the part of the soldier, no matter what, must redeem the person.

It probably means that if you have money, you have to pay for it.

After all the officers heard this, one by one they stopped squeaking, you look at me, I look at yours.

Ma Kui frowned and said, "My lord, this ransom... How much silver do you need? ”

"Not much, more than 100,000 taels."

As soon as the adjutant general finished speaking, he saw that the faces of all his subordinates turned green.

"Where do I ask me to wait?" Ma Kui was the first to object, "My lord, it's not that we don't want to save people, it's really whose family is not old and young, and who has so much money in his hand to make up." ”

"Don't say that we can't make up so much money, even if we can't make it up, we can't give it, it's a big deal that we go and snatch people back!" A grimacing boss always muttered in the back.

"Grab it back?"

A thousand general who came back with the deputy general snorted and scolded the handful: "Qin Si, there are thousands of Wei Gelding's subordinates, we can't beat them, why can you snatch people back?" ”

As soon as they heard this, the officers were deflated.

"Not necessarily."

Ma Kui pondered, leaned forward, and said, "My lord, according to me, there are not so many people in Wei Biao on the other side, he is just bluffing." ”

The adjutant general glanced at Ma Kui and asked him, "What do you mean?" ”

"My lord thinks, there are really thousands of people on the other side, how much grain and grass do you have to consume every day? How much baggage do you need? It is only connected to Liyang by land, have you ever seen a large group of mules and horses on the road? In the past few days, I have seen that there are no food trucks on the road... Therefore, he thought that the soldiers on the opposite side would not exceed two thousand, and that they would have to withdraw by themselves if they did not stay long, otherwise they would starve to death. ”

"If they don't bring grain, won't they buy it?"

"There really must be thousands of people, just by buying food temporarily, how much can they buy, and how long can they support it."

"Hmm..."

The adjutant general pondered it carefully, and it seemed that it was really that reasonable.

The Qian Zong who came back with him sneered and said to Ma Kui: "Wei Biao really doesn't have many people, how can we lose so badly?" ”

"Didn't the Lord say just now, it was Zhu Guozhi of the Shenwu Battalion who sold you, and there was no defense, so Wei Biao's soldiers and horses succeeded in sneak attacking."

There is some truth in Ma Kui's analysis.

As soon as he finished speaking, Qin Si's eyes behind him lit up suddenly, and he shouted: "Yes, my lord, if we also attack them, maybe we can really save the brothers back, which will save a lot of money!" …”

"Well..."

The adjutant general was slightly moved, as if he was moved, and pondered for a moment, but told everyone to go out, he wanted to think about it.

The deputy general really wants to think about this matter, the preemptive sneak attack on Wei Gelding is a big move, and it is not something that the deputy general can decide, so he has to ask the Duke of Wei to ask them.

After Ma Kui came out, he thought about it and was a little uneasy, and wanted to send someone to inform Wei Guogong and Longping Hou of this matter, but at this time the city gate was closed, if he sent someone to knock on the door too much, it would inevitably make the deputy general unhappy, so he suppressed this idea and waited until dawn to enter the city to notify.

…………..

It's already late, it's quiet outside the Shangfang Gate, and the air is full of the smell of Qinhuai River water and distant wetlands, and it smells very fresh.

Because of the garrison outside the gate of Shangfang, the merchants and people who originally entered the city from here definitely did not dare to leave here anymore, so the city was not as crowded as before, even if it was dark.

Although it was still dark, it was less than half an hour before dawn. It's just that the fog started in the first half of the night, and although the fog is not too big, it can't be seen clearly after a hundred and ten feet.

Fortunately, from the city, the Shangfang Bridge can still be seen clearly, but the camp of the Wei eunuchs and horses opposite is not thorough.

After staying up all night, the officers and men of the land and water standard battalion who had just been transferred to defend the city last night were all sleepy, and many people were dozing off on the battlements, but as long as there was any wind and grass in their ears, they woke up as soon as possible and looked around vigilantly.

Compared with the water and land standard barracks in the city, the quality of the officers and men of the Shenji and the Second Patrol Battalion stationed under the city is obviously inferior.

There was a sound of snoring in the camp tent, and the officers and soldiers who were keeping vigil outside the camp yawned for a long time.

Most of them dozed off the fence with spears or firearms, while others found a corner and slept with a layer of hay and clothes.

