Chapter 279: Sniffing Out

More than an hour later, the Xiazhou army pursuing the enemy slowly returned. Hong Chenglue still escaped; this fellow was more slippery than a loach, but He Chunhua had taken down another thirty or forty Xunzhou cavalrymen.

After deducting the losses caused by the raid on this camp, the number of men in Hong Chenglue's hands was only about two hundred left.

Tossing and turning all night, either rushing at full speed or leading troops to kill the enemy, He Chunhua didn't hide his exhaustion at this time and asked He Lingchuan: "How are the grain carts?"

"Thirty-four were burned, but a lot of grain was saved and is being organized." He Lingchuan hadn't been busy for nothing just now. "Preliminary estimates are that a total of about 1,500 shi were lost last night and tonight."

The Rock Wolf Lu Xin had also injured many Xunzhou men, and the price was two arrows in its body and a slash on its right claw; it was currently being bandaged by the Medicine Ape Ling Guang.

He Chunhua let out a long, turbid breath: "Still acceptable." Then there was still a family fortune of nearly 9,000 shi, so he wouldn't go to the front line empty-handed to report.

Then he began to ask about the battle in the main camp.

Wu Shaoyi received his carrier pigeon letter and prepared for battle in advance, which was why Hong Chenglue didn't succeed in another sneak attack.

However, there were about four hundred garrison soldiers left, while the other side had three hundred cavalrymen, so the Xiazhou people fought this battle exceptionally hard. The Xunzhou cavalry hadn't even attacked the anti-horse stakes before they started firing arrows and throwing fire. Fortunately, Wu Shaoyi had already called people to pour water to wet the tarpaulins and various equipment, so this wave of fire attack wasn't very effective.

The essence of raiding a camp lies in this 'sneak' word; if you don't catch people off guard, the effect will be greatly reduced.

Hong Chenglue called people to use gunpowder to throw and explode. However, the grain carts were scattered and hidden, so the damage caused by gunpowder was limited.

The first two waves of strong attacks didn't work, and Hong Chenglue understood as soon as he saw this formation that the other side was prepared.

Then it was Liang Zhanglao who personally went on stage to entangle Hong Chenglue; otherwise, if this fellow really wanted to start a massacre, the Xiazhou soldiers wouldn't have just died this many.

The price was that Liang Zhanglao was injured in the right shoulder and under the ribs, and the injury was not light.

He was proficient in magic arts, and when facing a commanding general like Hong Chenglue on the battlefield, he was inherently at a disadvantage.

Liang Zhanglao's disciples treated his injuries, and He Chunhua was on the side; the Chuanyun Pavilion had contributed a lot to guarding the camp tonight, so General Manager He also expressed his gratitude. This was also an opportunity to test the quality of the Chuanyun Pavilion disciples, and He Chunhua was quite satisfied.

As for the soldier who stood guard and made a mistake and maliciously dozed off, he was executed by military law that night and lost his head.

At dawn, Zeng Feixiong led the team back.

From the way this team walked into the military camp with their chests puffed out, He Lingchuan knew they had won.

Sure enough, Zeng Feixiong walked with wind under his feet to report, and the first sentence was: "My lord, Baili Qing has been executed!" The soldiers behind offered a head, eyes wide open in death; it was Baili Qing.

"Good, good!" He Chunhua's spirit was lifted, and he only felt that most of the evil energy in his chest had been vented. "Tell me about the battle in the mine pit."

It turned out that the Xun people left in the abandoned mine pit were all wounded soldiers and logistics, and the real defensive force was only fifty people; Zeng Feixiong's team fought a sneak attack against such weak players with intention against no intention, and the other side couldn't organize effective resistance at all.

However, Baili Qing had already woken up at this time and directed the two generals under him to lead the remaining troops to retreat into the mine tunnel. It was narrow and dark inside, and as long as people were left to cover the retreat, the government troops basically couldn't attack.

Their reliance was nothing more than the fact that the mine tunnel had an exit leading to the back mountain.

However, Jiao Tai had already led people to kill the Xun guards and take the exit position; seeing Zeng Feixiong signal from the front mountain, he immediately lit a fire to blow up the mountain at the mine tunnel exit, blowing up the mine tunnel exit.

Baili Qing and others were blocked in the mine tunnel, unable to get out on either side.

Then Jiao Tai ordered people to light a fire and pour smoke into the mine tunnel.

The Xun people were poured with tears and snot, breathing difficulties, and had to go out from the front mountain mine tunnel and surrender with their hands raised.

Zeng Feixiong followed He Chunhua's instructions, confiscated all weapons, and then ordered to kill, leaving no survivors!

The first one to be beheaded was Baili Qing.

The corpses of the captives were also easy to handle; they were thrown back into the mine tunnel and sealed with the remaining gunpowder explosion.

He Chunhua looked at Baili Qing's head and laughed: "I accept this big gift from Hong Chenglue."

Zeng Feixiong added: "There was a general under Baili Qing named Fu Xin, who was still cursing Hong Chenglue when he was about to be beheaded. As soon as I saw it, I let him go, along with a dozen of his soldiers. Out of 136 captives, only sixteen were released." It was equivalent to wiping out a zero.

He Chunhua nodded: "Very good. Just let him go back and add trouble to Hong Chenglue."

Didn't Hong Chenglue want to use his hands to clean up these burdens?

How could he let the other side get their wish?

This General Fu would surely be resentful after returning and would be at odds with Hong Chenglue everywhere, which was more useful than killing him with one blade.

He Lingchuan's heart moved, and he interjected: "What about Dong Rui?"

