Yang Huai felt a little relieved that the emperor's trust in him had surpassed that of the monarch and his ministers, and he now had two appointments in his arms. That is, the emperor appointed himself as the military envoy of the Central Shu Kingdom, allowing him to take charge of all the Han Dynasty's military forces in Shu; the second one was given to him by the Secret Party of the Han Dynasty, allowing him to take over the appointment as the leader of the Secret Party in Central Shu. .
Among the people from the Han Dynasty stationed in Shu, there are not only more than 5,000 soldiers and horses who have entered Shu in disguise, but also individual talents who have entered Shu openly.
Under their respective command and leadership, these people disguised themselves as various people and lurked into Shu. Moreover, there are nearly 600 members of the secret party who have infiltrated the Shu Kingdom for a long time. These people are guiding the generals and soldiers of the Han Kingdom and making various reactions and instigations at any time.
As a loyal member of the Secret Party, and as an active party member, Yang Huai naturally knew the role played by these six hundred members of the Secret Party, and the huge lethality these people would unleash if they acted in Shu.
It is reported that since the beginning of last year, members of the secret party have naturally infiltrated into all levels and levels of Shu under the orders of the party organization. In more than a year, they have grown from dozens to hundreds today, which can be said to be a huge gain. Their intelligence can exert a power that cannot be underestimated. Along the way, Yang Huai received a lot of news about the progress of the Secret Party in the Kingdom of Shu. There is also something that needs to be known urgently, the extent of the Secret Party's current control in the Kingdom of Shu, and The action effects of soldiers and horses infiltrating Shu.
The five thousand soldiers and horses who have entered Shuzhong now are divided into about ten teams according to their respective commanders and commands. They not only fight independently but also communicate with each other. They are destroying the troops and horses under the control of Jiedu and the prefectures and counties run by the governors in various parts of Shu, or they are carrying out powerful sabotage that is beneficial to the actions of the Han Dynasty.
Of course, the biggest gain so far is naturally the actions of the special operations forces of the Han Dynasty under the guidance of the secret party. They wantonly recruited soldiers and horses from various regions and destroyed the combat effectiveness of the garrison in various regions. Another thing that interests Yang Huai is the recruitment of bandits and the complete conquest of bandit villages in the mountains.
These green battalion soldiers of the Han Dynasty are constantly transforming into the most feared special operations force of this era. Yang Huai decided to temporarily open a base this time, because he could directly take over a cottage. This cottage is the Longtan Temple, a well-known bandit nest in Sichuan. Now it has been conquered and incorporated by the army of the Han Dynasty.
Yang Huai was looking forward to seeing the results of the Han army. Looking at the ordinary-looking young man next to him, Yang Huai was very grateful. Because he was specially assigned by Emperor Liu Jixing to protect his tooth general Wang Lu. Although he didn't know how good Wang Lu was, the troubles he encountered along the way were basically solved by Wang Lu and his men.
"General! After climbing over this forest, you should be in front of the Longtan Temple!" The guard Jin Shiqi on the side looked at the sky. He was a Shu who fled to the Han Dynasty in Lingnan to avoid disaster when the former Shu was destroyed. A descendant of the people who can speak fluent Shuzhong language is also the talent Yang Huai deliberately selected this time.
Although he left Shuzhong when he was still an infant, Jin Shiqi was still very used to it, and he flexibly led everyone through the journey on the second day after entering Shuzhong. He looked at the simple map Yang Huai hand-drawn for him in his hand and calmly analyzed: "But the weather is so hot and it has been rainy these days. It looks like there will be heavy rain soon. I don't know if we can get out of this place! “There are high mountains everywhere and we are deep in a dense forest. It is rare that everyone still has a clear direction.
Of course, because of the special nature of entering Shu, no one had a normal title. According to the practice when training talents in the military academy, they were all simply titled as generals. This is especially important when fighting and marching in remote places. After all, Liu Jixing's plan was to get closer to the territory in Shu, or to invade in the name of Chu bandits.
