In the Battle of Yangzhuang Temple on June 30, the Xin'an army led by Minister Yang defeated the bandits and captured the bandit leader Ma Ma and a group of bandit leaders alive.

The news came back, and Pizhou City caused a sensation and the people were all excited.

Of course, the battlefield is near Lijiazhuang, not far from the provincial borders and prefectures.

In this battle, the troops were divided into two groups. When Minister Yang and others walked up the Yi River, Zhang Songtao and others also continued north along the canal.

At noon, they got off the boat near Yuwang Mountain, and were planning to build a city. Zhang Songtao and others did not alarm anyone. They set up an iron pot and kettle themselves, simply used some rice soup, and then all got on the horse and rushed north quickly.

The cavalry team looked for the road early in the morning. They mainly walked along the Taogou River and headed north to Yimeng Mountain. According to the small road at this time, it was about 200 miles from Yuwang Village to Baodugu bandits' nest.

They were running in the wilderness, and the road was quiet and desolate, and there were few people. Occasionally, they saw villages, which were dilapidated and desolate. The people were farming fields near the villages, and they were all wary, like frightened birds. There were many fields along the river, but now most of them were deserted, except for the weeds.

There are riots and soldiers in Shandong, and there are many years of drought. Although this year is better, there are still no way to go back to the world. Everyone has seen that many originally prosperous villages along the way have been abandoned, and everything they see is full of broken walls.

Sometimes you can see refugees, but they all look haggard, pale and thin. When they see the army, they will hurry to avoid them when they are far away.

What you see and hear reminds many people of their situation when they fled.

In the evening, they were about to enter the Yimeng Mountain area and rested at the foot of Baima Mountain that night. Early the next morning, they continued to rush the road, about twenty miles ahead, and there was Lion Mountain. When they entered, they were surrounded by continuous hills.

The sound of hooves roared, and thousands of horses stepped on the yellow earth ground, causing dust to fly, spreading like a sandstorm. The sun slowly rose, and the people and horses became hot quickly, especially the dust spreading over, which made everyone look dirty.

Fortunately, there is a mountain in front of you, with many trees, pine trees, cypress trees, etc. on the side of the mountain, which looks cool.

The cavalry with the provocateur ran back, and the forest was fine, and the central army also sent a rest order.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief and went to the forest to get off the horse, rest and drink water, and organize their equipment.

"Huh, I'm so hot. Isn't Shandong so hot? Why is it even hotter than Lingbi County?" Ma Xiaobao, a second-class musket soldier from the first team of the Sixth General Team, sat down and took out a bamboo kettle from the side of the miscellaneous items. Guruluo just drank water.

He slapped his forehead and looked at his hands full of mud and sweat, but he was speechless.

"It doesn't matter whether it's hot or not." Kong Wancai, a comrade next to him, also took out the kettle, took a few big sips, poured some on his face, and frowned, "I've been riding for a day, my butt hurts so much."

"It's almost here." Cao Jingxing, who was in the same academy, said with a smile, "Baodukou is not far from here."

After drinking water, he comfortably stuffed the bamboo tube back into the side pocket of the debris bag, took off the musket from his back, took out the fine cloth, and used to wipe it.

Looking at his dressing, a red hat, a red mandarin duck battle jacket, a blue armor coat, a red shoulder scarf, a dirty bag with oil cloth and leather, and a strap tied with a harness. He looked mighty and elite.

Looking at the musketeers here, they are all full of energy.

Their equipment is also slightly different from before, that is, each person has an extra bag of miscellaneous items, and all kinds of troops have it. In addition to using all kinds of private objects, there is also a hole on the side that can be stuffed into a bamboo tube kettle, etc. At this time, the musketeers are all carrying their backs on the left.

Because they all ride horses, everyone also has a bunch of horses, which are loaded with various outdoor items, beans for horses, small buckets for drinking water, etc. Some people also have iron pots and iron pots, more rice and dried meat, etc.

