Chapter Fifty-Six: Farewell to Hangu Pass

Everyone who returned from the meeting quickly conveyed their opinions, and everyone listened to them and listened to them, and they all had no opinions. Zhang Zhimu went over, stood on a carriage, waved at the chaotic crowd, and the crowd quieted down. Zhang Zhimu said loudly: "Old and young masters, brothers and sisters. I know that everyone is gathered today because we want to leave Hanguguan with the people of our Yaogang Trading Corporation and rush out all the way together. I thank everyone for the trust they have placed in us, but we also feel a lot of pressure. All of us were born in troubled times, and in order to survive, we came out to roam and pin our heads to our waists every day. We Yaogang people are like this, and many brothers have fallen on the way here, and many brothers have also been injured to varying degrees. But the road ahead of us is even more dangerous, and I can't guarantee that everyone will be able to make it all safely, because we don't have the ability to do so. But I also know that everyone has been stuck here for a long time, and there is no other way out. If this is the case, let's all break through together, and Heaven will have mercy on us people who are struggling in our hardships, and bless us to get through it smoothly. I also hope that everyone will think about the worst things first, explain your address to the people around you, and bring a message to your family if something happens. Of course, as long as everyone obeys the instructions along the way, I will do my best to bring everyone back safely. We Yaogang people have such a saying, to their brothers, never abandon or give up. Even if he is dead, he will take the corpse away. Today, I would also like to say to you that we are brothers and sisters on this journey, and we will not abandon or give up on you. When Zhang Zhimu said this, there was a boiling below, and some people were moved to hide their faces and cry. Seeing that the fire was gone, Zhang Zhimu waved his hand and said, "Let's go!" ”

Li Jing took the lead and entered the city from the west gate of Hangu Pass, but the gate army didn't ask and let him go. They had long been shocked by the momentum of this huge caravan, not to mention that Zhang Zhimu was leading the team. The caravan could only go east through the west gate and the east gate, and there was no other way. When Zhang Zhimu walked to the east gate, he didn't expect that the garrison Li Jing was waiting for him here, Li Jing took Zhang Zhimu's hand and said, "Brother Xian, I saw it after you left, the ceremony is too heavy." Zhang Zhimu said: "Is there still our affection? Li Jing was speechless all of a sudden. Zhang Zhimu hurriedly said: "Don't talk about this in the future, I will remember your care for me, and we will have a long future." Li Jing said: "In front of Shaanxi County, there is an army of thieves, about 2,000 people, the leader is strong in martial arts, and there are several cannons. Now that this gang of thieves has taken down the stockade, you must be careful, if you really can't do it, don't fight hard, leave some property, people are the most important. Listening to Li Jing's sincerity, Zhang Zhimu was very moved and said, "Don't worry! We will act on the occasion of the meeting. The caravan passing behind him was also envious when they saw the garrison and Zhang Zhimu holding hands and sending each other off. I thought to myself that this merchant was not trivial. Zhang Zhimu walked out far away, and saw Li Jing standing on the city tower, looking over here.

Such a caravan carried more than a thousand horses alone, and including the carriages, it was a mile or two from beginning to end. There were no villages and towns that could accommodate such a large caravan along the way, and everyone ate some dry food at noon. The main reason is that Yan Boju has been shouting that the horse needs to be fed. So no one dares to be the slightest bit vague about feeding the horses. After drinking the horses, the caravan continued to hurry, and when it was getting dark in the evening, Lin Xinmin came to Zhang Zhimu and said: "You can't go any further, although I can't remember accurately, but the thief should not be far from here." Besides, there is a stream here, so let's camp here. Zhang Zhimu saw that this Lin Xinmin was quite shrewd, so he said to Chen Yufeng: "Let's camp here, let's explore the front together." Then he sent someone to send a message to the back, telling Zhao Xilai that the sentinels in the back should be far away. He also told Lu Chengxiang that although he cooked by himself, he gave everyone some salted horse meat pulled in the car. Then Zhang Zhimu and Chen Yufeng took Liu Yun, Li Wei, Li Jing and Liu Chenghuang to ride forward together. Li Jing still took the lead, and left everyone behind after a while. However, everyone rode away, which was the kung fu of Xiao Banzhuxiang, and Li Jing hit the horse and ran back. said that the front is the thief barracks. Everyone restrains the horse and lets the horse move forward in broken steps, so that the sound of the horse's hooves will be quieter. When they came to a wooded area and tied their horses, everyone quietly lay in the grass and watched the stockade of the invading army. The road ahead is east-west, and this section of the road can barely pass two cars side by side, with mountains on both sides of the road, and the slopes on the north side of the road are steeper. This camp is built on the slower hillside on the south side of the mountain, all around are fences made of wood, built very firmly, on the fence in front of the village, a row of corridors are built, archers can stand on it, there is a natural ravine in front of the walled gate, between the road and the walled gate, there is a suspension bridge connecting the two banks, just take the ravine as a blockade ditch to defend the walled gate. The design is very ingenious. However, there are disadvantages and advantages to everything. On the mound of dirt on the side of the road were some debris such as horses, which seemed to be used to block the road during the day. In order to defend the stockade, although it was impossible to build the city wall in a short time, a fort was built with green bricks in the stockade, and several cannons could be clearly seen on the fort. It's pretty much the same. Zhang Zhimu signaled to retreat, everyone withdrew, mounted their horses and hurried back. No one spoke, but Zhang Zhimu knew it in his heart.

Back at the campsite, the meal was ready, knowing Zhang Zhimu's habits, the water for making tea was boiled. There is no dish but I made a soup, and the new chef is okay, and the salted horse meat is roasted with oil over the fire, which is very good.

