Liu Yu nodded with satisfaction: "Brother Zhang, please first evacuate and resettle the old, weak, women and children according to General Tan's request, and then according to the military order, let the young and strong men be incorporated into General Tan's new army to guard Guangling. , if you can defend Guangling here and prevent the demon thieves from setting up camp here and cutting off our reinforcements from the north, it will be a great achievement. A hard and fierce battle is still to come, don't worry that there will be no battle and no meritorious service."
Speaking of this, Liu Yu raised his voice and said loudly: "This time the demon thieves are pacified, the imperial court will offer a heavy reward. As long as everyone serves the country, regardless of whether they have made military exploits or not, they will get the rewards they deserve. Da Jin, I will never treat any loyal person who is a thief for the country."
Zhang Fugui said loudly: "Fellows, the commander-in-chief said this, what else do you have to worry about? Look at me, I have become like this, a useless person, but because of my previous merits, the commander-in-chief gave me this Resettlement allows me to marry, have children, and settle down. As long as you contribute to the country, your efforts will never be in vain. The deceased will receive pensions and subsidies, and the injured will be supported by the country, especially those who have made meritorious services. There is wealth, what are you waiting for?!"
Everyone was beaming with joy. If they had not known that these people would not have followed Liu Yu back to Jiangnan to Jiankang, I am afraid they would have immediately thrown down their packages and joined the army on the spot. Zhang Fugui shouted: "Follow me, folks." Go north to Guangling and join the army!"
Everyone agreed enthusiastically, and then happily followed Zhang Fugui and his two sons towards Guangling City.
Liu Yu kept standing on the horseback, clasping his fists and saluting in the direction of the crowd's retreat. It wasn't until the crowd was out of sight that he lowered his fists and sighed: "For people like this, we have to fight to the end."
Hu Fan said solemnly: "Most of the people in Jiangbei moved there after the demon thieves were pacified. Guangling area is home to many veterans of the Beifu Army. Like the people in Jingkou, they are the most loyal people to the Jin Dynasty. , the escape just now was just because of a moment of panic and they lost their backbone. As soon as they saw Brother Jinu coming back in person, they immediately gained courage and confidence."
Liu Yu sighed: "It is the responsibility of us soldiers to let such people be in trouble. Moreover, I believe that there are such loyal people all over the Jin Dynasty, not just in Jingkou and Guangling. As a common people of the Jin Dynasty, there should be With this understanding, as long as the country and the court exist, they will have a stable and happy life. If the country is destroyed, the family will naturally not be saved. At this time, everyone should defend the country bravely instead of being a bystander. Protect the family. Defending the country should never be just a matter for soldiers, but should be the responsibility of every citizen."
Everyone looked serious and said in unison: "What Brother Jinu said is absolutely true."
Liu Yu sat down from the saddle and sat astride the saddle. In the sky, dark clouds gradually gathered, and the sunlight that appeared just now became dim again. Liu Yu frowned slightly: "We have to hurry up. Time is of the essence. It looks like thunder and rain are coming. If we can't cross the river before the thunderstorm, I'm afraid it will delay our journey for a day or even longer. Everyone has seen what happened just now. If the people can't see us, it will be gone. The backbone will lose confidence even more, and this is true here in Guangling where veterans gather, let alone Jiankang. If we rush back a moment earlier, the chance of winning this battle will be one point higher."
Tan Zhuan, who was following behind, said: "My elder brother has made arrangements. There are two ferries left at Guazhou Ferry. One boat can carry thirty people, which is just enough for us to cross the river. There is also a spare one. Without further ado, let’s set off now.”
Liu Yu roared loudly and clamped his legs around the horse's belly. The horse neighed loudly and flew away with all four hooves. Everyone followed closely behind, also riding their horses and whipping their whips. Soon, the group of people disappeared. Far away from the official road.
Half an hour later, by the river, at Guazhou Ferry.
There are already dark clouds rolling in the sky. The weather in the south of the Yangtze River in April and May can change at any time. In just this moment, it has changed from the bright sunshine just now to dark clouds. Above the river, it is almost invisible. It rises up and merges with the dark clouds, the river is rolling, and the waves are turbulent, matching the heavy rain that has begun to pour down.
The river wind roared, as if thousands of troops were galloping, and the sound of wind and thunder was just like the shouts of death rising to the sky on the battlefield. Liu Yu stood quietly by the river, already wearing a raincoat and a bamboo hat. , like a fisherman, accompanied by more than a dozen generals and captains, just standing in the rain and mist pouring like a waterfall, without saying a word.
Tan Zhuan let out a long sigh: "God's will, is this really God's will? We rushed here in a hurry, and the rain started falling just a moment later."
Xu Chite suddenly shouted: "Look, what are those flowing down the river?"
Everyone looked at the sound and saw lightning and thunder. The visibility was originally extremely low due to the black clouds and thunderstorms. Under the bright eyes of everyone, they could see the river going eastward for more than a mile. Like a horse, in the heavy rain, the waves rolled and went straight downstream, but among those wave peaks, you could clearly see dozens or hundreds of floating corpses rolling up and down in these wave peaks. Ups and downs, there were even two corpses, which were caught by the waves and moved sideways towards the Guazhou River bank in the north until they were under the embankment. Everyone looked intently and saw that under the wave-proof embankment, among the rocks on the river bank, , there are already dozens of such corpses.
Zhu Lingshi's eyes were sparkling with tears, and his voice was choked with sobs: "These, these must be the brothers of the Yuzhou Legion who died in the battle in Sangluo Prefecture. They died miserably."
Hu Fan gritted his teeth tightly and said with hatred: "These monster thieves who have killed a thousand swords, many of these brothers are headless corpses, their hands are still tied behind their backs, they must be heroes who are unwilling to surrender and are possessed by the monster thieves. After beheading, the bodies were thrown into the river and flowed down the river to intimidate our soldiers and civilians.”
Xu Chite gritted his teeth, waved the big bow in his hand, and said in a deep voice: "One day, I will shoot Xu Daofu and Lu Xun with my own hands to avenge the dead brothers. However, Brother Jinu, now Fenglang It's so urgent, there are turbulent waves, and there are angry thunders. If we cross the river at this time..."
Before he finished speaking, he saw a bolt of lightning piercing the sky, illuminating everyone's face, and the lightning hit one of the two ferries going up and down the river more than thirty steps away. Suddenly, this The boat broke off and sank, burning with blazing flames. The two boatmen on the other boat screamed and jumped off the boat, and fled towards the shore without looking back. Soon, they disappeared. .
