Yangxian, Zhangputing.
Since Xu Zongwen led his army to attack Wucheng, Xu Wen and 500 people stayed in Zhangpu Pavilion in this poor and remote place.
Xu Wen spent the whole day either lying on the mountain to inquire about military affairs, or waiting for the movement on Zhenze Lake. He was afraid that he would be attacked from both sides by accident. He heard that there was a battle on the other side of the lake, and there were countless tough men in the Wolf Guard camp. Lost his life!
These two days coincided with the shortage of military rations. Xu Wen sent people to the north to contact Tian Luo in Pogangdu and the defenders in Wucheng in the south, hoping to get a hundred shi of food to satisfy the hunger and relieve the army's urgent needs.
But there was no news from Xiao for two days in a row. He was so anxious that he was a little panicked. Yesterday he sent someone to urge him, but he didn't know when the food would be delivered?
Xu Wen lay under a big poplar tree, letting the sunlight fall through the sparse gaps, flickering brightly and dimly. It was only when his eyelids turned red and hot that he was ready to move to another nest to rest.
"Boss, boss?" A sergeant trotted over to wake Xu Wen up.
"What's the matter, you're so anxious? Did the sun burn your butt?" Xu Wen was awakened from his sweet dream, and he was very dissatisfied. In the dream, he led the soldiers to kill the enemy and perform meritorious service, not to mention a passionate and passionate!
The sergeant didn't even hold on to the armor on his head and fell directly into the grass. Xu Wen saw that he must have military information before he arrived, so he hurriedly asked him to reply first.
"Boss, Chen Mazi has just returned from Wuting with five people. Captain Li over there said that he would support us with up to fifty shi of food. He said..."
"Okay, stop talking nonsense. Where is the food?" Xu Wen made a gesture, and a sergeant who was close to him went to pick up some armor.
Xu Wen saw that the sergeant was hesitating and hesitating, but couldn't get to the point, so he hurriedly asked questions.
"The food hasn't been shipped yet! Chen Mazi and the other five are exhausted and can't send fifty shi of food back."
The sergeant took the armor handed to him and suddenly patted his head, as if he remembered something, and said hurriedly: "By the way, Chen Mazi said that he encountered several groups of people on the road. Their flags were scattered, and they couldn't distinguish between ourselves and the enemy. He hurriedly gave way." The subordinates came to ask for instructions."
"What? There is an enemy situation!" Xu Wen suddenly jumped up from the hay nest. He had no time to reprimand the sergeant and hurriedly asked the left and right to get down one after another to let the brothers be alert.
Xu Wen fell to the ground and looked towards the road behind him. Soon, four or five sergeants wearing two levels of armor and armor on their heads appeared in sight.
"Archers, prepare!" Xu Zongwen squinted his eyes and raised his hand, always ready to order an attack.
At this time, the Jin troops lying in ambush on the east and west sides of the short mountain had already unsheathed their swords, cocked their arrows, and were ready to roll wood, thunder and stones.
Everything was ready, all that was needed was the east wind. As long as Xu Wen lowered his hand, the long arrow would land like a shower on the small mountain pass not far behind.
"Listen, as soon as the owner of this building drops his hand, don't be polite to me, the crossbowman, come up and say hello!" General Xu Wen passed on the order and bit a smooth twig in his mouth. Although it was a bit sour, But he was not the only one. All the Jin soldiers on both sides of the short mountain had grass and trees in their mouths, for fear of making any noise and startling the enemy.
"Don't shoot arrows, don't shoot arrows, we are all our own! Brothers..."
Xu Wen opened his eyes wide. Taking advantage of the noon sun, he immediately recognized that the people appearing at the mouth of the valley were the men and horses he had sent to Wucheng to ask for food. They were a group of five people. Chen Mazi, as the inept sergeant said.
"Stop it!" Xu Wen sighed. What he did for a long time was just a false alarm and a fool's errand.
Chen Mazi wished he could use two legs as four legs. Before going to Wucheng, they were all riding horses. Who would have thought that they would encounter a team with unknown banners on the way back. In order not to attract attention, they had to abandon the horses and go all the way. Come along the narrow path. I finally made it down the mountain to the mouth of the valley, but I almost died in the hands of my own people. This was really frustrating!
Xu Wen asked Chen Mazi carefully, learned the details, and then asked: "In your opinion, those people are Sun Thief's men?"
