Prince Chongzhen

Chapter 92 Military Intelligence (I)

After the fall of Yangzhou, the Jiangshui defense division led by Zheng Hongkui did not even last half a day before being defeated by the surrendered generals Zhang Tianlu and Yang Chengzu.

It is said to be a defeat, but in fact it seems more appropriate to use the word "escape".

After all, these two surrendered generals are only proficient in naval warfare. If they can really defeat Zheng's fleet, it would be a bit of an underestimation of these battle-hardened pirates.

In any case, the Ming army lost control of the river, and the Qing army gave up the idea of ​​attacking Yingtian from the river for various considerations.

In the end, when the great war was about to break out, it was difficult to see even a single warship on the river that was over a hundred meters wide.

If it weren't for the occasional Tartar scouts patrolling the riverside, Yingtian City would not have been completely surrounded.

"You go first, I'll lead the Tartars away!"

With a low roar, a group of unknown water birds flew out from the bushes, and then two young men covered in blood were seen running towards Yingtian.

"elder brother!"

"Hurry up! The military situation is urgent and we can't delay."

The younger of the two boys seemed to be only sixteen or seventeen years old, and the older one could not even be twenty years old.

But what is surprising is that these two kids are wearing leather armor and holding swords, looking like experienced veterans. It makes people wonder what kind of cruelty they have experienced to have such temperament at such an age.

"Brother, go ahead and I'll lead the Tartars away!"

"Stop pestering me! Do you want them to die in vain?!"

As the younger brother, he naturally did not want to leave his elder brother alone, but in order to pass the news to Yingtian City, three of their brothers had already died.

If even the two brothers failed to complete the task assigned by the adults, wouldn't all these sacrifices be in vain?
Finally, at his brother's insistence, the younger brother ran towards Yingtian again.

The brother who stayed here did not wait for the enemy to arrive, but made some arrangements by taking advantage of the lush vegetation around.

Soon, the sound of horse hooves was heard, and the young man lowered his body a little more, hiding himself in the grass.

"Tap tap tap tap."

As the sound of horse hooves got closer, the boy's nerves began to tense up.

They had been chased by the Tartars for quite a while. Even though some people kept trying to lead them in other directions, the Tartars eventually caught up with them with their horsepower.

Now, only they, the brothers, are left from the small flag they had when they set out. If nothing unexpected happens, only one of them will survive.

Thinking of this, the young man forced himself to dispel his thoughts and finally focused on the sound of horse hooves.
According to common sense, he has been in the army for many years and should not have had such unrealistic thoughts in such a situation.

But perhaps because he was convinced that he could not escape danger this time like before, all kinds of thoughts kept arising in his mind, making him feel a little annoyed.

"Boom."

"Boom."

“Oh~~~~.”

Just when the boy's thoughts were somewhat out of control, a series of noises came into his ears one after another.

Knowing that his arrangement had worked, he kicked his feet hard and rushed out from the bushes.

Then he rushed to the fallen person without waiting for the enemy to react.

The knife flashed, and blood gushed out from the neck, but the young man didn't even look at it and rushed directly to the river.

It sounds simple, and only requires a few moves, but without years of experience, judging the enemy's fall position based on sound alone would be difficult for most people in the world.

Although this young man could be said to have extraordinary combat prowess, how could those Qing army scouts be given away for nothing?

Before the young man could run a few steps, he saw a Qing soldier in a robe taking out a bundle of ropes from his horse's back.

Then he held the rope lightly with one hand and waved it above his head with the other hand, and the rope danced in the air as if it had life.

The Qing soldiers in robes didn't see how hard they tried, but the rope flew towards the young man.

Then with a thud, the young man fell straight to the ground as if he had hit something.

"Your lasso is quite useful."

The river bank was covered with rocks, and even if the boy didn't die after falling down, he would be unable to escape.

Seeing this, several Qing soldiers who fell to the ground pounced forward like hungry tigers, but the Qing soldiers with rat tails at the back of the team didn't seem to care about these, but were more interested in this skill.

"Ten live persons."

"Hey! You're asking for a good price."

"This is a good way to chase and hunt. You won't suffer any loss."

At this point, Money Rat Tail stopped talking, but Robe seemed to want to close the deal and continued, "Look at these southern surrendered soldiers. If they were good at riding, they wouldn't have tripped over this small pit. It's always good to have many skills."

"I know that, but the price you offer is too high, and you are not the only Mongolian in the army."

Just as the man in robe was about to say something, those southerners who were not good at riding had already brought the boy over, and Rat Tail shifted his attention away.

"Baby, do you want to live?"

"Bah! Dog Tartar!"

No one knew where the boy was hurt by the rocks. His eyes were covered with blood and he could not see clearly. However, relying on his ability to listen to sounds, he still spat accurately towards the rat's tail.

"Seven live people, you can add some more if you think you can."

"I only caught three people alive this time, and they are all in Zhenjiang. Why don't you try something else?"

As Rat Tail spoke, he urged the horse to take two steps, and then swung the whip directly at the boy's face.

"Iron tools are fine, too."

"Tie him up tightly," Rat Tail said to the surrendered soldiers, and then seemed to be considering whether to agree to the price of the robe.

It's funny to say that the Mongols followed the Tartars in burning, killing and looting, but in the end they got very few spoils of war, let alone items like ironware. So in Paozi's mind, the value of ironware was not much different from that of living things.

"Three people and one iron pot, but you can't make this public."

"Three iron pots."

While the two men were discussing business, the surrendered soldiers had just tied up the young man.

"Drag it around," Rat Tail said, pointing at the rocky beach, and then turned to Robe: "No, there are too many things to explain."

Hearing this, the surrendered soldiers began to drag the young man and ran away. By the time they reached the rocky beach, the drag marks were already stained with blood.

"Then two bites, and a bag of salt."

"Oh my god, where can I find you a bag of salt? Or should I exchange it for silver and buy it yourself?"

Paozi really wanted to make this deal, but it was a bit difficult to let him buy it himself.

After all, although the two families are allies, the Manchus are no less wary of them than they are of the Han people. If the silver cannot be exchanged for the required supplies, then the silver will be worthless in his hands.

As Robe hesitated, Rattail glanced toward the rocky beach.

At this time, the young man no longer struggled, and everywhere he passed was covered in bright red.

Seeing this, Robe couldn't help but yelled angrily: "Idiot! What an idiot! Why did you drag me to death when I was still asking questions?!"

(End of this chapter)