OBS Chapter 1263 is about attacking the Zhen Song Army.
Chapter 1263 is about attacking the Zhen Song Army.
Chapter 1263 is about attacking the Zhen Song Army.
The morning dew still clung to the blades of grass as Qin Hao walked along the damp field ridges towards the Lu family's house. He was pondering how to persuade Lu Zhaopeng to annul his engagement to Leng Qiuyue when he suddenly saw a familiar figure stumbling and running towards him.
"Zihan!" Lu Zhaopeng's cloth shoes were covered in mud. He grabbed Qin Hao's arm, his fingertips chillingly cold: "Xi'an is under siege!"
Qin Hao's brow twitched, and he deliberately feigned shock: "How could this be? Who has such power?"
"Liu the Blind's Zhen Song Army!" Lu Zhaopeng's Adam's apple bobbed violently, his voice hoarse as if it had been sanded: "A full 100,000 troops, surrounding Xi'an city completely."
"It's good that you came back early, Zhaopeng," Qin Hao said, feigning nonchalance. "It's a blessing to have escaped this calamity."
Lu Zhaopeng was extremely anxious at this moment. Many comrades and fellow soldiers were in Xi'an. If the Zhen Song Army attacked the city, countless people would die or be wounded: "Zihan, I still have some things to take care of at school..."
Qin Hao: "Okay, then you can go ahead and get busy."
As soon as the hurried figure disappeared around the corner of the village road, Qin Hao immediately turned towards the security regiment's camp. The sounds of drill chants drifted through the morning mist; Heiwa was leading the regiment members in practicing thrusting techniques.
"Brother Hao!" Heiwa wiped his sweat and ran over, his dark face glowing red, clearly indicating that he had been living a comfortable life lately.
Qin Hao pulled him aside and, seeing that no one was around, lowered his voice and said, "Go to the ammunition factory in a while and clear out all the stockpiled ammunition. Also, notify all the regimental soldiers to go on high alert."
Heiwa's eyes suddenly lit up, and his Adam's apple bobbed: "Are we going to have a war?"
His voice was extremely low, yet it couldn't hide the trembling excitement within it. His right hand unconsciously rubbed the gun handle, the calluses rustling against the leather.
"It's your time to stretch your muscles," Qin Hao patted him on the shoulder and laughed.
After leaving the threshing ground, Qin Hao found Bai Jiaxuan, who was working in the field, and explained the situation.
On the ridges of the field, Bai Jiaxuan's pipe flickered in the mist. The old man was bending over to check the growth of the wheat seedlings, the sun-darkened skin on the back of his neck wrinkled like old tree bark.
"Previously, Fang Sheng led 100,000 Qing troops to attack Xi'an. How come now that it's the Republic of China, they still want to attack Xi'an?"
In Bai Jiaxuan's simple values, it's the Republic of China era, so we're all one family. Why are we still fighting each other?
Qin Hao didn't know how to explain it to him for a moment, then thought for a moment and said, "Just think of the present as the separatist warlord era at the end of the Tang Dynasty. The warlords in various places either wanted to carve out their own territory or wanted to unify the world and sit on the dragon throne themselves."
Bai Jiaxuan finally understood: "So these bastards all want to be emperor, but what does that have to do with us? Even if Liu the Blind takes Xi'an, we'll still have to pay grain and taxes, won't we?"
Qin Hao shook his head and said, "Da, this Blind Liu is a former bandit. If he takes Xi'an, will he be any better off than us? Besides, war always requires provisions, right? These past three years, Bailu Plain has enjoyed good weather and abundant harvests, and every household has accumulated a lot of grain. How could Blind Liu not come to collect grain and taxes?"
Bai Jiaxuan's heart tightened upon hearing this: "You mean these bastards are coming to steal our grain?"
Qin Hao said with a gloomy face, "I'm afraid it's not just about robbing grain. Many of Liu the Blind's troops were bandits. Those bastards are capable of anything."
