The spring is cold. Although it is already March, when the spring sun is shining during the day, the east wind caresses the temperature and the temperature is warm. But as soon as the sun goes down, the night breeze becomes cold after nightfall.

To the southwest of Shili Changgang, the southernmost part of the camp of Lu Zhongtian's army, on the embankment on the north bank of the Bianhe River, there were many black shadows on night patrol with their heads shrunk in the cold wind. They were the soldiers and horses of the former Great Zhou Guards, and they were responsible for guarding the open area from the opposite hill to the bank of the Bianhe River. Strict orders were issued from above, telling them to keep their eyes open and be on guard to prevent the Luoyan army from going down to the Bianhe River to fetch water in the night. Lu Xiang said that it was necessary to trap the soldiers and horses of the Luoyan army on the entire hill on the hill, cut off their food and drinking water, and make them desperate.

Of course, the people who issued the orders above only moved their mouths, but the soldiers on night patrol had to really suffer in the cold wind of early spring. Especially the soldiers who patrol in the second half of the night will be even more difficult.

A small patrol had been patrolling the forefront for more than an hour, a few hundred paces away from the hill. The cold and exhaustion made them whine and curse.

"Damn it, why should we do such drudgery? The people of the front division of the palace and the horse army division can ride horses without walking, the armor and blades are better than ours, and the salary and silver are more than ours, why? The hardest thing is our infantry division, the hard work of building fortifications and digging trenches is us, and we are also on night patrol, and we have to rush to the front when we fight, are those cavalry all fucking masters? At the moment, they are well fed and drunk, and they are sleeping, but we have to be here to patrol from the cold and suffering. ”

"That's it, mother, when we were raised by a little mother? We do all the drudgery. Those cavalrymen have no ability to fight, but they are a top one to bully Lao Tzu. ”

"Hey, don't say it, who taught them to be Lu Xiang's henchmen? Our infantry military division was originally the soldiers and horses commanded by the little prince of the Liang Palace. After Guo Kun betrayed the capital, of course, our Bujun Division was discriminated against by them. Of course Lu Xiang trusts them, and he doesn't trust us. Hehe, in Lu Xiang's mind, we are just doing miscellaneous things to die now. But I didn't really regard the soldiers and horses of our infantry division as my own people. ”

Several patrol soldiers inhaled the cold air and walked with their bodies deep and shallow, muttering curses in their mouths. The fire chief, who was walking at the back of the team, couldn't listen anymore, and scolded in a low voice: "Shut up Lao Tzu, just do things well, where are there so many complaints?" If anyone hears it, they're going to fucking lose their heads. Do you dare to arrange Lu Xiang? You don't want to live, but I still want to live. Lao Tzu and his family still live on Lao Tzu's salary. You don't want to think about it, now in the capital, who has food except for us soldiers? For the sake of your family's life, can't you endure it? ”

The soldiers were silent for a while, and the fire chief was right. The capital has now implemented a comprehensive ration system of food and materials, and the people are already living in a difficult situation. At this time, any identity does not work, and the identity of the forbidden army is the most popular. became a forbidden army, and with this identity, he could still support his family and barely survive. No matter how difficult the situation is, there will be no shortage of food and salary for the soldiers, and they can support their families. Therefore, the identity of this forbidden army is now the life-saving card of their whole family. So although there is a lot of grumbling, these things are true.

"Boss, it's four watches, let's find a place to cat. It's so cold, and no one can pity your body if it's frozen. Didn't you see that when they were camping during the day today, Zhang Laosi of the Wuzi Battalion had no one to care after they dug a trench and were injured? They were also accused of being careless, saying that they deliberately injured themselves before the war, and not only did they not allow them to rest and heal, but they were to deduct half of their salaries. It's so fucking ruthless. Zhang Laosi had to grit his teeth and continue to work, and the bones could be seen in the wounds on his legs, so what? If our brother gets sick from the cold, not only will Ming'er not be taken care of, but will be scolded and bloody, no one cares about our body at all, we have to pity ourselves. It's okay to die on the battlefield, it's so bad for yourself, but you can't live for yourself and your family. Let's be lazy if we can, anyway, it's almost dawn, where will the situation be? A soldier leaned into the fire chief's ear and whispered.

The fire chief pondered for a moment, nodded and said, "Damn, that's what I said." Why be stupid? No one cares about that anyway. The body is our own, and if we get sick, we will be kicked out, and now at this time, no one will pity us, we have to pity ourselves. Let's go, find a grass nest and go to it. But don't say it with your mouth, Lao Tzu is taking risks for your good. ”

"That's that, the boss takes care of it, don't we know." Everyone nodded and said.

A dozen patrolmen walked dozens of steps forward, and then found a leeward slope with long grass on the inner side of the river embankment, and a dozen people huddled together to hide in the grass nest, and then they felt a lot warmer. At first, there was a few words without a match, and soon after all, their eyelids were fighting and they became sleepy.

I don't know how long later, the fire chief, who was still alert in the haze, suddenly heard a strange sound. In the distance, it seemed that someone was walking down the embankment, and his steps were very light, but there was a loud sound of stepping on the wild grass.

