The Crown Prince's motorcade was found on the morning that Wang Pei arrived. The scouts searching along the west bank of the Cengang River were divided into two groups, searching along the south and north respectively. As a result, their camp was discovered at Luojiapui, five miles downstream.
Li Dan immediately ordered rewards to be given to the reconnaissance team, and a merit note was given to the sergeant who led the team. Then he took his personal guards, a company, a doctor, and a medical soldier to visit.
The camp was located in a mountain col. If the scouts hadn't met a fisherman when asking for directions and said they had seen people wearing the same uniform as them, then both parties would have missed it again.
Seeing Li Dan, Song Qian, Zhou Tu and Pei Tianhu, who came to report and pay the order, were very excited and cried on the spot.
Half of the guard platoon and reconnaissance platoon led by Pei Tianhu were killed, one of Song Qian's fire rifle soldiers was killed, and the remaining 60% were injured. Fortunately, the fire rifle was not lost.
Zhou Tu took away a hundred people, but now there are more than seventy left, and he sacrificed 25%. "We can't take away the seriously injured, even..." Zhou Tu couldn't continue.
After asking about the process carefully, it turned out that the enemy general saw that there were only a few dozen people here at first, so he became scornful. He divided his men into three parts. The first part had up to fifty people, the second part had thirty people, and the third part had Twenty people. The three groups took the small path to intercept.
But he didn't expect that his opponent was so powerful that he not only blocked the first wave of attacks, but even killed him. But when the second part appeared, the situation took a turn for the worse when the convoy was attacked from both sides, and even the drivers of the two carriages were killed and one injured.
Later, the carriage broke out of the siege and continued to move forward under the protection of Song Qian. When the third part appeared, it was once again in crisis, and the pursuers came from behind.
The bandits saw this small group escorting two carriages and having firemen, so they decided that there was a lot of money to be made here and pursued them to the death. But at this time, only half of the enemy was left.
Fortunately, Zhou Tu arrived at the battlefield in time, surrounded and finally wiped out all the enemies, thus saving everyone from danger.
"What is the origin of this enemy and how powerful it is?" Li Dan asked in surprise.
"It is said that most of this group of people rebelled from the official army. The leader is called Huang Longfei. It is said that almost all the rebel cavalry were taught by him. This group of people know that they have no way back, so they are not afraid of death and do things without leaving any consequences. Fortunately, the hand has been eliminated."
At this point, he became slightly uneasy: "Well, I ordered them all to be killed without leaving any prisoners!"
"You did the right thing!" Li Dan immediately affirmed: "You have limited manpower and huge casualties, so you are unable to take care of the prisoners. In addition, the escort is secret, and you cannot let outsiders know. It is excusable to deal with the prisoners.
If you report the truth, I will use the power of the supreme military judge to pardon you. "Zhou Tu breathed a sigh of relief and quickly clasped his fists in thanks.
Li Dan first went to visit the wounded, and asked Liao Cunguang, who was traveling with him, to arrange local foster care arrangements as usual, and then asked about the team's supplies, gunpowder and arrow consumption, etc. I was busy until noon, and then I came over to visit the Crown Prince.
Wu Ning'er and her sister were waiting outside the car, but the two eunuchs were missing. Xiao Wan'er came over and told him softly that the two eunuchs were killed shortly after the second wave of attacks began, and now he was acting as the inner guard. Li Dan sighed softly.
Song Qian waved to Xiao Wan'er to follow him out of the curtain. Li Dan stepped forward and opened his arms. The Wu sisters were stunned for a moment, then stepped forward and threw themselves into his arms.
. "Thank you for your hard work!" Li Dan said, "There are so many dangers along the way. I'm scared after hearing this. If the cavalry hadn't arrived in time, the consequences would have been disastrous!"
"Alang is the one who has the best plan." Abin rarely said this before his sister, and immediately lowered his head in Li Dan's surprised eyes.
"How is the prince?" Li Dan asked: "He is so young, he is not scared, right?"
"It's okay." Ning'er nuzzled at her sister: "This girl kept hugging him. Her face turned pale with fright and she refused to scream, which surprised me. She usually gets scared when she sees a caterpillar. !”
"Oh, so powerful?"
"My sister is still more powerful." Abin said: "Before the car window could be closed in time, a bad guy jumped on the roof of the car. My sister pulled out a sword and chopped off his fingers!"
Seeing Li Dan turn his attention to her again, Ning'er blushed and muttered softly: "In such a hurry, I can't care about anything else."
