The roots of the grass on both sides of the road were tied up by a thin thread that was so thin that it was difficult to distinguish with the naked eye, no wonder the bandit had just fled, and there was no one in the grass on both sides of the road, everything was he alone in making waves.

After thinking about it carefully, Tang Ning felt that he was stupid. There is still some distance from Suzhou, and no matter how powerful those bandits are, they have only recently emerged, and it is impossible for them to run so far away to rob the road and make a fortune.

Scratching his head vigorously, Tang Ning thought to himself that he must catch the bastard who dared to play tricks on him, and punish him severely to set an example.

After another day and a half of walking, I finally arrived in Suzhou in one afternoon. When I got here, I was hit by an earthquake and started again.

Although the intensity of the earthquake was not high, Downing could clearly feel the ground under his feet rise and fall, and then sway from side to side.

However, the veterans of the Zhenjiang army did not react much, and in their eyes, the explosion of gunpowder was much more terrifying than an earthquake.

After about two minutes of shaking, the shaking of the earth finally stopped. Tang Ning then ordered to continue moving, and on the way, he saw that outside a farm, many farmers were kneeling in front of a land temple and praying, hoping that the land would be for the sake of tribute, and that they would stop being tempered.

It was already halfway through the afternoon, and the Zhenjiang army finally came to the outside of Suzhou.

It just so happened that today's gate control messenger came down to inspect, and when he saw so many people coming from a distance at the gate of the city, he immediately sent someone to inform Zhizhou, and shouted at a distance at the top of his voice, who is coming, report the name.

Tang Ning ordered the whole army to rest in place, and he and Lin Wei immediately stepped forward and said: "The Zhenjiang army is under the jurisdiction of Tang Ning and led a thousand people to assist Lord Zhizhou to suppress the bandits!" ”

After hearing this, the door control envoy was puzzled, and said, "Zhenjiang Army? Didn't you come the other day with 3,000? ”

Tang Ning replied: "I was shocked to hear that there was a ground dragon in Suzhou that had turned over, and Ben Xuan was very worried. The day before yesterday, his subordinates came back to report that when they attacked the bandit village, they unfortunately encountered the earth dragon and turned over, resulting in heavy losses for our Zhenjiang army, and there were no wounded, none of them in ten.

Therefore, Ben Zhan specially led 1,000 soldiers and horses as reinforcements to assist, and he was sure to wipe out the bandits near Suzhou. ”

The door control envoy felt that there was nothing wrong with what Tang Ning said, but he still didn't dare to let Tang Ning in easily, who knew if the Zhenjiang army in front of him was under the jurisdiction of the soldiers and horses, was he pretending to be one of the bandits?

You must know that since the last time the Zhenjiang army suppressed bandits suffered heavy losses, those bandits acted extremely arrogantly, and even ran to the gate of Suzhou City to shout.

Although he was soon beaten and fled by the archers of the Zhenjiang army, his arrogance can be seen from this.

Thinking of this, he said to Tang Ning: "I wonder if Lord Chan can carry a token on him?" ”

Tang Ning nodded, reached out and took out a waist card from his waist and handed it over

The access control messenger took a look, and after careful identification, he found no problem, so he arched his hand towards Tang Ning and said: "Thank you for your cooperation, now Suzhou is an eventful time, everything needs to be cautious, and if you are offended, I hope that your lord will not take it to heart." ”

Tang Ning smiled: "It's okay, but I don't know if the envoy can take Ben Xuan to our army's garrison?" ”

The gate messenger smiled: "This is natural, please come with me, my lord." With that, he pulled a city gate guard who was watching the heat next to him to stand guard, and he led Tang Ning towards the garrison of the other three thousand Zhenjiang troops.

Along the way, Tang Ning talked with the access messenger.

The access control messenger said that it was common for the dragon to turn over in Suzhou. But such a situation of doubling every few days, or even several times a day, is unheard of as a native of Suzhou.

Therefore, the people in the city were terrified, and many people packed up their fines. He also asked Tang Ning if he had seen refugees from Suzhou on the way here, and almost every day people left the city with their families in tow.

It is precisely because of this that he, the messenger of the gatekeeper, is busy.

