The bridge is arched, but the terrain is higher in the north and lower in the south. Birds are chirping and insects are chirping all around. The red and yellow plants on the mountain are intertwined with the dark green, as if there is a beautiful landscape painting hidden behind the hazy mist in the early morning.
The river under the bridge is about three feet wide. In this late autumn, the river water is not rushing and the sound is slow. It seems to have become lazy because the air has become colder, but the mist still floating on the water knows that it is not shallow, and it may be able to drown people!
"Hush!" Li Dan turned around and made a silence gesture to everyone. He looked at the grinning Lu Jiu and others with a stern look, then turned around and walked slowly and silently towards the wooden bridge.
Zhao Baogen swallowed involuntarily. He saw his partner Lu Rui frowning and thought, if something happens to Lord Li here, how can we go back to pay the order?
Zhou Tu pulled out three arrows from behind, holding one in his mouth, one in the hand holding the bow, and the other on the string.
Lai Wufa stretched his neck and put his hand on the handle of the knife. He felt that his heart was about to stop.
Of course he still remembered that he was a sentry on this bridge and ended up being a prisoner with his own life. It seemed like a long time ago. Now, he just begged God in his heart not to let the Lord's feet make any sound!
Everyone just looked at Li Dan's back and walked towards the bridge step by step. Every dry leaf that was trampled was cursed in their hearts, as if they shouldn't make a sound.
Li Dan himself was also cautious. He was not worried about his feet, but mainly... there were enemy defenders on the other side of the bridge, and Li Dan could even hear them talking in low voices.
He was wearing a bamboo hat, and the mist condensed in the morning light was dripping from the brim of the hat, and could be clearly heard on the raincoat he was wearing.
Since the enemy was discovered, the whole camp was blocked at Fengqi Pass for a whole day and night. Due to the heavy fog, it has been impossible to see the true number of enemies on the other side. It really became "only the sound of human voices was heard, but no one was seen in the empty mountain." .
Fortunately, the camp on Nanshan Mountain still exists, and the main force went up the mountain to camp first. Because the walls of the Toad Pond camp were still there, Li Dan asked Song Jiuyi's auxiliary squadron to station directly in Toad Pond without going to Nanshan.
After a night's rest, the third and second companies of Shi Dajun entered the position in the early morning, reinforced by the reconnaissance platoon, to prepare for the capture of Fengling Town.
Just when everyone was worried about the lingering fog, Li Dan suddenly asked everyone to wait here while he went to the front to take a look. Before anyone could understand, he had already gone to the bridge alone.
Standing in front of the bridge, Li Dan looked left and right, then stood on tiptoe and looked toward the bridge. He suddenly remembered a scene from a famous war movie in his previous life, and on a whim he wanted to try it himself. As he stepped onto the bridge, he suddenly heard movement behind him.
When he turned around, he saw Lai Wufa following him with a spear. Seeing him glaring over, he quickly knelt down on one leg. Li Dan bit his lip and told him not to move, so he stayed at the end of the bridge and then walked slowly towards the bridge.
The enemy's voices on the opposite side seemed to stop for a moment, then started again after a while. Li Dan stopped and stood on tiptoes slowly, unable to see the other side. He continued walking up, taking a few steps before stopping and standing on tiptoes again.
This time he saw three guys sitting around the bridge wearing raincoats and bamboo hats, with leggings on their legs, knives and spears in their arms, chatting happily.
A thin, dark-faced man complained that he was drafted into the army and his wife didn't even know about it. She might have remarried when he returned from the war.
Another man with a short beard and a ferocious look said: "Although I don't have a wife, I can't continue my blacksmithing business. Alas, people have a hard life. Those born in the womb deserve it!"
The third one seemed to be still young, and asked timidly: "The two eldest brothers have never thought of running away? No one knows anyway, so what if we sneak away quietly?"
"Where are you going in this wilderness? Accidentally, you were caught by the army and the local soldiers. I will cut off your head in retribution!" The fierce-faced man threatened him, and the young man seemed to shrink back.