Bai Jiaxuan's face grew increasingly grim. It is said that bandits are like combs and soldiers are like fine brushes, meaning that soldiers can be even more ruthless than bandits when it comes to evil.
"Then what should we do now?"
Qin Hao said solemnly, "First, ring the bell to summon everyone to the ancestral hall for a meeting. Tell them to keep half a month's worth of food at home and gather the rest to hide in the back mountain. Second, notify the clan chiefs of other villages in Bailu Plain and tell them to gather their food together like we do. Also, gather the militia from each village. If those damned Zhen Song Army dare to cause trouble, we'll fight them!"
"Ring the bell." The old man's voice trembled slightly. "Have Xiaowen inform the clan chiefs from the other villages to come to our house for a meeting."
The midday sun beat down mercilessly, and the patina on the century-old bell hanging from the ancient locust tree in front of the ancestral hall fluttered down. The sound of the bell startled a flock of crows, their dark wings sweeping across the top of the granary. Qin Hao stood on the stone steps, watching the crowd surge in from all directions like a tide.
Bai Jiaxuan repeated what Qin Hao had said to the villagers, his voice becoming hoarse. After all, he was getting old, and his voice wasn't as strong as it used to be.
After listening to Bai Jiaxuan's explanation, most of the villagers agreed to hand over their stored grain to the security team for safekeeping.
But at that moment, Sang Laoba jumped out from the crowd and shouted, "Why should we give the grain to others? My cellar is ten feet deep, more secure than the dilapidated granary of the security regiment!"
Several opportunists behind him—Gou Sheng and Wang Mazi—immediately chimed in: "Exactly! We only feel at ease when the grain is right under our own noses!"
Bai Jiaxuan was about to lash out when Qin Hao stopped him: "Let me make this clear from the start: if you're going to hide your own grain, don't blame Dahe and the security regiment if it gets confiscated."
Sang Laoba scoffed and pulled the man away, saying, "Who are you trying to scare! The Zhen Song Army doesn't know this place well; they won't find you so easily."
At dawn the next day, Wang Mazi's wife slapped her thigh and wailed on the village road: "Heinous criminal! Who was the heartless bastard who stole the grain we had hidden?"
Immediately afterwards, both Gou Sheng's family and Li Lao Si's family started making a scene.
Old Man Sang cried the hardest, his forehead still covered in mud: "My wheat is gone too!"
"Bullshit!" Bai Ling suddenly popped out from behind the old locust tree, hands on hips like a little leopard: "Last night, when Zhao Hai and I were catching field mice, I saw you come out of Wang Mazi's cellar with my own eyes. You hid more than ten bags of grain in your cellar in the east of the village."
Upon hearing this, Wang Mazi and his wife immediately stared at Sang Laoba with suspicious eyes.
Feeling guilty, Sang Laoba's eyes flashed with malice as he swung his fist at Bai Ling, yelling, "You little slut, how dare you frame me..."
Seeing this, Lu Zhaohai hurriedly stepped in front of Bai Ling, but Sang Laoba pushed Lu Zhaohai down and was about to pounce on Bai Ling again.
Heiwa delivered a powerful kick to Sang Laoba's chest, sending him sprawling into the mud like a shrimp.
"Heiwa, you..."
Sang Laoba clutched his chest, about to curse, but when he met Heiwa's murderous eyes, he instantly cowered.
"The security guards are beating people! The security guards have killed someone!"
More and more villagers came to watch after hearing the commotion, and Heiwa's face turned ashen with anger.
Just then, Qin Hao arrived after hearing the news. When Bai Ling saw that her backer had come, she immediately ran up to him and vividly recounted the situation.
Qin Hao glanced coldly at Sang Laoba: "Whether he's a mule or a horse, we'll know once we dig up the cellar."
Old Man Sang retorted, "Why should you be able to see my cellar?"
Qin Hao looked at Wang Mazi and the others: "Do you still want to get the stolen grain back?"