It's okay to sleep lightly, and you can still know if there is any movement, and you can raise your eyelids to take a look. Even if someone comes and kicks me when I sleep deeply, I'm afraid I won't wake up.

Perhaps because they knew that Eunuch Wei was bluffing and scaring people, the officers were able to come out to check the post in the first half of the night, but none of them came out in the second half of the night.

In this February day, although spring is in full bloom, people can still freeze to death at night.

In the distance, there was a faint sound of a rooster crowing, and looking at it, the day was about to dawn.

Two patrol battalion soldiers with their firearms on the wooden fence on one side tucked their hands into their sleeves, sometimes stamping their feet, sometimes pulling their hands out, taking a breath of hot air, or covering their ears.

"This goddamn eunuch Wei can make us miserable."

A soldier covered his ears and scolded at the same time, if it weren't for the Wei eunuch making trouble, he would definitely have to be in the bed, how could he suffer so much.

"That's just today, the water and land standard barracks are here, I heard from the above, the father-in-law of the inner garrison has spoken, if Eunuch Wei dares to come nonsense, his old man will come forward to treat him."

The soldier who spoke was called Wang San, who was on his Lao Tzu's seat, and if it weren't for the importance of the top this time, he was not allowed to find someone to top it, he would rather spend a hundred and ten coppers to hire someone to stand for him for two days, rather than come here to live and suffer.

"The wicked have to grind the wicked, the eunuch has to be governed by the eunuch, the thing without eggs knows the eggs all day long, and I don't look at what kind of place this is. It's strange that Grandpa didn't skin him! ”

The soldier before sighed, white, turned his head to look at the Shangfang Bridge not far away, and saw that there was still nothing on the bridge, so he turned his head and asked Wang San: "Wait for the next value, are you going?" ”

"Well, go to sleep, and come back at noon..."

Wang San nodded, his house was behind the Shangfang Gate, and as he was talking, he heard a sudden "whoosh" scream from across the bridge, followed by several screams.

The two of them were startled by the scream, and they both turned their heads to look at the Shangfang Bridge.

The screaming sound was particularly sharp outside the Shangfang Gate before the early morning, and could be heard every few miles. The officers and soldiers of the second battalion of the patrol and arrest in their sleep hurriedly ran out of their tents, and the water and land standard barracks in the city were also alarmed.

There were shouts everywhere, messy footsteps and panicked figures everywhere.

"What's going on!"

Ma Kui asked loudly as he got dressed.

"I don't know, it seems that the thief emperor army on the opposite side is coming!" A soldier shouted.

Attacked?!

Ma Kui was startled, and hurriedly shouted to order the soldiers to follow him to the camp gate and prepare to resist.

When the Shenji battalion was in a panic and preparing to resist, there were also officers on the patrol battalion who restrained some of the soldiers from getting dressed, and drums sounded on the gate of Shangfang.

"Watch out for the cannons!"

Ma Kui, who was the first to rush to the camp gate, saw that the soldiers were all there, and they were in a hurry, so he hurriedly ordered his subordinates to disperse the crowd and prepare for artillery. At the same time, let people hurry up and call the adjutant general.

"Master Ma, the Thief Emperor Army is here!"

Hearing the shouting, Ma Kui hurriedly looked towards the Shangfang Bridge, there was no figure of Wei eunuch soldiers and horses on the Shangfang Bridge in his sight, but he heard footsteps coming from the opposite side of the bridge.

As the footsteps got closer, the sound grew denser and louder.

"Stomp!"

"Stomp!"

Finally, Ma Kui saw a military flag appear on the bridge.

The flag was followed by a long line of six, carrying firearms and marching towards the bridge.

With the sound of "stepping", the Wei eunuchs on the bridge are getting closer and closer, and there are many people in the fog, but they look like thousands of troops.

A soldier shouted: "My lord, the Thief Emperor Army is coming, what should I do!" ”

Ma Kui turned around and wanted to find the adjutant general, but he did not see the figure of the adjutant general, seeing that the vanguard of the Wei eunuch's soldiers and horses had already crossed the Shangfang Bridge, thinking of Wei Guogong's explanation, he didn't have time to think about it, so he ordered the soldiers to prepare for the attack.

However, at this time, he saw Wang Qing, the camp officer, hurriedly running from behind, shouting as he ran: "Your Excellency has an order, don't let go, don't resist!" ”