A few minutes later, Zhuge Jin went to the deck to diffuse the smell of blood and take a look at the battlefield environment.
The terrain beside the Huaihe River is muddy, and those in Yuan's army who are greedy for life and afraid of death will flee as soon as they see the situation is not right. It is really difficult to chase them.
After Zhuge Jin confirmed it, he could only sigh: "That's all, it's due to the weather and geography, and it's not a crime of war. Now that we have escaped alive, we'd better ride horses to Haixi as soon as possible.
Although the enemy may not pursue them with all their strength, there is nothing wrong with being careful. "
Zhang Fei, who had been listening to the orders, immediately obeyed the orders and ordered all the cavalry to disembark and go ashore to load and unload their belongings. He proudly said:
"If the enemy dares to pursue you, that's what you want! It's just a good way to share the pressure on the second brother's side."
Mi Zhu couldn't help but poke him with her elbow: "Are you so comforting? My master asked you to protect Ziyu! Don't use him as bait! What if you scare the female family members? If you can't speak, just say less!" "
In the end, Zhuge Jin personally came to the rescue and changed the topic:
"Okay, don't talk about these things. While the soldiers are holding the horses, quickly find a few prisoners, and I will torture you for some information.
Also, quickly collect all the horses and armor left by Yuan Jun. If necessary, they can be used to disguise themselves as enemy troops. As for the weapons, if they can't be lifted, forget it. "
Zhang Fei immediately captured several of Yuan Jun's leaders and commanders, and left them to Zhuge Jin to deal with, and then went to arrange other matters as ordered.
Zhuge Jin didn't waste time and asked straight to the point: "Are you Liu Xun's soldiers? Who are the generals directly under him? How far is the main force from here?"
The prisoners nodded and admitted that they were Liu Xun's troops. But it seemed that they were forced by the old master's power, so they all looked at each other and did not dare to answer the next two questions.
Zhuge Jin walked towards one of them and said, "I'll give you a chance. If you tell me everything, you'll be retained in your original position and you'll be rewarded with a piece of silk."
The prisoner hesitated for a moment: "You guys can't defeat General Liu. I won't accompany you to death..."
Zhuge Jin nodded, walked behind the opponent, drew out his sword and stabbed him hard, but due to his unfamiliar skills, it got stuck on the ribs of his vest.
The prisoner howled miserably and struggled hard. The smell of blood made Zhuge Jin feel slightly nauseous.
Zhuge Jin quickly controlled his emotions, kicked the opponent down, and pulled out the sword with both hands. After adjusting the angle and stabbing again, the opponent was completely killed.
After doing all this, he took a few deep breaths, wiped the blood on his face, and pointed his sword at the other prisoners: "The conditions remain unchanged. If you tell me, you will be rewarded with a piece of silk."
This time it was finally smooth, and all the moves were done within a few seconds:
The main force of Liu Xun's troops went north along the Hangou Waterway, which should be one or two days away from Huaiyin. However, he divided two generals to lead the vanguard cavalry, and each searched northward along the east and west banks of Hangou to provide cover for the main force.
The cavalry on the west bank was commanded by Chen Lan. It was Yuan Shu's hinterland and there was little risk of encountering the enemy. There were only a few hundred cavalry.
The cavalry on the east bank was led by Lei Bo. Because they were searching and advancing in the area controlled by Liu Bei, they were assigned more than a thousand cavalry.
Considering that Liu Xun only had 15,000 men in total, being able to gather 2,000 cavalry was already quite a lot.
This group of scouts was sent by Lei Bo. Lei Bo's main force should be thirty miles south now.
"Thirty miles, there is not much time left for us, let's leave quickly." Zhuge Jin got the information he wanted and decisively ordered to escape.
Mi Zhu asked a lot: "What about these ships? Are they lost? There are still some heavy baggage on them."
Zhuge Jin didn't care about those low-value materials, but Mi Zhu's question still reminded him.
Zhuge Jin had a flash of inspiration and casually ordered: "Let Shiren dedicate some sailors and sail these ships downstream to Huaipu County.
The poor county of Huaipu should not be favored by Lei Bo. Even if he gets a deserter reward, he will definitely guess that we are going to Haixi. "
As mentioned before, in today's escort team, Fan Jiang and Zhang Da are Zhang Fei's men; only Shiren is Guan Yu's old subordinate, and his water skills and boating skills are better than Zhang Fei's subordinates.
Just now, when Zhang Fei divided his troops and went ashore to intercept Yuan Jun's scouts, he used his direct subordinates to keep Shiren on board. Now that the troops need to be divided by water and land, the task of retreating by boat must of course be left to Shiren.
