When Wang Hao ordered the camp to be moved, the public troops who had stayed in Jishui yesterday had already arrived with their troops. Wang Hao asked them not to stop and to continue marching thirty miles to camp. He and another bus arrived shortly after. The public officer was very cautious and sent a large number of troops to scout the mountains on both sides before driving the army forward. Cautious behavior allowed the front army to march only fifteen miles before dusk.
The two open areas explored by the outpost were actually not open enough, so it was still difficult for the five thousand troops to obtain enough area. Wang Lu then led the advancing troops who arrived later to pass the public vehicle and continue forward to camp in an open area further downstream. The front army's 10,000 men actually occupied four open areas.
The camp left by Wang Lu was occupied by the Chinese army. This camp is actually only large enough to live in one side. Sima Jin left it to the baggage camp, and the combat troops occupied an open space at the front and rear to camp.
Hu Yang did not move out of the city. He still had to coordinate the actions of the entire army with Gongzi Jiu and others, so it was not appropriate to separate. Wang Ling's rear army entered the house left by Sima Jin and also set up a large tent by the east gate of the city.
Hu Yang called Zheng Anping and Chen Si after breakfast and asked them to take a hundred people and set off to the front army to find Wang Lu. They would follow the front army and be mainly responsible for finding roads and drawing maps. While the front army cautiously searched and advanced, Zheng Anping and Chen Si led a hundred people selected from six hundred people and just moved along the canyon. The selection criteria for these 100 people is: no one has ever gotten sick during the journey into the mountain.
By noon, these 100 people had passed the front army patrol post and continued to explore downstream for twenty or thirty miles, and finally found a river flowing in from the northwest. Chen Si still wanted to investigate, but Zheng Anping stopped him and said that was enough for today. He would investigate the surrounding terrain clearly and return to camp immediately to report the discovered river channel to the police and continue the investigation tomorrow.
Back at the camp where Wang Hao lived, they had just set up camp. After hearing the introduction from Chen Si and others, Wang Hao was obviously excited: this might be an important clue. He immediately took a hundred people from his own camp, led by Zheng Anping and Chen Si, to check it out in person, while sending someone to report to Hu Yang.
It was already dark when they reached the confluence of the rivers. Wang Hao just grabbed a handful of fried millet from the dry food bag, put it into his mouth bit by bit and chewed it carefully, while looking upstream. Those who followed dissuaded us: "It's already dark, so we can't go any further. Even if there are no enemy troops, there may be wild beasts!"
Chen Si also said: "It's getting late, I have to draw a picture! I hope it will be completed soon!" Wang Hao then gave up.
After Wang Hao arrived at the camp, Hu Yang's instructions also came, ordering him to move the camp thirty miles downstream tomorrow to completely control the confluence of the two rivers. This was exactly what Wang Lu wanted. He spent the night carefully planning his trip for tomorrow.
At twilight the next day, Wang Lu set out with all the thousands of people in his camp. The front army was led by two public servants, and then followed.
The march was faster during the day than at night, and we reached the intersection of the two rivers in just one hour. The five hundred people in the pro-camp quickly dispersed and were on guard. Half of the other five hundred people found a place to camp, and the other half guarded Wang Lu. Chen Si and the others also followed Wang Lu to check the terrain here.
It is tightly surrounded by mountains, and the river is not wide, just a narrow canyon. After the confluence, there is a huge drop downstream, which stirs up a huge sound of water, forming a waterfall, and then rushes out of the valley and winds downstream.
Since the downstream was adjacent to a waterfall and was temporarily safe, the search efforts were turned to the upstream direction of the tributary. This tributary comes from the northwest, and the river channel is also a canyon, with relatively gentle slopes on both sides. Zheng Anping and Chen Si volunteered to take a hundred of their own men to patrol upstream. Wang Hao agreed. Tell them to be careful. It is basically impossible to set up a camp in this area, let alone deploy a large group of troops. Wang Hao informed the rear team to postpone their advance. He found a stone by the river and sat down, letting his camper find a suitable place to camp.
Zheng Anping and his party moved along the canyon. There are gentle hillsides on both sides of this river valley. The flat land formed by alluvial rivers on both sides is about three to five hundred paces wide and less than a hundred paces narrow. It seems that no one has walked on it for a long time and is covered with weeds and shrubs. The soldiers could only use their swords to cut off vegetation and forcefully open a passage. Walking in this way while clearing the road, until the sun sets in the west, after about forty miles, there is a clear field about seven or eight hundred paces wide in front of us. Everyone lamented that the hard work was not in vain. Such a piece of land can accommodate approximately two to three thousand people. Seeing that it was getting late, Zheng Anping and Chen Si discussed that if they went back at this point, all their previous efforts would be in vain, so they decided to send a team of ten people back to report the news, while the others camped where they were. Worried about encountering poisonous insect monsters in the valley, everyone found a sheltered stone col as a campsite. Raising a fire not only drives away wild animals, but also brings warmth. I ate a few mouthfuls of fried millet with water, and after arranging the arrangements, everyone went to bed around the fire.
Chen Si was already coughing a little, but he insisted on painting the situation he saw during the day. Even some small streams that have stopped flowing are marked one by one. After finishing the painting, he curled up and fell asleep while leaning against the stone wall.
