Chapter 40 The end of the road

Chapter 40 The end of the road

Chapter 40 The end of the road
On the fourth day of the eleventh month of the tenth year of Emperor Xianfeng's reign, Taixing, Qiweizi. The weather was sunny, and the temperature was 5 degrees Celsius.

As it is winter, the temperature seems not low, but due to the humidity, it seems chilly and cold.

The soldiers of the Zhongzi Camp were very happy as this temperature was just right for marching.

The military uniforms look impressive, but you will sweat profusely after marching in hot weather. The weather is perfect for war since ancient times, as the autumn crops have been harvested.

A large flag with the word "loyalty" fluttered as two hundred men marched in neat rows without any noise, except for the steady sound of military boots stepping on the road.

The sixty members of the marching team were not here. They were not wearing military uniforms and had scattered out to act as spies.

Not far ahead, by the river, shouts of killing were deafening, and a medieval-style battle was taking place.

Four ladders were placed on the earthen wall of the dike, which was more than ten feet high. The soldiers attacking the city climbed up with sharp knives in their mouths.

Rolling logs and stones were thrown down from the city, and golden liquid was poured. Soldiers on the ladders kept falling down with screams, but those behind them still fought bravely to be the first.

Seeing several warriors jumping onto the top of the city wall, a big man with a knife-like face holding a Bagua knife in one hand came forward.

Pushing the back of the knife with his left hand, he moved with the knife. There was no need to chop or cut, only to cut. His body was agile and only the knife was seen moving, not the person. In the blink of an eye, several warriors who had rushed to the top of the city were all killed.

The morale of the guards was greatly boosted, and they all cheered, "The Lord of the Manor is mighty!"

At that moment, everyone fought bravely, and the forks were taken out. Several ladders were pushed down, and the besiegers who had climbed halfway fell down one after another.

Hai Qing beside Shao Quanzhong was shocked, "Fuck, Senior Brother Liu! It turns out that Liu Erguaizi is him!"

Shao Quanzhong grabbed the telescope in front of him and saw the owner of the manor on the city wall holding a huge Bagua knife in one hand. He looked proud and majestic, and didn't seem to be lame at all?
"Senior Brother Liu's standing practice is very solid, and his Bagua Step is so elusive that his opponents can't find him after twisting and turning. I guess that's how he got this nickname."

"Since he is your senior brother, should we show some mercy?"

"No, no, this kid didn't follow the rules of the sect and was kicked out by the master a long time ago. I didn't expect that he would become a bully after returning to his hometown with the kung fu taught by the master."

Dozens of arrows were shot from the city wall at the same time, and the morale of the attacking soldiers was greatly reduced, and they retreated like a tide.

The commander commanding the siege had a white gauze wrapped around his head, holding a goose-feather knife, and his eyes were red. "You pig-headed guy, brothers, shoot arrows to suppress the top of the city. I will lead the people to charge again!"

The brothers around him were all from the same hometown as the commander, and they all shouted, "Kill!"

There was an experienced and prudent person beside him, who grabbed the commander and said, "Don't, Hengzhong, although we have more people, Liu Erguai is very skilled in martial arts. The situation is not favorable today, why don't we -"

"Why not? My good brothers can't die in vain, and besides—"

The commander named Hengzhong suddenly became dejected, "We have no way out. If we can't take Qiwei, we will be disbanded. We can't even get compensation for our fallen brothers. This is unacceptable."

"Brother! Brother! Look, are these enemy reinforcements?"

"Heng Zhong" looked back and almost fell. Not far away, two hundred soldiers stood in silence, without making any noise. When did they come here?

This group of soldiers also had spies, but they were not professional.

No one had heard that Liu Erguaizi had any reinforcements, so when the battle started, everyone risked their lives to attack the city. The Zhongzi Camp landed nearby, and there was no noise from their march, so no one paid attention.

Although this battalion of soldiers is small in number, they are all dressed as foreign soldiers and look very strong. Three words popped up in Hengzhong's mind: "Foreign Rifle Corps".

When he looked up again, he saw that it was the flag of the Qing Dynasty. The one who was qualified to wave the flag was at least a battalion officer. When did the Qing Dynasty have a regular army like this?

"It is unlikely that the government troops will provide reinforcements to Liu Erguaizi, a gangster bully who is connected to Hou Batian.

Besides, we just realized now that we are so close, if they wanted to attack us by surprise, we would be finished long ago, I will go and meet this group of people."

The commander came to Shao Quanzhong, knelt on one leg, and said, "Tongzhou militia commander Shao Hengzhong, I am here to see you, sir."

Shao Quanzhong was originally looking at the commander who came to see him with a smile, but when he heard him introduce himself, he shook his head and blinked his eyes, "What? What's your name?"