Li Dan went over to take a look at the prince who was sleeping sprawled out in the carriage. He lowered his head and saw the dried blood on the carpet. He then looked up at the sunroof. After getting out of the car, he walked around the car again and observed the marks of knife and gun wounds. Said to himself:
"It seems that this car still needs to be upgraded. Let's study it carefully with Chen Sanlang later."
Abin didn't understand what upgrading meant, but Li Dan smiled and told her that just making a better one would be like taking a winding road to another level.
Seeing how cute she suddenly looked, he asked, "I never asked you why one of your sisters is called Ning'er and the other is called Abin? It's so strange."
After hearing this, A Bin pouted and said unhappily that his sister's name was A Sheng, but the prince only changed his sister's name instead of his own.
Li Dan nodded: "Okay, leave this matter to me. From now on, you will be called Huang'er, how about that?" Abin was so happy that she changed her name to Huang'er from then on.
He handed over the remaining troops of the company he brought to Zhou Tu, and Song Qian was still responsible for the affairs of the camp here. A guard squad was left to cooperate with Xiao Wan'er, and the rest of the guards and scouts returned to Jian with Pei Tianhu and Li Dan.
Two days later, in Xing'an County, the garden behind the county government office is now occupied by Yin Tuo's lieutenant Han Zai, who is known for his stability and maturity.
This dear man is forty years old this year. Before the rebellion, he was a clerk in a certain county. Because he made a mistake in copying a document, he was beaten fifteen times by his supervisor. Therefore, he took advantage of the chaos to kill the supervisor during the storm, and took more than 40 green skins to seek refuge with the local canal commander.
Later, it passed into the hands of Yin Tuo. Because he was literate and knew the affairs of the county government, Yin Tuo appointed him as the guard general and the chief bookkeeper after regaining the county.
Han Zai said that living in the county government office would make it easier to assist the county magistrate Wei Dayou in handling county affairs. The latter had no choice but to vacate the house and invite the "Tai Shang" master bookkeeper to live in the garden. Later, four maids were sent to take care of his daily life.
This day Han Mo was practicing calligraphy when he suddenly saw the magistrate running towards him in a panic holding a letter. He couldn't help but wonder: "What's going on with the magistrate? Who is this letter to?"
"It's for me."
"Oh!" Han Chai still lowered his head and licked the ink after hearing this.
Wei Dayou saw it and said hurriedly: "It's best for the chief to read the letter first. You can practice calligraphy at any time."
"Ah?" Han Zai stopped writing: "Since it is for the county magistrate, what does it have to do with me?" But he saw that Wei Dayou kept gesturing for him to take it, so he had to put down the pen. When I took out the new sign and looked at it, there was a piece of high-quality bamboo paper and snow paper inside. The writing is very clear and easy to understand. The main idea is:
The Qing Shi team swept through Shangrao's periphery, defeated the Lou family, and then fought again to annihilate Long Hui.
Now that we have arrived in Guixian County, I heard that you have taken the initiative to rebel, so I wanted to come and get the dog's head to serve as a warning. However, we received orders to go south to fight the Yintuo tribe, so we will not enter the city for the time being.
If you want to save your life, open the north gate to show your willingness to submit to the imperial court at any time. If you dare to close the door, we will not be polite when we come back next time.
You had a chance to escape last time if you hid well, but you may not be able to escape next time! The final signature was of course: I bestow upon you the experience of the Xuanfu Division in South Jiangxi Province and the training envoy of the Raozhou Regiment, Li Dan.
"What a loud tone!" Han Chai sneered, but he was also a little embarrassed about the Lou family's defeat.
"My good chief, I don't dare to look down on this Qing Shi team." The county magistrate jumped anxiously: "These people are powerful. They defeated Guixi, Geyang, and Xing'an last time. If I hadn't hid, I would have died!"
I heard that Guixi County couldn’t escape and ended up losing his head! How many soldiers are there in our county? You haven't counted them yet? Marshal Yin has left. Even if we ask Ge Yang for help now, we're afraid they won't be able to send many troops, right? "
"Then you don't mean to open the city gate as they say, right?"
"What else can we do? They will really get angry after closing the door. How can we withstand it?" Wei Zhixian looked like he was crying.
"Is this... could it be a trick?" Han Glaze hesitated.
"It doesn't look like it." Wei Zhixian thought about it: "If they plan to seize the city, they will just attack without saying a word. Why send this letter? This shows that they really have no intention of attacking." He suddenly slapped his forehead:
"It's better than this. Although we will open the city gate tomorrow, I will lead the young men at the top of the city, and the commander will strictly guard the city gate inside and outside the city gate in a defensive posture. This will not only fulfill the letter's request, but also prevent accidents from happening. What does the chief clerk think?"
