A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Starting from the Village Chief

Chapter 239: Breaking into the Enemy Camp at Night to Meet Qin Qiong

The cold moon is like a hook.

Inside Nangang Fort, several barracks were filled with wounded soldiers.

The dim light flickered, swaying on the gray faces of the wounded soldiers. The bandages mixed with pus and blood gave off a foul stench. There was a lack of medical care and medicine, and the groans of the wounded soldiers echoed in the room.

Li Yi and Luo Shixin visited the wounded soldiers, but there was nothing they could do except offer a few words of comfort.

"Lao Lu?"

Li Yi saw a familiar face, the surrendered soldier who was on duty guarding the city last night, taking shelter from the wind, warming himself by the fire and singing the boatman's song in the corner tower.

"Butler?"

Lao Lu Chen Lingjiao was seriously injured, with a large circle of white cloth wrapped around his head.
Facing Li Yi's gaze, Lao Lu laughed bitterly and said, "Unlucky, I was shot in the left eye. From now on, I only have one eye and can't steer the ship."

Li Yi didn't know what to say. Yesterday he said he would return home in glory, but today he lost an eye. Chen Lingjiao comforted Li Yi, "After I was shot, I pulled out the arrow and my eyeball. Damn it, I swallowed the eyeball in one gulp.

This body and hair are all the essence and blood of my parents."

"I heard from a military doctor before that there's no cure for a shot in the eye. It's best to remove it to prevent it from rotting and damaging the brain. If you're lucky, you'll only lose an eyeball."

"Take good care of your injuries and clean them promptly, and you'll be fine."

After visiting the wounded,
Li Yi felt mixed emotions.
In two days, more than a thousand soldiers have been killed in the battle, with more than seven hundred killed today. However, many seriously injured soldiers did not survive due to lack of medical care and medicine.

Some people just bleed to death.

The dead soldiers were piled up in a corner of the castle. The ground was too frozen to be buried, so they were just piled up temporarily. They were frozen hard and looked like a Jingguan.

In winter, charcoal in the fort is very precious and cannot be used to burn corpses, so it can only be piled up like this for now.

Li Yi wanted to do something for the dead and wounded soldiers.
"I'll help the wounded soldiers register their names and write them a letter home." Regardless of whether it can be sent or not, writing a letter home for everyone is also considered doing something.

"Well, it would be nice to leave a suicide note." Luo Shixin said.

Li Yi was stunned. He wanted to write a letter home for them, not leave a suicide note, but Luo Shixin felt that those wounded soldiers would probably not die from their injuries, but it would be difficult for them to survive this war.

Li Yi called Luo Wu and his personal soldiers,

I returned to the wounded soldiers' camp and registered everyone's name and hometown. I wrote letters home one by one. There was too much to write, so I tried to keep it as brief as possible.

He wrote letter after letter, and even his personal guards such as Luo Wu and Liu Heizi, who had attended Wuji Academy and could write a little, helped write.

Regardless of whether the handwriting is good or bad, every sentence is what the soldiers most want to say to their families.

Maybe this really is the last words.

As he dipped his ink to write his 173rd "Writing is like meeting you in person" letter, he suddenly realized that all the letters were filled with the same clichés: "Don't worry" and "Take care." The ink in his inkstone was empty, yet many letters remained unfinished. Li Yi felt a pang of sorrow. In the meat grinder of war, all words were pale.

Busy in the middle of the night,

Li Yi and his friends wrote hundreds of letters home and packed them into several bags.

There were many other soldiers who also wanted to write letters home, but Li Yi was unable to take care of them for the time being.

He found Luo Shixin, the White Tiger Star, who was holding a dagger and carving the word "正" on the inside of his helmet. Each stroke represented a kill.

"Brother Luo, I can't stay like this until dawn, and I can't wait until tomorrow to let my brothers go through purgatory again. If we continue to guard like this, I'm afraid there will be more casualties."

After carving the correct characters, Luo Shixin put away the dagger and said calmly, "Even a clay pot is bound to break by the well, and a general is bound to die in battle. In war, casualties are inevitable. If you don't manage money, you can't command the army."

"We can't make such meaningless sacrifices anymore,"

"Do you have any good ideas?" Luo Shixin looked at him. Li Yi, who liked cleanliness, had ink stains on his hands, body, and even face.

