After Dong Hu stayed in Xinjin City for two days, he got up and hurried back. Compared to when they arrived, their return speed was greatly accelerated. This is because the return trip was lightly packed - expensive gifts were given to Pan Tongzhi, and even the grenades were only a few new types of grenades. All the old model grenades have been given to the craftsmen in Xinjin City. The new type of mercury-exploding grenade is still confidential and cannot be given away. Of course, even if it is given to Xinjin City, it cannot be copied. Without the industrial system of the Pili Army, even if Xinjin City could imitate old-fashioned grenades, they would definitely not be as powerful as the Pili Army. The reason is that it is one thing to know the principles and methods of grenade manufacturing, but the key is to have high-quality raw materials and mature processes, not to mention a complete quality and management system. Another reason for the speed of the return journey was that there were no Mongolian cavalry activities along the way. This allowed Dong Hu and others to no longer have to cross the swamp path, but boldly moved forward along the official road. Of course, the pace was much faster. Dong Hu and others arrived near Chongqing Fucheng at dusk on the day they set out.
Looking at Chongqing Fucheng in the distance, Dong Hu decided to take the risk and get closer to conduct reconnaissance in order to grasp military intelligence such as the strength of the city's troops and the deployment of defenses. In Pan Tongzhi's letter to Ouyang Xuan, he asked the Perak Army to be prepared and wait for the order to raise troops from Pu Zezhi, the envoy of Sichuan and the prefect of Chongqing, after the Spring Festival. At that time, Tongzhi Pan would also lead his army to accompany Marshal Pu to attack Chengdu and Xinjin Village. The navy army will also go up the river and join forces with the Perak Army to attack the Mongolian army in Chongqing Fucheng.
Under the cover of night and mist, Dong Hu and the other five quietly swam to the island in the middle of the Wenjing River outside Fucheng. This island in the middle of the river is formed by alluvial river sand. It is about 500 meters long and 100 meters wide. It is about 100 meters away from the pier outside the west gate of Fucheng. There is a large forest in the middle of the river island, and in the forest is the camp of the Chongqing Navy Navy. Pan Tongzhi took away all the ships when he evacuated, and the military camp was abandoned, leaving only dozens of dilapidated thatched huts. Dong Hu saw that the trees were tall and dense and facing the city, so he planned to hide here for the night and climb up to the treetops after dawn to observe the situation in the city. As they approached the abandoned military camp, they heard low voices coming from a thatched hut, and the light of fire shone through the damaged walls. Dong Hu and others sneaked over and saw through the broken wall that there were only two thin young men in ragged clothes, one big and one small, and no one else. The two half-grown men were sitting around the campfire in front of them to keep warm, with something stewed in a broken clay pot on the fire. Facing Dong Hu and others who suddenly walked into the thatched hut, the two teenagers were not frightened or ran away. Instead, the older boy calmly invited them to warm themselves by the fire. Under the firelight, although the two young men were disheveled, their eyes were bright. Their calm and calm expressions made Dong Hu and others sigh inwardly, and they immediately sat around the fire and asked them.
Dong Hu and others learned that the two teenagers were brothers. The elder brother is Xia Dagen, who is fourteen years old this year, and the younger brother is Xia Xiaogen, who is ten years old. They originally lived with their parents in Chongqing Fucheng. Their father was originally a junior high school student in the Navy in Chongqing Fucheng. When the Mongols came, his father did not want to follow Pan Tongzhi to evacuate to Xinjin City and stayed in Chongqing Fucheng. Later, he was killed by the new annexed army because he was unwilling to surrender to the Mongols. His mother also died in the robbery of the rebels. Unable to gain a foothold in the city, the two brothers came to this abandoned military camp to find a way out when they were hungry. They survived by digging wild vegetables. Fortunately, there were a lot of wild vegetables here, and they could also catch small animals such as fish, crabs, mice, and frogs. Their father's old friend occasionally They also sent some food, but they survived. Now the broken clay pot on the fire is stewing plant roots and wild vegetables. Dong Hu and others distributed some bacon, crackers and other dry food to the two brothers, and they ate together with wild vegetable soup.