Cao Jingxing and others joined the army in March, and they also had to practice riding and caring for horses. Several months have passed. Although they are not very skilled in riding, riding in the wild is not a problem.

He was also a refreshing young man, his father Cao Zigui, his mother Xu Zhenniang, and from Suining North Bank. He was beside him, including Kong Wanjin, Gu Zigui, Wu Liujin, etc., all of them were from Tongjun, northeast of Lingbi County.

During the expansion of the army in March, many refugees from Lingbi County joined the army and became ordinary soldiers. Their commander Liu Zhiping, the commander of the sergeant and deputy Zhao Yanhe, and the commander of the sergeant Jia Pang were from Chamengji in the north bank of Suining.

The first team's deputy Yu Yugui and Huang Shouyi were also from the North Bank of Suining, but the captain Guan Feng heard that he was from Jingzhou, Huguang. Their sixth team's deputy general manager Li E, Dong Shicai, and general manager Zhang Songtao were from Suzhou, Bozhou and other places.

The current structure of the Xin'an Army is that most of the general-level officers are from Duxu, and most of them are from Bozhou, Suzhou, Guidefu and other places. The deputy general and captain-level officers are from many of them at the time of the Heshen Temple, and most of them are from Bozhou, Suzhou and other places.

In addition, the number of people from Suining entered the captain, team deputy, captain level positions, and newly recruited refugees from Lingbi County and other places were mostly ordinary soldiers.

However, they had just trained and experienced fierce battles, especially with Xianzhe and others. They had already changed their minds and were full of sharpness in their every move. Although they were about to face a battle with Qingshan thieves, they were not concerned about it.

Cao Jingxing wiped his firearm, wiped all the dust outside with a fine cloth, and took out the copper plug, making it shining. He then used a small thin rod to penetrate the hole of the fire door, pushed the copper plug and pressed it, and then pushed the metal piece to the right. All procedures were completed and a whistle was whistled softly.

Cao Jingxing liked the Xin'an gun firearm in his hand very much. He wiped it again and again every day. The only regret is that the firearm also uses a fuse rope, which is a bit troublesome. I heard that the two styles where the military supplies are made are all self-developed and do not use fuse rope. I hope they can be replaced as soon as possible.

At this time, the Xin'an army used new medicine, and the power of armor-breaking was increased to 70 steps. However, due to process problems, it was not until the end of the year that all flintlock-type second-type Xin'an guns were replaced, using single-headed bullets, etc.

Cao Jingxing took away his weapons and carried them behind him. Looking at his comrades here, they were all habitually maintaining their weapons.

In this regard, the Xin'an Army was very strict, with damage, unclean, rusting, etc. If found, not only the soldiers, the captains, and the captains would be heavily responsible. Maintaining weapons in their spare time has become a subconscious action for everyone.

At this time, Liu Zhiping, the commander of the A, and Zhao Yanhe, the commander of the A, and the commander of the A, came over with a bucket of water. The cavalry team had visited the marching long ago. The route of the marching was also planned by them. They knew where to go, where there were mountain springs, and where to replenish water for horses.

Everyone hurriedly filled their bamboo tubes, took off the small bucket to fill with water, and let their mounts drink.

They marched for a quarter of an hour every dozen miles, and horses drank water longer than people, but this time was enough.

Liu Zhiping inspected him. He was a very serious man. He was in his twenties and was considered an old man among the teenagers in the A. He also always frowned. He heard that because his family was a devastated little rich man, his parents had great expectations for him, which caused him a lot of pressure.

He has obsessive-compulsive disorder in his work and pursues perfection, which makes everyone suffer. Zhao Yan, the commander and deputy general of A, are generous, and he is a little depressed by him.

The sergeant Jia Clan is a kind person. He is as good as his name and is good at socializing. The brothers in the A-level all talk about him being good at flattering and always please the captain Guan Feng.

