That night, Huang An and Zheng Qianhu received an order from the commander Li Kaiyang urging them to step up their efforts to suppress the bandits.
The personal guards sent by Li Kaiyang stayed in the camp to supervise the army. As soon as it got dark, Huang An and Zheng Qianhu ordered to break camp and hit the road to speed up the pursuit of the bandits.
The soldiers suffered terribly along the way. Some soldiers fell off the team halfway, and some soldiers suffered from heat stroke and could not continue to march with the group. Huang An left a hundred soldiers to take care of the injured and recruit the stragglers, and the group continued to march under the scorching sun.
After a forced journey, we finally arrived at a place ten miles away from the county seat of Yangyuan County before dark.
The officers and soldiers were all exhausted, so Huang An had to order to set up camp here, and at the same time sent out detective horses to look for traces of the bandits.
The sundries left behind by the bandits were discovered by the officers and soldiers. Huang An and others determined that the bandits were escaping in the direction of Yangyuan County. However, when they reached the vicinity of Yangyuan County, there was no trace of the bandits.
Huang An sent his soldiers to nearby villages to inquire about the bandits, but did not get any news about the bandits. The villagers in several nearby villages had no idea about the bandits at all.
Huang An was deeply disturbed by this result and hurriedly summoned Zheng Qianhu and the two personal guards sent by the commander to discuss the matter.
None of them could guess where the bandits had fled and how they disappeared out of thin air. In the end, they could only pin their hopes on the sent out Tan Ma.
The officers and soldiers who had been traveling for a day were already exhausted, and the camp was full of soldiers lying on the ground to rest.
"Xu Baihu, the army only carried one day's food and grass, and it was all used up in the morning. Could you please go to Yangyuan County and ask the county magistrate to arrange for someone to send some food and grass to the camp." There was no baggage team to replenish the food and grass, Huang An could only hope that the letter written by the commander on Xu Baihu's body could get food and grass from Yangyuan County.
"Don't worry, Mr. Huang, my subordinates will take people to the county seat right away." Xu Baihu left the camp with the letter in his arms and took the people straight to the county seat of Yangyuan County.
Huang An turned to look at Zheng Qianhu and said, "Please Zheng Qianhu, please go and tell the hundreds of households below. The food and grass will be delivered soon, so that they can appease the soldiers below."
Zheng Qianhu nodded and left the camp to summon the hundreds of households in the camp.
Only the personal guards sent by Li Kaiyang and Huang An were left in the camp, and Huang An said: "Now that the matter has happened, I have told the truth."
The guard said: "Sir, please speak."
Huang An pursed his lips and said: "I suspect that the bandits did not come to Yangyuan County. The debris discarded by the bandits that the army found before should have been left behind intentionally by the bandits, just to let the army chase the wrong ones. direction."
The guard frowned and said, "Your Majesty, you mean that we have lost track."
As a personal guard who has been with the commander for many years, he naturally knows what his master thinks, otherwise he would not be sent to the Huang An and Zheng Qianhu camps to supervise the army.
According to his speculation, the escaped bandit leader is likely to have merged with the group of bandits in Yangyuan County. Even if they did not merge, with the number of bandits in this group, there must be important bandit leaders among them. To capture the bandit leader is still a great achievement.
"Yeah." Huang An nodded.
After hearing Huang An's affirmative reply, the guard didn't know what to do.
The leader of the bandits escaped, and another group of bandits disappeared mysteriously. After returning, he didn't know how to explain to the commander.
"Isn't Tanma back yet? Maybe Tanma can bring back news about the gang of bandits." The guard could only place his hope on Tanma who was sent out.
Huang An shook his head lightly and said, "We'd better make plans early. If Tan Ma doesn't bring back any news, the army won't be able to stay in Yangyuan County for a long time. This is the boundary of Xuan Mansion after all."
"It's better to wait for news from Tan Ma first." The guard had no idea. He also knew that the army could not stay in Yangyuan County for a long time, so he could only hope that Tan Ma would find traces of the missing group of bandits.
More than an hour passed, the sky became darker and darker, and noises from the camp gradually reached the big tent.
"Go and see what happened in the camp. Why is the noise so loud?" Huang An, who was sitting behind the desk, ordered his soldiers.
The soldier responded and left the tent.
After a short time, the soldier returned to the big tent and said, "Sir, there are soldiers in the camp clamoring for food, which has disturbed you."
Huang An frowned and said, "Didn't Zheng Qianhu and those hundreds of households go to appease them? Why are there still soldiers making noise in the camp?"
The soldier said: "The soldiers below have been traveling all day and have not eaten yet. They are already hungry. It is difficult to comfort them for a long time just by comforting them."
Huang An stood up from behind the desk, walked out, and asked, "Is Xu Baihu not back yet?"
"Never came back." The guard shook his head.
Huang An paced back and forth in the big tent, turned around several times, and suddenly stopped and said, "Go and ask Zheng Qianhu to tell the soldiers below that the grain and grass are being transported from the county to the camp. Then you go Welcome Xu Baihu from the direction of the county town and see where he goes."
"Yes." The soldier responded, and just as he was about to leave, he saw Zheng Qianhu and Xu Baihu walking in from outside the tent.
Seeing this, the soldier stayed in the big tent.
"Xu Baihu, have you brought any food back?" Huang An saw Xu Baihu and asked hurriedly.
Seeing Xu Baihu's gloomy face, he said: "After receiving the letter, the magistrate of Yangyuan County not only failed to prepare food and grass, but instead asked the guards to drive his subordinates out of the county government office."
"So not only did you not bring back any food and grass, you didn't even meet the Yangyuan County magistrate?" Huang An's face darkened.
There is no food and grass at this time, and those hungry soldiers will definitely make trouble.
Zheng Qianhu said with an angry look on his face: "I have long said that we can't let the baggage team go back. Now it's okay. If the soldiers below start making trouble, just wait for the roar of the camp!"
Xu Baihu lowered his head and said nothing.
Huang An on the side said: "Now we are not talking about whose fault this is. We should think about how to get food and grass to appease the soldiers below."
Zheng Qianhu suppressed his anger and said: "I have an idea, that is..."
"Report!"
Before Zheng Qianhu finished speaking, the detective sent to find out the news about the bandits came to the big tent.
The personal guard sent by Li Kaiyang to supervise the army hurriedly asked: "Is there any news about the bandits?"
Na Tanma reported back: "There are no traces of bandits within a radius of more than ten miles. Villagers in many villages have no idea that bandits have ever come to Yangyuan County."
"It's really adding insult to injury." Huang An grabbed two handfuls of hair and suddenly looked at Zheng Qianhu and said, "Mr. Zheng, what did you want to say just now?"
Zheng Qianhu said: "I have an idea, which can not only solve the problem of food and grass, but also solve the problem of bandits."
"You want to kill a good person and take credit!" Huang An blurted out.
Zheng Qianhu nodded and said: "Now this is the only way to solve the army's food and grass problem, and also solve the problem of bandits."
Huang An lowered his head and thought silently.
Xu Baihu and the supervisor sent by Li Kaiyang were speechless.
