It is about thirty miles away from Yuxi Farm, and there is an abandoned post station in the low mountains and shallow hills. The ruins and broken walls everywhere can not only vaguely see the former prosperity of this place, but also see the devastating damage caused by the long-term turmoil and war to the depths of Bashan. There is a low adobe thatched house next to the road. The house had tilted so much that it seemed as if it would fall down in the next moment, becoming a large pile of dirt under the cover of wild grass. Although the owner here invited Wang Xingwu, the commander of the 18th Battalion, and Wan Jifu, the deputy commander of the battalion, to come into the house to take shelter from the rain and drink a bowl of hot water by the way, Wang Xingwu, who was drenched all over, still resolutely refused.

In this rain, it was impossible to continue the march. Nearly 1,000 soldiers of the National Protector Army and more than 600 military auxiliaries, as well as the 200 chicken buses they were escorting, were forced to stay on the road outside the post station. They carried pieces of tarpaulin, drenched in the heavy rain, soaked in the mud, and endured the biting mountain wind.

As the commander of a battalion, "if the military well is not reached, he will not be thirsty; If the military curtain is not done, it will not be tireless; If the military stove is not cooked, it will not be hungry. Don't wear a fur in winter, don't fan in summer, and don't cover in the rain. It is a general salute. Wang Xingwu is very clear. This is a difficult moment, both a great test of will and a great opportunity to unite the whole army. The soldiers walked forty miles on the muddy mountain roads without rest, when they were at their most tired, hungry, and cold, and if the generals could share their weal and woe, they would be rewarded with their lives and loyalty in the years to come.

According to the order of the battalion headquarters, several young company commanders and Wan Jifu, who was nearly half a hundred years old, gathered under the dripping grass eaves of the thatched hut. Wang Xingwu stepped over the small puddles of water scattered on the mud floor, took off the oilcloth on his head, shook it in the air, shook off the accumulated water droplets, and then walked into the grass hut and politely invited the old soldier in the thatched hut out.

"This is Brother Huang, the old post man here." Wang Xingwu pointed to the thin old man wearing a tattered felt hat and a ragged robe like broken tiles, and gave a brief introduction.

"What a post man, the old Huang calendar, the post station has already been withdrawn by the emperor." The old man nodded his felt hat with his dark fingers and smiled. The smile that squeezed out was hidden in the criss-crossing wrinkles on his face, almost imperceptible, "Now, these three temples are just a lonely old man, waiting for death!" ”

"The local thug has harmed your children and the people of the whole station, and your brother can still stay here alone, it's not easy!"

Wang Xingwu paused when he said this, but his eyes were always on the old postman:

"When the Protector Army defeats the Turbulents, a Wangzhuang will also be built here. At that time, Sanmiaoyi would still be a lively village, and there would be no more local thugs to harass it, and everyone would be able to live peacefully......"

Wang Xingwu paused again when he said this, "Your elder brother can also marry another house, have a son and a half daughter, and pass on the lineage!" ”

Wang Xingwu's last sentence obviously moved the old postman. He showed a look of longing, but this look quickly dimmed. He bowed his head slightly to Wang Xingwu, and said lightly: "General, thank you for your auspicious words." If you have any commands, just ask! ”

It's time to get down to business, Wang Xingwu coughed, looked around and said, "The infantry brigade of General Liu's headquarters set off early yesterday morning and advanced towards Yuxichang. They have no baggage and act quickly. I just asked my brother, and they passed through this place yesterday afternoon before the rain. I estimate that General Liu has now arrived at Sanhechang and successfully rendezvous with the forward cavalry! We and the officers and brothers were carrying the baggage, and we had planned to arrive at Sanhechang a day late, but this damn rain! ”

Wang Xingwu looked around and saw that everyone was listening carefully, and then said:

"Everyone knows that there is a sudden situation in the ravine ahead: a flash flood has washed away one of the brothers who are exploring the way, and his life and death are unknown! Now we are carrying a thousand stones of grain, and we simply cannot pass directly. We can only wait here, for the sky to clear and the torrent to recede. But when the rain will stop and the flash flood will recede, no one knows! There are two things I am most worried about right now: one is military discipline; The second is the local tyrant. But these two things are actually the same thing: soldiers scurrying around to avoid the rain; And the thugs will take advantage of our dispersal tactics to take advantage of the opportunity to sneak attack! Therefore, we must immediately go down to the camp and organize a defense! You say, 'Where is the best place to camp?' ”

Camp in the rain?

