Chapter 252 Deserters, Crossbows and Bows

After listening to the report from the fireman Ah Hai,
Lu Yunyi frowned at the first moment and also noticed something wrong.

Now the soldiers of Yunnan Commandery were either transferred to the three border prefectures or stationed in Kunming.

Everything has to be done in a tight and tight manner, even in a hurry.

What kind of army can stay in the same place and not even show any intention of leaving?

As for the rest it's normal.

The Indians were mixed with local chieftains' troops in the garrisons, and it was natural for them to be mobilized in the face of war.

As for the people who were tied up, military law is ruthless. Perhaps they violated military law. Every year, many people were beheaded for disobeying military orders.

But when the three are combined, there must be something fishy going on.

Lu Yunyi gathered his thoughts, looked at the many generals who had gathered, and ordered:

"Everyone pack up and hurry over."

"Yes!"

The five thousand soldiers immediately got busy, quickly packed up the packages, and left.

The sound of violent horse hooves rang out, stirring up waves of mud.

Time passed, and in the blink of an eye an hour passed.
Three miles away from the valley, Lu Yunyi waved his hand and ordered the soldiers to slow down and make the horses move forward in a coordinated manner.
In this way, even if someone discovered that a large army was coming, they would not be able to guess the exact number of people.

Quarter of an hour later, Lu Yunyi saw the firemen waiting on both sides of the official road, and saw the war horses and mule carts.

The soldiers tried to scrunch up their noses, a trace of disappointment flashed in their eyes, and the long swords in their hands could not help but tightened, with a murderous aura all over their bodies.

Tired from the journey, the only thing they could look forward to was this hot meal.

But now it has been cancelled because of some unknown military unit, which makes them very unhappy!
Lu Yunyi took in their expressions without saying much.
Instead, he looked at the Fire Army and saw that they were also angry and had some apology in their eyes. He said loudly:

"You don't have to feel guilty. It is a military order to retreat in time when encountering a crisis. What's going on inside?"

After hearing what he said, the firemen's faces looked better. An older fireman replied:
"Reporting to the general, there is no movement yet."

Lu Yunyi nodded and ordered:
"Zhang Yu, take a thousand soldiers to investigate the official road ahead. If there is anything unclear, report it immediately. If there is a crisis, do not hold back and kill without mercy!"

"Yes!" Zhang Yu looked alert and waved his hand gently.

More than a thousand people followed him silently, and the sound of the horses' marching was not noticeable on the slightly muddy ground.

Lu Yunyi looked at Qian Hong:
"Take a thousand soldiers to guard the road. If anyone comes, identify yourself and stop them. If they insist on going forward, don't be polite!"

"Yes!" Qian Hong's face darkened and he turned his horse's head and walked backwards.

Lu Yunyi looked at Wu Fuliu again and said, "Two thousand soldiers stay where they are."

"Yes!" Wu Fuliu looked alert, holding the long sword tightly in his hand.

Lu Yunyi looked at the last thousand people and waved his hand:
"Five hundred men dismount and fight on foot, with the musketeers forming a battle array in front, and the rest marching slowly into the mountains!"

"Yes!"

A slightly suppressed shout came over.
Xu Zengshou and Guo Quan were somewhat excited and hurried forward to command the soldiers.

Lu Yunyi dismounted and walked in first.
Entering the valley, the cold wind that had been overwhelming the whole place weakened a lot, and the noisy sounds in my ears became clearer.

After walking only a hundred steps,

Lu Yunyi saw traces of the front army scouts, and thought they were planning to make a fire and cook here.

Lu Yunyi looked far into the depths of the valley and continued forward.
The long sword in his hand has been drawn, and the guards beside him are holding bows, crossbows and spears, ready to go.

Not far away, Hong Yutian, who was nervously staying behind, heard the voice behind him and looked back. Seeing that it was his colleague, a hint of joy flashed in his eyes.
He quickly and cautiously retreated, and the leader made him widen his eyes and straighten his body quickly:

"Firefighter Hong Yutian greets the general!"

Lu Yunyi looked at him and the soldiers beside him and asked:

"It's nothing serious."

"Don't worry, sir. Those people in front of us are extremely relaxed and didn't notice us at all."

Lu Yunyi nodded, looked at Liu Heiying, and ordered:
"Send the scouts over to see what they are up to."

Liu Heiying nodded, waved to You Dafeng and the others, and whispered a few words.

You Dafeng quickly ran back, opened his backpack, took out a colorful piece of clothing and put it on, and even replaced his head armor with a straw helmet woven from weeds.

