The Jialing River is still as clear and gentle as ever, but its two banks are now beating golden drums, and the sky is noisy.

Hao Shaoqi coughed up thick phlegm, turned to Xu Hui and said, "Chief soldier, the trestle is staring at his mother." ”

Xu Hui's face is like cold frost, looking at the other side from afar, there, on both sides of the standing big flag, there are countless black triangular flags along the river, these small flags are blown by the river breeze and spread horizontally, one after another, from a distance, continuous and endless like a black embankment blocking the river bank.

The big flag is embroidered with a big "Ming" word, and there are two slightly shorter leopard tail flags next to it, and there are all books on it, "Chaotianguan Garrison Thousand General Fu". Next to the leopard tail flag facing north, there is one, and the fluttering flag tail makes a "whoosh" sound in the wind, which seems to remind the Zhao Ying soldiers and horses on the opposite side that is sitting on the top of the main general Fu Mengdi who guards the trestle bridge today.

Through the array of officers and soldiers guarding the river on the other side of the river, Xu Hui could clearly see the city walls of Guangyuan County, and even the few small black spots that looked like patrols walking back and forth on the city. If you really want to cross the past, you will be able to reach Guangyuan City in less than two quarters of an hour, but before that, looking back at the present, there is still a moat of the Jialing River that needs to be crossed.

Hao Shaoqi raised his head to observe the sun, and said with a twisted mouth: "Look at the time, the Metropolitan Governor's side is probably already fighting." ”

Xu Hui's face darkened and he was silent. He took the lead in asking for the right battalion of the army as a partial division, out of Yangping Pass and turned south along the Jiameng water, the original intention was to surprise and provide a response to the main force of Zhao Dangshi who attacked head-on, but who expected, Hou Liangzhu took the first step and sent people to occupy the trestle bridge across the river. Now, if you don't defeat the officers and soldiers on the opposite side, your own people won't even want to touch a brick of Guangyuan.

The Jialing River, which is located in Guangyuan County, is considered to be upstream, and the river surface is undoubtedly much narrower than that of Chongqing. Even so, the current width of the river is dozens of steps, and the depth of the water is difficult to fathom. Unless Xu Hui was crazy, he would not have ordered the whole army to cross the river directly to the other side. However, from the west bank to the east, the nearest crossing point is here, and it is also the narrowest part of the river. I heard that there is another river crossing point further downstream, but it is still dozens of miles away, and when the river crossing is successful from there, the daylilies are cold.

The slowly flowing Jialing River set off a little wave from time to time, Xu Hui's eyes moved from the river to the opposite side, where there were already several rows of bird guns, and there was a gentle slope behind the bird guns, and from the gentle slope, there were hundreds of crossbowmen lined up. In front of the array of the bird-sturding hands, there were more than a dozen cannons that looked like Franc machines and hundred-gun guns. It is conceivable that once the soldiers and horses of the Zhao battalion could not bear it and crossed the river on all fronts, they would inevitably encounter a devastating blow from the officers and troops.

Unlike Fu Mengdi, who was calm and relaxed, sitting like a mountain, Xu Hui was nervous and anxious at the moment. Nervousness is the fear of missing the fighter plane that responds to the main force and affecting the overall situation; Anxiety is because I know that I can't afford to delay, but I can't think of an idea for a while.

Hao Shaoqi clenched his fists and looked at the officials and soldiers on the other side of the river, blowing his beard angrily and glaring, he vaguely heard bursts of artillery at the other end of Guangyuan County, and his heart was as eager as thousands of ants crawling. After a while, Emperor Fu Mengdi ordered the gunner to try a round of cannons, although they were all outrageous and far from where Zhao Ying was, Hao Shaoqi's mentality still exploded. He said angrily to Xu Hui: "Your subordinates, please lead three hundred fierce soldiers in the army, fight over the trestle bridge first, and rush at him!" ”

In terms of those who are not afraid of death, looking at Zhao Ying, Hao Shaoqi's subordinates are the most. Most of their backgrounds are murderers such as prisoners and miners, which is related to Hao Shaoqi's penchant for selecting such people to enlist in the army, and on the other hand, only a brave warrior like him can control these unruly outlaws.

Hao Shaoqi's suggestion, Xu Hui hadn't considered it before, but he also considered it more. Looking left and right, the hundreds of steps of the river can be seen, and only a trestle bridge is close to the east and west. Although it is the only passage here, this trestle bridge is old and narrow, and the widest part can only accommodate three people side by side, and many of them are broken, as if no one is waiting to go up, as soon as the wind blows, it will collapse first. That's not all, Xu Hui's eyes were sharp, and he found that the official army had been on guard against the trestle. Looking at the end of the bridge, a large number of people suddenly gathered, Xu Hui judged that there was a chance that guns had been arranged at the mouth of the bridge, and they could be caught by waiting for the soldiers of the Zhao battalion to throw themselves into the net. I think that even if Hao Shaoqi's people are really brave, and a few of them can rush to the opposite side, but if this trembling wooden trestle is bombarded by guns, it will never be able to pass again.