"It doesn't matter, the rain can just hide our whereabouts. With the sky clearing up, we can rush to Longtan Temple and meet Xiao Qilang who is stationed there!" Yang Huai breathed a sigh of relief and looked at the three-finger-wide and one-finger-long hand in his hand. The thick and round little Siman felt a little relieved. It was a sharp weapon given by the emperor himself and used as a marching guide. It helped Yang Huai never make a mistake along the way.
It is said that it was made by the Emperor's Order of the Metallurgy Department. There is currently no such thing in the Central Plains, and it is a national treasure of the Han Dynasty. Liu Jixing once said that it would be better for people to be away than for this thing to fall into the hands of the enemy. Yang Huai knew the importance and power of this thing, and in his heart he felt extra honor and a heavy responsibility on his shoulders because the emperor rewarded him with this thing. He raised the knife wrapped in cloth in his hand, turned around and whispered to everyone: "Send the order, rest for a moment, replenish energy, and set off again!"
Although they were resting, some soldiers still stood guard performing their duties. This was an important part of Liu Jixing's art of war, and was naturally based on the actions of later generations of special forces. Compared with the spies of this era, there is still a big difference.
Nowadays, like the combat troops led by Yang Huai, the soldiers have a lot of standing equipment, including a set of green military uniforms specially made by the Han Dynasty. Of course, the colors sent by different countries are different. What's more, the military uniform is different from that of later generations in that each person wears an extra vest inside. The characteristic of this vest is that there are heart-protecting steel plates on the front and back. This is the main purpose of each of Liu Jixing's special forces in order to protect himself.
Each person is equipped with a refined crossbow and ten triangular steel-tipped short arrows. This may be the most powerful short-hand weapon in this era. First of all, the power of the crossbow is generally stronger than that of the normal crossbow, and the mechanism has been improved by Liu Jixing himself. Yang Jiong and Shi Wu who were close to Liu Jixing once said that if they faced these crossbows at close range, they could only rely on their profound internal strength to fight against them. There is no way to avoid or dodge.
What surprised the two people even more was that the kind of fine steel refined by Liu Jixing could not be refined by other countries at present, making the lethality of this kind of fine steel arrowheads already the most terrifying combat effectiveness of this era. Therefore, the weapon equipped by each soldier is as terrifying as someone owning a submachine gun in the rifle era in later generations.
Liu Jixing did not yet have the ability to give every warrior a weapon as sharp as Yang Huai's horizontal sword, but the horizontal sword that each warrior was equipped with as a common weapon was like the Japanese samurai sword of later generations, and was already similar to the horizontal sword of the Tang Dynasty. Entry and exit. This knife is a common weapon for every warrior and is used in daily combat against the enemy.
But every special operations soldier has a one-foot short-edged Han knife that is as awesome as the later Kurkha scimitar. This scimitar is made of real fine steel and has the most mechanical principles. It is really suitable for everyone. Special Forces' favorite thing. Owning this scimitar in this era is equivalent to owning a precious sword. Everyone loves it as much as life.
As for the medicines on hand, the main ones are the medicinal materials Liu Jixing personally requested from his two wives, Mrs. Yi, Peacock Princess Zheng Luna, and Mrs. He Jing, Princess Longchuan Duan Suqin. The white medicine prepared by them is the best medicine for internal and external use. It has also become a life-saving and first-aid medicine for soldiers. Because of its special effects, it is also listed as one of the secrets of the Han Dynasty.
Of course, the special forces of the Han Dynasty were also the first troops to wear leather combat boots. In order to allow the soldiers to fight better outdoors, because there was no rubber available in this era, Liu Jixing had to use a large number of leather goods to make leather boots for the soldiers.