Chen Mazi carefully recalled the situation at that time, a little uncertain: "Boss, my subordinates don't think much about it. I have seen the defeated soldiers under Sun Tie in Wucheng. The prisoners were all in rags and rags. They didn't look like the ones we met. Although I didn’t see the flag of that troop clearly, they have armor and weapons, so they might be soldiers from the imperial court.”
"Where is the marching route of the troops?"
Speaking of the march route, Chen Mazi had a lot to say: "Although that group of troops had cavalry, they were mostly infantry, and their marching speed was not fast. They went around many times before arriving at Yanzidu. It seemed that they were coming towards us. We A few of them knew that the military situation was urgent and did not dare to delay, so they rushed to Yangxian with all their might. Besides, we were taking a small road next to the official road..."
Xu Wen listened for a long time, then he interrupted Chen Mazi: "In this case, send the order to prepare the cowhide drums and flags left by the lord, and be ready to respond to the enemy at any time. There has been no movement on the lake for so many days. The manpower over there Pull back a little, if there is a fight here in Zhangputing we will definitely be stretched thin."
"promise!"
"Chen Mazi, you have approached that troop. How many people do you think there are?" Xu Wen made some arrangements, then turned to Chen Mazi for details.
Although Chen Mazi was thirsty, he also knew that the military situation was the most important thing. He replied with chapped lips: "Boss, my subordinates think it is at least one thousand. Those Wuyang Wuyang ones have filled up all the official roads. Even if there are My subordinates can’t understand it at all.”
"What can't you figure out?"
"We didn't encounter that group of people on the way to Wucheng, but we did when we came back. It can be seen that their marching route was not in the direction of Wucheng, but why they appeared in Yangxian again, I really don't understand. !" Chen Mazi felt that the appearance of this team was strange.
Xu Wen also knew it, but that was no longer important. Whether it was friend or enemy, we had to face it now and there was no way to escape!
If the soldiers come to block it, if the water comes and the soil comes to cover it, then come as it comes!
Xu Wen did not relax all afternoon. He led people to patrol along the official road, and left small groups of people at various checkpoints to investigate. As long as a large group of people appeared, he would know it immediately.
"Tell brothers, cheer me up tonight! My lord is leading his people south to eat meat. We can't even drink the soup! We have never encountered such a useless battle since the Northern Expedition. If we can succeed tonight, That means I caught a pot of meat and tied my head to my belt, ready to fight at any time!" Xu Wen held the saber tightly and stood on the mountain peak and shouted at the nearby sergeants.
"No!" All the soldiers had been sitting in this small Zhangpu Pavilion for so many days, and they were almost going crazy, just waiting for Xu Wen's words!
"Report!" When Xu Wen was boosting morale, Chen Mazi ran over behind him and reported nervously: "Boss, there is something going on!"
Xu Wen's face was solemn. He pressed his saber, lowered his body, and ordered everyone to hide. At the same time, he stared at the mouth of the valley with his eyes open.
For a moment, everyone in the Jin army was afraid to take a breath. Everyone took out the roots of grass and trees that they had broken off during the day from their sleeves, and continued to put them in their mouths and bite them tightly. The atmosphere was very tense!
"Choo Choo Choo."
The slow sound of horse hooves soon reached the ears of the Jin army. Everyone lowered their heads, and the crossbowmen put their arrows on the strings. The sergeants responsible for guarding the thunder stone rolling wood also took out their knives, ready to cut off the rope at any time. The huge rocks and wood were put into the valley, and the flags collected early in the morning were also ready...
"Boss, these people seem to be——"
Before his sergeant could say anything, Xu Wen had already seen clearly the appearance of the troops. The leader's flag was with the word "tan", and then a large flag with the word "jin" also came into view.
Xu Wen swallowed his saliva and said, "Brothers, please don't act rashly. Look carefully before taking action. If one of our own is accidentally injured, it will be in trouble!"
"clear!"
Xu Wen knew that a soldier never tires of deceit, so it was not impossible that the men at his feet were the army pretending to be Sun Thief. He could only let go if he was sure they were his own men!
Xu Wen's eyes were as big as bells, and he covered his mouth: "Tan, it's Tan Shao!"
"It's Longxiang Army, Huwei Army and Zuoyu Linwei!" With the cold moonlight in the night sky and the torches in the valley, Xu Wen recognized all the flag numbers.
This is the imperial army that followed Xie Yan to Qiantang and Kuaiji to quell the rebellion!