The thin-faced man quickly comforted him: "Don't be afraid. There are benefits to following the team. You will have food to eat, right? There are officers and soldiers more than two miles away from this bridge. If you encounter them, you can't tell them clearly. They can really kill you like a spy."
It's safe to stay here, and you can live one more day without anyone coming over. I heard there are thousands of officers and soldiers there
, so don’t go anywhere, it’s best if you stay here honestly with us brothers! "
As soon as he finished saying this, he suddenly jumped up, drew his sword out of its sheath, and shouted in a low voice: "Who is it? Come out!"
The young man was so frightened that he grabbed the red tassel gun and asked tremblingly: "Is there anyone? Where is he?"
What surprised Li Dan the most was the fierce-faced man. He jumped up and crawled into the cattail bushes nearby, but he was shivering with half of his butt exposed.
"Everyone, please don't be nervous. My surname is Li, and I am a boy. It is so beautiful in the morning and full of fun in the mountains and fields, so I strolled here and disturbed you a lot. I heard everyone chatting here, so I decided to come and join in the fun.
There is still half a bag of sake in the skin. I wonder if the hero is happy with it? Li Dan said, pointing to his current position with his finger, calling Lai Wufa to squat down and stand by, while he himself took off the wine bag from his waist and walked onto the bridge with a smile.
Seeing him emerge from the mist, the two people below were obviously relieved. "So you're a scholar. What are you doing here this early in the morning? By the way, where are you from?" The young man straightened up first and slowly leveled the gun in his hand.
"I stayed at the Toad Pond last night, but unexpectedly there were actually toads in it. They made a lot of noise all night long, which made me unable to sleep well. So I decided to go out for a walk. The scenery near Fengqiguan is also famous in the local area. .
I wanted to watch the sunrise from the pavilion above, but I couldn't find the way, so I walked here along the river bank. Li Dan said and sat down cross-legged, holding up the wine bag in his hand: "How about you two try it together?"
The young man swallowed and turned to look at the thin man. The thin man was alert. He sheathed the knife and held it in his arms. He said, "Young Master is a guest. Please treat me first!"
"Yeah, that makes sense." Li Dan unscrewed the cork lid and took a sip first before handing it to the boy. The young man also drank, and immediately shouted with bright eyes, "Brother Pei, that's a good wine, I've never had such a delicious drink in my life!"
The thin man sighed, rubbed the top of his head and said, "How many bottles have you had in your life? What a loud breath!"
Li Dan laughed and said, "I think this brother should be about the same age as me, right? Why are you both serving as soldiers?" The two of them were of the same age. The young man was one year older than Li Dan, but he was not as tall as him. he.
As they talked and drank, everyone got close to each other, and then they heard a noise in the grass over there, and a man with a fierce face crawled out, ignoring the cobwebs and grass stems on his head, and hurriedly ran over and shouted: "You can't wait for me if you have wine to drink." , you are too biased towards yourself!"
Fourth Brother Pei curled his lips: "When something happens, you run faster than anyone else, and you still have the nerve to beg for a drink?"
"This is Zeng Tietou. He was originally a blacksmith. He was caught and raped while going out to buy things." The young man introduced.
Li Dan cupped his hands and asked, "Then what is your name?"
"My name is Mao Xiulu, from Shatin, Yongfeng." The young man answered.
"He is also a Tongsheng." After speaking, fourth brother Pei snatched the wine bag from Zeng Tietou's hand and returned it to Li Dan respectfully.
"Are you a Tong Sheng?" Li Dan looked at him in surprise: "Then why are you...?"
Mao Xiulu smiled bitterly: "After my father passed away, my aunt kicked us out, mother and son, and gave us only a house and fifteen acres of land. We had an old servant, Uncle Luo, who followed us. He was an old soldier with a leg injury and helped to take care of the house. The three of us could barely make ends meet.