Therefore, the troops of the Han Dynasty will create miracles wherever they go. There is a profound reason for Yang Huai's confidence in conquering Shu for Liu Jixing. Although it is impossible for all of the thousands of Han soldiers in Shu to be equipped like special forces, it has been achieved that every class, and generals above the captain level are equipped with such weapons. In addition, there are fifty special forces for every thousand soldiers fighting together, which is really a terrifying force.
This team, including Yang Huai's forty-seven people, originally had fifty people in Fujian. Unfortunately, when performing tasks in Fujian, they encountered several martial arts masters and lost three comrades in Fujian. In order to commemorate these three comrades, Yang Huai never made up the difference.
Sure enough, after everyone continued walking for less than half an hour, it started to rain heavily, and it was a violent storm. However, the heavy rain brought coolness, and everyone's fatigue from the past few days seemed to be wiped away by the rain, which made everyone walk faster.
Because it won't be cold this season, Yang Huai didn't let everyone stay, but kept letting the soldiers explore and guide the way ahead. Soldiers on both sides were also deployed to investigate at any time, which meant that there were spies from all directions.
"No, everyone, move quickly!" As Jin Shiqi and several soldiers who opened the way exclaimed, they saw the few soldiers who opened the way in front, and the two soldiers patrolling on the right, running back quickly. This is a dense forest area among high mountains. There are basically no people here, but seeing everyone's panic makes everyone alert.
"Everyone, run up and to the left!" Jin Shiqi exclaimed without a doubt. Everyone quickly dodged towards the huge stone wall. Everyone chose to fully trust their comrades, and the reaction of the special forces soldiers was very fast. Dozens of people did not panic too much, and almost quickly climbed down the rock wall on the left side of the hillside. Everyone had gone through arduous training and fighting. There would be no problems in such emergencies, and they almost all fled in the same way. We arrived at the foot of the stone wall dozens of meters away.
Before everyone could calm down, everyone saw a terrifying scene. The front of the forest and the hillside to the right of the forest they were walking through seemed to be moving slowly. Amidst the lightning and thunder, everyone really saw that the hillside on the right had changed. It was really moving slowly, and the mountains and trees were moving downwards together.
"Go quickly, go quickly!" Yang Huai felt chills all over. He had never seen anything like this before. Could it be that the mountain god showed up? He suddenly remembered something Liu Jixing had said to him, and he couldn't help but said almost together with Jin Shiqi: "The mountain over there will collapse and turn into a mudslide soon. Everyone, run up the rock wall and up the hillside! Hurry!"
coax! The ground was shaken for a while! The surrounding mountains seemed to be shaking, and the sky became dark. The whole earth seemed to be shaking. It was not just the mountain that was about to collapse. Yang Huai understood it in an instant.
I saw that the mountain on the right was slowly falling down, submerging the entire forest. The towering trees and boulders on the mountain slowly fell with the mud and stone, blended into the mud and stone, and were slowly buried downwards. The road of time.
Yang Huai was glad that the stone wall here was a whole mountain and sloped upwards, otherwise, he was afraid that all these people would be buried here today. It was so terrifying that the power of nature grabbed a soldier who almost fell from the stone wall. The two of them clung tightly to the sloping stone wall. Yang Huai was actually sweating in the rain.
Oh my God! The entire hillside on the right turned into a mudslide and was rapidly collapsing at a speed visible to the naked eye. First, the dwarf trees on the slope were swept away, and then the entire forest was swept away. Gradually, they all sank and fell into the mudslide, and then the towering trees of collapse. As the mountain torrent flows downward, first there is a small piece of mountain, and then there is a vast area of forest and mountains.
It turns out that the mountain on the right side of the jungle is actually made of sand and gravel. Usually there are not many trees and shrubs on the mountain. Perhaps the continuous rain and penetration during this period have made the entire mountain look like mud and mortar that has not solidified in later generations.
Presumably, this place was originally a large plain, which was constantly washed by rain, forming the woods under the mountains today. The last exposed mountains finally couldn't withstand the vicissitudes of life, and buried the low-lying woods at this last moment.
