Gao Chengzong was very excited as it was his first time leading troops alone.
He quickly gathered the baggage soldiers, took the gongs, drums and flags and marched out. After leaving the camp gate, he ordered people to call the cooks and horse feeders in the camp, and asked them to bring pots, pans, and utensils with them.
He sat on his horse with an air of pride and said, "Men, beat the drums and gongs, raise the banners, and follow me to kill the enemy!"
Gao Wu reminded him, "Yanei, only bandits address us as 'little ones'. We are the imperial guards, so it's not appropriate to address us like that."
Gao Yanei glared at them, "This is Grandpa's team, call them whatever you want... Shut up!"
The team headed towards Chengzhai, with flags waving and drums and gongs beating along the way, making it very lively.
An hour later, the team arrived at Chengzhai and stopped outside the village.
The head of Chengzhai had been alarmed by the sound of gongs and drums. When he realized that it was the Tianwu Army, he led the villagers out of the village to welcome them.
The village chief came to Gao Yanei's horse, bowed and saluted, and said, "General, I am the village chief of Chengzhai."
Gao Yanei rode on his horse and said arrogantly, "Go back and tell the villagers that the government troops are here to suppress the bandits. Everyone stay at home and are not allowed to come out."
The headman agreed and went.
Gao Yanei half-covered his ears and loudly asked, "Military Commander, I have arrived at Chengzhai. What should we do next?"
Zhang Shixun's voice came to my ears: "Raise the flags high, beat the gongs and drums as loud as possible, and line up the archers to prepare for defense. Do nothing else."
"Military Commander, besides those who beat drums and gongs and carry flags, I only have seventy or eighty archers here. If they slip through my hands and run towards me, I won't be able to stop them."
"I have to stop you even if I can't. If you slip and get away from me, I'll pull your head off and kick it like a ball."
"you……!"
"Keep your heart at ease. If Toushouhua dares to run away from you, I will summon thunder from the sky to strike him."
After hearing what Zhang Shixun said, Gao Yanei finally calmed down and began to command the troops to form a battle formation.
Gao Yanei's worries were not unnecessary.
Tou Shouhua was not a fool. Gao Yanei's troops rushed to Chengzhai with great fanfare, and the scouts had already heard everything clearly.
He was sitting in the main hall of a wealthy family in Ranzhuang, holding a woman in his arms, who was the wealthy family's concubine.
He chopped off the heads of the rich family, young and old, leaving only this concubine who was slightly pretty.
"You bastard!" Tou slipped his hand and spat on the ground, then laughed and said to his men, "He sent Gao Yanei to the Cheng camp in the east with gongs and drums beating, thinking he could scare me... Hehe! He's taking me for a fool. I'm sure he has an ambush somewhere in the west."
A leader said worriedly, "Brother, Zhang Tianshi is blocking us with several hundred cavalrymen. To the north is the capital, so we can't go there. If we want to escape, we can only go east or west."
Tou slipped his hand into the woman's arms and groped around, grinning widely as he said, "Master Zhang wanted me to run west, but I just didn't want to... By the way, where is Master Zhang now?"
"According to the scouts, Zhang Tianshi and several hundred cavalrymen stopped five miles away, seemingly preparing a meal."
"He's so at ease, haha!" Toushua rubbed the woman in his arms while saying, "Tell the brothers to take advantage of this opportunity to eat, drink, and have fun. Don't take off the saddles on your horses, and be ready to run away at any time... Humph! The imperial guards enjoy themselves in the capital every day, and the cavalry can only ride a few times a year. They are all drunkards. They want to fight me? Dream on."
Just as he said this, he heard someone in the room say in a muffled voice: "You're going to die."
Tou shuddered and pushed the woman in his arms away, "Who's talking?"
He looked around the room and found no one else except the leader.
"The King of Hell orders you to die at three o'clock in the morning, and he will not let you live until five o'clock." The voice continued, "If I were you, you would surrender to Zhang Tianshi immediately. That way you can keep your body intact. Otherwise, your head and body will be separated."
Toushouhua realized that the sound seemed to come from above his head, so he looked up at the beam and saw a crow on the beam, with two bright eyes staring at him.
A chill ran up his spine. He pointed at the crow and stammered, "Is... is it you who's talking?"
"Quack! What do you think?" The crow flapped its wings and flew out of the house with a whoosh.
The rich man's concubine rolled her eyes and fainted.
The leader was so frightened that his face turned pale and he fell to the ground and kowtowed repeatedly.
Although Toushouhua was extremely bold, he was also shocked by the situation before him.
After a while, he realized that his underwear was soaked with sweat.
He kicked the leader who was still kowtowing: "Stop kowtowing! Quickly... let the brothers gather together and get out of this damn place."
"Yes! I... I'll go right away." The chief agreed and tried to stand up, but his legs went weak and he knelt down again.
"Waste!" Tou slipped his hand and kicked him again, then walked out of the main room.
The sky outside was clear and the sun was shining brightly, so there was no trace of the crow.
He glanced back at the main room and couldn't help shivering.
He didn't want to stay here any longer, so he hurriedly gathered his troops and left Ranzhuang, rushing all the way towards the capital. After walking five miles, he turned east.
He wanted to break out from Gao Yanei's side.
A group of infantry could never stop his cavalry.
It is said that Gao Yanei rode on his horse with a proud look on his face, commanding his subordinates to "deploy troops in battle formation", with the sound of gongs and drums deafening.
In order to increase his power, he even did not spare the soldiers who were cooking, and ordered them to pick up pots and pans and start banging them.
For a moment, Gao Yanei felt that he was a great and powerful general, and no one in the world could be his opponent.
Just as he was feeling proud, Zhang Shixun's voice rang out in his ears: "Yanei, have you made all the arrangements over there?"
"Everything is ready, only the east wind is missing. I am now waiting for him to slip. If he dares to break through me, I will kill him without a trace of armor left."
"You were right. He slipped out of Chengzhai, fired a feint to the north, and then fled in your direction... Yanei, your chance to make a name for yourself has come. Don't miss it."
Gao Ya's heart skipped a beat and cold sweat broke out on his face.
He knew his own strengths and weaknesses well. He could brag about it, but when it came to a real fight, he was still very scared.
"General...General, except for a few dozen archers, the rest of us are not combat soldiers. If someone slips up and really breaks out from here, I...I..."
"Gaodu Yuhou, you're not going to run away, are you? I'm telling you, according to the military laws of the Great Song Dynasty, anyone who deserts a battle will be executed!"
Gao Yanei's face turned green. "Brother, I didn't say I was going to run away. But since you knew Toushou was running in my direction, why didn't you come to support me?"
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