The officers looked at each other.

It was raining and the line was trapped, so it was a logical choice to go to camp. But the soldiers were extremely tired after forty miles of trekking on the muddy mountain roads with heavy grain wagons. It's noon, and everyone hasn't eaten lunch yet, so let's go to camp......

Wan Jifu is the deputy battalion commander, and his opinion carries weight. Seeing that several company commanders were frowning at him, he couldn't dodge, so he had to rub the big lump of yellow mud attached to his leather boots on a big angular stone, and said perfunctorily:

"Lower camp...... It's good. It's just that this place is muddy, and I don't know where the battalion commander wants to get off the camp? It's too far away, it's not high, these chicken carts can't go up the mountain......"

Wang Xingwu did not reply. He turned his kind gaze to the old squire.

Seeing that Wang Xingwu turned to him, the old post man had no choice but to reply: "The general wants to go down to the camp, and there is a place here." The terrain of the Three Temples is flat and easy to cross the water. There is a small hill on the side of the road ahead, the slope is not high, and there are no puddles......"

The figure of Zhang Wenjiang, battalion staff officer and commander of the fifth company, swept through the long marching column, leaving a splash of mud behind him. The soldiers of the 5th Company, who had been hit by the mud, watched their new company commander gallop away, swallowing the curse words alive.

"Report to the battalion commander!"

Zhang Wenjiang jumped off Wang Xingwu's war horse and grabbed the restless horse with both hands, "I went to survey the terrain." The best place to camp nearby is the small hill in front. The slope is not large, which is conducive to drainage, and the chicken and bus carts can go up. There is a dilapidated Guandi temple on the hillside, which can shelter from the rain and serve as a camp headquarters. The south side of the hillside is the Yuxi River, the east side is a ravine over the mountain torrent, and the north and west sides are crowded together, and the front is about 200 paces, which is conducive to defending ......"

Zhang Wenjiang reported the results of the topographic survey in one go. Wang Xingwu nodded with great satisfaction. He thanked the old post man, then waved his hand and walked forward with a few company commanders.

The serpentine team swam again, moving forward with difficulty but determination.

The old postman stood under the eaves, carrying a bag of dry food in his hand, and his heart was mixed. At this time, he didn't know whether he should report to the local thugs in the mountains.

……

Bashan ten miles of different days.

Wang Xingwu's 18th battalion braved the heavy rain to camp at the Sanmiaoyi to prevent the local rioters from taking the opportunity to sneak attack; The task force led by Feng Rubao launched a strong attack on the Tianbao Village on the mountain beam on the side of the road in the light rain.

Six bronze cannons were densely arranged on the narrow mountain beam, and the middle four made loud noises from time to time, firing a black seven-and-a-half-pound cannon at a speed visible to the naked eye. The cannon flew over a distance of seventy paces and smashed into the large and small stones that formed the wall. The sandstone blocks shattered in an instant under the huge impact and shock, bursting out more and smaller stones at the same time on the front and back of the wall. The stones splashed, and a rain of stones fell down the wet mountain beams. And the cannon disappeared in the rain of falling stones, never to be seen again.

The four guns in the middle were tasked with fire destruction. The cannons on both wings were equipped with shotguns to prevent the local rioters from suddenly counterattacking in front of the formation.