Later, Yin Shuai's team came and wanted to recruit Ding as a soldier. Uncle Luo refused to go, and they heard somewhere that he was a soldier before, so they wanted to kill him. So I begged them to let Uncle Luo go and serve as a soldier on his behalf. "
Li Dan was stunned and patted him on the shoulder: "You did the right thing!" Then he turned to Brother Pei Si and Zeng Tietou: "You two were also captured as young men?" The two nodded. "A few people are making trouble, but they want everyone in the world to accompany them, making the people miserable!" Li Dan said angrily.
Fourth Brother Pei narrowed his eyes and suddenly said: "I hear what you mean, do you think you don't agree?"
"Of course I can't agree." Li Dan did not take the wine bag back, but handed it to Mao Xiulu, and then said: "Yin Tuo followed Lou Zi in the rebellion. Lou Zi wanted to conquer Shangrao and become the king. Yin Tuo refused to accept and wanted to become the king. .
You see, these two guys will bite each other in the fight for superiority. I wonder how many people in Guangxin Mansion will die?
This summer Lou Zishi went to the hospital for the first time
There was almost no harvest in this area during the Shangrao period. With the current attack, if there is no relief from the court next spring, a large-scale famine and disease may break out in Guangxin Prefecture.
Those two guys don't care. As long as they don't fight over each other, they will continue to catch strong men and continue fighting!
It went on endlessly, until there was no one left to catch, and they were tired of fighting each other. When reinforcements and encirclement and suppression teams from the imperial court came up, these two guys escaped into the mountains and left the mess to the imperial court.
When the population recovers, they will come out of the mountains again, saying that this is wrong with the court and that is not good, and they will deceive the people to follow them and cause chaos again. Huh, so, being displaced has never had anything to do with people like them, it’s the common people who suffer! "
The three of them looked at each other in shock. Zeng Tietou said softly: "Young master, what you said seems to make sense!"
"Not only does it make sense, it's simply thorough!" Mao Xiulu suddenly straightened out his clothes and held his hands in his hands: "Although I'm in a bandit camp, do you dare to ask the young master's name? Don't worry, we won't tell anyone!"
"Yes! We won't tell!" Zeng Tietou quickly agreed, but Fourth Brother Pei remained silent.
Li Dan smiled: "It's better not to know. I'm afraid that if you find out, it will spread to the ears of your boss and it will cost your life."
"Listening to your words is worth ten years of reading. If Xiulu didn't even know who he was talking to, wouldn't it be a lifelong regret?" Mao Xiulu saluted again.
Li Dan smiled but turned to Fourth Brother Pei: "You already noticed that I was on the other side of the bridge. You have good hearing! I'm afraid you are not just a strong man? Since you came to guard the bridge, it means they haven't discovered that you have martial arts skills. . I wonder if what I said is right?"
"Humph, the young master is light on his feet and looks at Shenfei. I'm afraid he is not a simple scholar." The corners of Fourth Brother Pei's lips turned up:
"That's right. How can you walk freely in this chaotic world if you don't have a few tricks on your body? But everyone has a name in the world, and it's only a man to dare not show his name." He said, clasping his fists:
"I am Pei Si, the big Tianhu, known as 'Black Tiger Shiro'. I was on the way to visit friends when Yin Tuo broke out. I don't want to be trapped and have no way to escape, so I am just a small flag."
"Hey, when Xia Yin Tuo was defeated, why didn't you take the opportunity to escape?"
Li Dan's question made Pei Tianhu's eyes flash. "I was a member of Yin Shuai's army, and I fled with him. Later, I was sent by Lou Shiming to pick him up and return to the south bank.
Now that I have come down to be a small flag, I actually want to see an opportunity to escape easily. "After he finished speaking, he changed the topic: "Since the young master knows about Xia Tian, he didn't just arrive in the local area, right?"
"I have gone and come back." Li Dan smiled: "So, you are from Fujian?"
"No, my home is in Yushan."
"Oh? So it's not far from Shangrao."
"So I don't dare to go back now. It's still occupied by Lou Zishi. I might get caught if I go back."