Do your part.
However, when Shiren in the crowd heard Zhuge Jin's order, his heart suddenly became cold.
"Could it be that Mr. Zhuge has a grudge and wants to use me as bait to lure away the enemy?" Shiren secretly hated him, but did not dare to show it.
Of course Shiren knew very well that in the past two days, his immediate boss Guan Yu had visibly alienated him.
The reason is obviously that the day Liu Bei first met Zhuge Jin, when he was responsible for the introduction, he said a few bad words about Zhuge Jin.
I didn't expect Zhuge Jin to be so petty and now he was going to give him a dangerous task.
However, Zhang Fei was obviously completely obedient to Zhuge Jin. Even if Shiren was timid, he could not refuse, so he had no choice but to accept the task.
Zhuge Jin didn't want to deal with him, and even gave him a few instructions, mainly on how to deal with and escape if he encountered an enemy.
Then Zhuge Jin and his party of 200 horses fled eastward at high speed with an additional 60 horses captured from Yuan Jun.
…
From morning to noon, the group of people ran as fast as they could to recuperate their horsepower.
The female relatives in the team couldn't stand riding, so Zhuge Jin and Song Xin had to take turns riding with Song.
Fortunately, there were a lot of captured enemy horses, and they could be ridden in turns, changing every twenty miles, so there was no need to worry about the horses getting tired.
I estimated that I had run sixty or seventy miles, and the journey was already halfway through. It was already three quarters past noon, and the sun was blazing in the sky.
Mrs. Song, who had changed horses three times, was really weak and couldn't bear it. When she saw a village in front of her, she begged her son to take a rest and have some dry food for lunch.
Zhuge Jin looked at the sky and estimated that even if Yuan Shujun sent out pursuers, they wouldn't arrive so quickly. Moreover, Mi Zhu also had two concubines beside her, and she couldn't bear it anymore.
Zhuge Jin thought about it for a while and then discussed with Zhang Fei:
"Yide, if your family doesn't eat some dry food, I'm afraid they won't be able to withstand the evening. Eating and drinking on horseback can easily cause colic, so it's better to rest for a while and wait until the hottest part of the day before leaving."
Of course Zhang Fei completely obeyed Zhuge Jin's arrangements, but he didn't want to waste time, so he gave a rough and detailed suggestion:
"Why don't we rest while I separate a few capable confidants and go to Haixi County without stopping to report the news, so that they can prepare for the response and take every precaution. This will also prevent them from daring to open the city if we arrive after dark. Door."
In ancient times, many of the city defenders did not dare to open the city gates when it was dark, for fear that the enemy would disguise themselves and deceive the city.
Upon hearing this, Zhuge Jin felt that Zhang Fei's words made sense. After all, there were more than a thousand troops stationed in Haixi County. If they could be prepared in advance and respond at any time, there would be more security.
After pondering for a while, Zhuge Jin came up with another idea, so he pulled Mi Zhu over and asked about the terrain along the way.
Mi Zhu told him that there were no hills in the area. It was all flat river plains, with at most only a few small woods.
Zhuge Jin thought for a while and suggested: "In that case, Yide, can you ask the messenger to bring a message and ask the Haixi guard to send troops to the west of the city to meet us when the time comes.
There is no need to go too far out of the city. Since we are marching along the Huaihe River, we will ask them to find a forest in Henan in the west of the city to ambush and support us. If Lei Bo really comes to hunt us down, it's better to be prepared. "
Zhang Fei nodded, thought for a moment, and called Fan Jiang and Zhang Da:
"Please work hard and go to Haixi without stopping to find Mi Zifang and ask him to divide his troops and leave the city in advance to meet us."
Fan Jiang and Zhang Da were a little surprised: "Captain, as the commander of the village, we should be on the left and right and protect him. To deliver the letter, we can just send a pawn."
Zhang Fei's face darkened: "Send an unknown soldier. Even if there is Zizhong's talisman biography, Zifang may not be willing to believe it completely. He is hesitant and suspicious, so you two will be safe if you go."
What's more, the few military commanders under Zifang's command are unaware of the enemy's situation today. If you go, you can lead the way for the Haixi soldiers. Once this is done, I will tell my elder brother later that I will promote you to the rank of Qujunhou! "
Fan Jiang and Zhang Da were overjoyed, but he could not show his face that he accepted the order because he wanted to be promoted. He only pretended that it was his duty to do so.