The company commander of the first battalion and one company of the artillery covered his ears, looked bitterly at another cannon discharged, and turned his head to look at Feng Rubao, who was standing not far away, with a pleading look in his eyes. But that Feng Rubao turned a blind eye to the repeated hints of the artillery company commander, and still crossed his waist and opened his mouth to smirk with interest.

The artillery company commander finally couldn't help it. His anger towards Feng Lao Er had already surged to his throat: Don't you fucking know that these cannons will be picked up one by one later! But he didn't dare, because in the task force grouping, Feng Rubao was the supreme commander second only to He Qiukou.

Seeing that the local thug never showed his head on the wall again, Feng Rubao finally put away his smirk, and took one out of his hand on his waist. He pushed his hand forward and roared, "Sapper, get on!" ”

As Feng Rubao's order was issued, two soldiers immediately rushed out of the grass in front of him. Each of them carried a large boxy yellow powder bag that looked like a roll. These gunpowder bags were bundled with waterproof tarpaulins and supporting three-foot wooden sticks, and each weighed a full fifty pounds!

The two sappers quickly covered a distance of seventy paces and reached the foot of the wall. They didn't have time to catch their breath, so they first pulled the rope lump on their chests and carefully put down the gunpowder bag on their backs. The gunpowder bag is waterproof and is fine if it is drenched in rain, but the lead hidden in the tarpaulin is not waterproof.

A soldier inserted a supporting stick into the dirt floor, then pressed the powder bag against the stone wall, pulled out the fuse, pinched the fire pot around his waist, and prepared it to ignite. But he could not light the fire immediately, for his companions, who were four or five feet away from him, had found a large hole in the wall that had been punched by the cannon, and was trying to stuff it with a heavy powder bag.

Gunpowder packs can exert greater and more powerful power in a relatively closed space. As a professional demoman of an engineer platoon, this common sense is learned. If the gunpowder bag had exploded in that hole, it would have probably lifted the entire upper part and back of the wall. Because compared to the left and right sides of the wall and the bottom, the upper and back are obvious structural weak points.

But although the idea is good, God makes people.

The hole looked quite large, but it was irregular. The gunpowder bag was halfway stuffed in, and it was stuck by the corners of the stones inside. His companion could not pull it out or stuff it in, so in desperation he slammed his shoulders into it to smash the powder bag tightly.

The head of a throof appeared on the wall. The head cautiously showed half of its face, checking why the cannons of the royal army were not sounding. At that moment, the figure of the Protector soldier hitting the wall attracted his head. The head poked out quickly, and the curiosity on his face immediately turned into horror.

"Oh no, the officers and soldiers have blown up the wall!"

The thug screamed at his throat. He picked up a stone and threw it at the red figure. The stone was impartial and struck the soldier's hat. I could only hear a scream, and the red figure rolled down the mountain beam.

Ha ha!

The leader of the Soil Tyrant burst into laughter when he saw that his stone magic skill had worked. But before he could stop laughing, another red figure flashed out from under the corner of the wall and ran towards the position of the cannon.

It turns out that there are still leaks under the wall!

When the thrasher saw that many of his accomplices had rushed up to the wall with knives and guns, he was relieved, picked up another stone and threw it at all. The stone drew a graceful arc in the air and chased after the running figure!

Seeing that the stone was about to catch up with the back of the red-armored soldiers, the thugs on the wall shouted happily. Only at this moment, they didn't hear the screams of the red-armored soldiers, but they saw a red-black flame erupting violently from under their feet!

Rumble!

The smoke cleared.

Feng Rubao spat on the ground dissatisfied. The stone walls of Tianbao Village are crumbling, but they have not yet fallen. Moreover, he also suffered one casualty.

Feng Rubao yelled at the stunned artillery company commander and asked him to continue firing the cannon and knock down the stone wall. However, at this moment, he suddenly saw a soldier rushing up from under the mountain beam. The soldier pinched the fire pot in his hand and stretched out his arm like a red lightning bolt to rush towards the powder bag that had not exploded in the hole in the wall!