Wang Hao received a notification from someone sent by Zheng Anping at night. He knew that there was only a place forty miles upstream that could accommodate 2,000 or 3,000 people. He immediately sent an order to select an elite 2,000 people, led by a public official. Departing on the same day, Zheng Anping's people led the way and set up camp at the site for support.
The next day, Dr. Gong set out with the elite soldiers he had selected in advance, led by Zheng Anping's people. In fact, there is no need to lead the way. There is only a canyon ahead and no bypass. In the dense vegetation, there are still branches and leaves chopped off by Zheng Anping and others, indicating the way forward.
Although there was no need to clear the way like yesterday, it was already dusk when these two thousand people arrived at the venue. Zheng Anping and the others had already left, exploring upstream, leaving pieces of cut grass and trees along the way to open up a road leading to the distance.
Zheng Anping and the others opened the road and walked forward not far when they found obvious signs of people walking in front of them. This makes them very excited. Continuing forward, we found an acre of fields planted with grain and fruit trees. Although there are weeds here and there, there are still people there. Continuing forward, they unexpectedly found a farmhouse with a few households. They were all horrified when they saw a group of people with open flames and sticks appearing.
Although Zheng Anping and others came from various places and spoke many dialects, they basically couldn't understand what these people said, and they couldn't understand what they said themselves. Both sides could only stare. However, the kindness shown on their faces dispelled the farmers' fears, made them feel a little more at ease, and even brought them water to drink. When they were cooking porridge, Zheng Anping asked them with gestures and words, if there was a big cauldron that could cook porridge for a hundred people at one time? This time those people understood and shook their heads to say no; Zheng Anping asked again, where is it nearby? The farmers pointed to the canyon and indicated that it would be there if they walked out. Ask them how long it is to go out, and they don't understand.
That night, they slept under the wall of the farmhouse and lit a fire in the courtyard. They didn't know that Wang Lu had sent someone to meet them not far away. They felt that the journey was far away and it was inconvenient to report, and there was nothing important to report, so they did not continue to send people back.
When they were about to set off the next day, an old man came out and waved to them. He pointed to the canyon in front of him, and then pointed to the halberd in Zheng Anping's hand. Zheng Anping seemed to realize that the old man was saying that there were people holding halberds at the mouth of the valley ahead. . He bowed his hands to the old man and led his men into the valley. After entering the valley, he told everyone that the old man might warn that there were enemy troops ahead, so everyone should be more alert. Therefore, except for those who led the way, everyone else was observing closely. There are more obvious signs of people walking here. As you go deeper, the road gradually becomes visible.
Around noon, a person pointed ahead and shouted: "There is someone!"
Everyone stopped and looked up, but saw that the mountains in front of them were full of people, and there was also a large crowd at the mouth of the canyon at the foot of the mountain. Zheng Anping asked everyone to cock the crossbows and prepare to fight, and he led the two of them forward. After advancing a hundred steps, the target group did not retreat or advance. Zheng Anping was a little afraid to continue moving forward, so he stepped back. Ask everyone to retreat a hundred steps away and stop where they can't see.
Zheng Anping arranged everyone into a formation and hid behind the rocks or grass. He, Chen Si and a doctor quietly climbed up the mountain, leaving only their heads exposed to observe the other side. The terrain here is high, the field of vision is wide, and the situation on the opposite side can be seen clearly. Chen Si rolled his hands into a tube shape, looked at it carefully, stretched out his hand, raised his thumbs and gestured, and said: "There are women all over the mountains on the road ahead, and the strong and strong people are gathered in the gorge, which is about ten miles away. He didn't see us and made no moves." Zheng Anping also said: "Although they are in large numbers, they have few soldiers and no armor. They are not in a line or in a formation. They are not a capable division and can only protect the villagers."
The doctor said: "Like this, if we get close and fight, we will win."
Zheng Anping said: "Although they don't have a formation, they are well-positioned and well-positioned, and they are ten times more powerful than me. They may be difficult to defeat. But if we have a school of troops, we will definitely defeat them!"
The doctor said: "Fight if you are forced to do so, and look at the actual situation. Even if you are not victorious, you can still retreat."
Zheng Anping said: "No! If you fight, you will definitely be injured. The road is difficult and dangerous, and it will be difficult to retreat. You can divide the troops in half and watch here to advance and retreat as desired. Half of the troops return to the camp quickly and invite reinforcements to fight."
The doctor said: "Why do you need half an army to help us? Just send ten people back." Zheng Anping nodded in agreement. So the doctor went down the mountain, sent a hairpin to lead ten people back to the camp overnight, and asked a male doctor for reinforcements. The rest rested in place, ready to fight at any time. Then he returned to the mountain - about an hour had passed. Zheng Anping and the others did not dare to act rashly, and when they saw the people on the opposite side, they had no intention of moving forward. The two sides were deadlocked.
As the sun gradually set in the west, Zheng Anping unexpectedly discovered that the group of people was gradually going down the mountain, and the people gathered at the mouth of the canyon also began to return.
Zheng Anping felt that his opportunity had come!
