With a "puff" sound, the tea bowl in Wang Juntou's hand tilted, and the tea spilled into the charcoal brazier, and a thick smoke immediately rose.

The room was filled with coughing and swearing.

"Old Ding, can you stop being so stingy and get some good charcoal to entertain the brothers?"

Ding Dashan also coughed twice and waved his hand to disperse the smoke.

"If it weren't for you, I wouldn't even have time to light the charcoal fire," he said unhappily.

Because of this episode, the solemnity in the room was somewhat disturbed. The windows were opened to let out the fireworks and then closed again.

"Let's talk about it." Military Captain Wang poured another bowl of tea and sat down and said, "What should we do about this matter?"

Some people in the room coughed, and some sniffed.

"It's difficult." Someone said, "There's no way we can do this. The difference in strength is too great. No matter how powerful they are, if they open the city gate, we won't be able to fight against so many Jin soldiers. How can this work?"

But this time, no one agreed immediately after he finished speaking.

The person sitting in the room had a complicated expression, as if he was thinking about something.

"We have so many people. If we call on Mao Laoqi, Sun Deli, Dong Yuan and others, we can gather more than 2,000 people." Ding Dashan said suddenly, "It was a night raid again, and Laojiu said that the gold thieves are actually strong on the outside but weak on the inside. Maybe..."

Military commander Wang frowned as he looked at him.

"Old Ding, don't let your military achievements get to your head," he said.

These few words hit the nail on the head, and everyone in the room had different expressions again.

Yes, what the woodcutters' leader Lao Jiu said before, although it sounds feasible, is after all a bit childish and risky. However, the last sentence is very true.

Military merit.

Only if you have military merits can you get promoted and make money. Only if you have military merits can your family members be honored even if they die.

As a military commander, the quickest and easiest way to get promoted is through military merit.

Compared with military exploits, taking risks doesn't seem to be a bad thing.

As the saying goes, wealth and honor are found in danger.

The identities of the woodcutters were special, and they mentioned Duke Cheng vaguely in their words, which meant that they were indeed sent by Duke Cheng. As for why they obeyed Duke Cheng's dispatch, it was probably because of some kind of deal.

Although Duke Cheng could not come, he was still thinking about this place, so this arrangement was made.

The woodcutters were fierce and suitable for this kind of quick attack and fierce fighting, but they had to conceal their identities so that the local officers and soldiers would go in front without disrupting the rules of the army.

This arrangement is really thoughtful.

"Duke Cheng is really working very hard." Ding Dashan sighed with red eyes, "Duke Cheng cares about the entire Northland and has not given up our small interests for the sake of the overall situation."

He took a deep breath and looked at everyone in the room.

"Old Nine is right. Reinforcements, they are reinforcements. Orders, orders from Duke Cheng."

The people in the room were silent for a moment.

"Damn it." A military leader suddenly smashed the bowl in his hand onto the ground and said, "I can't live this miserable life any longer."

Another military leader followed suit and smashed his teacup.

"Yes, as long as they can open the city gate, I will fight the gold thieves," he said.

Ding Dashan hurriedly uttered two "ah-ahs".

"Don't break my bowl," he said. "I don't have many good bowls left."

Military leader Wang also stood up and threw the bowl to the ground.

"Ding Dashan, there are many valuable plates and bowls in the kitchen behind Kaide Mansion." He said, "If we can capture Kaide Mansion tomorrow night, you can take those plates and bowls away. We promise to pretend that we didn't see them."

Ding Dashan's eyes lit up.

"Lao Wang, it's settled then," he said.

This was a double entendre, and everyone present knew what it meant.

At that moment, the remaining two people also smashed their bowls to the ground.

"It's a deal," they also said loudly, "It's just a few plates and bowls, you can take them all."

After he finished speaking, everyone in the room looked at each other, put their hands on their hips and laughed.

"Now go and convince those three guys." Military leader Wang said with a plastic surgery.

"It's easy to convince those three. They are greedy for military achievements." Ding Dashan said, his eyes sparkling, rubbing his hands together. "If we succeed this time, we will have made a great contribution and may even go down in history."

To have a record in history books is the dream of many scholars.

