Jiaohua

In the stone pot on the bonfire, water was boiling with a gurgling sound.

The white smoke was rising slowly, lingering in the small hut, carrying a sticky dampness.

After the water was boiled, Zhai Jinsheng changed the pot, put the washed wild vegetables into cold water and boiled slowly.

In another dilapidated room, everyone surrounded Shen Lie. The dilapidated Eight Immortals table had been wiped several times, and a marching map was placed on it.

The charcoal pencil in Shen Lie's hand kept marking on the marching map to confirm the route to follow.

Ye Zheng took a few people to take care of the horses, and when he came back and entered the door, he said that the food was ready, there were dry food, hot soup and freshly roasted meat.

Shen Lie asked Zuo Zuo to eat first, and Ye Zheng came in and said, "Master."

Shen Lie looked up at him and said, "Go and eat too."

Ye Zheng didn't leave, but looked at the marching map on the table, and found that Shen Lie had no plans to go to Guangzhao or Bajianghu.

Ye Zhengdao: "Master, are we only in Songzhou area this time?"

"Well, Ali's re-date is at the beginning of July. There is still plenty of time, but it's only enough for us to go back around Songzhou."

Before leaving Hejing, they had planned to meet in Hejing, but because he was going to Guzhou, there was a change. She resent the letter and pushed the date back to July.

Her original intention was to give him enough time, but she didn't realize that his "task" was completed early.

It would take three to five days to come and go to Feishu, so he simply used the three to five days to calculate Cao Chunshan's account of "fighting the autumn wind" against Baiguang Township in Songzhou, which was passing by.

Ye Zheng looked at the western part of Songzhou and Linning, which were most marked on the map, separated by hilly wasteland and Qingye villages about [-] miles away, and Guzhou was on the other end.

Ye Zheng suddenly smiled: "Master has changed a lot."

Shen Lie looked at him sideways.

Ye Zheng smiled and said: "I heard Du Xuan mentioned the previous incident. When the young master escorted Ji's family away from Du'ankou, he was kind to Daping's soldiers and horses."

Shen Lie withdrew his gaze, and said in a deep voice: "I was just an abandoned child back then, but now, I am the commander-in-chief of Yan Jun."

His black eyes were fixed on Guzhou on the marching map, and the bottom of his eyes was deep, which was overturned by Ye Zheng's mention of the Guo family.

In other words, he was a mercenary back then, and the commission was the kindness of the Guo family's upbringing, and it was also the last trace of his affection for the Guo family.

That trace of affection disappeared not because of escorting Ji's family, but in Shuangpo Gorge in Huazhou.

There were several rushing hooves of horses outside, Ye Zheng shivered when he heard the sound, and said, "I don't know who it is, I'll go and see!"

He quickly stepped out of the dilapidated door, and Di Jinsheng and the others also came out from other doors.

The men who came back were all dressed in black, and the leader was a team leader named Miao Zhonghai who had been promoted from the Mountain View City garrison.

They got off their horses and walked quickly towards Ye Zheng: "Is the general asleep?"

Ye Zheng stood a little taller and asked, "Not yet, but is there an emergency?"

Miao Zhonghai said anxiously: "Yes! The subordinates discovered that there are at least seven soldiers and horses coming down from the north, and one of them is coming along the Guxia Mountain Range, which is heading to our side."

"Can you see the bugle number and clothes clearly?"

"The night is too dark to see clearly."

"How many people are there?"

"About two thousand."

Shen Lie walked behind Ye Zheng, his slender and thin figure was very recognizable among the tall and hulking men.

"Is their vanguard infantry or cavalry?" Shen Lie asked.

Miao Zhonghai and the scouts who came back together looked at each other. Miao Zhonghai looked at Shen Lie: "General, what you said seems to be cavalry, and there are a lot of them. There are at least 300 cavalry in the lead."

Shen Lie said: "Then it's Yuanying."

Ye Zheng, Di Jinsheng and other secret guards who had followed Shen Lie for many years immediately turned dark.

Zhai Jinsheng said coldly: "The main force of the Hanshen Battalion back then."

"Yeah." Shen Li nodded.

Miao Zhonghai and the other soldiers didn't know what Hanshen Camp and Zhuyuan Camp were, but looking at Zhai Jinsheng's expressions, they knew that there must be old scores.

To put it mildly, the situation seems to have changed all of a sudden.

Just now they were worried that there would be soldiers and horses coming down, and they were going to avoid them, but now they seemed to turn their faces suddenly, as if they had a fighting spirit, as if it was the turn of the person who should be worried.

Di Jinsheng and Ye Zheng looked at Shen Lie: "Master..."

Shen Lie looked at them, not only them, but Miao Zhonghai and the others were all ready to kill, and their eyes were wild and fierce.

That being the case, how can we live up to it.

Shen Lie looked at Miao Zhonghai: "You have seen their speed, so you can use your estimates to calculate the time. How long do you think it will take them to get here? Give me the fastest and slowest inference."

Miao Zhonghai and the others discussed for a while, and said: "The fastest may be two hours, and the slowest is three hours."

Shen Lie nodded, raised his eyes and looked at the crowd: "All officers and soldiers listen to the order!"

Everyone cupped their fists and said in unison: "General!"

Shen Lie said: "Since the ancient Xia Mountains go south, there is a valley that they must pass through. The valley is about ten miles long. There is a wide avenue in the valley, which was built 200 years ago for mining. This avenue is very suitable for our guerrilla warfare now. battle. Rest immediately, everyone, and we will set off in half an hour."

"Yes!"

Shen Lie looked at a man standing beside Di Jinsheng: "Mao Shuxing."

The man came out: "General!"

"Take your team of eight to patrol the nearby mountains and fields. Any enemy scouts that appear will not be left alive, and there is no need to bring them back. There is an uninhabited village three miles east from our place. You go there at Maoshi and wait for us."

The man was stunned: "General, we don't have many troops. If I take away eight more people, wouldn't it be..."

Shen Lie interrupted him in a deep voice: "If I lack troops, I won't just take a hundred of you with me when I set off from Guzhou. Since entering Songzhou last night, none of our battles has been a direct confrontation. The small number of troops is our advantage. , we are far more flexible and maneuverable than the opponent, and our tactics are free."

When Di Jinsheng saw this, he stepped forward and said, "I might be sorry for the other brothers, but most of the brothers present were selected by me personally, because everyone is the best of the best soldiers, one of a thousand! The best soldiers are not many, The general has tactics, and we have combat power!"

Ye Zheng also said: "Yes, we are brave and have good horses. If we can beat them, we will fight, and if we can't beat them, we will run away! So what if they see us from behind, are we afraid that they will catch up with us?"

Everyone laughed.

Shen Lie also smiled lightly, and said, "Go and rest."

The night was dense, and the moonlight occasionally peeked out from under the backlog of clouds.

The pale white light only slightly stained the surrounding clouds with gray, and soon, all the light was covered by the dense dark clouds.

Thirty miles north of Jiuning County, Huazhou, Jiang Yang brought back five hundred elite soldiers, followed by a carriage.

After getting off the carriage, Mr. Xin Shun hurried to the big tent.

Nie Huimo was studying the map of Songzhou with others, and when he heard the report, Nie Huimo frowned: "Please come in, sir."

As soon as Xin Shun came in, there were black circles around his eyes: "General, why do you want to go to Songzhou at this time, you can't go!"