Soon, five soldiers in concealed clothing approached silently.
He crawled down without waiting to enter the open space in front and crawled to both sides.

Lu Yunyi held a telescope in his hand and leaned forward to check the military tent in front of him. The more he looked, the more solemn his expression became.

Most of the people in front of me were from India and the chieftains of the south. They looked quite different from the Ming people.

They came in and out of the tents, with worried faces.

Lu Yunyi even saw some women in tattered clothes, who were also chieftains.

"Brother Yun'er, what are they doing? Are they deserters?"

Liu Heiying took down the telescope and his expression became even weirder.

Lu Yunyi's face was calm: "Don't jump to conclusions. Maybe they are fellow soldiers who stopped here to rest. Wait until they come back."

After saying this, Lu Yunyi put away the telescope and turned to Xu Zengshou and Guo Quan and said:

"Teach the soldiers the three-stage attack. Form a team of three, with another ten as backup. The archers will wait on the side."

Hearing about the military affairs, Xu Zengshou and Guo Quan looked at each other, feeling a sense of uneasiness for no reason, and straightened their bodies quickly:

"Yes!"

Seeing the two of them going to arrange military affairs, Liu Heiying moved closer and whispered:

"Brother Yun'er, can a hundred people be enough? Judging from the tents in front of us, there should be more than a thousand people."

Lu Yunyi glanced at him:
"It's just a matter of making preparations early. Now that we have formed a musketeer army, we have to use it.
Only in this way can the tactics be mature, more shortcomings can be discovered, and improvements can be made.

As for whether it is enough, if they are really deserters, they won’t be too brave, and killing a few people to deter them is enough.”

Liu Heiying nodded thoughtfully, and then suddenly realized something was wrong. His eyes widened in an instant and he said quickly:
"Brother Yun'er, this musket cannot be modified.
The gunpowder explodes easily, so let the craftsmen handle this.
You must not touch it. If something bad happens, how can I explain it to my master?"

"As long as we control the dosage and ratio of our Ming gunpowder, it will only explode in a sealed container. Don't worry."

“No, no, no!!”

Although the situation is tense now, Liu Heiying still decided to give timely advice.

Even if these people were elite soldiers, they would not cause much damage to the front scouts.
But if Brother Yuner was killed by gunpowder
Liu Heiying shuddered, got goose bumps all over his body, stepped forward and grabbed his arm:

"Brother Yun'er, please don't do anything stupid. How about you teach me and let me do it?"

Lu Yunyi looked down at his arm and said helplessly:

"Black Hawk, when this war is over,

You should first go back and read "The Secret of the Golden Elixir of the Supreme Saint Ancestor" written by Qingxuzi in the Tang Dynasty.
and "Wu Jing Zong Yao" written by Zeng Gongliang in the Northern Song Dynasty.
There is also the "Preface to the Teaching and Learning of the Fire Dragon Artifact Formation" written by Earl Chengyi. I will talk to you after you can understand it."

In an instant, Liu Heiying's small eyes were filled with confusion.

Of the three books, he only felt that "Wujing Zongyao" was more serious. As for the others, could they be the deceptive tricks of wandering Taoist priests?

Some of his personal guards around him also had the same look on their faces, bewildered.

At this moment, You Dafeng, who had been investigating earlier, crawled back slowly, with a look of shock on his face.

He stood up quickly, without even having time to clean the dirt off his body, and rushed to stand in front of Lu Yunyi, with a look of shock in his eyes:

"Sir, these people are deserters. They are all strange people inside and outside.
They are also digging a mountain road behind the camp, seemingly intending to get to the mountain through here.”

Lu Yunyi had a weird look on his face, his hands on his hips, and a gloomy expression. He was really a deserter.
"how many people?"

You Dafeng said quickly:
"There should be less than 500 people in the camp, most of them lying in tents.
There were only some people busy behind the camp, and there were no people on the mountain road.
I didn't have time to investigate, there was someone on duty there."

"Good guy, he only cares about the head and not the butt." Liu Heiying on the side murmured.

Whether it was Li Jinglong or Xu Zengshou, they were all ready to fight.
After nearly three months of traveling, they were finally able to practice martial arts today, which made them very excited.

"Yun Yi, let's do it!"

Li Jinglong simply spoke directly. Ever since he knew that these Indians and chieftains were not loyal, he did not have much good feelings towards these people.

Lu Yunyi's face was calm, and he ordered in a deep voice:

"Persuade them to surrender first, and then arrest them if they refuse to surrender."