Tang Ning remembered that he saw a lot of hurried people coming from the direction of Suzhou on the road, he thought that these people were all going home, but he didn't expect that they were all fleeing.

While speaking, the group arrived at the Zhenjiang Army garrison. When the guards guarding the gate saw Tang Ning coming, they stood at the entrance of the camp with their heads held high and saluted.

"General!"

Tang Ning walked to the little soldier's side and took a closer look, and saw that he was still wrapped under his helmet with a special wounded cloth in the wounded barracks of the Zhenjiang Army, so he patted him on the shoulder and said, "Hard work!" ”

The little soldier's eyes turned red all of a sudden, and he said excitedly: "Serve the people!" ”

It wasn't until the group entered the camp that Tang Ning deeply realized what it meant to be defeated.

Almost every soldier walking around the camp had wounded cloths on his body, some with heads, some with arms, and some with crutches, plasters on his legs, and splints strapped to and fro from place to place.

These people are not in a very good mental state, and they are somewhat sluggish. This is Fang Yong's dereliction of duty, his task is not only to command the soldiers to fight, the mental state of the soldiers, but also something that needs to be paid attention to as a general.

However, the spirit was not high, and after seeing Tang Ning, the soldiers still greeted each other in a proper manner. It's just that some people have a look of shame on their faces, and some people are very excited.

Individual emotions vary from person to person, but most of the people with guilty faces are almost all veterans who participated in the Qingtang War.

The victory along the way in Qingtang created a strong self-confidence for them, and even Qingyi Jiegui and Ali Gu and the elite of the king's tent under these two could not prevent them from achieving victory

What else in the world can trouble them?

Although this time the sky has changed, a defeat is a defeat. The first defeat of the Zhenjiang army was not eaten by the powerful bandits outside the Liangzhejiang Road, nor by the brave Qingtang soldiers, but by the unknown bandits in Suzhou.

The huge gap made them self-doubting and guilty, and at the same time, they felt guilty about Downing, who had high hopes for them.

Tang Ning responded to the soldiers' salute all the way, and from time to time walked up to a soldier to look at his injuries and inquire about his condition. The soldier who was questioned threw away the crutch in his hand, stood on the ground with one foot, and said loudly that he had nothing to do, and that as long as Tang Ning gave the order, he could carry a knife to the battlefield.

This is the veteran, and the recruits can't say anything like that.

Tang Ning patted him on the shoulder and said with a smile that if the battle situation was unfavorable, he would definitely call him.

After saying that, he also picked up the crutches for the soldier.

The soldier was moved to tears, and Fang Yong heard the news that Tang Ning was coming, and he also ran out in a hurry. Seeing this situation, Fang Yong couldn't help but feel very emotional.

How old is Downing today? He was only twenty years old and commanded an army of this size. Not only is there a lot of martial arts, but he is also a person who can be literate and martial, and knows how to advance and retreat.

While training the soldiers, he also repeatedly stressed that the Zhenjiang Army should serve the people and be loyal to the officials. Many generals would not say these two words to their subordinates until they died of old age, and most of them were doing the same thing, which was to buy people's hearts.

Thinking of this, Fang Yong felt more and more that it was so wise that he chose to join the Zhenjiang Army in the first place. Tang Ning is destined to achieve a great career in the future.

If you can follow him early, it's not too late.

So Fang Yong ran to Tang Ning's side and sneered: "Oops! What kind of wind is blowing you, Lord Chan! ”

Tang Ning glanced at him and said, "How can you suppress a bandit like this?" ”

Fang Yong felt aggrieved in his heart, and said in his heart that who could know in advance when the earth dragon turned over? If I had known in advance, I wouldn't have commanded the army to attack.

However, in the end, the battle was still lost, at least the combat strength of the Zhenjiang army fell sharply, and the bandits were still alive and kicking, and they ran to the gate of Suzhou City a few days ago to shout.

So Fang Yong didn't defend himself, lowered his head and said ashamedly: "The subordinates are incompetent, please punish the adults!" ”

Tang Ning sighed and said, "Forget it, I can't blame you entirely." After all, the sky changes from time to time, which no one expected. But you should reflect on why the bandits have not lost and you have suffered a lot.

This matter can't just pass in two or three sentences, and you will be fined half a year's salary as a warning. ”

“……”