Presumably the main reason that causes mountain peaks to collapse is not just the composition of the mountain. This place was also an area where earthquakes often occurred in later generations. The continuous weather in the past few days, and another earthquake, directly led to the final collapse.
During the best time of the day, the scenery turns into the same as in the evening, and the sky is dark and the earth is dark, it feels like the end of the world. Seeing that the stone wall here is integrated and the entire mountain is like a single stone, Yang Huai feels much at ease. But during the loud rumbling earthquake, the people lying on the stone wall felt frightened. It seemed that this large stone mountain was also greatly affected, with stones and debris falling continuously.
For the first time, Yang Huai actually felt a sense of helplessness. Looking at the darkness around him, although these soldiers were not as panicked as ordinary people, they were still desperately looking for a place to dodge. Countless rocks rolled down from the top, and there were also large forests on the rocky mountain, which looked like a hat from a distance.
Because the stone mountain is the most stable place around, the soldiers ran and climbed up the stone mountain desperately to dodge. Fortunately, the stone mountain was not vertical, but had a slope of 60 or 70 degrees. Otherwise, almost everyone would have no chance of survival today. . At this time, the power of individuals seems to be insignificant here. Although everyone is a comrade who lives and dies together, they can only seek safety in their own places.
Yang Huai felt miserable in his heart. He could only pray that nothing would happen to everyone, and he took the opportunity to run up the mountain quickly. He heard a few exclamations and turned around to see two soldiers suddenly rolling down the rocky slope. Yang Huai was too far away, and even if he was in front of him, there was nothing he could do. He could only watch the two people rolling down.
Suddenly, I saw a man leaping like an eagle. After a few ups and downs, he had already picked up two people and stood firmly on the stone slope, as if there were roots under his feet. Everyone looked at him happily, and it turned out to be Yang Huai's Shadow King Lu.
"Everyone, don't stop, run to the woods on the upper left side!" Wang Lu said in a deep voice. He could see clearly. Besides, his skills were much better than these people, so how could these people dare to question him. Wang Lu, on the other hand, held on to the two somewhat embarrassed warriors, like an eagle in a storm, with his feet dangling randomly on the sloping stone wall. They kept rising into the air, and they were speeding up the road like a flat road. In a few breaths, he disappeared before his eyes and leaned towards the woods on the rocky slope. Yang Huai was a little shocked and relieved.
This is a master in the world, and Yang Huai is a little envious of him, even though he entered the military academy and learned many fighting and battle skills. Even though Yang Huai was born with supernatural powers, many masters in the world felt inferior to him. Later, Liu Jixing personally taught him Tu Na's internal training. He was already much better than ordinary generals. But at this moment, seeing Wang Lu's unpredictable skills, he could only sigh with excitement.
The heavy rain continued and the sky became dark. It took a full two-quarters of an hour before the shaking of the ground and the thunder and lightning slowly stopped. Slowly the sky opened up, but it still looked a bit gloomy, and the dark clouds in the sky seemed to have not dispersed.
Looking at it now, the woods on the right that everyone passed through when they arrived are no longer there, and are completely covered by mudslides. However, the mud and trees are still moving slowly, and together with the water flowing from all directions, they look mighty, making it seem like the surroundings are still shaking.
The deep forest that everyone had to cross in front of them was gone and was submerged by the mud and rock mountains. Even the two big mountains that were originally in front of them suddenly disappeared. The mountain peak on the right was deformed by the collapse of the mountain on the right. Coupled with the impact of the earthquake just now, it actually fell down completely. Most of it fell on the mountain on the left, as if it merged with the mountain on the right. It made people feel chilly all over. If they had just kept walking, these people must have been buried under the mountain.
