Although Sun Zhongshan had prepared for the worst before setting out, not only had prepared enough baggage and grain, but also collected all the pack horses he could collect, and found the best guide, the reality was still far more difficult than he expected. One is bad weather. October 16 is a heavy snowfall, two days and one night of goose feather snow drifting by, everywhere is thick and fluffy snow, one foot can easily step down to the ankle, people can only drag their feet in the snow and stagger; After a day's march, the team often couldn't even walk ten miles. Second, the roads are bad. It is said that it is a mountain road of 340 miles, but in fact, except for the section from Yi County to Bohai Wei Liyang County, which is considered a road, there are only ice and snow ditches and rocky barren beaches in other places, and there is no road at all. The team stumbled and marched in the depths of Yanshan, looking around, the slopes were rolling on all sides, the peaks were high and the clouds were low, and the eight directions were all white, listening attentively, the sky and the earth were vast and cold, the mountains were lonely, the birds and beasts forbade the sound of the valley, and no one could afford to be irritable and depressed; If it weren't for the fact that everyone was holding their breath, the arduous march along the way alone would have dragged the team apart. Fortunately, among the guides recruited by Sun Zhongshan with heavy money, there were a few salt and iron smugglers who traveled between Zhao Land and the grassland, and they were familiar with the terrain and could guide them at any time, so the team did not get lost. Even so, they still took the wrong road several times, but fortunately, they found it in time, so they didn't make a big mistake. At noon on 29 October, Sun Zhongshan and his men finally braved the snow and rushed to a small mountain col less than five miles away from Ruqizhai.

As soon as the team stopped, Sun Zhongshan immediately sent people to investigate the movements of Ruqizhai. On the one hand, he ordered the troops to hide on the spot, eat and drink and seize the time to rest, and at the same time reiterated the military order: "Passed down from front to back: no fire, no noise, no random movement and conversation, and those who violate the order will be beheaded on the spot." One by one, the sentry battalions immediately counted the number of people and reported to me immediately. ”

The situation quickly summed up to him. Of the 1,136 soldiers who set out from Yixian, 949 were able to fight, a reduction of nearly 20 percent; Of the more than 160 people, less than half of them followed. Most of the soldiers and civilians who had fallen behind were unable to keep up with the march because of frostbite. Fortunately, with the containment team behind, most of these wounded should be able to be cared for in a timely manner. In addition, there were less than 80 pack horses left with the team, and there were few supplies left, because some of the wounded soldiers could not walk, so they had to be carried by horses, and the team had to abandon some of the food and baggage.

Right now, Sun Zhongshan is facing a series of problems. They were three full days behind the scheduled date; That is, they did not have time to rest, but immediately went into battle. Over the next six days, they had to overcome the fatigue of the long march, as well as the shortage of food and armaments, and take Ruqizhai, Guangpingyi, and Beizheng counties in one fell swoop......

This was the first time that Sun Zhongshan led the troops alone, and his heart was inevitably a little nervous, and now, he was sitting in a place where there was no snow under a big black rock, while nibbling on a piece of dough cake that was so hard that he could barely bite it, while thinking in his heart what to do next, how to use the little soldiers he had at hand, three battles and three victories in six days, to rush to Beizheng, one hundred and forty miles away, to block the escape of the Tuqi people. From time to time, the wind poured a few snowflakes here, and landed on his face, hands and body, but he didn't seem to notice it, just twisted his brows and planned silently.

He had to admit that the task this time was unprecedentedly arduous!

But if it weren't for the daunting task, how could an adult call him by name and have to let him carry it out?

Because of the lack of opponents, he sat for a long time, and he still had no clue how to seize the three walled cities to complete the task. He could only silently calculate the distribution and dispatch of each battalion and each outpost in his mind to see how to organize it so that they could play their greatest role.

When he had finished eating the bread, he rubbed his frozen face vigorously, and then he got up and went to inspect his ranks.

Now at the foot of the sunny side of the slope in the mountain col, wherever there is shelter from the wind and snow, there are soldiers resting. This was a soldier belonging to three battalions, who had been temporarily under his command for this mission, and he walked down on two legs with everyone during the twenty-day march, and his temporary brigade commander had won the respect of these soldiers, and the soldiers all saluted him when they saw him coming. He walked slowly along the hillside, nodding to a certain soldier from time to time, or smiling at a soldier he knew, and when he met a familiar soldier, he would stop to say a few words of contempt, or pat the soldier on the shoulder to encourage him. Patrolling the camp all the way to comfort, in the whispers and admiration of the soldiers, he gradually approached the end of the team.

He saw Huo Shiqi under a bare old mulberry tree.

The snow was still falling silently. The snowflakes are like the white *** dancing one by one. Huo Shiqi gathered a dirty old leather jacket, put up his hood, put his hands in his sleeves, and stood under the tree and kept stomping his feet; The hot breath that erupted from his mouth was like a condensed white mist, enveloping his entire face. He probably had a cold, snorting and purring with a heavy nasal voice when he breathed, and occasionally raised his sleeve to wipe his face. Sun Zhongshan noticed that on the cuffs of Uncle Seventeen's two arms, there was a place where the water was shining brightly.