"The county magistrate of Dog Day." Somehow, Xu Hui began to scold the magistrate of Guangyuan County in his heart. Just looking at this trestle bridge, you can see that it is rarely repaired on weekdays, and the inaction of the magistrate can be seen from this. As long as the bridge is a few steps wider, or changed to stone, then Zhao Ying will have a lot of fearlessness. The negligence and dereliction of duty of the government actually became their lifesaver at this time, and Xu Hui felt guilty when he thought of this.

Hao Shaoqi repeatedly asked for battle, but Xu Hui blocked him back. He held his breath and turned back to the shore to check, the official army tried another round of artillery at this time, without exception, there was still no crosshair, but all the soldiers and horses of the Zhao battalion, including Hao Shaoqi, were still more and more congested in their hearts.

On the shore, Cui Shuqiang, who was dressed as a small soldier, was squatting there and squeezing his eyebrows, Hao Shaoqi walked over and kicked him in the ass, and scolded: "Tam Cai, you make these grimaces, the guy on the other side doesn't have the heart to look at it!" ”

Cui Shuqiang is Hao Shaoqi's old subordinate, he is certainly a small soldier at this time, but because of his previous friendship, the two are still unscrupulous in their conversation.

"Which thief dares to kick Lao Tzu's belly!" Cui Shu is used to being a bully, even if he is delegated to be a vanguard, no one dares to provoke him from those captains or even Bai Zong, he is powerful below, in fact, he is very comfortable. At this time, he was suddenly kicked, and naturally he was scolded. It's just that after scolding, he squinted his eyes and realized that it was Hao Shaoqi, hurriedly patted his buttocks, and changed his appearance: "Mr. Qian, there is a loss of welcome, there is a loss of welcome!" ”

"It's a fart, this isn't your home." Hao Shaoqi didn't care about his previous swearing, "What are you looking at?" Is there a little aunt in the official army opposite? ”

Cui Shuqiang scratched his smooth braincase - he had scabies a long time ago because he was not hygienic, and he was cured, but his hair never grew anymore - he tilted his head and said: "Ge Laozi, his subordinates are jumping up and down on the opposite side, which is so unpleasant." "He has been a thief in Hanzhong for nearly ten years, and he has been to Sichuan and Shaanxi more than once, and he has a Sichuan accent.

Hao Shaoqi listened to it and grinned: "You melon skin, you can't talk brains." You ask the brothers around, which one can be pleasing to the eye when you look at the other side? said, and teased, "Since it's not pleasing to the eye, why don't you go over to cook?" ”

He should have said it as a joke, but when Cui Shuqiang heard this, his face turned sharply, and he said solemnly: "I have this intention!" ”

"Huh?" Hao Shaoqi was stunned, "What are you talking about?" ”

Cui Shuqiang moved his head, and the knuckles of his hands made a "click" sound: "My subordinates are willing to take some brothers to rush across the river first and clear the way for President Qian!" ”

Although the other party's words were sincere, Hao shook his head like a rattle: "No, you can't do it." ”

"Why not?" Cui Shu was in a hurry, he hated others looking down on him the most. In fact, the reason why he fell into the grass at the beginning was that he couldn't stand the excitement of his fellow villagers, and assassinated the city and county officials on the street. How can such a character be despised for it?

Hao Shaoqi knew that he was high-spirited, and explained to him with the patience that he had never had with other soldiers: "The chief soldier said that Wang Ba Lamb on the other side of the river is waiting for the other side of the bridge with artillery. If we go past, we are killing ourselves. ”

Who knew that Cui Shuqiang pouted and said, "Your subordinates don't walk from the bridge." ”

"How?" Hao Shaoqi's eyes widened. But look at the front of you, a river, a bridge, and nothing else. This Cui Shuqiang has a big breath, if he doesn't walk from the bridge, will he fly from the sky?

"My subordinates led people to swim through the river."

"Swim over?"

"Hmm. Mr. Qian didn't know that before his subordinates entered the camp, they had been water ghosts in Hanzhong for many years. Cui Shuqiang was co-opted by Zhao Dangshi in Hanzhong, and before that, he had been crisscrossing Hanzhong for several years, and the main area of activity was in the Hanshui basin with Hanshui as the main trunk. This river basin has a dense water network and a large flow of boats, and he and a group of brothers are active in the large and small rivers here, and there is no shortage of oil and water.