The eyes of everyone present were shining. They were standing in a room with almost no charcoal fire in the middle of winter, sweating profusely.

"This is a great opportunity," they all murmured.

…

The winter night's cold wind howled, and the fire lit in front of the city gate of Kaide Prefecture was swaying and almost extinguished.

Such large braziers were installed at the four city gates of Kaide Prefecture. They were not there originally, but were only installed in the past few days. It is obvious that they were installed to prevent anyone from approaching the city at night.

But the north wind was blowing hard tonight, and some places became dim and bright, making it difficult for the guards on the city gate to survey the outside of the city gate clearly.

There were rustling sounds, and it seemed as if a crowd of people was moving in the dark night. A strong wind was sweeping across the fields, and strange howling noises covered up the sound of marching footsteps.

"A dark moon is a good night for murder, a high wind is a good day for arson." Ding Dashan whispered, looking at the looming city ahead, "Today is perfect for a night raid. Do you think Lao Jiu chose today by coincidence or did he know the celestial phenomena in advance?"

A woodcutter also knows about celestial phenomena.

Wang Juntou rolled his eyes, but it was a pity that no one saw it in the middle of the night.

It's like Zhuge Liang's reincarnation, able to call the wind and rain.

"Don't worry about whether it's a coincidence or a celestial phenomenon," he whispered. "Let's see if they can open the city gate successfully."

He said and looked back again.

"It seems that Mao Laoqi is unwilling to come."

They went together to persuade the other three military leaders of the garrison, but two agreed, and one did not give a clear answer, saying that he would consider it.

"What's the point of considering it in such a short time? It's obvious that you don't dare to come." Ding Dashan spat.

"If you don't want to come, then don't come." Wang Juntou said, looking ahead and tightening his weapon, "Maybe we'll come here in vain."

If the woodcutters could not enter Kaide Prefecture, or if they entered and failed to successfully open the city gate, then they would be helpless.

Unable to get in, unable to save, all I could do was turn around and run away.

"Wait a minute." Ding Dashan also tightly grasped the weapon in his hand and murmured softly.

…

When you have something on your mind, waiting is very torturous.

Lying on the frozen ground, a gust of cold wind blew past, chilling the hearts of Ding Dashan and the others, so much so that Ding Dashan was even a little dazed.

He suddenly wondered if he was dreaming.

This is too absurd.

"Lao Wang, you pinched me..." He couldn't help but turned his head and said with clenched teeth.

Before he finished speaking, Lao Wang beside him jumped up.

"Fire!" he shouted hoarsely, his voice trembling, not sure whether it was from freezing or excitement.

On Fire?

Ding Dashan looked and saw thick smoke and flames rising from the night ahead, and noisy sounds were dissipated by the wind.

They went in! They set two camps on fire!

Ding Dashan tensed his body and his teeth clenched together, making a clattering sound.

"The gates are open."

In the blink of an eye, the scout ahead sent news.

So fast! So fierce!

Ding Dashan just felt numb all over. He was freezing cold, but hot sweat was breaking out.

Kill! he jumped up and was about to shout.

Before he could utter a word, he could hear shouts and screams coming from the other side, and countless torches lit up.

Who, who is this?

Ding Dashan and others looked at it in astonishment and stared blankly.

"Mao Laoqi!" he shouted, and then became angry. "This shameless thing actually followed me here without making any noise, and even wanted to steal the credit!"

As soon as he finished speaking, General Wang rushed out with his knife raised.

"Kill the enemy!" he screamed.

A group of soldiers followed closely and rushed towards the city, shouting.

Ding Dashan was almost knocked off balance.

"Damn it," he shouted, "Everyone was so cautious, like they were being forced into the bridal chamber by me, but now that they've achieved success, they're running faster than rabbits."

Although he was cursing, his voice was full of smiles.

"My fellow men, now is your chance for revenge!"

He roared and rushed forward, followed closely by the soldier named Ma Du. His thin figure held a spear with a gleam in his eyes, and he rushed straight towards the city like a sharp arrow.

It’s time to take revenge. It’s time to take revenge. My parents have taken revenge.

In the dead of winter night, the flames were blazing and the shouts of killing stirred half the sky.