After dinner, Zhang Zhimu convened a meeting of the cadres and invited the owners of the two dart bureaus. Zhang Zhimu drew a topographic map on paper with a pen, marking the cottage and its surroundings clearly. After introducing the basic situation, Zhang Zhimu said: "Tomorrow, the possibility that we will be able to pass peacefully is very small. Because judging from the seats set up in this stockade, they just want to collect the belongings of passing guests here, because this is not an important place to be kept. The stockade is not a long-term sticking stockade. So we must be ready to rush through by force. His stockade was built on a hill, with a condescending position on it, and a fort, which was indeed easy to defend and difficult to attack, and on the front fence, a row of corridors was built, on which archers could stand, and the road could be blocked. But we don't want to attack his stockade, as long as we knock out the cannons on the fort, and then knock down all the archers on the stockade, and then occupy this mound in front of the drawbridge, and block the gate with muskets, they can't get out, and this stockade can defend or trap them. So that we can cover the caravan rushing over. ”

The two masters of the dart game did not speak, because in their opinion, what Zhang Zhimu said, whether it was to defeat the fort, the archers or the blockade of the walled gate, was a bit unreliable. For they were only a few dozen men, and the defenders were one or two thousand. But none of the people in the kiln said anything, so they had to watch and talk.

Chen Yufeng said: "Archers all hold shields." We suffer a loss compared to others with bows and arrows. Let's see how many people they come out first tomorrow. Liu Yun said: "No matter how many people come out, they must be destroyed first to have a chance of winning, if they all come out, we will have no choice at all." ”

Zhang Zhimu said: "If they all come out, let's take care of people first." In any case, you must first use the bed crossbow to shoot the bow mine to knock out the turret, and at such a close distance, you should hit the turret. When the bed crossbow was aimed, we used a person to cover it and take him by surprise. When the fight started, we went up together, and after sealing the gate of the village, Liu Yun, Li Wei and Liu Chenghuang took ten musketeers and five crossbows to open the way, and if the fort was not threatened, the bed crossbows would be taken away. Yan Bo and Li Mao led the team to follow up, don't let the team be chaotic. Liu Wenbin is still in the center to organize the follow-up caravan to follow up, and Zhao Xilai is the master of the bureau to lead your dart master to be responsible for the break, don't leave one person behind, otherwise it will be a question for the two of you. Several people knew that this battle was sloppy, and they all said yes seriously. Zhang Zhimu said: "Tomorrow's matter, don't tell everyone when you go back, so as not to cause nervousness." ”

The two bureau masters, although they didn't know much about this plan, saw that the people in Yaogang didn't have much worry, so they put their hearts down a little. I sincerely admire the organizational skills of this group of people.

After the meeting ended, Yan Boju and Li Mao did not leave, Yan Boju said: "Tomorrow you take the lead, go to bed early tonight, Li Mao and I sleep less tonight, and keep vigil for everyone." Lu Chengxiang and Lin Xinmin also came over and said that they would keep vigil. Zhang Zhimu said: "Mr. Lu and Uncle Yan discussed this matter, and arranged to take turns on duty, and they all had to sleep for a while, so that they would have energy tomorrow." ”

may be too tired, Zhang Zhimu fell asleep when he lay down.

When Zhang Zhimu opened his eyes, he saw that everyone had already gotten up. It turned out that everyone got up, and when they saw that Zhang Zhimu was sleeping soundly, they all lowered their voices and didn't disturb him, knowing that he was worrying too much every day, and they all wanted him to sleep more.

By the time the caravan set off, the sun had already risen, and its rays reflected the trees on both sides of the road through the peaks of the mountains. It's a sunny day.

Li Jing led his two treasures and kept running in front, reporting back and forth from time to time on the situation in front. Crossing a hill, Zhang Zhimu knew that the place had arrived. At this time, Li Jing ran back and said: "Things are not good, it seems that the thieves are prepared, there are hundreds of people who come out, and they are all waiting on the road." Zhang Zhimu and the others took a look forward, didn't they, the other party obviously knew that a large number of caravans were coming, so they set up their positions in advance and waited on the road. There were hundreds of people neatly arranged, and at first glance they were well-trained and filled the road. At the front of the procession were five or six men on horseback, armed with either spears or broadswords.

Chen Yufeng said: "They named 500 soldiers. ”

Zhang Zhimuxin said: "It's really not good. But his expression did not change at all, and he said, "Do as planned." Keep moving. Liu Yun put down all his weapons and rode to make contact. The caravan continued to move slowly.

Liu Yun held the dart flag, rode to the front of the soldiers and saluted: "Xiurong Huwei Dart Bureau is here to borrow the way." ”

Immediately, a man armed with a big gun said, "Borrow? Ha ha! You're not here to scare people by gathering such a group of people, are you? We've never seen anything like this. In the old days, our rule was to keep half and let half go. If you want to change it today, you want to leave all the horses that don't pull the cart from here, and the goods can be pulled away as much as you can on the carriage. Or if you send men and overcome a few of us, let you go. If you can't, go back, we promise not to chase you. "They know there's no way back.

Liu Yun wanted to say something more about the morality of the rivers and lakes, but the other party was obviously impatient. A person suddenly pulled out a whip at Liu Yun, Liu Yun didn't notice that it was too late, and when he dodged, the tip of the whip wiped his face. Liu Yun is really a big husband, according to his own character, he wants to have a one-on-one competition, and he can't bear such a big humiliation. But Liu Yun couldn't help it, wiped his hot face, and said with a smile: "I can't be the master of this matter, I want to go back and report it." Then he went back, and when he turned around, there was a loud laugh behind him. Liu Yun almost gritted his teeth.

Zhang Zhimu listened to Liu Yunyi and knew that a big war was inevitable.