Li Xingyuan, the minister of the Qin Mission, left Xunzhou in a hurry, and Zhang Jingxiu, the prefect of Xunzhou, took 3,000 local soldiers to escort and accompany him to solve the siege of the Sanli River in Ulantai.

The June sun in Guangxi is already a bit scorching, and the weather is getting hotter and hotter day by day. The villagers hurried day and night for three consecutive days. They had been walking for four hours in a row under the scorching sun, sweating profusely, and their physical strength had reached the limit. From time to time, some people fainted from heat stroke, the soles of their shoes had worn out, and the blisters on the soles of their feet came out, and they all complained of misery.

Li Qincha didn't care about this, he removed Qincha's honor guard and rushed to the Sanli River one by one. There were no tents on this way, and everyone slept in the open, ignoring all requests for rest, just to rush to the front as soon as possible.

"My lord, it's noon, we're on our way before dawn, and it's time for you to eat." Zhang Jingxiu, the prefect of Xunzhou, accompanied him carefully, the township Yong below had long been unbearable, and they didn't dare to say it directly to Qincha, so they could only ask someone to greet the prefect and let him come forward to intercede with Li Qincha and let everyone take a break.

"Master Zhang, you and I are in the officialdom together, and you and I know everything in the court. If this Manchurian loses the battle, then there is a vote of people who will be responsible. In case something happens to that Ulantai, you and I can't escape the crime of unfavorable rescue, this crime can be big or small, the light is not guaranteed, and the whole family is implicated. Lord Zhang, it's not that I don't sympathize with everyone, this is also a helpless thing. Li Qincha wiped his sweat with his sleeve, although he was riding a horse, it was not easy to bump along the way.

"Of course Xia Guan knows how powerful it is. But even if this person grits his teeth and can resist, but this horse can't do it, he should feed some material and pull, change the horse, and if he runs down, he will run to death. Zhang Zhizhou couldn't bear it himself, his clothes were all soaked with sweat, his stomach was hungry, and his eyes were spent.

Li Qincha looked around again, these villagers were also tortured to the point of not being presentable, all of them were embarrassed, their heads drooped, listless, and it seemed that their physical strength had reached the limit.

"Then let the brethren rest for half an hour." Li Qincha said helplessly.

"Lord Xie Qincha, send the order down, everyone rest on the side of the road and replenish dry food." Zhang Zhizhou hurriedly sent an order, for fear that this Li Qincha would regret it again.

As if escaping a desperate situation, the villagers collapsed on the hot ground, almost losing weight. Some lay motionless on the ground, some rubbed their sore shoulders, and some gnawed a few mouthfuls of dry food, all so tired that they couldn't speak.

Several guards were very eye-catching, and helped Li Qin to get off the horse, some brought a kettle, some helped to beat his back to loosen his muscles and bones, and some held a plate with dried meat for the adults. Li Qincha grabbed the jerky, put it in his mouth, chewed it again, and closed his eyes comfortably to enjoy it.

"Boom!" I don't know where a cannon rang out, and Li Qin almost blew up.

"What's the matter, is it that the artillery team has gone off? Who is responsible for the shells? Zhang Zhizhou mistakenly thought it was the sound of his own shells.

"Oh no, my lord, there is a long hair in the woods by the roadside!" The guards pointed to the black yellow turbans moving in the woods, and their voices trembled. (Because of the Taiping army's hair, long hair is the Qing soldiers' contempt for the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom soldiers)

Li Qincha was already frightened at this time, he never expected that there would be bandits here, and there would be so many. Aren't the bandits all in Sanlihe? "It's over, it's all over, the bandits are waiting for work, my countrymen were not strong in combat, and now they are so tired, this battle can't be fought." Li Qincha felt his head buzz and explode.

"My lord, what should we do? My lord, you have an idea. Zhang Zhizhou also panicked, and the six gods couldn't stop it.

"Where else can I hide around here?" Li Qincha is already the governor of Liangjiang, and he has seen the world, so he finally calmed down.

