Chapter 186 Zhang Jiushi It was already very cold in the early morning of November.
In the swamps more than thirty miles southwest of Shijiabao, a team of about 6,000 people braved the biting cold wind and dug into the ground.
Move forward.
Most of the people in the team only wore a single piece of clothing, and only a few of them had a piece of leather armor or a stolen silk jacket to keep out the cold.
However, given the weather at this time of year, silk jackets and leather armors can only play a very limited role in keeping warm, so the sounds of wiping noses and coughing have become the main theme permeating the team, endless, endless.
No rest.
"Cough cough, cough cough, cough cough cough" Captain Li Boxheng was riding on an old horse with almost all its hair falling out.
He kept coughing as he walked.
His beard was covered with saliva and snot.
The few soldiers beside him looked as embarrassed as his general.
They also had constant coughing and runny noses.
One of them couldn't even walk anymore.
He staggered and fell directly into the mud pit on the roadside.
"Xiaoqi" Li Bosheng had quick hands and eyes.
He reached down his right arm from the horse and tightly held the soldier who was in a semi-conscious state.
Then he jumped off the mount with one leg, and quickly took off a water bag from the back of the saddle with his left hand.
While pouring it into the unconscious man's mouth, he shouted loudly, "Xiao Qi, Xiao Qi, don't sleep.
Don't sleep, we will arrive in Xinghua soon." .
When you get to Xinghua, brother, I’ll treat you to big meat slices, meat slices as big as your palm, and you’ll have enough.”
"Lao Qi, Lao Qi, hold on, hold on, we will be in Xinghua soon, we will be in Xinghua soon."
Several other soldiers gathered around and shouted loudly while helping Li Boxheng unconscious and rubbing his chest. .
However, it was too late.
Although Liu Qi, who was in a coma, opened her eyes, there was dark blood slowly dripping from the corner of her mouth.
"Li, Brother Li, Xinghua, Xinghua is really here, it's almost here."
He swallowed a mouthful of cold water with difficulty, his tired eyes filled with unwillingness.
"Here we are, really, just hold on, I, I'll let you ride my horse."
Li Boxheng nodded vigorously, but tears fell from his eyes.
Soldier Liu Qi was not the first to fall.
In fact, from the time he left Shijiabao last night to now, at least hundreds of brothers have died of exhaustion due to marching in the cold wind.
There were still six to seven hundred people who broke away from the main force while walking.
It is unknown whether they became deserters of their own accord or died of starvation.
"Thank you, thank you, Brother Li."
From the expression on Li Boxheng's face, soldier Liu Qi knew that everyone was comforting him.
He grinned with difficulty, revealing his teeth that were stained red with blood, "Also, brothers.
You guys, you'd better put me down.
Don't, don't drag everyone down."
"No, when I brought you to join the army, we agreed to get rich immediately with a piece of it."
Li Boxheng felt great pain, wiped away his tears, and roared loudly, "You are not allowed to die.
Liu, you have to climb to your feet today."
"I am your commander-in-chief.
You must obey my orders."
"Brother Li, Xiao Qi, Xiao Qi, I'm sorry for you.
Cough, cough, cough."
Liu Qi responded with difficulty while coughing violently.
Every time he opened his mouth, black blood flowed out of his mouth, "You, please take everyone home quickly.
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Don't, don't go to Xinghua.
If you go there, you still have to run.
Zhu Tuhu "Butcher Zhu" "Xiao Qi, Xiao Qi, don't sleep.
Don't sleep.
If you say you won't go, you won't go.
Let's go home.
Let's break up and go home immediately."
Li Boxheng held Liu Qi, his own soldier, with both hands and shook him vigorously.
He was afraid that if he stopped, his soldier Liu Qi would fall into a deep sleep.
"Xiao Qi, Xiao Qi, don't sleep.
Don't sleep.
We, we have money.
And we still have to buy private salt from ship dealers."
Several other soldiers also cried and shouted in support.
Although they are now Li Boxheng's personal soldiers in name, in fact, two months ago, they were still making brine and salt together.
They are more like brothers than brothers.
Therefore, it is absolutely impossible to watch Liu Qi die in front of his eyes.
"No, I won't sleep."
Under everyone's unanimous call, the soldier Liu Qi reluctantly opened his eyes again and responded with difficulty, "I, I won't sleep.
Brother Li, Brother Li, don't go to Xinghua either. .
We, we are not, we are not Zhu Tutu’s opponents.
We, these officers and soldiers, we, we shouldn’t.”
Another mouthful of blood spurted out from his mouth and nostrils against his breathing, dyeing Li Boxheng's leather armor red.
Soldier Liu Qi struggled for a moment, his eyes widened in an instant, and he died of anger.
"Xiaoqi, Xiaoqi" Li Boxheng shook desperately, but he couldn't stop the fact that the body in his arms was getting colder and colder.
He felt inexplicably sad and angry.
Suddenly, as if he had made up his mind, he gritted his teeth and handed the body to another soldier beside him, "Old Xu, Old Zhou, you two go find a sunny place and bury Xiao Qi.
Others , follow me to find Zhang Jiusi."
"Yes" the soldiers mustered up the last energy in their bodies and agreed in unison.
Naturally, when looking for Zhang Jiusi, they would not talk to him about how to go to Xinghua City and continue to work for the imperial court.
Instead, they divided everyone's share of money and food, and then everyone went back to their homes.
This Zhu Butcher, whoever is willing to fight for the imperial court can do it.