Liu Zhiping took Zhao Yanhe and Jia Pangmen for a look. At this time, the captain Guan Feng also came, wearing an officer's uniform, a red armored jacket, a blue shoulder scarf, and a flag behind him. Team deputy Yu Yugui and Huang Shouyi followed, and there were two guards, each holding a winged tiger gun.

Guan Feng is a young man with sharp eyes. Cao Jingxing admires Captain Guan very much. He heard that he is only eighteen years old this year, only one year older than him, and he is the captain. His experience is still very legendary.

However, the Xin'an Army is only a younger army. If there are many young people like Guan Feng, then if the third general commander Han Guan'er, he is younger than Guan Feng, he is already a general commander.

Soon Guan Feng looked around and checked the weapons and equipment of several people. At this time, the Central Army's order came, packed up the items, and all of them got on their horses and continued to move forward.

Everyone got on the horse one after another, and it was said that because of the marching and sneak attack, there was no need to trumpet. Cao Jingxing had finished sorting out early, packed up the small buckets for horses to drink water, looked at the saddles, and then stepped on the stirrups and turned over the horse's back.

Soon everyone started to move, and they accelerated from slow steps to fast steps. Soon, the mountain road was filled with hooves and dust.

Cao Jingxing's body was on the horse's back and his body was undulating rhythmically, so as not to shovel his butt.

He looked forward, the dense horses and heads in the smoke and dust, and the cold light of weapons appeared and appeared. Their marching formations were unfolded in two rows, with each two columns running in parallel, and in front of the five columns were the captains of each team. Behind the captain, two teams were deputy in parallel, and two guards were in parallel.

Cao Jingxing belonged to the second-class. In front of them were one-class large shield soldiers, each with shields placed behind the saddle, and the front captain Guan Feng and others. Behind were three-class musket soldiers, four-class five-class spear soldiers, each with spears inserted in the plug behind the saddle, and a round shield was carried.

The sun became hotter and sweat soon soaked everyone's military uniforms. The boots were smooth and greasy. Fortunately, they entered the mountains and hills, and cool places could be seen everywhere.

After a while, Guishan is ahead, which is closer to Baodugu. There are many springs here, and there are lakes between Guishan Snake Mountain.

When they arrived here, the cavalry comrades rushed even more anxiously. They were skillfully galloping on the mountain road, jumping like flying horses, exploring and reporting information back and forth.

As I turned the mountain road, I suddenly heard shouting at the foot of the mountain beside the lake, and the sound of weapons colliding, followed by a few sharp whistle arrows.

And after this sound, the sharp sound of the pistol sounded.

Cao Jingxing and others were shocked. There were no such whistle arrows in Xin'an army. Did the bandits find it?

He stepped on the stirrup and saw that there was the Central Army in front of him, and there were the Third General Warriors walking in front of the Central Army. With the sound of the pistol, several cavalry rushed out from the edge of the mountain, each wrapped in a headscarf and a cloak. He was very fierce and his riding skills were even more exquisite.

They were rushing in a slanting manner, and they were about to jump and flee, and then they chased them out, with a pair of very cold eyes under the grey felt cloak and a grey hat.

Her pistol raised her "bang" sound, and a thief screamed, and she rolled down from the horse.

She held the reins and pulled down the hammer, and then glanced at the thief and another gun. Cao Jingxing and others saw the gun flames shattered. Blood mist erupted behind the thief, and screamed and rolled down.

Then some cavalry chased after him, and each fired with hand guns, killing the remaining bandits and thieves one by one.

Ma Xiaobao beside him exclaimed: "Miss Qian is so sharp, she has perfect shots... especially this horsemanship is amazing."

Cao Jingxing also praised that although the pistol can be held with one hand, it is not easy to fire on the horse. Just like riding the horse, there are many unstable factors. For them, the horse is not fast enough to ride it and have to shoot the gun on the horse, and I don’t know when it will be.

However, he was also worried. When he encountered a bandit whistle, he sent back the message with special arrows. It seemed that the thieves in the green mountains of Baodukou would be prepared.

But he was not afraid, and if he couldn't attack secretly, he would have a battle openly.

