Wu Cheng, a student of Mingdao Academy, who had just sent Pan Er away, and Han Bo, the cousin of Han Chen, the ambassador of the Jiaoxie Field Salt Division, hurried back, and as soon as he entered the courtyard, he said eagerly: "Master Han, Master Han, Yizhen has fallen, and the bandits are coming to Yangzhou!" ”

Finally came, there will be no fake this time, Han Xiufeng settled down, greeted him and asked: "Where are the bandits, and when can they get to Yangzhou?" ”

"The spies of the government said that the army of bandits set out at dawn."

"So the thieves can be killed in the dark?"

"Almost, although the spies changed horses all the way and walked faster than the bandits, no matter how fast they were, they would be half a day at most." Han Bo wiped his sweat and said: "However, if the bandits want to occupy Yangzhou, they must first pass the pass of Zhu Zhanao and Zhang Yiguo, and they moved to Taohua'an and led more than 300 green battalion soldiers and more than 400 villagers to guard Changchun Bridge. ”

Even the remote town of Hai'an has ten scenes, not to mention a big city like Yangzhou.

The Peach Blossom Nunnery is located in the Slender West Lake in the west of the city, the wild trees become forests, the water and grass are luxuriant, the Changchun Bridge in front of the Peach Blossom Nunnery is the place where Yizhen comes to Yangzhou from the place, because there is an island on the shore, there is a pavilion on the island, there are steps leading to the archway of "Linshui Hongxia" in the north of the pavilion, it is praised as the "Linshui Hongxia" in the 24 scenes of Yangzhou by the literati and ink writers.

When he went to Taizhou from Jiangning to take office a year ago, Han Xiufeng had crossed the Changchun Bridge and knew the place of "Linshui Hongxia", but he didn't think that Zhu Zhanao, the deputy general of Yangzhou Xiebiao, didn't know where to collect the more than 300 green battalion soldiers and the more than 400 township Yong temporarily recruited by Zhang Yiguo, the governor of the Salt Transportation Division, could block the bandits, so he immediately turned around and asked the big head to quickly pack up his things, and asked Lu Daming and Tang Guozheng to hurry up and gather his subordinates, and then asked while walking to the river: "Do you know how many bandits have come?" ”

"The spies couldn't tell, but they knew that there were a lot of them. In his words, there were thousands of thieves out of the city, and there was no end in sight! ”

"When did Yi Zhen fall?"

"Last night."

"Why didn't the spies come back until today?"

"I don't know this," Han Bo was stunned, and suddenly reacted: "Liu Liangju, but Minglun and Zhang Tingrui should have known about it, they just didn't say anything!" ”

"What about them?" Han Xiufeng asked with a frown.

"As soon as I left the city, I led more than 200 green battalion soldiers to the north of the city." Han Bo didn't want to delay his efforts, and said eagerly: "Master Han, I estimate that they may not dare to go to the Fairy Temple or Shao Bo Town, and there is a good chance that they will take the path." ”

"It's possible." Han Xiufeng looked back at the villagers who were running this way, and muttered, "If you want them to bleed, it doesn't look like it's okay to wait for the rabbit." ”

"So I'm going to take someone to chase it."

"They have more than 200 men!"

"Master Han, do you think they will take those green battalion soldiers away?" Han Bo asked in a low voice.

Han Xiufeng pondered for a moment, then suddenly raised his head and said, "They want to leave at this time and are unwilling to leave like this, after all, the salt merchants and bandits in the city have already agreed." We know that the bandits will not just borrow, and we know that the bandits will not let them recover Yangzhou City at all, but they have the responsibility to defend the land, and they will definitely be lucky. ”

"Will they look out of the city?"

"If you were me, I would." Han Xiufeng thought for a moment and said coldly: "Those of their subordinates haven't seen the bandits, and when they see the bandits, they are estimated to run faster than them." You and Qianli can take people there, but one of you can only bring one sentry to Xiangyong, Liang Liu, Liang Jiu, they haven't come back until now, Wu Wenming and Qinghuai They don't know if they have bumped into bandits, and I can't have no soldiers here. ”

Thinking that there were only more than 100 Xiangyong here, Han Bo gritted his teeth: "Master Han, it's enough to give me two Xiangyong, you don't need to bring a whistle!" ”

"Okay, that's it."

Wang Qianli didn't want to miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, so he hurriedly said, "Master Han, I only need to bring two things." ”

Han Xiufeng weighed it again and agreed: "Okay, you each take two Shixiang Yong to the north of the city, without further ado, let's leave now." ”

"Master Han, we're leaving, you must take care."

"Yes, Master Han, you are our backbone, you must take care."

"I'm fine, but you have to be careful, Liu Liangju, but Minglun and Zhang Tingrui If they are really targeted by bandits, then leave them alone, the days of making money are long, and you can't afford to put yourself in because of some silver."

"We know, we're going to be careful."

Now they are not chasing a few officials who abandoned the city and fled for their lives, but the silver of white flowers, Han Bo and Wang Qianli did not dare to delay for a moment, and called their families to order more than 40 townships that had just been compiled to carry five boats across the river.

Lu Daming and all the gold and silver they seized were all taken away by Pan Er, and the big head only needed to pack a few books and change clothes, and when he was packed up and chased to the river, more than 130 township soldiers had lined up neatly under the sentry chief's reprimand.

"Master Han, what should these robbers do?" Ji Da asked, pointing to the dozen or so dejected guys who had just arrived.

"Don't they like to tie red headscarves, help them tie all the red headscarves, and escort them to Wanfu Bridge together after tying them."

"Yes."

Ji Dagang bowed down to receive the order, and Jiang Zhuzi, a personal soldier who had been guarding the post shop, chased him to the river with two familiar people who could no longer be familiar.