Li Yi clenched his fists: "I want to see Qin Shubao now."

Luo Shixin stood up suddenly, his armor plates gleaming coldly in the moonlight. "Are you crazy?"

"I have to do something."

Luo Shixin was stunned for a moment, then shook his head, "Crazy, you are crazier than me. I, Luo Shixin, pride myself on being courageous, but you are even more courageous than me.

The military camp at the foot of the mountain is an enemy camp.

"Qin Shubao was once my brother, but now we serve different masters. Aren't you afraid that if you go there, you'll be torn into pieces or shot like a hedgehog? You're so young, yet you've been highly appreciated by the Tang Emperor, given a fourth-rank marquisate and purple gold. Even if the Zheng army attacks hard and suffers heavy casualties, if you can't hold on, just light a beacon and summon the Crown Prince for reinforcements. You don't need to take any risks at all."

"Yes, you are right, but I cannot bear to see the brothers in this castle fall one by one. They are also the sons of their parents, the husbands of their wives, the fathers of their children, and the brothers of their brothers and sisters. They are all flesh and blood people. I cannot bear to see them like this."

Luo Shixin sighed, "Since the Sui Dynasty's rebellion, people have been dying every day. Some died of starvation, some died of cold, some died of disease, some died in battle. I don't know how many people have died. They are all living people. How can I care about so many things?"

In troubled times, it’s good enough to be able to take care of yourself.”

"Brother Luo, I still want to give it a try. I also firmly believe that Qin Shubao, Cheng Yaojin, and the others, like Brother Luo, still have goodness in their hearts and are not just cold puppets of war.

That day by the valley water, when I met Brother Luo, didn’t I successfully persuade the general to abandon his evil ways and join the good?

Now I want to persuade Qin Shubao and Cheng Yaojin again. I believe they can also see Wang Shichong's hypocrisy and know that he is not a wise leader.

I’m willing to take the risk.”

Luo Shixin gave him a thumbs up and said, "Brother, you are really amazing. In this case, I, Luo Shixin, will sacrifice my life to accompany you."

Wait until both of them are ready.

Luo Shixin stopped him at the castle gate and asked, "Have you thought it through?"

"Ah."

"How about I go and you stay and wait for my news."

"No, I have to go in person this time. Some of the things you say may not be effective."

Li Yi held the sword at his waist and tightened his Zheng army uniform.

The two men descended from the city wall.

He didn't even bring his personal guards.

Taking advantage of the night, he quietly moved towards Zheng's camp, avoided the patrolling cavalry, and arrived in front of the camp fence.

Luo Shixin was experienced and alert. He found a weak point in the defense, broke into the enemy camp first, and then took him in. "Follow me closely and don't talk."

Sneaking into the camp,

Li Yi followed him, his heart beating fast, as if he was a thief, but in fact, they were doing something worse than thieves, sneaking into the enemy camp of thousands of people.
If discovered,
There is a possibility that you will be shot like a hedgehog before you can reveal your identity, and even if you reveal your identity, you may still be shot like a hedgehog.

Luo Shixin was familiar with the layout of Qin Qiong's military camp. He took him around and dodged carefully all the way, and finally he really sneaked deep into the central military camp.

In front is Qin Qiong's military tent.

Luo Shixin did not rush in directly, but made three chirping sounds from his mouth.

It sounded like the cry of a night owl, and it sounded like it was sending a telegram.

After a while,
There were several bird calls coming from the tent, some similar but different when listened carefully.

Luo Shixin chirped three times again.

The tent was opened,

Qin Qiong walked out holding a tiger-headed golden spear.
Luo Shixin emerged from the shadows.

"How did you come?"

"An interesting little brother insisted on dragging me to meet you."

Li Yi came out.

Qin Qiong looked over at him.

"Do you want to chat here, brother?"

"Come in."

Qin Qiong led the two men into the military tent.

There is a stove in the tent, so it is relatively warm.

Qin Qiong's armor was placed on a wooden frame in the tent, with a pair of gold-plated maces placed next to it.

"Please sit down. This must be the steward Li Yi, right?" Qin Qiong said.

Li Yi bowed and said, "I am Li Yi from Yusu Township, Wannian County. I used to be a Taoist priest. When I traveled to Hebei with my master in my early years, I met Wei Zheng. He is my senior brother."

