Li Mu, named Cunhou, is twenty-five years old. His ancestors were from a prosperous family. Later, the Middle Way declined. By his generation, he had become a run-down house in the capital. Li Mu was very ambitious and did not want to hang around as a gangster, so he found a way to join the army. He came to the Jiangdu Camp of the Han Army and became a soldier under Deng Mao.
Deng Mao was born into a family of generals. His father was Deng Quji, the commander-in-chief of the Han Army, and his grandfather was Deng Pu, a veteran of the three dynasties of the Liang Dynasty and General Zhenyuan. This time he was ordered to go south to wipe out the Tianlong Gang, support the military's power, and then control Jiangnan. On the other hand, they honed their skills in marching and fighting, laying the groundwork for future military power.
The Huai army was destroyed, Hu Guanhai lost his head, the three towns in Hebei were in vain, and the Hu people marched straight in. The Liang Kingdom was able to fight, but only one Han army was left that could fight hard. Tianjing City is located in the place where the Fourth War was fought, and there is no danger to defend it. Liang Yuanhao moved to Yangzhou, and Privy Councilor Wen Da assisted the prince to stay in the capital. Under such a delicate situation, Han's army was out of the control of the Privy Council, and openly obeyed the emperor's orders directly. , but in fact it was in the hands of Deng Pu, Deng Quji and his son.
Deng Pu was old after all. The Hu people invaded three towns in Hebei and the situation was precarious. He resolutely stayed in Tianjing City and guarded the capital with Wen Da. As long as he did not leave, the Jiedu envoys of Wei Bo, Fan Yang and Chengde towns would Don't dare to cross the thunder pool even half a step, the situation will not collapse a thousand miles.
Deng Pu had no time to look around, but Deng Quji was ambitious and determined to put an end to the rebellion, assist King Huai in ascending to the throne, achieve immortal feats, and would not allow anyone to stand in his way. He ordered Deng Mao to lead his troops to Tongling, capture Xia Quji, and wipe out the Tianlong Gang. He left a confidant to urge Zhao Yanzhi to raise his own food and wages, form a side army, and gradually emptied the power of the state capital.
Deng Mao selected Li Mu, his own soldier, and promoted him to the position of general. He led a light cavalry group and rushed to Jinkou City to meet Zhao Yanzhi. This is a casual chess move that has nothing to do with the overall situation. It would be great if Xia Yun could be captured, but it wouldn't matter if he escaped. A bereaved dog cannot make any waves.
But Li Mu didn't think so.
The night attack on the medicine refining hall did not go as smoothly as expected. Zhao Yanzhi wrote the script carefully, but Xia Yun was not a co-actor. He should have died in Jinkou City instead of fighting his way back to Tongling and causing trouble for Deng Mao. . This time it seemed that the newly promoted general Li Mu was very incompetent.
Zhao Yanzhi was unreliable, so Li Mu personally led the search. When the news came from the speeding rangers, his spirit was suddenly lifted. He immediately gathered the light cavalry and outflanked them at full speed in the direction of the sounding arrow. On the side of a dirt road twenty miles away from Xuyang Town, they found five corpses. Three were Han army officers and soldiers, and two were cart drivers. They died not long ago. The corpses had not yet decomposed, and neither the army horses nor the donkeys pulling the carts were missing.
The local guide said that there is a fork in the road ahead, leading west to Qingjin Ferry.
The Golden Crow fell in the west, the Jade Rabbit rose in the east, and Li Mu's large group of troops rushed to nothing at Qingjin Ferry. Only then did he realize that Xia Yun had tricked him again. He turned back along the original path under the moonlight, lit a torch and carefully checked the tracks. He went back and forth several times, and finally discovered that in the bushes near the fork in the road, there were tracks of people and horses crossing, extending eastward, and disappearing into the vast night. middle.
Apparently the opponent was aware of the danger, so he set up a suspicious formation and left hoof marks to cross to Qingjin. In fact, he gave up crossing the river, deviated from the dirt road halfway, and turned eastward through the bushes. It was already dark and the terrain was complicated, making it difficult for the cavalry to gallop. Li Mu had no choice but to order his men to rest on the spot and wait until dawn.