"I am Shao Hengzhong."

Shao Quanzhong personally walked over, took off his white gloves, pulled up Shao Hengzhong, and looked at him carefully. This commander was about the same age as himself, with a loyal and resolute face, and the gauze wrapped on his head was still bleeding, which was completely different from his handsome appearance. Suddenly, he laughed out loud, which made Shao Hengzhong laugh inexplicably.

"What a fate! I didn't expect that Tongtai and Taizhou would be neighbors, and the militia is controlled by our Shao family."

Patting Shao Hengzhong on the shoulder, he said, "My name is Shao Quanzhong. We were one family five hundred years ago. Just hearing the name, we sound like brothers."

"Sir, I am the only one in the Shao family of Tongzhou. I have no relatives in Jiangsu. You are a militia leader from Taizhou? How can you fly a big flag?"

Shao Quanzhong shook his head, a kind person. He didn't even try to establish a relationship with Shangguan when he saw that his name was similar to his own. How did he get to be the head of the regiment?

Behind Shao Quanzhong, Hai Qing straightened his back and said, "Our Master Shao was originally a militia commander, but now he has been promoted to the commander of the Huai Army and commander of the Zhongzi Battalion, and has been awarded the sixth rank hat. He is different from your militia commander."

After Hai Qing finished bragging about himself, Shao Quanzhong took Shao Hengzhong's hand.

"Why did you think of attacking Qiwei? The military strategy says that if you have ten people, you should surround them. You have less than twice the number of the enemy. You can't take down this strong fortress, and you will lose your troops in vain."

"Sir, I know, but I have reached the end of my rope and have no other options left. I can only fight Liu Erguaizi to the death."

"It's strange. You have more than 400 soldiers under your command, which is enough to dominate the area. How come you have no way out?"

“I have been fond of guns and sticks since I was young. Because I am sincere in making friends, I have a group of good brothers around me, who have agreed to fight against violence and protect the good.

Tongzhou was going to set up a militia, so I took my brothers to apply and became the head of the militia.

When I was the head of the regiment, I fought wars all over the place and soon wiped out all the bandits in Tongzhou. When the people of Tongzhou mentioned me, Shao Hengzhong, they all gave me a thumbs up.

Who would have thought that after the bandits were suppressed, our superiors thought that our militia was useless and that we could not resist the Taiping Rebellion and the Nian Bandits, so they stopped allocating funds to us.

The gentry and the government had the same idea, they all wanted to rely on the soldiers of Songjiang Prefecture to resist the Guangdong bandits, and donated all their money to Jiangnan.

I have lost my source of income, and I don’t want to exploit the common people, so the militia is about to disband.”

Shao Quanzhong nodded, he knew this situation.

Tongzhou is located north of the Yangtze River and theoretically belongs to the central Jiangsu region.

However, Jiangsu is scattered. Nantong is close to Shanghai and is determined to hang out with the wealthier Shanghai and Suzhou, considering itself a part of southern Jiangsu.

Now that Suzhou has fallen and Songjiang Prefecture is facing the threat of the Taiping Army, the gentry of Tongzhou took the initiative to donate money to southern Jiangsu to fight against the Taiping Army. No one can do anything about it, right? So the local militia in Tongzhou suffered.

This Shao Hengzhong is not good at scheming, and he is not even willing to keep the bandits for his own benefit. Who told you to wipe out all the bandits? How can this have a future?
"Then how did you become enemies with Liu Erguaizi?"

“Although Liu Erguaizi is not a bandit, I know that he is secretly a member of the Hong Gang and has connections with Hou Batian, who has connections with both the Qing and Hong Gangs.

He acted arrogantly in Jingjiang and bullied the common people. The people reported him to Tongzhou, but the master was too lazy to do anything.

Jingjiang is under the jurisdiction of Tongzhou, and as a militia leader, I have the obligation to serve the people.

Besides—besides—"

Shao Hengzhong suddenly looked ashamed, "I also want to defeat him and get some money so that the group can continue. Otherwise, we will disband--"

"Hahaha, you and I were thinking the same thing.

Well, I'll help you rob the money. Come on, go down and have a rest first, and I'll take down this city for you."

"How can we ask our superiors for help? Besides, the soldiers you brought are too few—"

"We have different fighting styles. What if I take it down?"

Shao Hengzhong looked confused. What did "what if we succeed" mean? Is fighting a war so dependent on luck?
You just taught me that if there are ten of them, we should surround them. Your soldiers are even less than the number of those in the dike. How dare you fight?
Shao Quanzhong ignored him, turned around and waved to his men, "Go!"

(End of this chapter)