There was a flash of doubt in Li Jinglong's eyes.

Lu Yunyi explained:

"There are many Indians and Tusi people in the Dusi Guard.

If we act without knowing the truth, although it can cause a shock, it will do more harm than good and make the army unstable. After all, there are many chieftains who sincerely surrender.
As the commander of an army, I must consider the overall situation and not make things difficult for Lord Mu and Governor Feng."

Li Jinglong naturally understood this principle and nodded repeatedly.
He just wanted to see how powerful the musketeers were, and he had heard a lot of "outrageous talk" about firearms along the way.

Seeing him so excited, Lu Yunyi glanced at him and ordered:
"You wait here and are not allowed to trespass."

As he said that, Lu Yunyi jumped onto Li Jinglong's horse, leaving him in shock.

Lu Yunyi ordered:
"The cavalry will outflank and surround, the infantry will follow, the musketeers will press forward, and the archers will stand on the side."

The next moment, the murderous aura from the soldiers in front of him suddenly gushed out, and the previous tense atmosphere intensified again.

The messenger's eyes froze, and he took the horn from his waist and put it to his lips.

Well--

The desolate sound of the horn echoed in the valley, without the interference of wind and rain, it seemed particularly sad.
The next moment, Lu Yunyi drew out the long sword from his waist, waved it lightly twice, and then let out a loud roar:
"Advance!!"

Following Lu Yunyi's thunderous "Advance!" order,
The entire valley seemed to be awakened by an invisible force, and the military formation instantly erupted with murderous intent.

The cavalrymen whipped their horses, the sound of their hooves was deafening, and waves of mud were trampled on the slightly soft ground.
The next moment, they were like a tide,

They rushed out from both wings of the col, rushed into the open space in front in an instant, and encircled the camp in front.

The sky was still a little gloomy, but it couldn't stop the murderous aura from the armor and weapons!

In a flash, the cavalry had surrounded the camp tightly.

The musketeers held heavy muskets, their barrels gleaming with cold light.

They marched in unison and quickly squeezed out of the valley. The infantry followed the musketeers closely, holding long swords in their right hands and shields in their left hands, with alert expressions.

On one side, there were archers ready to fire.
They are strong and sharp-eyed.
With his fingers lightly resting on the bowstring and trigger, he can shoot the deadly arrow at the enemy as soon as his superior gives the order.

Walking into the open space, the mountain breeze blows gently, bringing a bit of coolness.

The soldiers in the front tent were clearly confused about everything.
The soldiers who heard the noise came out of the tent.

Among them were ragged, skinny Indians.
There are also southern chieftains wearing strange costumes and holding indigenous weapons.

Faced with this sudden encirclement, seeing the smoke and dust and the vast number of cavalry,

Their faces turned pale, and some soldiers even fell to the ground, their legs shaking uncontrollably.

Some people struggled to walk into the tent, trying to get the weapons placed aside.

But after a loud shout, they dared not move.

"Everyone kneel down, do not move without permission. Anyone who moves without permission will be killed without mercy!!"

Lu Yunyi held a long knife in one hand and a loudspeaker in the other. His eyes were sharp as torches as he shouted towards the front. His voice was solemn and majestic.

"Anyone who moves without permission will be killed!"

The voices came from the mouths of the surrounding cavalrymen, and their dark faces,
The people present were so frightened that they dared not move and fell to their knees.

This scene made everyone present look strange. Is it so easy?

But soon, scattered angry curses came from behind the camp.
I saw some shadows swaying back and forth on the mountain road dug out behind the camp, accompanied by angry curses.

"What are you yelling about, what are you yelling about!
Damn it, I'm working so hard in the front and you guys are still making trouble in the back. Don't you want to live anymore?

If we bring those Ming people here, we will all die!"

The sound was getting closer and closer, and soon a sturdy man in his thirties appeared at the corner of the mountain road.
Many soldiers immediately looked over with sharp eyes, and some crossbows were also aimed at him.

The sturdy man's body suddenly stiffened, his eyes widened, his face turned pale in an instant, and his breathing became rapid.

He looked back at the many brothers who were still paving the way.

There was a flash of determination in his eyes. He gritted his teeth, rolled over quickly, and disappeared around the corner.

Several soldiers who were closer looked anxious and wanted to catch up.

But when they heard no military orders, they stopped again.

Lu Yunyi looked at the mountain road quietly, wondering whether he should capture all these people.
At this moment, You Dafeng, who was lying on the side and listening quietly, suddenly raised his head and said quickly:
"Sir, some people rushed out from those mountain roads. There are about four hundred of them."

