Although there were guides sent by the Left Route Army to guide the way through the grain depot, and this area was also the actual control area of the Left Route Army, Shang Cheng was worried about the lack of troops in his hands, and secondly, he had never walked the road from the Alegu River to the Left Army camp, so he was even more cautious. On the one hand, he scattered the news of the reconnaissance cavalry in all directions, and on the other hand, he restrained the grain team to suppress the marching speed and maintain the formation, and slowly walked to the northwest. The grain team on the five-mile road walked for more than an hour, and it was not until the beginning of the application that the grain team entered the bank of the Alegu River.

Shang Cheng sat on the embankment, with a calm face, silently watching the camel and horse grain carts cross the river in turn.

This is a shoal in the Alegu River. The clear water of the river flows in the channel dozens of paces wide, and the cobblestone and fine sand on the riverbed are clearly visible. Because of the frequent comings and goings of soldiers and horses, a road has already been stepped out of the embankment on both banks, extending to the northwest and southeast sides, until it is submerged into the depths of the grassland. The deep grass on both sides of the river, the shallow trees are flourishing, the grass is lush and the water is full of deep and green without end. There is a small lake gathered along the downstream of the river only two or three miles, the sparkling green shadow is like a sand everywhere in sight, the cranes chirp and the storks cry bursts, and the water surface is as white as snowflakes, but it is the habitat of the heron, the stork, the crane and the wild duck and the mandarin duck.

Sun Zhongshan had already crossed the river, urged his horse over, and said, "Captain, the brothers in the back have already sent back a message, and there is no Ranger of Tu Ku Ci within a radius of ten miles. ”

Shang Cheng didn't look at him, just nodded his head lightly to indicate that he heard his report, and his eyes were still wandering up and down the riverbank. His eyes shimmered with a deep glow, like a bottomless black pool. After a while, he said, "Keep your distance and continue to investigate." As he spoke, he turned his horse's head and walked slowly beside the group.

Sun Zhongshan instructed Shang Cheng's order to the two soldiers to carry it out, and he rushed to walk side by side with him, and walked out of a section before asking: "Qian Laosan stood in front of the station, did he send back any news?" ”

"There is a small village ten miles away, and there are two sentinel guards, where you can rest on the spot." He paused, and without waiting for Sun Zhongshan to answer, he said, "We won't rest there." He raised his horsewhip and pointed ahead, "There is an abandoned village ruin in the past four miles, and I have asked Qian Laosan to lead people to clean up there and spend the night there tonight." ”

Sun Zhongshan was silent. He knew Shang Cheng's concerns, and he also understood Shang Cheng's reasons for doing this, and of course he was in favor of doing so. Although it was safest to rush to the guard post to rest, it was impossible for the grain team to go ten miles before dark; In any case, he could not let the food team walk at night. It was too dangerous to do so, and the range of movement and the density of vigilance of the spearhead would be limited overnight, and without the warning of the spearhead, his food corps could not resist the cavalry of the Raiders who came and went like the wind without preparation.

Shang Cheng didn't say anything after he said his decision, and slowly walked with the team on his war horse, lowering his eyes and staring at the reins in his hand, as if he was thinking about something. Sun Zhongshan followed him and did not speak. Perhaps because of the fatigue of the passers-by who had been driving for a day, the soldiers and soldiers in the food team had no interest in chatting and talking, and only kept their own things low. The camel bells and the winter wheels sounded, and the procession meandered north along the well-recognizable sidewalks among the grass.

At this time, it was almost evening, and the scorching heat that had raged all day gradually dissipated, and the cool breeze was cold all over the body. In the twilight, the boundless sea of grass ripples like waves with the wind. Not far away, the red military command flag raised a corner silently, revealing the grass blue trim and half a large basket of "edge" characters, shaking twice, and gradually stagnating.

Sun Zhongshan touched the water hyacinth on his waist, withdrew his hand, looked at the already drowsy intersection of heaven and earth, licked his dry lips and said, "...... I've been wondering why we were suddenly asked to send food to the camp. My lord noticed that the main battalion of the Left Route Army did not seem to be in its former position.11 I heard that the Left Route Army had been moving along the upper and lower reaches of the Alegu River, and they were looking for the main force of the Left and Right Great Tengliang Divisions and the Wannuer Division. Now that the food supplies are suddenly being delivered, I think they must have found ......."

Shang Cheng, who had been silent, raised his head, as if he had been awakened from a fake sleep by Sun Zhongshan's unfinished words, and squinted at the team in a daze. For a long time, he tilted his head and looked his subordinates up and down. He knew that Sun Zhongshan was looking for something to say, so he raised his chin and asked, "What do you want to say?" ”

Sun Zhongshan smiled and said, "Who doesn't know the mind of adults? Don't adults just want to fight with the Turquoise people for real time? Now is your chance! I pondered, when we send the food to the camp of the Left Route Army, most of the time we will not be able to turn back to the Mogan camp for a while, the Left Army has only 16,000 men, and the peace is roughly the same, and if we want to eat the enemy in one bite, we will have to increase our troops. Hey, we're in time for a big fight......"

