The fire has spread to several surrounding hills, and the vegetation on the left side of the official road where the fire started has been burned to the ground. But even so, the heat wave was scorching and unapproachable. This is also the reason why Yalu Buhua and the others refused to wait for the fire to go out before leaving. Unless it rains or there are artificial means of cooling, the rocks after the fire are scorching hot, and it will take at least a day for people to pass.

At this moment, Ma Bin encountered a problem, they could not go from the official road to the Fangcheng Mountain Pass. A hundred paces away from the burning valley, the centaurs could feel the heat of the earth. Dozens of steps further, the hot sand and gravel on the ground made people's feet and horses' hooves burn.

In desperation, Ma Bin had no choice but to order the men and horses to retreat and find an open hillside upwind for the horses to rest and stay. He himself climbed to the top of the hill and looked out in the direction of the official road. As far as the eye could see, the smoke and dust had not completely dissipated, and the hot air had become distorted and steaming, and it seemed that the scenery of the hills in front of him had been distorted. Ma Bin carefully watched with a clairvoyant mirror and finally gained something.

A few miles away, there seemed to be white smoke rising from the end of the official road that had been cut off by the fire. At first, Ma Bin thought it was the smoke and dust rising from the embers of the fire, but soon he saw many figures swaying on the official road among the smoke. Ma Bin took a closer look and found that the people were pushing the cart along the official road, and after a few steps, the water in the wooden barrel on the cart was overturned on the ground. Streams of white gas evaporated. Only then did Ma Bin understand that it was not the smoke and dust produced by the embers, but someone was cooling the ground with water and pushing it deeper into the official road.

Ma Bin thought for a moment, took out the fireworks from his arms and shot them into the sky. Soon after, a green firework bomb exploded in the air in response. Ma Bin was overjoyed, knowing that the opposite side was the soldiers and horses of the Luoyan Army.

On the opposite side is indeed the soldiers and horses of the Falling Goose Army. After the Jurchen soldiers and horses evacuated yesterday, Gao Muqing did not rush to chase after him for the sake of safety. Guarding the pass was what she had to do, so she didn't give the order to pursue it in the first place. The fire on the hill blocked the way of the enemy, and the other party abandoned his horses and walked over the mountain, and Gao Muqing could not let the Luoyan army go over the mountains and mountains to pursue, which was a stupid act.

In the evening, Wang Huai, the captain who followed Lin Hu to stop the Jurchens, returned to the pass with more than ten soldiers. Gao Muqing, who was anxious to know Lin Hu's safety, was overjoyed, and hurriedly ordered someone to bring Wang Huai and others to report it. Wang Huai and more than a dozen other soldiers were cut by thorns and vines, and their clothes were disheveled like beggars. They came to Gao Muqing, and before Gao Muqing could ask, Wang Huai cried loudly.

"General Gao, General Lin Xiao, they ...... They're gone...... It's all gone......"

Gao Muqing was stunned and almost fainted. As soon as the fire started, Gao Muqing was extremely worried about the safety of Lin Hu and the others. I felt very uneasy in my heart, but I couldn't reach it. Now hearing Wang Huai crying like this, Gao Muqing's mind was buzzing, and his heart was cold.

"What the hell is going on? Say it. Gao Muqing's face turned pale and reprimanded in a coquettish voice.

With tears in his eyes, Wang Huai reported all the actions of Lin Hu and his 1,000 brothers in the past two days. At the end, he wiped his tears and said: "A few of us were ordered to go to the official road to light a fire, and the fire spread quickly after it started, and we were going to go to the forest to meet General Lin, but the strong wind has already set the woods on fire. Then we saw that the Jurchens all evacuated the area

The forest, the whole forest was completely engulfed in the fire, and we did not see General Lin and any of his brothers come out alive. Such a big fire...... That must be...... It must be...... There is no escape. Thousands of brothers, as well as General Lin Xiao, Captain Li, are all gone. We...... We should have died together, but we had to report the news before we could die. So we came back from the southern hills, bypassing the fire. Lord Dazhai, we are guilty of failing to protect General Lin Xiao, our thousand brothers should have lived and died together. Please give us a death, what does it mean that we have lost our brothers to live by ourselves? ”

Gao Muqing bit her lower lip and was speechless for a long time, then sighed and said softly: "Captain Wang, don't blame yourself, you have no choice in that situation." It was right to come back and report it. Not only are you innocent, but you are meritorious. It's a pity...... It's a pity that General Lin Hu, Captain Li, and so many brothers. In that case...... They also have no choice. ”

Wang Huai wept bitterly, and sincerely felt guilty.

