Shang Cheng planned to first defeat the Alegu reinforcements on the left bank of Heishui, and then the cavalry made a detour north along Heishui, cooperating with the main force of the Chinese army advancing north in Luhe to encircle and annihilate Mogan's enemy in one fell swoop, and reduce his own battlefield pressure before blocking the king of Donglu Valley as much as possible. However, as he himself lamented, "the plan always can't catch up with the change", when Sun Zhongshan led the Chinese army to squeeze out three battalions of cavalry from the already overstretched strength to cross the black water, only to find that the battle situation has changed again.

Less than twenty miles west of Heishui, the outpost of Sun Zhongshan's department met the sentinel sent by the left battalion to ask for help: the command post of the left battalion had been exhausted by a large force of cavalry!

When Sun Zhongshan heard the news, he hurriedly caught up from behind, and asked the sentry detective with a split face: "Where is General Duan?" What about Duan Xiu? ”

The sentry's face was covered with oil and sweat, the black lacquered iron helmet was copied in his hand, the white sweat mist curled up from the unkempt bun, and the triangular spy flag planted behind his back was long gone, only a bare thin wooden pole hung crookedly. He probably knew Sun Zhongshan, and when he heard Sun Zhongshan's questioning, he forcibly raised his spirit and saluted, swallowing his saliva and saying, "General Sun!" The chaotic army was in a scuffle, and we couldn't see General Duan! ”

"You weren't sent by General Duan?"

"It's not! It's Captain Wu,...... Captain Wu let his subordinates report to the Chinese army! ”

Sun Zhongshan didn't know which Lieutenant Wu he was talking about, and what position he was in the left battalion, and now was not the time to ask about these things, so he immediately asked again: "How many enemies are coming?" ”

“…… Six or seven thousand. Maybe more. Of the four people who came out to ask for help, only one of them ran out of me......"

Sun Zhongshan's gaze froze, and the main force of Alegu's reinforcements came up? When did they arrive? Why didn't Duan Xiu report it for a long time? What about the left battalion, how is the left battalion now...... Suddenly, a series of questions poured into his mind, so heavy that he couldn't even breathe. He took a deep breath, trying to calm his heart that was pounding suddenly, and asked in a calm tone, "Speak clearly!" How many enemies are there exactly! Six thousand or seven thousand? ”

“…… I don't know! It's all around, and it's black and oppressive......"

"Have you seen clearly, is it a Turk from Alegu?"

"Definitely! There are both the Bald Eagle Banner of the Great Tengliang Department and the Black Dog Banner of the Wannuer Division, which is really the enemy from the left bank of Alegu! ”

No more asking!

Sun Zhongshan asked people to take the sentry down to rest, so he took his knee to commit a crime on the side of the road, wrote a scribbled outline with a charcoal strip, waved his hand and called a pro-soldier, folded the pro-soldier and let the pro-soldier put it away, and ordered "send it to the Chinese army quickly", and ordered the whole army to be on alert and advance cautiously.

The deputy who was temporarily assigned to him by his side reminded him in a low voice: "Sun Shuai, the enemy situation in front is unknown, we should be stationed on the spot." The sentry just now said that the enemy is fierce, and there are many soldiers and horses, so for the sake of safety, we should retreat to the right bank of the Heishui River, set up a camp and build a fortification on the one hand, and prepare to hold on, and ask the general for help on the other......" Before he finished speaking, he was interrupted by Sun Yat-sen:

"No! There are three or four shallows above and below the Heishui ferry that can be crossed, and we can't spread it so much, and we can't take care of so much land, so we can't hold it. It is only twenty miles from Heishui to the Luhe ferry, and it is all a large lawn, and the Tuqi people are all cavalry, and this distance must be reached in a short time, even if you can't trap the Chinese army camp, disrupt the formation and interfere with the deployment, you and I will have to lose our heads......"

The deputy grinned, paused and said: "If the head is off, I have to say that there are only 1,200 people in our three battalions, and I don't know how many are left in the left battalion, even if the two are combined, we can't fight with the enemy in the field." If you want to defend it, you can only rely on the terrain and terrain one by one, how do you say to defend it on this vast grass beach? ”

Sun Zhongshan looked around left and right, and looked around, a radius of nearly dozens of miles, except for the green and yellow grass beach or the dry grass beach like hair loss and dysentery, not to mention the mountains and peaks that can be relied on, even the larger meadow grass slope can not be seen. Far and near, a few sprouts and green miscellaneous trees stand alone between the heavens and the earth, the tips as thin as the tip of a needle support a few lazy clouds in the sky, and it is not as good as the trunk of a tree with thick legs and the yellow grass on the ground, and as soon as the wind passes, it will sway and slant and obliquely, revealing an indescribable desolate pathos...... He sighed silently and withdrew his gaze. It's not that he didn't think about retreating to Blackwater, but the problem is that there is no such thing as "retreating" in the military order he received!

The deputy was probably aware of the problem, and he was silent as he spoke.

Thinking of the confusing situation and the treacherous battle, the two of them sat on their horses and were silent. After a while, the deputy couldn't help but say again: "You can't retreat, you have to find a way to ask for reinforcements, otherwise it is better to retreat to the right bank of the black water!" Although we can't save our heads, at least so many brothers don't have to die in vain! ”

Sun Zhongshan thought for a while and said, "Okay! "At the moment, we can only do this, more troops and more courage in our hearts, even if we can't fight, at least we can deal with the enemy and prevent the enemy from copying the back road of the army......

The colonel sent for help returned in less than half an hour. He didn't bring back any reinforcements, and Shang Cheng didn't explain why he didn't send reinforcements, so he asked the colonel to bring a message to Sun Zhongshan: "What the hell is Sun Fu doing?" Before he knew the enemy's situation, he came to ask for reinforcements, did he think he was a general? If you don't dare to fight, just say it! It took an hour and a half to walk thirty miles, and he was tripped by his mother-in-law's skirt? ”

When Sun Zhongshan ascended, he was so ashamed of these words that his face turned red. Shang Cheng's last sentence is meaningful. His wife has never given birth, but Na's two concubines have been happy one after another before and after the New Year, and he is also a little happy. On the last trip back to Yanzhou to attend a military conference, he took time to meet Shang Cheng, who had warned him half jokingly and half seriously, don't let your children be short of breath, "don't let your mother-in-law's skirt get entangled"......

Less than thirty miles further forward, although they did not encounter the Turpents, the rout of the left battalion met several groups one after another, the small ones had more than a dozen horsemen, and the large ones had two or three hundred men, most of them with red wounds and arrows, and everyone was exhausted. By about thirty miles from the command post of the left battalion, and the outpost had already engaged in a small group of enemies sporadically, Sun Zhongshan felt that he could not move forward any further.

He ordered: "All the battalions dismount and rest on the spot, eat dry food and drink water. No ignition is allowed. No noise. If you are injured, take medicine immediately. ”

The deputy came back with a guard and said, "I asked a few defeated soldiers, and they all said that Duan Xiu was dead......

In the dim twilight, Sun Zhongshan's cheeks twitched, and he was silent for a long time before he said, "Find someone to lead the way, and find a way to find his corpse." ”

The deputy hesitated and nodded.

Sun Zhongshan also said: "Send a few teams of people out to pick up all the brothers in the left camp." Also, let the departments count the number of people at once, check the horses and equipment, and report to me after half a pillar of incense. Call all the lieutenants of each battalion, and let's discuss what to do next. One by one, the men of the left camp will also come. ”

The deputy nodded in agreement and went.