Dong Rui wouldn't die so silently, would he? "He jumped onto the strange bird at the first opportunity and flew away close to the ground." Zeng Feixiong was ashamed. "Just as we finished firing the first wave of arrow rain. With the forest cover, we couldn't shoot him down."

He Lingchuan patted his shoulder.

Sure enough. Dong Rui's talent for running away was always maxed out.

Zeng Feixiong took out the storage ring and returned it to He Lingchuan: "Thank you, Young Master; with those explosives helping out, we saved a lot of effort."

After he left, He Lingchuan also wanted to return to the tent, but was called by his father: "Chuan'er, where is that comb?"

"Hmm?" He didn't understand for a moment. "Which comb?"

"The comb you got from Hong Chenglue's house in Bai Lu Town." He Chunhua asked him. "To be precise, it seems to have been taken by his neighbor."

"Oh, it's here." Hong Chenglue was cautious and emptied his house before leaving Bai Lu Town, but unfortunately, man proposes and God disposes; the old woman next door had long ago taken a comb, and He Lingchuan had obtained this item from the old woman's hands, and there was still hair wrapped around it.

He didn't think much, took out the comb and handed it over.

He Chunhua didn't take it: "Can you determine if the hair is a man's or a woman's?"

"... Let's try." He Lingchuan thought for a moment and whistled.

A few breaths later, the Rock Wolf Lu Xin emerged from a dark corner and wagged its stiff tail at him.

He Lingchuan brought the comb over: "Sniff the hair on this and tell me if its owner is a man or a woman."

The Rock Wolf opened its mouth wide and yawned: "Twenty jin of beef."

He Lingchuan was ashamed: "Such a simple job as moving your nose, you ask for such a high price?" It had only been a few months; how did the simple Tundra Wolf become like this? "Or, you do it?"

"Okay, okay." He Lingchuan compromised: "Owe it first, I'll buy you top-quality beef when I return to Dunyu."

The old woman guaranteed that she hadn't used this comb to comb her hair. And the hair had a bit of brown color, so it was unlikely to be the old woman's.

The Rock Wolf's moist nose came over and sniffed hard.

Its sense of smell was several times more sensitive than ordinary dogs, and it could even construct a three-dimensional image in its mind based solely on odor molecules.

"Woman, early thirties, in poor health, eats medicine all year round." The Rock Wolf looked disgusted. "Such a strong medicinal smell, it almost drowned my nose."

He Chunhua then happily took the wooden comb and praised his son: "Well done!"

He Lingchuan asked him: "Father, what do you want this comb for?"

"Better safe than sorry." He Chunhua shrugged. "Hong Chenglue's neighbor, did she say they were a harmonious couple?"

"Hmm, Hong Chenglue took meticulous care of his sick wife, serving medicine every day, and it is said that he gave her a full-body massage every few days to prevent muscle atrophy. The old woman said she had never heard them argue." Living in that kind of dilapidated house, the walls were very thin, but if there was any movement, the neighbor could hear it by just eavesdropping on the wall.

"Good, good." He Chunhua nodded. "By the way, how are your injuries?"

"No problem, I'll handle it right away." He Lingchuan also returned; he had the Medicine Ape, and these minor injuries could be handled.

He didn't know that after he left, He Chunhua ordered no visitors and told his personal guards to guard the tent door well. He himself took black cloth to block all the light-leaking seams of the tent.

What General Manager He did in the tent, no one knew.

Until more than half an hour later, the east was slightly bright.

The night of blood-red sky finally passed, and He Chunhua walked out of the tent and took a deep breath facing the rising sun.

He called two more people and ordered in a low voice.

The two took the order and led more than thirty cavalrymen to gallop away.

Until dawn, He Chunhua ordered the main force: "Break camp, hit the road!"

No more resting; the grain transport team must rush to the front line as soon as possible.

The defensive battle last night was finally won, the morale of the team rose, and they were not resistant to leaving immediately. Xinhuang Town was too poor, and ordinary soldiers couldn't leave the camp even if they followed military orders; staying here was not much different from the wilderness.

He Lingchuan asked for leave to temporarily leave the team, took his dozen or so subordinates and headed west, running for dozens of miles before finding the place of the previous bitter battle, and buried Mao Tao properly.

"When the Mid-Yuan Festival arrives, no matter where I am, I will burn money and paper people for you." He Lingchuan said to the newly erected tombstone. "I'll find a master craftsman to make you a few paper girls with long legs and thin waists, guaranteed to be all the styles you like."

This was Mao Tao's wish before he died, and it could be realized after death.

￥￥￥￥￥

The rest of the grain transport team's journey was calm.

When passing through the steep mountain pass, He Chunhua sent out scouts in advance, and the team also pulled their vigilance to the full. However, until everyone passed through smoothly, nothing happened.

He Chunhua had long judged that Hong Chenglue was severely injured and would not take action again, and finally felt relieved after walking through the natural danger of this journey.

The rest was all plains.

Taking stock of the battles of the past two days, he and Hong Chenglue should have had their own wins and losses. However, Hong Chenglue originally had more than six hundred men, and now only two hundred or so were left, losing more than half; counting it up, Hong Chenglue still suffered a bigger loss.

It was the mutual raids last night that settled the situation, otherwise the grain transport team wouldn't have passed through today's dangerous pass so easily.

The speed of marching on the plains was fast; two days later, the grain transport team finally arrived at the northern front line!

The border general Zhao Pan got the news and had long been waiting by the road.

He Lingchuan took a look; it was all soldiers, and the welcome ceremony was quite grand.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 280 =====