The rain has become very light, but it is still falling. Yang Huai finally gathered the people together. Fortunately, everyone in the team was still there. Only two soldiers were injured on the head by flying rocks, one injured his leg, and several others were injured to varying degrees. Everyone shouted how lucky they were, and looking at the damage to the mountain on the right, they all felt a little scared.
Soon, everyone discovered a problem. Looking at the debris flow still surging in front of them, there was no road for the time being. At this time, everyone's safety was still in a relatively unstable position, so Yang Huai had no choice but to ask everyone to find a place to avoid the limelight for the time being.
Under an open stone wall, Yang Huai opened another map he had copied and frowned as he looked at the distances on the map. This map between regions was calculated in detail by people sent by the secret party of the Han Dynasty according to the pre-determined route. It is available in every mountain village. It seems that there is no more than fifty miles ahead, which should be Longtan Temple. If we follow everyone's normal emergency march speed, it will take less than two hours.
Yang Huai had been rushing for four or five days for today's rendezvous and plan, but now he was unexpectedly stopped here, which really made Yang Huai very anxious. Looking at the raindrops floating in the sky and the slowly moving mudslide, Yang Huai's expression became even more ugly.
Longtan Temple!
Now there is neither a temple nor a dragon pond, only a slowly flowing river.
It now refers to a place name, a village where barbarians lived in the past, a village built entirely with stone walls. In front is Qingxi River and behind is Jinfo Mountain. It is really close to mountains and rivers. The entire mountain village is built layer by layer and is surrounded by stone walls. It can be said to be an impregnable natural city.
The village was originally inhabited by barbarians. Later, they were continuously squeezed by the government, and with the appearance of bandits, the barbarians disappeared. In the past few decades, this place can be said to be a cottage when there are bandits, and an empty city without bandits. In the past ten years, a group of people have suddenly arrived. There are usually four to five hundred people living there. It is really a big place.
This place was originally under the jurisdiction of Yuzhou. It was very close to Yuzhou and was on the tributary of the Yangtze River. Moreover, this location was quite special. Jinfo Mountain is also the boundary between Shuzhong and Zangda, so there is usually nothing to do here, and there is also a team of dozens of people living here. Later, because there was a wild land behind Jinfo Mountain, wild beasts often appeared here, and the local government did not allow bandits to exist, so the team gradually disappeared.
Especially in the hands of the current emperor Meng Chang, there were still people living in the early days of peace, but later the government was corrupted and squeezed, and no one came to the valley here, except for ships passing by on the clear stream, or some caravans who had nothing to do. go through.
I don't know when, but hundreds of bandits gathered here again. The leaders were three people who claimed to be sworn brothers, known as the Three Dragons of Longtan. Their men had some skills and were able to defeat several waves of government suppression. Later, as the reputation gradually grew, the government also suffered several hidden losses. Seeing that they did not cause big troubles, they turned a blind eye. Fortunately, they were only called the Three Jiaos and were not so proud as to be called the Dragon. Otherwise, the Shu government would have sent heavy troops to sweep them away.
It just so happened that these three people also had some skills and knowledge. They would occasionally attack passing commercial ships, but they would let them pass if they paid the toll. The most important thing is to act alone, and sometimes even take action against wealthy households in the surrounding area.
People within a hundred miles often knew about the existence of this group of people, and by the time the government wanted to take action against them, there were already more than a thousand people. In the two surrounding prefectures and counties, when there were few people in the Longtan Temple, they could still be more powerful. Now that there are more people in the Longtan Temple, they don't dare to attack the Longtan Temple alone with their little strength. Instead, the three people under their command have become more powerful. The more they come, the more powerful they become.
Today, flags are flying around Longtan Temple, and the Juyi Hall of the Shanzhai, which is called Longtan Temple by the three dragons of Longtan, is full of leaders of all levels surrounded by heads.