"Someone!" The fire chief was startled, and reached out to pat the soldier beside him.

The soldiers woke up and looked ahead in a panic, and in the darkness, there seemed to be two or three figures coming down from the embankment. The soldiers were frightened into a cold sweat, this is the forefront of the patrol, it is impossible for there to be soldiers in their own army patrolling here, then these two or three people in front of them must be the soldiers of the Luoyan Army who touched down from the hill.

"Boss, let's ...... Let's run, it's too far from the camp. A soldier said in a trembling voice.

"Run a fart! Don't you see that there are only three people? They didn't notice us either, and let's see what they do. The fire chief scolded in a low voice.

Everyone shrank in the grass and stared at the three black shadows, although the sky was dark, but against the backdrop of the Bianhe River, the actions of the three people were real. They went straight down the embankment, and out of nowhere they took out something like a raft in the grass, lifted it up and went straight to the river, and threw the raft into the water, and the three of them jumped on it.

"It's ...... Is this the soldier of the Fallen Goose Army who escaped from the hill? The fire chief immediately thought that these three men were deserters. In this state of siege, it is not surprising that some people on the hill escaped overnight. Before the war, it was common for soldiers to flee, let alone the besieged side.

"They seem to ...... He didn't wear armor or a blade. A soldier with good eyesight beside him shouted hurriedly.

After the fire commander confirmed, he determined that it was a deserter from the hill. For only those who want to flee will not wear armor or carry a sword, firstly, to facilitate movement, so as not to make a noise. Second, if you wear armor and a sword, you will be considered a soldier and cannot be disguised as a civilian. Armor and blades kill them.

"Brothers, our opportunity to make meritorious service has arrived, and we can't afford not to take advantage of this cheapness. If we catch these three guys, we'll make a meritorious service. The fire chief said in a low voice: "What's more, they don't have a blade, so they can't resist." What do you think? Do not do it? ”

The soldiers nodded again and again, don't you want such an opportunity to make meritorious contributions, are you stupid? It doesn't matter if he's a deserter or not, if he catches it, he's a prisoner. Maybe it's not a big deal, but as long as it's good, even if it's a reward for not having to patrol at night, it's a good deal.

"It's done!" Everyone was gearing up.

The fire chief spat at the mouth, drew his waist knife and took the lead in rushing out, and a dozen soldiers rushed out with shouts and rushed straight to the shallow water on the bank of the river. Fifty or sixty paces away, the three deserters didn't seem to be very good at manipulating the raft. Seeing someone shouting and rushing towards them, the three of them panicked and rowed the raft in circles, unable to walk at all. Seeing that the other party rushed closer, the three of them jumped into the water with a puff, and ran away. A dozen soldiers followed in pursuit, but the three ran extremely fast, wading into shallow water and escaping faster than a dozen soldiers chasing after them on the shore. The noise seemed to alarm the defenders of the Fallen Goose Army on the hill ahead, with lanterns rising on the slopes and torches lit.

Huo Chang gasped and stopped everyone from chasing: "Stop, stop, I can't catch up, the front is down the slope of the Luoyan Army, let's chase it again, wouldn't it be to die." That's it, damn it, a thief is faster, faster than a rabbit. ”

The soldiers hung their heads and scolded for a while, but they were helpless. I thought I could catch these three people at once, but they ran away, and when they complained to each other at the moment, they shouldn't have shouted too early, which alarmed them, and they should have sneaked to Yunyun. While complaining, he turned around and ran back.

"There's something on that raft." The sharp-eyed brother did not forget to pay attention to the empty raft that had floated several feet away.

The soldiers hurriedly looked over, and sure enough, they saw that there seemed to be a package or something on the raft.

"Take it, see what it is? Maybe it's silver. A soldier said.

Everyone rejoiced in their hearts, this is possible, the deserter fled, and the gold and silver on his body would not be lost. I don't know if there is really anything in this package. If you can't catch someone, getting some silver can be regarded as compensation, and you will be busy in vain.

Soon, braving the biting cold, the two soldiers rushed to waist-deep water to retrieve the package from the raft. It was a tightly wrapped sheepskin wrap, as if it was afraid of wetting the contents, wrapped tightly, tied in the mouth, and not light.

A dozen soldiers, full of anticipation, hurriedly retreated to the place where the wind was blowing below the embankment, lit a fire and illuminated it, and used knives to cut open the sealed sheepskin package and open it for a look. There were a few clothes and shoes, some dry food, and other than that, a wooden box wrapped in sheepskin. All the hopes of the people were placed in the wooden box. The anxious fire chief slashed open the lid of the wooden box with a knife, and was immediately disappointed. There was only one letter in the wooden box, and nothing else.

The disappointed soldiers cursed, and one of the soldiers reached out to tear the letter up, but the sharp-eyed soldier was literate, and suddenly shouted: "Wait, there is something strange about this letter, you see, I know the two words on this envelope, and they are the word 'top secret'." I'm afraid these three guys are not deserters, they are sending letters. We have to report it quickly. ”