When leading troops in pursuit for the first time, minor setbacks were inevitable. Li Mu quickly adjusted his emotions, calmed down and redeployed. He summoned a guide and asked in detail based on the map. The result was discouraging. To the east was a stretch of barren hills. Qixia Mountain was like an endless barrier blocking the way. The mountains were deep and forested, with clear springs and steep rocks. Even if there were several more Even with even more troops, we can't catch those fish that slip through the net.
The bright-minded riders all realized the current dilemma. They looked at Li Mu with serious faces, waiting to see him get into trouble. A mere soldier who serves people is promoted to a general at a young age. He doesn't have to go through life and death to gain military glory like them, so how can he convince the public. Deng Mao was very strict in running the army, and no one dared to violate the rules and deliberately cause harm, but this did not prevent them from taking pleasure in others' misfortunes.
Although he failed to catch Xia Yun, he at least prevented him from escaping to the Tongling headquarters, so as not to ruin the major events of General Deng Mao and Deng. Li Mu frowned and took advantage of the firelight to turn over the map for a long time. His eyes fell on Qixia Mountain. He vaguely remembered something and ordered someone to find Zhao Yanzhi, the helmsman of the Xingchuan branch of the Tianlong Gang.
The night attack on the medicine refining hall failed, and the cooked duck flew away. Zhao Yanzhi felt uneasy, but now, there was no turning back. He gritted his teeth, led a group of loyal men, and followed Li Mu to track down Xia Yun. , You want to see people in life, you want to see corpses in death, you must not give up halfway.
Li Mu summoned him, and he hurried over alone. He leaned next to him and looked at the map for a few times. Suddenly, his heart moved, and he vaguely guessed his intention. Li Mu recognized his appearance and knew that he was a smart man and did not talk in circles. He pointed at Qixia Mountain and said: "Master Zhao, does the Qixia Sect have anyone in the mountain?"
Zhao Yanzhi said: "As the general said, 'Iron Dragon' Song Dian still has a senior brother named 'Bronze Dragon' Jiang Boqu, who led a group of disciples to stay in Qixia Mountain."
Li Mu clicked on the map and said: "Master Zhao led his men, set out overnight, and entered the mountain lightly, looking for help from Jiang Boqu, searching for Xia Yun's whereabouts. I led the troops slowly eastward, and stopped at the foot of the mountain to wait. News. The disciples of Qixia Sect have lived in the mountains for a long time and are familiar with the terrain. All they need to do is hold Xia Yun back and prevent her from escaping easily."
Zhao Yanzhi thought about it carefully and realized that this was a feasible plan. He had some friendship with Jiang Boqu. Yang Hu also killed Master and Disciple Min Zhongchun of Song Dian and formed an sworn feud with the Qixia Sect, dragging them to death in Qixia Mountain. Introducing Li Mu to lead an encirclement and suppression campaign was also a matter of mutual benefit. Zhao Yanzhi made up his mind, agreed, went to greet his men, packed up his horses and torches, and set off for Qixia Mountain.
When it got light, Li Mu issued a military order and divided the light cavalry into three teams, galloped into the wilderness and fled to Qixia Mountain. Everyone looked at each other with resentment, and one rider deliberately asked: "General Li, we set off in a hurry, and there are not enough dry food and provisions. The people can starve, but the horses cannot. What can I do?"
The soldiers and horses had not moved, and the food and grass went first. However, this trip was made by the Han army on their own initiative. In order to cover up others' eyes, they did not transfer the food and grass from the Jiangdu camp and raised it on their own along the way. Li Mu was slightly startled, then said with a straight face: "There are grass and trees in the mountains, birds and beasts in the forest, why can't we solve it? Military orders are like mountains, you are not a soldier on your first day, and you don't even understand this principle? What more nonsense, military law? Deal with it!"
The riders were full of complaints and had no choice but to endure their hunger and thirst, turn their horses' heads and head eastward. Li Mu took the lead, but he felt a little frustrated in the end. It was too easy for him to get the position, he lacked prestige in the army, and he did not have a group of loyal companions to help him. It was inevitable that he would not be popular. However, he had not enough food and grass, which was indeed his negligence.
In the final analysis, the plan was not as fast as the change. He never expected that Xia Yun could break out of the siege and escape into the barren mountains, rendering this group of light cavalry useless.