"Da Ming, let the brothers get on the boat first."

"Yes!" The assistant camp masters were all gone, and Lu Daming turned around and said: "Each outpost listens to the order, takes its own weapons, looks after their own dry food, starts from the first post, gets on the boat in turn, line up, don't crowd, don't worry!" ”

Looking at the more than 100 villagers in front of them who not only had weapons, but also wore gowns, and even some of them were wearing armor, Zhang Guangcheng and Li Changjing, who came in a hurry, were stunned for a while, not wanting to know how Han Xiufeng had become so many soldiers as if he was playing tricks.

"Brother Zhang, Brother Li, have the five regiments of Xiangyong arrived at Wanfu Bridge?" Han Xiufeng didn't care about being polite, and walked up and asked bluntly.

"Oh, it's all here." Zhang Guangcheng reacted and hurriedly said: "I arrived last night, and I was busy setting up camp at this time, and Master Li and I were not at ease, so we rushed over to take a look." ”

"It's better to come early than to come soon, and the bandits are almost here."

"The bandits are coming?" Li Changjing asked in surprise.

"I captured Yizhen yesterday, and I came to Yangzhou early this morning." Han Xiufeng took a deep breath, looked back at the other side of the river and said, "I was planning to go to the other side to have a look, and let Lu Daming lead a large group of men and horses to Yiling to fortify first." ”

"Zhixing, the thieves are about to be killed, and they can't hide, what are you going to do on the other side at this juncture?" Zhang Guangcheng asked puzzled.

"Yangzhou doesn't need us to care, and we don't care about Jiangdu, but Taizhou can't be unguarded, and then we have to fight a vicious battle, don't talk about knowing ourselves and knowing each other, we have to know what the bandits look like."

"I'll cross the river with you, but I'll have to stay away from the walls, just take a look."

"I'm not stupid, so I won't touch a stone with an egg."

"One more thing." Zhang Guangcheng hesitated for a moment, and said with an embarrassed face: "Zhixing, when we passed through the state city, we were stopped by Old Ghost Xu, he ...... He asked us how we planned to keep it, and I told you what you were going to do, but I didn't expect him to come up with another moth. ”

"What moth?" Han Xiufeng asked subconsciously.

"He said that we have such a few people in the Communist Party, and we can't easily divide the troops, not only do we not let us divide the troops to guard the fairy temple, but we don't even need to take care of Yiling, and he said that he will order someone to summon Qingzhuang to go to Baita River to fortify, and let you guard Wanfu Bridge with us." Zhang Guangcheng didn't want to be misunderstood by Han Xiufeng, so he hurriedly took out a letter from his arms after finishing speaking.

Han Xiufeng took the letter, opened it and looked at it, it was indeed the handwriting of Xu Laogui, as Zhang Guangcheng said, let him garrison Wanfu Bridge, but as long as he guarded it for six days, he could retreat to Yiling after six days.

Liang Liu, Liang Jiu, they didn't come back until this time, Yu Qinghuai and Li Zhiyong have no news until now, Han Xiufeng was not at ease, he didn't plan to retreat to Yiling now, looked at the letter and weighed it, and said lightly: "Okay, let's guard Wanfu Bridge together." ”

The more Zhang Guangcheng thought about it, he couldn't help it, and said with a bitter face: "Zhixing ......"

"Brother Zhang, I know what you want to say, it's none of your business." Thinking that he would guard Liaojiagou with them next, Han Xiufeng felt that he couldn't be unprepared, and immediately changed his words: "Brother Zhang, Brother Li, don't cross the river with me, the bandits will be able to capture Yangzhou tonight at the latest, and there is not much time left for us, you hurry up and divide the troops into two ways, one goes to the Fairy Temple, and the other goes back to Wanfu Bridge." ”

"What are you doing at the Fairy Temple?" Li Changjing was confused.

"As far as I know, the timber of the entire Yangzhou Mansion is transported from the Fairy Temple, there are dozens of timber shops in the town of the Fairy Temple, and there are many wooden rows in the river, you quickly bring people over to collect the wood, and strive to transport it to Wanfuqiao before noon tomorrow."

"Camp with wood?"

"Well, you must know that we are dealing with Taiping bandits who have experienced a hundred battles, not those private tyrants who bully the weak and are afraid of the hard, how can we defend the camp if it is not strong?" Han Xiufeng took a deep breath and continued: "Bamboo, hemp rope, sacks, and fire oil should be collected, how much can be collected, and remember to find more shovels." The bandits are not fools, and when they see that they cannot be attacked from the river, they will definitely go around from the south or the north, so we have to dig a few more trenches around the camp. ”

"Got it, I'll go!"

"Zhixing, what about me?"

"Hurry back and destroy the bridge, the bridge leading to Liaojiagou has one and the small bridge, and all of them will be destroyed. There are also civilian ships, so that the boatmen go as far as they can, unwilling to go or unable to find all the requisitions of the shipowners. ”

It's a matter of whether he can keep it for six days, Zhang Guangcheng agreed: "Okay, I'll go back." ”

Thinking that he couldn't just let Li Changjing go to the Fairy Temple, Han Xiufeng turned around and said, "Wang Qianshan, lead your people to go to the Fairy Temple with Master Li, everything is up to Master Li!" Lu Daming, lead the rest of the brothers to Wanfu Bridge with Master Zhang! ”

"Yes!"

Looking at Lu Daming and others who were better than Hai'an, Qutang, Baimi and other regimental townsmen and others, Zhang Guangcheng couldn't help asking: "Zhixing, where did these brothers come from?" ”

"The new recruits in the past few days, I can't take care of them now, I'll go back and explain to you."

"Yes, yes, get down to business first."

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