"Wonderful, let the enemy not know the real situation, retreat when he knows the difficulties, and defeat the enemy without fighting. The county master's plan is very good! We will do this tomorrow!"
Han Chai felt guilty when he thought about the troops he had in hand. If the enemy really wanted to attack the city, he might not have a chance of winning. Why not come up with this empty city strategy? Maybe he would be safe?
The next morning, Li Dan's team passed by outside the city in a mighty manner, with so many vehicles and horses that it was impossible to see them all. Both of them clicked their tongues, feeling that they had made the right decision!
Across the Cengang River, Li Dan used his telescope to look at the open north gate of Xing'an County, the antlers outside the city and the enemy array visible inside the city gate. He smiled and said to Mr. Gao:
"This Korean glaze is indeed stable, and the array is quite close. It's a pity that I didn't have the chance to bump into it, so I had to watch them watch."
Then he said to Wang Pei who was riding behind him: "Your plan worked. Congratulations on your first contribution! I hope you can make more contributions after joining the Qingshirt team. We will not begrudge the reward!"
"The bounty doesn't matter. Your Majesty promised to set aside 800 acres of land for me to use as a test field, and to build an agricultural college. As long as we fulfill our promise, the students will repay the favor!" Wang Pei replied on the horse, handing over his hand.
He was very proud that his strategy worked, and he felt proud and proud that he had not felt in many years. The last time I felt like this was when I was a scholar. Wang Pei secretly made up his mind that those who know him will die for his confidant!
In fact, his plan was very simple. He just sent someone to sneak into the city with a letter, and then quietly placed it on the magistrate's desk.
The last time he came to the county town, he heard Sun, the shopkeeper of the grocery store, tell him something strange, saying that the leader of the bandits was actually a literate man. It was said that he had worked as a clerk in the county government before, but he did not expect that he could now use Yintuo's military power to command The county lord said so.
Based on this, Wang Pei guessed that people who had served as officials had a more stable style and tended to retreat when seeing danger.
In addition, the Yong'an magistrate was known to be timid and fearful of getting into trouble, so he concluded that the two of them would obediently follow the instructions in the letter. The ending was exactly as expected. "My talents are destined to be useful!" He encouraged himself secretly.
Xing'an County just looked at the other side of the river, watching the Qingshirt brigade whizzing past from the other side, but in the end no soldier dared to intervene!
After passing Xing'an County and more than thirty miles to the west, you will reach Geyang.
However, Li Dan and the others are not going directly to Geyang, because they have no plan to attack the city. The whole battalion will stop at Lion Rock to get some supplies from the secret warehouse in the cave, and then continue on the road, crossing the Gexi River from the old place of Yang's house. .
However, when they arrived at Lion Rock, everyone learned that things had changed from the scouts who came back from the front.
It turned out that when Sun She and others retreated last time, a rebel army chased Yangjiadu. Out of anger, they burned the ferry and the ferry. As a result, there are no big ships and docks available here. To cross the river, you must go elsewhere.
Many people in the team were familiar with this area, and they all frowned upon hearing this situation. The original plan was to cross the river from Yangjia via Meiling and quietly return to Raozhou. If the ferry was unavailable...then we would have to take the risk and take the Huating Bridge.
"Is Huating Bridge still there?" Gao Hanzi asked first. After Su Piantou's death, he served as the vanguard to lead the entire team to break out. He once fought a bloody battle with the enemy at Huatingqiao, so he immediately thought that this was the most suitable way.
Crossing the bridge is naturally fast, and it saves the time of loading and unloading on and off the ship, but the bridge is too close to the north gate of Geyang, and the enemy can quickly reach it within four miles.
"The bridge is still there!" the reconnaissance report said: "There is now a tax office at the head of the bridge. There are twenty or thirty people collecting taxes, but they are very lazy. Pedestrians can cross with one money, but if horses need two money, vehicles need three money.
The tax collector's name is "Hao Gui Cen Wu". He was originally a local armor commander in Huating. It is said that he has some skills and his subordinates are all local helpers. "
"You mean he is a local thief who helps collect taxes?" Li Dan asked strangely. Generally speaking, local children would not be willing to do such offending things as setting up cards to collect taxes without authorization, so he found it strange.
"I also found it strange. Later, I heard from our people that the gangsters recruited Cen Wu to join their gang when they heard that he had some skills. Later, they threatened to detain his mother. Cen Wu had no choice but to propose setting up a tax customs here. The gangsters did not I agreed after thinking about it.”
