In Ba County, Yuzhou, on the meandering waterway of the river, most of the sight has been blocked by the continuous autumn rain and low-pressure clouds between the vast mountains, and presents a hazy and elegant strange scenery.

Even the terraces and the fences on the gentle slopes cascading up the riverside seem to be soaked in the dense water vapor and look particularly unreal. Even the Taiping sailors, who had been harassing constantly, had their activities stalled because of the soaring river.

Therefore, the Tu Tu and the officials who were squatting in these fences rarely had some leisure and spare time to repair and maintain the armoured weapons that were damp due to the rain; By the way, relax some tense spirit.

According to the convention they knew, the continuous rain in the late autumn and winter was afraid that it would take some time. During this period, whether it is a muddy and slippery mountain road, or a damp and slack bow and crossbow arm, it will be difficult for those thieves who have set up camp on the riverbank to do anything.

Listening to the slang song faintly coming from the oblique top, feeling the water trickling from the ankles, and the muddy ground that was washed and soaked so soft that people needed to carefully find the focus point of each step, the team Zheng Wang Qiu regretted accepting this armed reconnaissance mission before.

Because of the fence that is on the head, as long as you casually throw a stone outside, you can easily hit them, who are able to use special tools to cooperate, and they can't dodge too much.

In front of and behind him, in irregular strings along the mountain, wielding special climbing pickaxes and hooks, human bodies that had already turned into the color of sludge in the process of crawling and rolling were also struggling in all kinds of rippling mud and flowing rainwater.

After a dozen or so steps of trekking and climbing with extra effort in the suction-filled mud, the intermittent singing finally became clear next to Wang Qiu's ears, and there was a faint smell of fireworks and the smell of roasted grains, mixed with sludge, sweat, and rust.

This smell of rust made Wang Qiu's heart move; Because the weapons used by the authentic Xichuan Army and local officials are often maintained and polished; That is, those who don't care much about the soil groups and villagers will temporarily rush to these rusty weapons.

This also means that it may be easier for him to find this breakthrough. At this time, one of his figures suddenly slipped down uncontrollably, and was hooked by Wang Qiu's quick pickaxe, so he didn't continue to stumble.

Then the other party gave him a grateful look and shook his head slightly. Even though there was already a red blood on his body, flowing down the muddy water under the poncho, he still pursed his mouth stubbornly, and curled up with his hands and feet and squirmed as he squirmed, making way for the others to continue climbing.

And this is just the episode and accident that will happen from time to time during this climbing trip, and not everyone can get timely help, and just slide down the mountain, and disappear in the rain curtain without a sound.

But in any case, Wang Qiu was finally able to touch the fence on the edge of the top of the slope before his whole body was exhausted; Then he spread out the iron grappling hook, and hung the nails that had exhausted all his body weight and hung them on the thickest fence wall with the bark of the trees.

Then he slowly leaned up, and through the slippery wooden fence, what he saw was not a helmet with tassels and a ear cap, but a piece of cloth wrapped around his head and a small round hat gathered around the fire under the bamboo shed; And the humble open-air sentry platform in the high place is even more empty.

Wang Qiu slowly breathed a sigh of relief, and gestured to the other soldiers who were climbing up one after another and leaning against the edge of the fence, and then took out a large piece of slightly damp coarse candy from his arm pocket, and chewed it with the rain and swallowed it. I rested like this for a while, and there was still no notice in the fence.

He slowly loosened the tarp from his body, revealing the well-preserved repeater and arrow magazine in his arms; Although he was soon wet with rain and mist, the strings mixed with wire were still stretched to half-full by him. Then, he aimed at the crowd of people who were sitting together on the fire and singing.

At this time, the rain slowly became dense again, but Wang Qiu still blinked his eyes indifferently; And let the cold touch accumulate on his cheeks and sideburns. Until he heard the incomparably sharp whistle.

Suddenly, the crowd gathered around the fire under the shed suddenly twisted to the ground as if they had been beaten by an invisible whip; The rest of the fish that slipped through the net were so frightened that they crawled to their feet, and looked around in a daze trying to grab the weapons piled up beside them;

And then, in the midst of the blood, he threw himself down and tumbled between the fires with several arrows, and knocked over the pots and soups, and came out with a lot of pungent gray smoke, and howled miserably from the burning and boiling heat.

At this time, the guards who were a little farther away finally reacted, and rushed over with the roar and shouting of the guys, and some people rushed to the high place with a gong ringing a little busy, but the figure was only halfway run, and suddenly the arrow fell over.

On the other side, the fences and trees that had been dug up and loosened were also suddenly dragged and pulled by external forces, and suddenly collapsed in large areas; Suddenly, a large group of lightly armed soldiers covered in mud poured out, and slaughtered these guards who had hastily gathered to fight back.