Wang Mazi and the others immediately pulled Sang Laoba up: "If you weren't guilty, what would you be afraid to let people see?"
Without wasting any more words with him, the group of men carried Sang Laoba to the east end of the village.
Bai Ling looked around and pointed to an open space: "Over there, that's where Old Man Sang stores his grain."
The cellar lid was lifted, and a musty smell mixed with the aroma of wheat wafted out. More than twenty bulging grain sacks were piled prominently in the corner, each sack still tied with a cloth strip bearing its family's mark!
"You damned Sang Laoba! It really was you!"
Wang Mazi punched Sang Laoba in the nose, causing him to bleed profusely. The others then swarmed him, raining blows on Sang Laoba until he cried out in pain.
Having learned from the mistakes of Wang Mazi and his ilk, the villagers decided to entrust their stored grain to the security team for safekeeping.
In the security regiment's warehouse, Bai Xiaowen's hands, red from the cold, still meticulously recorded: "Bai Xingcai's family: eighteen bags of wheat, nine bags of grain."
Bai Xiaowu was responsible for checking and reconciling the accounts.
After nightfall, Qin Hao arranged for Heiwa to lead the security team to transport the grain to a cave in the back mountain and hide it there, the fewer people who knew the location of the grain, the better.
……
Three days later, the clan chiefs of more than a dozen villages in Bailuyuan gathered in the main hall of the Bai family.
After Qin Hao finished speaking about the siege of Xi'an, Zhang, the clan chief of Xiagou Village, immediately said nonchalantly, "Let them besiege it. Xi'an is over a hundred miles away from us. They can't reach us."
"Liu the Blind is a former bandit. Xi'an has high walls and thick defenses, and the two generals guarding Xi'an are both renowned tiger generals. The Zhen Song Army will definitely not be able to take it down in a short time. If they can't take it down in a long time, the army of 100,000 will definitely consume a lot of food. How could Liu the Blind not be eyeing the food in everyone's hands?"
Chief Wang immediately declared, "Hidden! I'll go back and mobilize the whole village to hoard grain!"
The other clan chiefs wiped their sweat and echoed their agreement, but Chief Zhang remained defiant: "The grain is hidden, so why should our village's militia be transferred away? Having the militia guarding it would at least make us safer."
Qin Hao sneered: "We're not facing a bunch of scattered bandits, but 100,000 regular troops. Thirty or so regimental soldiers from each village wouldn't even be enough to fill their teeth."
Chief Zhang retorted, "If they're useless, why transfer them?"
"Yes, Tuan Yong can't be transferred at this time."
"Exactly, why are the kids from our village protecting Bailu Village?"
Faced with the clan chiefs' questions, Qin Hao said solemnly, "We have more than a dozen villages, each with about thirty militiamen, which adds up to more than four hundred men, enough for a battalion. The main target of the Zhen Song Army is Xi'an City, so they won't send too many people to collect grain."
“If we continue to scatter our militia in various villages, we will only be defeated one by one in the end. But if we gather our militia together, the Zhen Song Army will not dare to bully us too much when they come to collect grain.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Bai Jiaxuan stood up and cupped his hands to the clan leaders present: "Everyone, please think carefully. When has our Bai family ever harmed our fellow villagers? If you really don't trust me, I'll live in your village. Surely my child won't abandon me?"
"Da..." Qin Hao was about to speak when Bai Jiaxuan stopped him.
Chief Wang was the first to speak up: "I believe Jiaxuan. The child is right. Especially at times like these, we must unite as one, or we will only be trampled in the mud."
Seeing this, the other clan leaders also agreed to let Tuan Yong gather in Bailu Village.
Just as Bailuyuan was making intensive preparations to deal with the Zhensong Army, Liu the Blind finally lost patience after besieging the city for a week and ordered an attack.
For a time, flames soared into the sky above Xi'an, but to Liu the Blind's surprise, although there were only 10,000 defenders in the city, their fighting spirit was extremely strong.