The "our people" mentioned by the detective are the members of the Chashan Society who developed locally after Sun She left behind.
"Interesting," Li Dan asked immediately: "This person knows Cen Wuting well. Could it be possible that he can get in touch with him?"
When the detective saw how many people were in the tent besides Li Dan, he didn't dare to say, "This, I can only report to the Duke and Gao Yingzheng because of my humble position. Please forgive me!"
After hearing this, Li Dan knew that there was an article, so he asked him to go down to rest first, and then changed the subject and asked: "There is a solution when the bridge is there. We designed to hold this Cen Wu and then we can cross the bridge. The problem is... the distance is too close. The enemies at the north gate will inevitably be alerted, what should we do?"
According to the scout, Yin Tuo obviously has a long memory. He left 1,500 people in Geyang! This number is already quite large. After being damaged in the battle, if the Green Shirt Team faces an attack by a thousand enemy troops and has to protect dignitaries, baggage, and the retreat of the wounded, it will be very stressful.
It became everyone's common consciousness to avoid fighting as much as possible along the way. The enemy at the north gate was close at hand, and it would only take a quarter of an hour to appear on the flank of the team. How to pass safely and prevent the enemy from coming out?
"I suggest sending people to occupy Wangjiangdui." After a moment of silence, Gao Hanzi suddenly said, and everyone followed his finger on the map.
Wangjiangdui is a five or six-foot-high hill, standing on the opposite bank and facing the north gate in the distance, like a shadow wall in front of the gate. It has always been called the most beautiful place in Geyang.
This mountain is usually a place where literati chant poems and enjoy the scenery of the river. There is a thatched pavilion built in an unknown year on the top of the mountain. At the foot of the mountain, the Gexi River meanders through from the east, south and west.
One hundred and fifty steps across the river is Beiguan and the most imposing Hongshan Gate in Geyang. This is also the place where the most casualties occurred during the last breakout, with Su Piantou and Lin Ziyang killed successively.
"Occupy Wangjiangdui, control the North Gate Crossing, and make a gesture of crossing the river to attack the North Gate, so that the enemy will not dare to act rashly!" Gao Hanzi said. Li Dan nodded slightly. It would be best if we could achieve our goal without fighting.
Seeing Li Dan's move, Shi Dajun was the first to jump out and shouted: "Hey, this job belongs to me, Lao Shi!"
Everyone was confused, and Qin Han asked: "What do you mean? Am I not allowed to go to the fourth company?"
"It's okay to go, but it's not as suitable as me." Shi Dajun grinned: "If the enemy goes out, the people who stay will have to go into battle and fight.
The whiplash wound on my back has not healed yet, and Master Xingwu told me not to use force to avoid the wound bursting. Therefore, it is a job that does not require much effort to bluff people, so naturally I am the most suitable person to do it! "
Everyone laughed, saying that you have been punished, so how can you become a good person? Li Dan stopped everyone with a smile and said to Shi Dajun:
"Tou Shi, this mission is not ordinary. You need to lead your company to cross the bridge in a large group first, then quickly occupy Wangjiangdui, and then collect as many ferries as possible from the other side to the ferry at the foot of the mountain. You also have to put on a cowhide to coax A posture to attack the north gate.
You have to do so many things, I can only give you two hundred people, you have to think about it. It won't work if you can't complete the task, it won't work if you can't attract the enemy, and it won't work if you cross the river without authorization and attack the north gate! If you break the rules, your head will fall off. It’s not as simple as standing on the mountain and looking at the scenery! "
"Sir, can you give me more flags?"
"no problem!"
Shi Dajun rolled his eyes and thought for a while: "That's no problem. Gentlemen, let's see how our Black Stone teases Ge Yang's gang of thieves! When we win and come back to pay the order, everyone owes Lao Shi a bowl of wine. Who can Don’t run either!”
Everyone laughed and said that if you want everyone to serve a bowl, they might pour it first. Why are we afraid of you? Li Dan then ordered the whole battalion to set off at the next morning, with Shi Dajun's third company as the vanguard.
He must occupy Huating Bridge at the beginning of Yinshi, and then use the second company as the vanguard to move forward to occupy Qinghu, guard and support the third company.
Shi Dajun completed the deployment at Wangjiangdui around 10 o'clock in the morning. After the whole battalion arrived at Qinghu safely, the third company withdrew from the battlefield. Everyone left and prepared separately. Li Dan and Gao Hanzi called the scout in and talked with him for a quarter of an hour. The scout came out, mounted his horse and galloped away.
Some people died, but not completely...