When Hao Shaoqi heard this, he carefully looked at Cui Shuqiang, only to feel that he had a round brain and fell into the water, afraid that it was really a live fish, so he believed it five or six points at the moment.

Cui Shuqiang looked at him and seemed to be tempted, and said with more strength: "There are more than a dozen of my old brothers here, all of whom are webbed and long-finned. Mr. Qian, you can find someone again, there are 2,000 people here, and you can make up a hundred who are proficient in water. ”

The more Hao Shaoqi listened to him, the more he felt that there was a play, and his head "clicked", and suddenly thought of a point. He was afraid that he would be interrupted and forgotten, so while holding his head, he said to Cui Shuqiang: "You stop, I think of something, I need to talk to the chief soldier." You...... You might as well go and gather those old brothers first, and I'll be here in a moment. After saying that, he hurried away.

Cui Shuqiang saw the situation, was overjoyed, and agreed. After Hao Shaoqi left, he shouted five and six, shuttled around, pulled people from different divisions and teams, and almost regarded those captains and Bai Zong as nothing. Those officers were afraid that he would be ruthless, and they listened to him firing cannons as if they had received Hao Shaoqi's tacit approval, so they all let it go. Therefore, Cui Shuqiang is a small soldier, and when he walks around, if there is no one around, he looks more majestic than a general.

After a short time, Hao Shaoqi came back and saw that Cui Shuqiang had already pulled up more than a dozen people to gather in a circle and wait there, so he said hello first. For the first time, more than a dozen soldiers were so close to Mr. Qian, all of them were in a state of agitation, and some secretly looked at Cui Shuqiang, who was vivid, as if they were honored to have this face-saving friend, and they also seemed to be envious that he could talk to Hao Shaoqi face to face.

"The chief soldier said, give you a chance." Hao Shaoqi looked like he was trotting over, panting slightly, "You are ten here...... Well, I'll draw another twenty for you. ”

Cui Shuqiang heard the words "give you a chance" and was ecstatic. He lived happily below, but his heart was not slack, and what he longed for every day and night was "official reinstatement". This is not only the pursuit of the position, but more importantly, to show others that he Cui Shuqiang is worthy of the original position. Therefore, as a vanguard, every time he fought, he fought desperately, hoping to make a meritorious deed, so that he could climb back step by step. This time was no exception, he clearly knew that as an advance team, the danger factor he had to face was many times higher than that of the vanguard on the battle array, but he still made a request without hesitation. As far as he is concerned, life can be abandoned, but the honor and affirmation he deserves must not be left behind.

"The request of the general soldier, swim over, rush the garrison at the other end of the bridge, and once I succeed, I will immediately respond." Hao Shaoqi said painlessly, but Cui Shuqiang knew how many difficulties and dangers there were in this short one-sentence arrangement.

It's just that this is a task sent by the chief soldier Xu Hui, and "give you a chance" is also said from his mouth. What the "opportunity" is, it goes without saying. Cui Shuqiang can give up all other opportunities, but only this opportunity is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for him that cannot be missed. He responded categorically: "My subordinates know! ”

A trace of worry flashed on Hao Shaoqi's face, but he turned to a loud voice: "The chief soldier said that if this battle is won, the advance team will be the first to take credit." Everyone is promoted to one level, and the reward is 100 taels of silver! Speaking of this, his eyes slanted to Cui Shuqiang, "If you are guilty, you will not be blamed in the past, and the official will be reinstated." ”

Cui Shuqiang clenched his fists and bowed, swallowing his saliva, now, he had no fear at all, and his mind was full of excitement and joy of making meritorious contributions. He even secretly felt that his body, like a charcoal fire in a boiler, began to burn and heat up.

In order to avoid people's eyes, Cui Shuqiang and others, as well as those who were selected to fill the team, all withdrew to the rear and hid in the dense forest. They all quietly changed their armor and replaced them with either a single coat to cover their bodies, or simply like Cui Shuqiang, except for a pair of calf nose pants, the rest were naked.

In October, the weather has become much cooler, but Cui Shuqiang is so hot that he feels like he is sweating. His face flushed drunkenly, and he led thirty or so men to sneak out of the rear. In addition to removing the armor that was not convenient for swimming, they also abandoned their spears and broadswords, and basically carried only a short knife or a crossbow machine with a winding hand. How much wind and waves can such equipment be set off on the other side of the strait, or can it be as expected, smoothly under the noses of the officers and soldiers without being discovered? Hao Shaoqi, including Xu Hui and even the more than 20 members of the advance team, no one has a bottom in their hearts.

I'm afraid that among all the people now, the one with the most confidence is even the captain of the advance team, Cui Shuqiang.

The river water was very cold, and the moment he stepped into the water, Cui Shuqiang's whole body trembled like an electric shock. Then, he took a deep breath and slowly lowered the whole person to the bottom.