"Back to Lord Li, there is a Zhaojiazhai about ten miles north of this neighborhood, and the wall is very high, which can resist the long hair for a while." Zhang Zhizhou hurriedly replied.

"Let the brothers withdraw to Zhaojiazhai together, and hurry up to the Admiral to come for reinforcements." Li Qincha immediately decided.

Ambushed in the woods by the roadside was Xiao Chaogui, the former commander of the Taiping Army. As soon as Li Qin left Xunzhou City, he was targeted by the spies of the Taiping Army. Xiao Chaogui chose this grove, outside the forest is the only way for the Qing soldiers to go to the Sanli River, in order to fight this battle, Xiao Chaogui took 4,000 heavenly soldiers and guarded here for three days.

"Kill!" The morale of the Taiping army is high, and everyone has been suffocated in the past three days, and they are all drumming up their strength, just waiting to vent now.

The horns of the Taiping army sounded everywhere, and a tidal wave of heavenly soldiers poured out of the woods, brandishing swords and guns, shouting and slaughtering these exhausted villagers.

Under the stormy blow of the 4,000 heavenly soldiers led by Xiao Chaogui, the village warriors quickly collapsed, they fought and retreated, and were killed in pieces, leaving more than 1,000 corpses along the way, and more than 1,000 people raised their hands to surrender. In the end, only two or three hundred villagers fled to Zhaojiazhai.

I finally arrived at this Zhaojiazhai. As Zhang Zhizhou said, the wall is high and thick, there are deep ditches outside the wall, and there are drawbridges on all sides to communicate with the outside world. But at this moment, the drawbridges are all closed, and the gate is closed.

"Master Li, don't worry, this Zhao Jiazhai Master Zhao and I have always had a friendship. Their Zhaojiazhai also has a big business, which is enough for us to supply here. You see how high and strong this wall is, even if there are thousands of people and horses in the long hair, it will not be able to enter for a while. Zhang Zhizhou comforted Li Qin and said.

"Then you quickly let them open the door and let us in, and the long hair will be killed when it is too late." Li Qincha was chased enough, if it weren't for the desperate resistance of the guards, I am afraid that he would not be able to escape here.

"Someone, please report it, I, Zhang Jingxiu, the prefect of Xunzhou, ask to see Old Man Zhao." Governor Zhang was different from the past at this time, his posture was very low, and his tone was also very humble.

"I'm sorry, Lord Prefect, our Master Zhao said that the neighborhood has not been peaceful recently, and there is chaos everywhere, no matter who this gate is, it can't be opened for anything." A militiaman standing guard on the walled wall replied.

"What? You can see clearly, we are the official army, we are the army of the imperial court, and there is also the imperial court's lord Qincha, in case something happens, will you suffer from the crime? Let Zhao Deyang come out to see me quickly. "Governor Zhang's mansion was on fire and took out the prefect's shelf.

There was a commotion on the wall for a while, and after a while, Zhao Deyang, the old man Zhao, came to the wall, he was old, wearing a purple foreign suit, and his tone trembled: "Governor Zhang, my little old man's door really can't be opened, I open it, the Taiping army will attack my village, and hundreds of people up and down my village will have to be buried together." Governor Zhang, please be considerate. ”

"Zhao Deyang, you are too bold, you dare to resist the official army, how many heads do you have?" Governor Zhang said angrily.

Master Zhao thought to himself: "If I let you in now, my whole family will be finished, even if you run away and sue me later, there are people in my court, at most, they will spend more silver." Even if it doesn't work, at most it will cost me my life. I can't tell which is more important? ”

Of course, he didn't dare to say this idea, so he could only say kind words: "Governor Zhang, the little old man has prepared some food for the officials and soldiers, so he will use the basket to put down to honor the officers and soldiers, and beg the adults to spare the little old man, you should invite another family." ”

As he spoke, a few baskets tied with ropes were placed on the wall, and the baskets were filled with steamed buns.

"My lord, the long hair is less than a mile away from us." A guard came panting to report.

Li Qincha and Zhang Zhizhou seemed to vaguely hear Changmao's killing cry, and there was a desperate look on their faces.