Before he could finish, a loud shout came from behind the corner of the mountain road:
"Brothers, those Ming people are here again. They want to capture us and kill us. Let's fight them!"

"kill!!!"

The sudden shouts of killing made many soldiers look solemn.

But some generals looked strange, and Lu Yunyi frowned, staring at the mountain path thoughtfully.
He couldn't understand why he had to shout in advance when there was only one exit. Wouldn't that give the soldiers psychological preparation?

But no matter what, since these people are prepared to fight to the end, there is no point in being polite.

Lu Yunyi ordered in a deep voice:
"The musketeers move forward and fire a three-stage volley. The archers will provide protection. The rest of the soldiers must keep an eye on the kneeling man. Anyone who moves will be killed."

"Yes!"

Xu Zengshou's eyes were cold, he waved the flag in his hand and shouted:
"Musketeers, take ten steps forward and prepare to fire!"

Soon, more than ten people appeared on the narrow mountain road ahead.

Their clothes were torn, their bodies were covered in mud, and their sandals had become dirty and heavy.
The only thing that was clean was the long swords in their hands.

As for the sturdy man from before, he stood to one side, waving his hands and shouting "Kill!"

The originally quiet camp suddenly became noisy and seemed to be filled with chaos.

But when the dozen or so men jumped down the mountain road and looked up, what caught their eyes were thirty black gun muzzles.

Xu Zengshou stood aside, already impatient.

Seeing them rushing down, his eyes lit up and he shouted:
"volley!!"

Following Xu Zengshou's deafening "Salvo!" order,
The entire camp seemed to be shaken suddenly by an invisible force.

The first row of thirty musketeers, wearing heavy iron armor and with resolute faces, looked like thirty iron statues.
Their eyes looked through the smoke rising from their muskets and locked onto the deserters who were fleeing in panic along the mountain path.

Instantly, a strong smell of gunpowder filled the air.

The musketeers in the first row pulled the triggers, followed by a series of loud "bang! bang! bang!"

A row of flames suddenly burst out, breaking the tranquility of the valley at noon.

The roar echoed through the valley and the smoke quickly spread, blocking the view but not hiding the bloody scene.

The first deserter to rush out may be hit directly.

His body shook violently, and he fell down in shock. Blood gushed out of his wound like a fountain, staining the ground red.

Or being hit by flying shrapnel and gravel, screaming,

The sound of stones piercing flesh and blood kept echoing, and he fell to the ground powerlessly.

"Retreat!" Xu Zengshou shouted.
The second row of musketeers quickly took over, their movements were in unison, and they fired another volley.
The flames once again engulfed the space ahead, smoke and flames intertwined.
The figures of those deserters became tiny at this moment, and their shouts and wails were drowned out by the sound of muskets.

"end!"

Xu Zengshou did not ask the third row of musketeers to continue shooting, but looked carefully.

The smoke gradually dissipated, and the scene before us was shocking.
There were more than thirty corpses scattered on the ground, blood gathered into a river, dyeing the land red, and the air was filled with the tragic smell of death.

Those deserters who had not yet rushed down were already frightened out of their wits by this scene and collapsed to the ground.

Xu Zengshou's eyes were deep as he saw this cruel scene.
Not only did he not show any sympathy, he even smiled.
He found what he should do. He was not good at charging into battle, nor was he good at military tactics, nor was he good at logistics and food transportation.
It seemed that the only people he could rely on were his family and his long-dead father, the King of Zhongshan.

This scene reminded him of another path Shangguan had mentioned.

Find a new way and make greater achievements.

Compared to charging into battle, the musketeers seemed simpler.
Lu Yunyi stood quietly on his horse, looking at the tragic scene ahead, his face calm, and spoke in a deep voice:
"Why stop? On the battlefield, being kind to the enemy is being cruel to yourself."

"Shoot with all your bows and crossbows, kill them all!"

The sound of breaking air was heard suddenly, accompanied by shouting, and the deserters who were standing still were shot dead in an instant.

"Kneel down and don't kill!"

The voice came from the soldiers' mouths. The bows and crossbows were firing arrows continuously. Anyone who did not kneel would be shot to death!

Lu Yunyi spoke in a deep voice at this time:
"The enemy will remain the enemy unless they surrender. We must use all our strength to win the victory until all the enemies fall to the ground.

Instead of standing there like now, with long knives in their hands."

(End of this chapter)

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