Li Dan nodded: "Do you know a hero in Shangrao? It is said that this person is good at locksmithing and is very skilled in craftsmanship, but he lives in seclusion all year round. He is called 'one of the three heroes of Jiangnan."
"Young Master is talking about Suo Tiangang Shen Jie. Pei Si is ashamed to say that he is a junior. Shen Jie and Pei Si come from the same sect, so in terms of seniority, they are my uncles." Pei Tianhu tilted his head and looked at Li Dan again:
"After talking for a long time, the young master has figured out everything about us, but he still refuses to tell me his name?" After saying that, he lowered his arms.
"Actually, it doesn't hurt to tell you. My surname is Li Mingdan, and I am known as 'Little Yuanba Li Sanlang'."
After hearing this, Mao Xiulu thought that he was also a member of the Jianghu community, so he quickly bowed and said, "Disrespectful, disrespectful!" Zeng Tietou followed suit at first glance. Pei Tianhu was startled: "Li Dan, Li Sanlang? Are you from Yugan County?"
"Exactly!"
Pei Tianhu jumped up, took two steps back, drew his sword out of its sheath, and glared, "You, are you Li Sanlang, the leader of the Qing Shirt Team?"
"Ranye!"
"Ah, the Green Shirt Team?" Mao Xiulu and Zeng Tietou also jumped up in fright. The blacksmith threw the wine bag back to Li Dan as if it was too hot, and then walked around in circles looking for where his spear was.
Li Dan smiled and said
He hung the wine bag on his waist, stood up and patted the soil, but stayed where he was.
"You, you are so bold! Aren't you afraid that we will tie you up to retaliate?" Pei Si looked nervously in a certain direction and said nervously in a low voice: "You'd better leave quickly before others see you! "
"I just came here, how can I just leave?" Li Dan said with a smile.
"You, you want to attack the town?" Mao Xiulu suddenly understood.
"Xiulu is a misnomer. Such a small town and this small number of defenders are not worthy of my attack."
"You're not here alone. You have the patience to chat with the three of us and even invite us to drink. What do you want to do?"
Zeng Tietou hadn't found where his gun had been thrown. He had heard Pei Si tell many stories about the battle between Yin Tuo and the Qing Shirt Team. In his opinion, he was a monster tougher than the official army, so he spoke Always vibrating.
"I am indeed not alone, I have a companion behind the bridge." Li Dan waved, and Lai Wufa appeared, standing majestically on the bridge.
"Originally, as long as I wave my hand, the three of you can be overwhelmed by the army. But when I heard you talking on the other side, I felt that you were all miserable people. Wouldn't it be better if I could give you a clear way? So I came to talk to you personally. .”
"What can we do if we talk about it? It's just to spare our lives." Pei Si said.
"When it comes to life, Shiro, how much do you think you can spend to buy a life?" Li Dan asked:
"When I first conquered this place, dozens of people who resisted died on this bridge, but he survived. After being captured, he joined the Blue Shirt Team and is now the inspector of the ninth grade."
Li Dan pointed at Lai Wu and said, "You can ask him, what is one life worth?"
The three of them were all moved after hearing this. Zeng Tietou took a few steps forward and asked Lai Wufa: "Have you really guarded this bridge?"
Lai Wu smiled and said, "That night we were also on guard posts in groups of three. There were officials living in the fort below, and most of them spent the night in the sheds outside.
I remember it was too hot in the summer, so I went to the pond behind to pour water on myself. Then I returned to the shore, took off the drying clothes from the branches of the Sophora japonica and put them on. "
"He, what he said is true." Zeng Tietou turned around and murmured. Everyone knew about the locust tree, so Pei Si lowered his head this time and lowered the knife in his hand.
"If you lie to us, Kurotora Shiro will never let go of you!" he said.
Li Dan shook his head: "It doesn't matter whether you are willing to give up or not. I just want to ask you how many troops there are in the town, where they are stationed, and who is leading the troops? If you answer honestly, I will remember your merits."