On the other side, Mi Zhu also hurriedly wrote a handwritten message to Mi Fang and asked them to take it away with them. This must have strengthened Mi Fang's determination to protect him. After all, he was here to escort his brother.
Zhuge Jin also took advantage of Mi Zhu's time to write the letter and told Fan Jiang and Zhang Da a few details, which were nothing more than a deduction of the subsequent situation and a general response.
Fan Jiang and Zhang Da felt a little headache after hearing this, but they still had to admire Mr.'s quick thinking.
After all, Zhuge Jin had seen the working methods of the modern general staff from various media channels in later generations. For various war emergencies, we can think of more or less organized countermeasures.
Even if you just take out some fur, it will be enough to dazzle the ancients.
…
After sending Fan Jiang and Zhang Da away, almost all the family members and civil servants here had eaten dry food.
Everyone found a place to rest in the shade of a tree and drink some water to settle their stomachs.
Zhuge Jin knew the medical principles of appendicitis, and he didn't want to be shaken immediately after eating and cause appendicitis.
In this era, if Hua Tuo could not be operated on, appendicitis would be fatal.
Seeing that they had rested until the end of the day, he ordered everyone to continue on their way.
There are still sixty miles to go to Haixi, and there will be no stops on the way. When it is time for dinner, we can only endure the hunger first. After entering the city, there will be hot food.
At the end of the day, Shenshi passed safely, and seeing the sky getting dark, we were still less than twenty miles away from Haixi County.
The civil servants and women in the group also felt more and more relaxed, feeling that the enemy was probably not pursuing them with all their strength.
But at this moment, Zhang Fei noticed that smoke and dust were rising and approaching seven or eight miles behind, and there was a faint flag with the word "Thunder" floating in the air. It was obviously the cavalry of Lei Bo's troops who had been confessed by the prisoners in the morning.
"What did Lei Bo think? He just discovered a group of Xuzhou soldiers with hundreds of riders, so he spent all his money to pursue them? I really underestimated his determination. I thought he would give up and go to Huaiyin to meet Ji Ling first."
Zhuge Jin, who was racing alongside Zhang Fei, thought for a moment and then said bluntly:
"I heard that Lei Bo and Chen Lan were born as thieves in Huoshan. They helped Yuan Shu deal with the powerful Wubao and plunder military supplies.
This kind of person has not changed his gangster nature, so he naturally wants to 'raise his own money' before the coach arrives. However, they didn't pursue the wrong direction. It seemed that Shiren's journey was not misleading at all. "
Zhang Fei was convinced after hearing this.
How could those vanguard cavalry generals who were thieves miss the time when the commander was out of control and rush to kill, plunder and loot? What a rare opportunity!
If we don't rob them now, why don't we wait until Liu Xun kills them before his eyes and commit the crime again?
After thinking about this level, Zhang Fei felt eager in his heart:
"Fortunately, sir, I have already made a plan and asked Fan Jiang and Zhang Da to inform Mi Fang first.
I see that there are fruit trees ten miles ahead. Mi Fang has probably arrived. How about we lure them there and then attack them?
If Mi Fang has not arrived, we will run at full speed and we can at least escort Mr. into the city. "
Zhuge Jin hesitated for a moment and reminded, "We are outnumbered and outnumbered, are we sure?"
Zhang Fei waved the snake spear vigorously and said with great confidence: "Although Lei Bo is in large numbers, they definitely don't have a lunch break, nor do they have to change horses. In the end, they have to sprint and chase. But we can relatively wait for the work, even though there are many people, we are not afraid!"
——
PS: Please vote for the new book and collect it. Please remind me that it is updated every day at 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. There may be a system delay of several minutes.
Let me answer two questions that everyone raised yesterday.
First of all, I follow "Three Kingdoms" for the historical background, not the romance. But in terms of the weapons and equipment of generals, I think it is harmless to use romance, because it will not affect the general trend of history. Does Guan Yu use the Qinglong Sword or the long spear Ma Shu? Does it help the historical process? Using the Azure Dragon Sword gives you a more immersive feeling, and the same goes for the Snake Spear and Fangtian Halberd.
Secondly, don't worry that Zhuge Liang will become someone else's adopted son. This will never happen. Zhuge Liang's integrity and personality cannot be changed randomly. I still respect the sage for this.
The protagonist will never have any inappropriate scenes with women. At most, there are only some modern humans who pay attention to humanistic care, but they will never betray any integrity or please anyone. There won’t be many other spoilers, just these few words. Please feel free to read on.
If you have other opinions, please point them out.
above.