I don’t have the ability.
I will go home and live my life first.
"Lao Ba, tell Lu Zhen and Lao Pan to let them take their brothers to rest where they are.
We won't leave and bury the pot and make rice.
We would rather be caught up by Butcher Zhu than exhaust everyone to death."
Now that it has been decided Determined, Li Boxheng would never stop doing anything.
He simply used his authority as commander in chief to order all the teams under his jurisdiction to stop advancing.
"Yes."
The soldier who was called Lao Ba agreed and took the command arrow, stumbled and chased towards the front of the team.
After a while, Li Boxheng's order was passed to the relevant personnel.
The entire marching team immediately broke into two parts.
Not only Li Boxheng's direct line Thousand Soldiers, but also the two Yanding Thousand Soldiers who were affiliated with him, also slowly stopped.
Some centurions and brand leaders in the team looked around as if they were in the clouds.
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The ordinary soldiers, who were so tired that they were about to vomit blood, immediately cheered and left the team as if they had been granted amnesty.
Those who fetched water fetched water, and those who ate dry food ate dry food.
There were piles here and there, a mess like ants after a flood.
Li Boxheng himself, along with Yanding captains Lu Zhen and Pan Yuanming, as well as more than fifty trusted subordinates, passed through the "ant colony" and strode towards the front half of the team.
Over there are the teams of Captain Zhang Jiu Si and his brother Zhang Jiu Liu, as well as two other salt soldiers.
Both the scale and actual combat effectiveness are far higher than Li Boxheng's side.
Therefore, even if the two sides can no longer fight side by side in the future, they should try their best to get together and disperse easily.
Zhang Jiusi, who was also one of the Nine Tiger Generals of Gaoyou, obviously felt that the situation was gradually getting out of his control.
Therefore, before Li Boxheng could catch up, he took the initiative to stop the first half of the team.
And he took his younger brother Zhang Jiuliu, Yanding Qianhu Qu Qiming and others to turn around and meet him.
From a long distance away, he raised his hands and said with a smile: "I just wanted to order the team to stop and rest, but it didn't happen."
I didn't expect that Bo Sheng, you and I would come together.
Come on, come on, come on, while it still takes some time for the food to be cooked, you and I can quickly discuss what to do next."
"Next step, next step, aren't you going to Xinghua?"
Li Boxheng was caught off guard and couldn't say a word that he had prepared in his stomach.
He had no choice but to frown and ask very stiffly.
"That's just to make it easier for the brothers to leave."
Zhang Jiusi's reaction was much smarter than Li Boxheng's.
Shaking his head, he strode forward, "Bosheng, you also know that the situation last night cannot be delayed.
If you and I don't leave with our brothers quickly, we will be swallowed up by Butcher Zhu."
"Um, hoo."
Li Boxheng was so suffocated that he could only breathe heavily, but he couldn't say anything to accuse the other party.
Fanshui Village is only more than thirty miles away from Shijiabao.
If they didn't join forces last night to kill Semu's general Guo Guotai, abandon the fort and escape.
Once the Red Turban Army arrives, the consequences will be disastrous.
"But, Bo Sheng, I'm afraid I can't go to Xinghua."
Zhang Jiusi quickly took a few steps forward and reached out to pull Li Boxheng's arm.
"Listen to me, brother.
It's not me who changed his mind, but the man Butcher Zhu is so awesome.
Think about it, he broke Huai a few months ago.
An, it took a day and a night to break Baoying two days ago, but it only took one afternoon to break Fanshui Village yesterday.
How long does it take to make a stick of incense?
At this pace, think about it.
Think about it, even if we defend Xinghua, how long can we defend it?"
"Alas" Li Boxheng sighed weakly.
Doesn't matter?
Everyone in Shijiabao last night just ran away.
They didn't even dare to let Butcher Zhu waste even a snap of his fingers.
With the current morale and strength comparison, even if he insisted on defending Xinghua, how many snaps of his fingers could he hold on?
Why don't we break up and go home early?
"I should have divided the money and food among everyone, and everyone should go back to their own homes."
As if he could see through Li Boxheng's belly, Zhang Jiusi took the initiative to say it before he could speak.
"But" he sighed and shook his head, and continued to add, "Bosheng, my brother Bosheng, if you really go home, can you still live like that?
After you eat one meal, you don't know where the next meal will be.
When you see someone, you have to kowtow."
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"Uh-huh."
Li Boxheng's heart tightened when he was asked, and he couldn't lift up any strength in his body.
Yes, go back, it’s easy to go back.
But can I still live the same life as before?
Although the commander of the army for these two months has not lived up to his reputation, he still responded to everything after all.
And there was a lot of money flowing through his hands.
Go back, go back and be an ordinary citizen.
Even if I use the money saved in the past two months to buy a ship to sell salt, will I still be able to bend my knees when meeting those country officials?
"I heard that Butcher Zhu only had more than a thousand brothers at hand before he went south to Huai'an."
Feeling the tremor coming from Li Boxheng's palm, Zhang Shicheng sighed again and continued, "But now, he has commanded the number of soldiers."
Thousands of people stomped their feet, and there was nowhere on both sides of the canal.
Don't hesitate.
Bo Sheng, my brother Bo Sheng, we have more than 6,000 soldiers and horses in our hands now.
He is much better than Zhu Tutu half a year ago.
We two brothers can do well.
Why are you being driven around like a dog, hungry and looking for shit to eat?”
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