"You are just a group training leader, how can you record my merits and pay for my sins?" Pei Si was a little unconvinced.
"Look at this." Li Dan took two ribbon-shaped seal buttons from his inner pocket and put them in Mao Xiulu's hand. One was "Martial Cavalry Lieutenant" and the other was "Xuanfu Experience of Jiangnan West Road".
As soon as Mao Xiulu told the two of them, they understood. They quickly knelt down and knelt down together, saying, "I beg your pardon for the offence!"
Li Dan hurriedly pulled them up: "I have come to Shangrao on orders, and the army is waiting for the order to advance. Without further delay, if you have any military situation, please tell me the truth as soon as possible!"
So the three of them sat on the ground and talked about the situation in the town, pulling them with branches. Li Dan had already occupied this place once, so he knew the route easily. Immediately summon Lai Wufa and tell him:
"There are sixty people guarding the fortress in front. The leader of the sentry is an old bandit. Don't keep him. Let the reconnaissance platoon handle it and try not to disturb people. There are also a hundred people living in the Tutu Temple. Let Shi Dajun deal with them!
The Second Company and the Fourth Company surrounded and eliminated Tujiayuan. There were more than 300 enemies there. They asked the hero which way to go in. He knew very well! Continuously advance to the cold water shop to guard. " Lai Wufa agreed and ran away.
Pei Si was surprised: "Why, Uncle Judge is here too?"
"Yes." Li Dan nodded with a smile: "You can meet in a while, but he has to focus on his mission first. Xiulu will take him to seize the fort. The blacksmith will take the stone company to the Earth Temple later, is that feasible?"
Then he asked Pei Si: "How are Guangxin and Shangrao doing now? Have you heard about it? I will go to Tujiayuan later. On the way, you will tell me
Those who speak and those who hear and hear speak. "
Before he finished speaking, the reconnaissance platoon was already running across the bridge. Shenjie saw Pei Si at a glance and nodded to him: "Tianhu, you did a good job! Let's catch up after the battle. I'll go do some business first."
After speaking, Li Dan handed Mao Xiulu to him and asked him to take good care of the child. Shen Jie led the reconnaissance platoon into two groups and surrounded the fort.
Next came Shi Dajun's company. Li Dan introduced him to the blacksmith, and then said: "After you occupy the Tujia Temple, I can go to Tujiayuan. Remember to send someone to report to me."
"Yes!" Shi Dajun said and punched the blacksmith: "Well, that's right! Stay with our company after the battle. Shitou likes strong people! Let's go, let's test our strength after the battle!"
At this time, the sky was completely bright, and the horses, vehicles, and flags on the other side gradually emerged from the dissipating fog. Pei Si took a breath and sighed.
"Huh?" Li Dan looked over questioningly.
"I'm just glad that I didn't fight the adults just now, otherwise..."
Li Dan laughed, beckoned Lu Jiu to bring his horse, and asked Pei Si to borrow his horse. The two walked slowly towards the street.
Lu Jiu (Mao Zaidi suddenly fell ill, so he could not accompany him) and Master Lin also mounted their horses and followed closely, followed by the second, fourth, and fifth companies, and then followed by a long convoy of auxiliary troops and carts full of food. .
These grains amounted to more than 10,000 kilograms, as well as 4,000 kilograms of various beans and fodder. They were seized from the warehouses of various counties after the occupation of Guixi, Geyang, and Xing'an.
Along the way, Li Dan not only plundered all the banks and grain depots in each county, but also bought and requisitioned all the vehicles and livestock along the way, so the auxiliary army had more than 400 civilians who volunteered to accompany the army. .
Li Dan thought that the grain shipped last time would be enough for Shangrao to support the entire autumn grain harvest, but it was difficult to say how much could actually be put into the warehouse due to the war. Therefore, except for the whole camp's consumption on the road, most of the grain had to be reserved for Shangrao and Guangxin garrison. .
He had not yet realized that this seemingly unnecessary decision he made would eventually become the turning point in the Shangrao War.