Before he finished speaking, Shang Chengcheng was already shaking his head. The Left Army is going to fight a big battle? Or is it going to be at war with the three divisions of the Turks? How is this possible! From the simple information disclosed in the military newspaper and the few words he had heard in the past few months, he deduced that the task of the left and right armies was not to seek opportunities to destroy the enemy, but to cover the two wings of the middle route army and ensure that the middle route army successfully captured the city of Blackwater, which is the so-called Gothic Haza city of the Turks...... He didn't refute Sun Zhongshan's words, just stared at the reins in his hand. If the Left Route Army really encounters the left and right Da Tengliang and Wannuer Divisions of the Sudden Exhaustion, the first thing to do is to defend layer by layer, and then move closer to the direction of Blackwater City! But along the way, he didn't see the emergency arrangement of the Left Route Army, which couldn't help but make him feel worried. Like the place where he crossed the river just now, the grass is deep and the water is prosperous, and a shoal connects the two banks, which is a good place to set up camp, but he looked around on the embankment, and between the grass and green water under the blue sky and sun, except for his grain team, he did not see a single figure of the left army...... It shouldn't be like this!

Sun Zhongshan looked forward to the battle that was about to catch up, and did not notice the look of surprise on Shang Cheng's face, and said to himself: "...... I think the siege of Blackwater City by the Central Route Army is just a bluff, and the real purpose is to annihilate the main force of the Turpents. Otherwise, from the oath of Yanzhou in April to the present, how come several major battles have been fought by the left and right armies? The more he spoke, the more excited he became, and a faint red glow appeared on his black face. My lord, you were originally a general of the Guards, and you have a lot of connections with the Left Army, so this time you happened to talk to someone in the past, and you took the opportunity to return to the Guards. He said this very vaguely, but he thought that Shang Cheng should be able to understand. Among the bandits that were exterminated in the store last year, the leader of the bandits was the giant who lied to the left army of Yanshan to "confer the head", and Shang Cheng suppressed the bandits but concealed the fact that he had broken through the sky, and the left army was very grateful to him for this friendship; If Shang Cheng now made a request to return to the Guards, whether it was for personal or public reasons, the Left Army would have no reason to turn him away.

He glanced at Shang Cheng with a sneaky eye, and then said, "My lord has returned to the guard, and we, the brothers who came out with you, can also get a good background." ”

Shang Cheng didn't say anything, only pursed his lips and thought, and suddenly shouted: "Baokan! ”

"My Majesty!" Bao Kan, who had been following behind, caught up.

"You go, call the guide over, I want to question!"

"Obey orders!" Bao Kan screamed, and hurried to the front of the team.

Shang Cheng pulled the reins and stood on the side of the road waiting. Sun Zhongshan didn't know what was going on, and stopped the horse with Shang Cheng.

In a few moments, the guide arrived on horseback. Shang Cheng didn't wait for him to salute, and said, "No need to salute!" Let me ask you, was the camp of the Left Army located in its current location before? ”

The guide had already noticed Shang Cheng's winged iron scarf, but now that he had come closer to speak, he could see his cyan robe and the tie with three silver spikes around his waist; Although Shang Cheng's shoulder armor did not have a copper button beast head, under the half-collared battle robe was cooked leather soft armor decorated with copper sheets—this was a battle armor only available to officers of the first level, and they knew that in front of him was a seventh-grade captain. At present, after listening to Shang Cheng's question, he immediately gave a military salute before replying: "Tell your lord, the camp has just been moved over on the 10th." ”

"Where was the camp ten days ago?"

"On the right bank of the upper Alegu River."

"Say the location! Why relocate? Is the big camp in the eastern, western, or westerly direction of the grain depot? How far is it from the grain depot? ”

The guide blinked, not knowing which question to answer first. He thought for a moment and said, "The camp in front is also forty miles away from the grain depot, but it has not crossed the river, and it is in the northwest direction of the grain depot. Seeing Shang Cheng staring at himself with one eye, he jumped off his horse, looked left and right and didn't find the right tools to take advantage of, simply pulled out his waist knife, hastily drew a simple diagram on the ground, pointed with the tip of the knife and said, "This is the grain depot, this is the big battalion, General Lu's brigade is stationed here, three battalions of the Shenwei Army are here, and the other four battalions are in this position." "With the tip of his knife, he crossed out several stockades that symbolized the garrison and drew a new picture." Now the big battalion is in this position, General Lu is here, and the Shenwei army has been combined, all here. He looked up at Shang Cheng with his knife in his hand, "Tell your lord, my subordinate is just a loyal and brave man, and I don't know why the big camp is moving." ”

Shang Cheng stared at the sketch for a long time and did not open his mouth.

Sun Zhongshan was also reviewing the sketch while tugging on the reins of his horse. Just now he was still wondering if Shang Cheng was suspicious of the military orders forwarded by the grain depot, but he stared at the map with roughly the same direction and location, and then extended his thoughts along the question and answer between Shang Cheng and the guide, and gradually saw some clues. The more he looked at him, the more solemn his face became, he pondered for a long time, looked up at Shang Cheng, and said softly: "The camp of the Left Route Army has crossed the Alegu River, and now it is placed on the left bank, and it is still forty or fifty miles to the northwest. ”

The guide glanced at Sun Zhongshan strangely. Isn't this all nonsense? Who else doesn't know?

Shang Cheng asked the guide to return to the front team to continue to lead the way, and asked a border soldier to kick away a bunch of lines and dots on the ground, and he didn't talk to Sun Zhongshan, but only asked Bao Kandao: "What is Qian Laosan doing?" Haven't sent the news back yet? ”

Bao Kan clenched his fists and saluted in front of his chest and said: "The previous news has returned: the temporary camp has been cleared, the rangers have been sent out, and Qian Sentry is inspecting and arranging defenses there. ”

"Order Qian Laosan, the guard posts and rangers are doubled, and the focus is on monitoring the east and north. The team quickened their march and tried to reach the makeshift camp before dark. ”

"Yes!" ……