Gao Muqing pondered for a while and asked, "I don't know something, since you have decided to set fire to the block, why don't you send people to set fire to the ramp ahead?" A two-pronged approach? Why was he forced to be surrounded in the woods by the other party? ”

Wang Huai wiped his tears and said in a deep voice: "Back to General Gao, General Lin Xiao's original intention was not to use the strategy of sealing the road by fire. He made it very clear to us that the blockade of the enemy's path by fire was a last resort. If you can block the mountain road with mud and rocks, it is the best policy to prevent the other party from evacuating. General Lin Xiao said that blocking the road with fire would certainly make the Jurchens impassable, but in fact, it would not only have a blockade effect on the Jurchens, but also a blockade of the reinforcements we arrived. Of course, those who are inside cannot get out, and those who are outside cannot get in either. If reinforcements arrive while the fire is burning, they will be trapped outside by the fire and unable to enter. At that time, the encirclement and annihilation plan will be revealed, but it will make the Jurchens fight to the death, choosing to attack the Fangcheng Mountain Pass to break through the siege. General Lin Xiaoxiao said that such a thing is very dangerous. He said that the Jurchens had the strength to attack the pass, and they would not attack desperately because there was still hope of retreating. If they knew that the back road was exhausted, our reinforcements arrived, and they would face the fate of being surrounded and annihilated, the Jurchens would jump over the wall and attack desperately. The little general said that he could not force the Jurchen dogs to jump over the wall in a hurry, because there were Lin Dashuai's family members in the pass, and he had to make sure that they would not be harmed, and also to ensure the safety of the pass and the smooth running of the whole plan. It was only later that the mud and rock-blocked mountain road was opened, and reinforcements had not yet arrived. Seeing that the Jurchens were about to run away, General Lin Xiao ordered us to carry firewood at the last moment to block the official road and light a fire to resist the enemy. That's the last option. ”

When Gao Muqing heard this, tears welled up in her eyes. He muttered: "Xiaohu, you have indeed grown up, and you have thought so carefully, for the implementation of the whole plan, for the safety of me and your uncle's family, you chose to set fire at the last moment." You could have easily escaped. Why are you so stupid? ”

Wang Huai raised his head and said: "General Gao, the little general is not stupid, the little general is all for the sake of the overall situation, this is a sincere and righteous move." Although I, Wang Huai, have been following the little general for less than a few days, I have great admiration for him. ”

Gao Muqing nodded and said: "You're right, he's not stupid, he actually understands everything, that's his choice." Captain Wang, go down and rest, and don't blame yourselves. You're doing a great job. We'll talk about that later. I

Right now...... The mind is in turmoil, and you need to think about it. ”

Wang Huai bowed and saluted, and the more than a dozen surviving soldiers were led down.

Gao Muqing stood for a moment, then got up and went down the mountain to the camp north of the pass. She had to tell everyone about Lin Hu's news. She couldn't come up with an idea on her own now. The relationship between Lin Hu and her husband is self-evident, and it is not appropriate for him to perform such an important and dangerous task. Now that Lin Hu is dead, how can the husband explain himself? Thinking of this, Gao Muqing was really confused.

In the camp of the Luoyan Army, when Gao Muqing told the daughters of the Lin family the latest news about Lin Hu and others with a pale face, all the daughters of the Lin family were stunned, like clay sculptures and wood carvings. There are all kinds of signs that Lin Hu is afraid that he will be more auspicious. All the women of such a fire have seen it on the top of the mountain. The red appearance of those two mountains burning is really terrible, the whole sky seems to be burned red, can people still live in that kind of flame?

Green Dance's face turned pale, and she almost fainted. Qianqian beside her hurriedly held her up. Green Dance burst into tears and cried. She cried, Gao Muqing was even more at a loss, she knew that the relationship between Lu Wu and Lin Hu was better than the relationship between her sister and brother, they had experienced so many ups and downs together, how could they not collapse when they heard the news?

"This thing...... I'm fully responsible. It was I who agreed to Xiaohu to go, and I will bear it at my own expense. I have no complaints about killing, chopping, or paying for my life. All...... It's all my fault. Green Dancing Girl, I'm sorry. Gao Muqing said in a trembling voice.

Lu Wu wiped her tears and shook her head and said, "Sister Mu Qing, don't say that, how can this be your fault?" We all know the situation. Sister Mu Qing led the army to resist the enemy this time, and she was the commander in the army. Slowly, Xiaohu asked for the battle by himself, but Sister Mu Qing assigned him, and he was also duty-bound. Xiaohu's life is life, and other people's lives are also life. My soldiers of the Luoyan Army have also killed so many people, everyone has parents, wives and children, and Xiaohu is no more special than people. The husband will never blame you, the husband said that if you are born in this troubled world, you may die at any time. Since the Luoyan army has raised troops, it may die in battle at any time. The same is true of himself. Sister must not blame herself. I'm just so sad. After all, I watched Xiaohu grow up. ”

The little county lord and other women also comforted Gao Muqing, and they all knew that Gao Muqing was under great psychological pressure at the moment. Gao Muqing felt a little relieved in his heart, but his self-blame did not decrease in the slightest.

"Everyone, we're just guessing now, maybe it's not as you think, maybe the little tiger is a natural person, maybe something may happen." Fang Huanqiu said suddenly.

Everyone was stunned, and felt that there was some truth in their hearts, but they only felt that their hopes were dashed for a moment. Fang Huanqiu's words were just self-comforting.

"In any case, you have to see people in life and corpses in death, don't you? We'll have to prove it. Even if Xiaohu is unlucky, we have to find the corpse, right? Fang Huanqiu said again.

"What is said is that if you want to see people in life and see corpses in death, you have to confirm it. It's easy to explain to the husband. As for Mu Qing, you don't have to blame yourself. My husband is an open-minded person, and it's not your fault at all. If the husband blames you, I will be the first to refuse. I can guarantee that my husband will never blame you. "The little county lord said.

Gao Muqing nodded lightly and said in her heart: "Husband may not blame me, but I will blame myself." ”