The two guards under the mulberry tree were a little at a loss when they saw Sun Zhongshan coming, and they hurriedly stopped Huo Shiqi who was kicking his feet on the ground after a while.

Huo Shiqi saw Sun Zhongshan at this time. His expression suddenly became embarrassed and embarrassed, and he snorted and whispered, "It's my fault, it's none of their business." It's too cold to stay up......" he said, stretching his sleeve to wipe his nose.

Sun Zhongshan's face was even more embarrassed than him. He originally had good intentions and wanted to take the opportunity to give Huo Shiqi a credit, but he didn't really want Uncle Seventeen to do this bloody trick. He thought at the time, first commend Huo Shiqi for "loyal and brave service", and then use the excuse that Yixian County wants to clean up public security, raise grain and straw to recruit people, so many affairs, he can take the opportunity to leave Huo Shiqi behind. Who knew that in order to let Huo Liu also earn a credit, Qian Laosan actually made a yin foot at Qiao Zhun, but Qiao Zhun, who suffered a secret loss, was not angry, and bit Huo Shiqi to death to lead the way as a guide, since it was "desperate to serve the court", then he should "reluctantly strive to do his job", and some high-sounding words squeezed Qian Laosan and Sun Zhongshan couldn't get off the stage, so they had to put Huo Shiqi into the team. Before going on the road, Qian Laosan pulled Sun Zhongshan and told him that no matter how the war develops, he must keep Uncle Seventeen safe. Sun Zhongshan was also worried, and personally selected two strong soldiers and asked them to follow Huo Shiqi all the way, regardless of anything else, he had to protect Huo Shiqi no matter what......

Seeing that Sun Zhongshan didn't speak, Huo Shiqi asked again: "...... That's what it looks like in front of you, right? ”

"Yes. Out of this ditch to the west less than five miles, is by the north mouth of the Liang River, such as its village is located there. ”

Huo Shiqi grinned and said, "I've been on several trips. I don't know if it was snow on the neckline or something else, he shivered, paused, inhaled the cool air and asked, "Do it tonight?" ”

Sun Zhongshan nodded again. Even if they climb the wall at night and storm it, they will have to take Ruqizhai tonight, rest all night, and move to Quang Binh Post at dawn tomorrow morning, and strive to capture Quang Binh before the enemy notices it. As long as Guangping Pass is firmly defended, even if Beizheng cannot be defeated, it will be difficult for the Tuan Tuan people in Duanzhou to retreat. It's just that if you can't take Beizheng, you can't go through Guangliangzhai to Liuzhen, and you can't intercept the enemy in Yanzhong......

Huo Shiqi sniffled and said, "If it's not easy to fight." A lonely village stood on a hill on the side of the river, not leaning on all sides, and there was nowhere to hide if you wanted to sneak attack. The city is high, and the battlements of arrows are dense, so it is difficult to attack even if it is strong. I'm afraid that the soldiers don't have the strength to climb the wall, right? ”

Sun Zhongshan knew all these things that Huo Shiqi said. Sun Zhongshan has been a border soldier for seventeen years, and he has been in Ruqi for thirteen years, and he is not clear about the inside and outside of the military village? This is the first Xiongguan in Yandong, if he is forced to attack the city, not to mention his current tired soldiers of less than a thousand, even if it is five times more, it is difficult to say that he will definitely be able to conquer it. But no matter how hard it is, you have to get it. Even if he was sure to cross the Liangchuan direct attack on Guangpingyi, he still had to attack one by one, and the troops needed supplies such as their villages, and they needed such food, arrows, and ordnance......

It was overcast. The sun loomed behind the clouds, casting a faint pale halo in the gray sky that was noticeably paler than the dim hues around it. There were still fine snowflakes in the air. The wind had stopped, and there was an imperceptible warmth in the air.

The men who had been sent to investigate returned. They brought back the latest news from their village.

According to their observations, the banners on the wall of the wall, if there was only one soldier of the Tu Tun tribe, the number of which is not clear, but certainly not too many, because when they looked around the village, they saw only two enemies, one riding into the stockade and the other riding out of the village. Apart from these two guys, the outpost didn't see any other Tututs, not even a single sentry on duty on the wall.

This news is unbelievable!

After listening to the situation described by the outposts, the first reaction of several officers was that these spies were lying! No matter how cold the weather is, no matter how arrogant the people of Tuqi are, they must arrange a vigilance, right? You know, it's a war right now!

Without saying a word, Sun Zhongshan personally took a few officers to the front to reconnoitre.

They were back soon. Everyone's face was filled with a smile that could not be suppressed.

it! This time it was really lucky, a huge one within a radius of more than two miles was like its village, except for a yellow flag on the wall, there was not even a ghost shadow to be seen!

Sun Zhongshan immediately issued an order to assign tasks: the whole army is ready, start as soon as it gets dark, and make sure that not a single enemy runs away!

He also called over several of the people who had joined Zhao's nationality, and specially ordered them not to participate in tonight's operation. He has other arrangements for these people.

As soon as he took possession of it, he let these Hachagan take the lead, and then let people change into the clothes of the Turpent soldiers, ride the horses of the Turpents, and use the banner of the Turbidians to defraud Guangpingyi. Hey, if you're lucky, maybe even Beizheng County can cheat it!