The three dragons of Longtan were sitting on the right hand of the head of the Juyi Hall, and on the left hand was a young man with a calm momentum. He looked majestic and mighty, and he looked to be no more than thirty years old. Even though he was dressed in ordinary linen clothes, he couldn't hide his ability and majesty. There was also a young man standing next to him, but this young man's eyes seemed to be closed. He stood beside him with his hands behind his back and ignored others. However, just standing there gave the impression that strangers should not approach him.
It is really strange that the owner of Longtan Temple sat in the guest seat, while a stranger sat in the main seat. Longtan Sanjiao didn't feel any discomfort at all. Instead, he looked at the young man sitting on his left hand with a smile. Under the hall was a large group of leaders who were making a fuss.
"Brother Xiao, when will our reinforcements arrive? Look at the reports from the brothers now. They entered Longtan Temple in three directions and wanted to kill our Longtan Temple at once!" The green-faced Jiao Shijia, the third of the three dragons in Longtan He opened his mouth impatiently, cupped his fist and saluted the young man on his left hand.
The young man on the left had a calm expression. He looked at the leader in the hall, then at the three brothers, and then said solemnly: "I must arrive today, otherwise a certain family would not let Mr. Sun go and get the head of the commander! Brothers, please be patient and make arrangements one by one. Brothers will strictly guard the dangerous points. Even if a fierce battle occurs, it must be inevitable. Everyone is prepared. As long as the reinforcements arrive, the time has come for us to unify the place!"
"Brothers are definitely not afraid. It's just that the person leading the army this time is said to be a subordinate of Yuzhou Defense Envoy Zhao Lang. This person's name is Wang Xun, and he is Zhao Lang's direct commander." Dujiao, the boss of Longtan Sanjiao Jiao Li Yuan said cautiously: "When a certain family served in the Shu Army in the past, I heard of this person's name. He is really a rare wise general in the Shu Army!"
The young man on the left looked at the young man standing next to him. The young man standing with his hands behind his back glanced at Sanjiao and said calmly: "The horse infantry commander of a certain family that hunted this time is Zhou Qi. It is indeed Zhao Lang's number one." A general is just a superficial view of a certain family. On the contrary, Wang Xun may really be a talented person in the Yuzhou army!"
The standing young man did not wait for others to speak, and then said: "And a certain family shot an arrow at him from a distance, and then a certain family lurked back, only to find out that this person was actually the first sect in Shu, a disciple of the Hell Sect. !" He saw the sitting young man frowning, as if he knew what he was thinking, and said: "Although Hell Sect sends disciples to join the world every three years, this person has been in the army for many years, and is probably an elder from the outer sect of Hell Sect. A disciple, so what if he is a core disciple, there is a certain family and a backer behind him to help Shichiro, so Shichiro doesn’t have to worry!”
The young man sitting there was Xiao Qilang, whom Yang Huai was rushing to join. After hearing what the young man beside him said, he quickly stood up and said to the leaders in the hall: "Brothers, let's listen to a certain family for now!" After calming down, they all looked here to wait for Xiao Qilang's arrangements.
"Go for it! Go for it! Go for it!" He waved the flagpole in his hand vigorously and roared with excitement on his face. The man rushed over first. The nearly three-foot-long flagpole was as thick as a child's arm, and the gun also had a spear head. The spear head was shaped like a rhombus and was actually five feet long. Although it was not a sharp spear head, it was like a sharp harvesting weapon in his hand.
Where the gun pointed, the body burst into pieces and blood splattered everywhere. There was no way to dodge the oncoming crowd, anyone who touched them would die immediately. The crowds who were escaping separately were overwhelming and pushed away many companions and comrades-in-arms. Everyone watched helplessly as the flagpole in the hands of this murderous god was harvested.
The bloody flags were fierce and the fishy wind was blowing into my nostrils. With a wave of his thick arm, the blood-stained flag was rolled up on the flagpole, like a blood-red stick with the thickness of an adult's arm. Hitting, picking, stabbing, hacking, and sweeping, all of a sudden it was like ghosts crying and wolves howling, and they were either killed or seriously injured.