His Zhen Song Army launched a fierce attack for a full month, but Xi'an City not only failed to fall, he also suffered heavy losses and almost exhausted his food supplies.
Liu the Blind quickly summoned his officers for a meeting to discuss the matter, and they eventually set their sights on Bailu Plain, a hundred miles away.
When Platoon Leader Yang received the order, he grinned from ear to ear. Attacking a city was a life-or-death struggle; you never knew when a bullet could send you to your death. Requisitioning grain was great, as it meant not only avoiding battle but also making a profit.
"Brothers, a lucrative job has arrived!"
As soon as the smoke from the chimneys of Xiagou Village rose, a shepherd boy at the village entrance screamed and ran back: "Soldiers! The soldiers are here!" Chief Zhang, who was smoking his pipe and settling accounts, heard this and his hand trembled, scattering ashes all over the table.
"Boss, you've had a long day!" Chief Zhang greeted him with a forced smile, but a hint of wariness lurked in the wrinkles around his eyes. "Come in and have some tea!"
Platoon Leader Yang, his riding boots planted on the bench, took the rough porcelain bowl, sipped it, then frowned and spat it out: "What lousy tea stalks!"
He pulled out a grain requisition order stamped with a red seal and slammed it on the table: "Deliver five thousand catties of grain within three days!"
"Chief Zhang's Adam's apple bobbed: "Boss, this year's harvest is truly exceptional."
"Bullshit!" Platoon Leader Yang suddenly drew his gun and pressed it against the old man's temple. "I already found out! You Bailuyuan have had three consecutive years of good harvests!"
The gun barrel left red marks between the wrinkles: "One more word, and I'll shoot you dead and replace you with a more obedient chieftain!"
A pale, boyish face flashed through the back window of the ancestral hall; it was Zhang, the clan chief's sixteen-year-old grandson. The old man's cloudy eyes darted around, then he suddenly bent over and coughed, "Sir, please calm down. I'll gather the villagers right away."
That night, Platoon Leader Yang led his men to seize the Zhang clan chief's house and killed all the chickens and ducks in the house.
Platoon Leader Yang, with his legs crossed, munched on a roast chicken, pressing his fingerprints on the grain requisition book with his greasy hands: "See? You have to be tough when dealing with troublemakers!" The soldiers laughed and passed around sweet potato liquor, none of them noticing the dark shadows flashing between the haystacks on the wall.
"Have you remembered them all?" Heiwa squatted behind the millstone, counting the bullets by the moonlight: "Three against the east wall, five against the west wall, and the main gate."
"Don't worry, Brother Heiwa. These bastards are so drunk they can't even hold a gun properly. They're worse than bandits."
Platoon Leader Yang, drunk, went to the corner of the wall to urinate.
"Damn it, there isn't even a woman in this backwater."
Before he finished speaking, countless torches suddenly lit up the surrounding walls, and dark gun barrels instantly appeared on the walls, haystacks, and rooftops.
Before Platoon Leader Yang could even touch his gun, Heiwa smashed him to the ground with the butt of his rifle. Through their drunken haze, the soldiers saw countless feet bound with leggings surging in from all directions, the "click" of bolts being pulled echoing everywhere.
"Don't move!" Heiwa pressed his pistol against the back of Platoon Leader Yang's head: "Move or I'll shoot you dead!"
"It's a misunderstanding, brothers. Which unit are you from? We are the grain requisition team of the Zhen Song Army..."
Platoon Leader Yang raised his hand but wasn't too worried. The area within a hundred miles of Xi'an had long been completely surrounded by the Zhen Song Army, and there was no other elite force like them.
Heiwa sneered, "We're targeting your Zhensong Army! We're the Bailuyuan Security Regiment. You sons of bitches, daring to act arrogantly in Bailuyuan, I think you're asking for trouble."
Platoon Leader Yang sobered up instantly and looked around: "Security Regiment?"