For a moment there were shouts of killing, shouts and shouts of swords, screams and wails and angry scolding, and the sound of gongs that came to an abrupt end when they were half-sounded, breaking through the denser and denser rain and clouds, intertwining and rippling among the green and mottled mountains;

At this time, someone in the wooden barricade on the top of the mountain finally reacted, and sent reinforcements for the counterattack along the bypass that spiraled down; At this time, Wang Qiu and others, who had already bypassed the fight and copied the back road, also started their temporary operations in full swing.

A moment later, the enemy reinforcements who hurried along the mountain road also roared and attacked with knives and guns, and then they were shot by a dozen crossbows in turn, and after several consecutive crossbows that could not be dodged, they raised their cards again and advanced steadily.

At this time, the repeaters, which are conducive to melee rapid-fire and suppression, can no longer break through their basic protective array in the clanging blocks and nails; Then Wang Qiu's purpose of temporarily blocking had already been achieved.

"Ten steps back, regrouping the warband and equipment."

He roared, dragging and slapping the soldiers who still didn't react, or who didn't hold back. Let the officers and soldiers who came to help pour out more and more from the winding mountain road. There was even a stout general in iron armor who was running like a fly, and shouted first:

"Xichuan will fly here, and the thieves will not die obediently."

Before his words fell, he suddenly changed suddenly, and among the newly excavated marks on the side wall of the road, the earth, rocks and mud that burst into the canopy suddenly and indirectly burst and exploded, like a storm, swept and slapped among the officers and soldiers who were gathering on the mountain road.

"Forge ahead bravely and rebuild peace."

At this time, Wang Qiu's array also dropped the rapid-fire crossbow machines used to suppress and deter, and picked up the cards in his hands and swung his sword and swung his sword, heading towards the reinforcements who had been cut off and scattered in the back route.

And after half a ring, there was no figure on the mountain road that could stand intact, and the remnants of the officers and soldiers led by Xian Yufei were also forced to the edge of the mountain in the battle and retreat, and then in the roar and scolding, and the futile slashing sound, they were pushed one by one and stumbled down the mountain.

After a few more hours, as the Taiping army and equipment that continued to pour up the mountain were accumulating more and more, relying on the fence that had been occupied; The situation of attack and defense in the mountains has also begun to change qualitatively;

In the brief interlude when the rain had stopped, with a few dull and converging explosions, the largest camp on the top of the mountain suddenly began to collapse in half from the periphery, and turned into a short mudslide that was rolling and rushing.

And looking at the rolling waves that are like angry waves splashing and breaking and rolling up all the trees, mountains and rocks that pass along the way, it is almost the mighty force of nature; Wang Qiu, who was splashed all over his face by the mud in his face, was also pale and afraid. Because he is responsible for leading people to cover the good players from the team and carry out the corresponding operations.

In the collapsed barracks, there were also chaotic shouts, which were the officers and soldiers and the Tu regiment during the garrison, and there was also the phenomenon of bombing the camp after the morale collapsed.

So, after taking the last few fences on the mountain in one go, the state city of Ba County, which is shrouded in misty rain between the big rivers and rivers and rivers in the distance, is already in sight. And the riverside road leading up and down to the hinterland of Yuzhou can finally be opened to the Taiping army without threat.

In the main formation of the Taiping Army by the river, General Youlang of the Fifth Army, who was responsible for leading the overall attack on water and land in Xiajiang Province, and Wang Chongba, who was also the commander of the Xiajiang Special Army, were also listening to the flying reports from the front.

"Report, the eleven gates on Yunzhen Mountain have been taken."

"Report, the Naval Infantry Brigades have broken through the Xiakou Village."

"Report, the 2nd Regiment of Xuanfeng has attacked and occupied Tongguandu."

"The fourth detachment of the water vessel once again approached the Ba County wharf to carry out obstacle clearing operations, and it was not hindered for the time being."

"Report, the 19th Cavalry Regiment has already made a detour from the northwest of Ba County, and has not yet found any trace of the enemy's interception."

However, the latest news made Wang Chongba stand up involuntarily.

"Report, in Ba County, it is suspected that someone has opened the door and fled."

- I'm the dividing line -

On the road from Xiangzhou to Jingzhou, Zhou Huaian also looked at a report in his hand with mixed feelings.

Well, since Zhou Huai'an gradually became famous in the world with the rise of the Taiping Army, basically every place he occupied, he could find a vote in the corresponding prison that was more or less implicated by his reputation.

Some are like monks, who are treated as people in the same family and suffer in prison; some are purely far-fetched speculations, to this person with the same surname who has been injured by mistake;

Others were indiscriminately arrested and accused of merit because the doctrine they advocated was similar to that of the Taiping Army, and even had the words "seeking peace" in it.

For the existence of these unfortunate memorizations, after Zhou Huai'an was rescued and released, he was more or less compensated and placed according to the corresponding specialties and needs.

But the person who dares to claim to be his senior brother is still the first one in Lin Mao Fengjiao. This is just an ordinary fame and reputation liar and the like, and the other party to the problem is not an ordinary person.