Sure enough, the central army sent an order and advanced rapidly, and they did not hide it, using the sound of horns that passed the order.

Cao Jingxing and others advanced quickly, and there was a sound of hooves on the mountain road.

Cao Jingxing felt that if he ran a few more times like this, he might be able to get a better start to the next level.

When they arrived at the foot of Baodugu Mountain, the bandits here were already alarmed and were full of momentum. They came out to fight. The Central Army ordered the generals to prepare for the battle immediately. They occupied a mountain southwest of the front of the gate and immediately began to arrange troops.

The terrain of Baodugu is surrounded by peaks, and then a peak protrudes among the mountains, with a cylindrical stone platform at the top. This shape of the mountain is called "Guan". Because Baodugu is majestic and has the highest surrounding mountain, the official name is also called "Junshan" at this time.

There are deep ravines and large valleys on the southwest foot of Baodukou. On the east side of the stream are Tsinghua Temple and Chaoyun Temple. Then there are many trees on the hillside and there are Zhuangzi at the foot of the mountain.

At this time, Zhuangzi, Tsinghua Temple, and Chaoyun Temple were all occupied by bandits. When they heard that officers and soldiers came to suppress the enemy, they especially came to their nests. The pseudo-marshal Feng Maohong and Li Mingxiang were furious. After the whistle cavalry returned, they immediately summoned the troops to fight.

They didn't know where these officers and soldiers came from, because they didn't have any signs. They were also a little scared when they saw that they were all alone, but when others touched their doorsteps, how could they flee?

Moreover, although they fled here in the first month of the year, they plundered everywhere, and a large amount of food, grass, supplies, silver were stored in Zhuangzi and Chaoyunguan. None of these were needed?

Although the officers and soldiers are elite, they have too few people. There are thousands of them, so they may not be able to fight for it!

They arranged along the front of the village and the southeastern mountaintop. Thousands of people were divided into several strands, with three wings on the left, middle and right, and immediately launched an attack on the Xin'an Army's positions.

...

"Prepare for combat!" The central army sent an order.

Captain Guan Feng, team deputy Yu Yugui, Huang Shouyi and others called: "Prepare for combat, all the gun soldiers light the fuse! - Pay attention to avoid arrows-"

Cao Jingxing took out his fire roll and stuffed it into the iron tube on the side of the medicine bag. This is a must-have for gunmen.

He shook the fire, ignited his fuse, put the fire stick, then pulled out the copper trolley machine that bent down from the musket, stuffed it into a fixed-load paper tube ammunition, and pushed it and jammed it, and it was ready.

Then he squatted behind the big shield, and Xing Yizhen, who held the shield in front of him, was an armored young man, who always looked cold, had a wife Jiang Zizhen, who seemed to be from Xiayi, Guide Prefecture, and spoke a very mellow Central Plains Mandarin Shangfu film.

Xing Yi didn't talk much about the truth, and the brothers in the team were very curious about his forehead because there was a very obvious scar on the other side, just like Erlang Shen. All the brothers were curious. Who did Brother Xing kowtow to? He used such force to break his head.

Xing Yizhen is beside Kong Wanjin, who is Kong Wancai's brother. Unlike Kong Wancai's somewhat cunning temperament, Kong Wanjin is a very honest person. Kong Wu is powerful, so he is a big shield. Then he also has his younger brother Kong Wanyin, who works in the artillery team. He has his younger brother Kong Wanbao, who is regarded as a scholar because he knows some words.

Cao Jingxing squatted quietly waiting for the order. He was surrounded by Ma Xiaobao and Kong Wancai. They heard that the thieves on the opposite side had launched an attack. With the loud drums, there were screams of strange roars, as if they were rushing in like a tide, but the shield blocked them and could not see anything.

This is not good for the big shield, it affects the vision and is a little bulky, but it is not equipped with armor, so this kind of shield is a must.

Behind them were there three-class musketeers, who were squatting in rows, waiting quietly for orders.
To be continued...