After eating and drinking, the two brothers' cheerful faces became rosy. Dong Hu curiously asked them why they were not afraid of strangers and why they didn't run away. A trace of sadness flashed in Xia Dagen's eyes, and he said calmly: "If Uncle Dong and others are evil people, if they want to intentionally cause harm, my two brothers will not be able to fight, nor will they be able to escape, and there will be no use in begging. How about being calm?" There is still a trace of decency in the face...". Xia Dagen's mature mind and youthful calmness impressed Dong Hu and others. He was sure that the two brothers would be pillars when they grew up, and immediately invited them to join the Thunderbolt Army. Xia Dagen and Xiaogen were naturally grateful when they heard this. . Hearing that they would reconnoiter the situation in the city tomorrow, Xia Dagen told Dong Hu that his father had a close friend named Liao Nilu, who was now the leader of the new annexed army. If this person hadn't often donated food, the two brothers would have died of hunger long ago. Before Xia Dagen finished speaking, Xia Xiaogen volunteered and said that he was young enough to sneak into the city secretly and notify Uncle Yu to come on the grounds that his brother was ill. He just hoped that Liao Niluo would not be harmed. Dong Hu agreed to this reasonable request, secretly marveling at the courage and resourcefulness of the two brothers. They immediately agreed to split up after dawn.
When the first light of day dawned, Xia Xiaogen had quietly hidden the simple raft crossing the river among the reeds at the dock outside the city. He wanted to blend in with the flow of people bringing vegetables and firewood into the city when the city gate first opened. At that time, the flow of people entering the city and the oxcarts carrying dung out of the city would cause congestion at the city gate, and he, who was thin and frail, took the opportunity to sneak in. Dong Hu asked his men to climb up the treetops to observe the situation in the city, while he took Xia Dagen to hide in the reeds to observe the situation on the other side of the river.
About half an hour later, all the scouts on the tree quietly descended from the tree and sneaked next to Dong Hu. They saw the city was in a state of depression. The houses near the east gate had been demolished into open spaces and turned into racecourses. As for the city's defense situation, they could only take a rough look. They could only judge that the city walls made of blue bricks were tall and thick, and the horse-faced towers were also similar. Everything. Just when Dong Hu and others were lamenting that this fortified city with extremely strong defense was easily abandoned by Commander Pan, Xia Xiaogen and others appeared on the other side of the river.
As soon as Liao Nilu dragged the raft to the shore, he saw several strong men walking out of the reeds. He was frightened and wanted to turn around and jump into the water, but was stopped by the two brothers. In fact, although Dong Hu and others had surrounded him at this time, no one could stop him if he jumped into the water. Speaking of which, this Liao Loach really lives up to its name. Even in winter, it wears short clothes, and the rest of its body is dark except for its teeth. Of course, he got his name from Loach because of its excellent water properties. His reputation reached as far as Xinjin and Pengshan Water Army, and everyone called him Liao Niloc. Over time, even he forgot his real name. After Xia Dagen and Xiaogen explained the situation in detail, Dong Hu and others also expressed some kind words of comfort. He was so frightened that his gray-black face slowly turned red and black, and he readily told everything he knew about the situation.
According to Liao Nilu, after Pan Tongzhi retreated from Xinjin City, the thousand soldiers who stayed in the city became chaotic. More than 300 people left the city and became bandits, while the rest surrendered to the Mongols and became new vassal troops. In order to control this new annexed army, the Mongols sent a Semu man as their leader. In addition to these new auxiliary troops of more than 600 people, there were originally 500 Mongolian and Han cavalry stationed in the city. However, most of the cavalry was transferred to Chengdu in the past two days, and now there is only one hundred-man team. Because of the lack of food and grass and because most of the cavalry were transferred away, the Mongolian army no longer patrols on a large scale but sticks to the city. The centurion captain of the Mongolian army and the leader of the Semu people of the newly attached army no longer went out to plunder, but drank and had fun all day long.