Wei Zheng also stayed in Wagang for a long time and served as a military officer in Li Mi's office. Qin Qiong, Cheng Yaojin, Luo Shixin and others were once generals of the cavalry in Li Mi's inner army.

He commanded Li Mi's most elite troops and was quite familiar with Wei Zheng.

"I didn't expect that you and Wei Jishi are brothers."

Li Yi got straight to the point and said, "I heard that Wang Shichong forced General Qin and you to capture the three forts and five strongholds within three days and bring back General Luo and my heads. Otherwise, we will all be beheaded."

"Manager Li is really well-informed and knows everything." Qin Qiong did not deny it.

"I also know something about General Qin's deeds. When he was young, he served under the general and was deeply appreciated by him. Later, he returned home to mourn for his mother. The governor of Qi County, Zhang Tong, summoned you to join the army to suppress bandits. It was not until the 13th year of Daye that you followed Pei Renji to join the Wagang Army..."

General Qin is a brave and strong man with ambition and integrity, and he is loyal to his brothers. Why would he serve such a hypocritical person like Wang Shichong now?

I know that the general was seriously injured and unconscious during the battle of Mangshan, and fell into the hands of Wang Shichong. It was helpless for him to temporarily rely on him.
But now, after seeing Wang Shichong's various actions, hasn't the general seen through him?

Brother Luo abandoned Zheng and returned to Tang. Wang Shichong knew that you have been brothers for many years, but he still forced you to lead a group of old brothers to attack. This is to accuse the general of being unkind and unjust, and to kill people with a borrowed knife, causing you brothers to fight each other and deplete your headquarters.

"Over the past two days, we've been forced to kill each other, and countless brothers have been killed or injured. Many of them are veterans who have been with you through thick and thin for years. Are we going to die here?"

"General Qin, the Mandate of Heaven is with the Tang Dynasty. The Li family will rule the world. The Emperor of Chang'an is fulfilling the prophecy. Now heroes from all over the world are coming to him, and the people are praising and supporting him.
This turbulent world is gradually returning to the rule of the Tang Emperor.

Shouldn't the general follow the trend? Instead, must he follow Wang Shichong and go against it, leading to his own doom?

Qin Qiong was silent.

Luo Shixin looked at his elder brother and asked, "Second brother, are you in trouble because all the brothers' families are in Luoyang?"

Qin Qiong agreed.

"Second brother, I will follow Brother Luo and call you Second Brother. Wang Shichong has become suspicious of you and is now forcing you to kill each other. Do you think he will trust you again?
Since suspicion has arisen, my second brother should also know what the consequences will be.

Even if you can capture the three forts and five strongholds within three days this time, Wang Shichong will still find an excuse to get rid of you one day. Think about why Brother Luo abandoned Wang Shichong? Second Brother, don't you understand how he treated Brother Luo?

Qin Qiong sighed, "If I can't capture the three forts and five strongholds, or even the Nangang Fort within three days, I can do nothing about it."

"who!"

Luo Shixin suddenly shouted and rushed out of the tent.

Qin Qiong and Li Yi also rushed out, and saw several people running out wildly.

"It's Bing Yuanzhen's people,"

"Damn it, they have planted a spy next to you, second brother, and have been monitoring you." After saying this, Luo Shixin chased after them quickly and killed two of them with one knife.

Qin Qiong picked up the engraved gold spear and threw it out fiercely, stabbing the fastest running man to death on the ground.

Three people went forward to check.

Li Yi stabbed one person again.

Looking at the three dead bodies on the ground and the soldiers who had gathered around after hearing the noise, Qin Qiong sighed. He knew he had no choice now.

"Come here," Qin Qiong called to his personal guards, "go and inform Yaojin, Jinda, Junxian and the others to come immediately."

Li Yi stood there and let out a long sigh.

Qin Qiong killed the people that Bing Yuanzhen had planted around him. This is like yellow mud falling into your crotch, it's shit if not shit.

Qin Qiong had no other choice but to return to the Tang Dynasty.

He also had to thank these three corpses. If it weren't for them pushing him, Qin Qiong would probably have found it difficult to make up his mind for a while.

(End of this chapter)