Early in the morning, the autumn is high and cool, the sky is cloudless, the sky is not yet transparent, the camp is already the smoke curling, the kitchen soldiers kill pigs and sheep, put the best white rice into the pot, after a short time, the radius of more than ten miles has been shrouded in the aroma of rice and meat. For many soldiers, this may be the heartiest breakfast of their lives, or the last meal they will ever have. Because they are about to go on another expedition, and people will die in battle, but no one cares.

At that time, the school field of the large camp outside Dong'e City was already crowded with people, and more than 30,000 soldiers who were ready to go were standing quietly in the center of the school field. The morning breeze blew the banners and robes, and the warriors stood like iron towers with their blades in their hands.

The silent crowd suddenly became noisy, accompanied by cheers full of admiration, their commander, General Cao Da rode a high-headed horse slowly up to the school review stand, his thick eyebrows pressed against a pair of eagle-like sharp eyes, there was something in those eyes, as if staring, but as if contemplative, revealing a reassuring perseverance and calmness.

Cao Bianjiao raised his head and looked at the front of the school platform, the sun was pouring down, only to see the swords and spears like a forest, the battle armor was dazzling, at a glance, it was fiery red, overwhelming, and the momentum was very immense.

After taking a deep breath, Cao Bianjiao waved the saber in his hand and shouted: "Go to war"

The sound of horses' hooves is like thunder, the sound of drums and horns is like thunder, the flags of the whole camp are like undulating waves, and the sound of their breathing seems to gather into one place, in the sound of the metal tide of the armor impact, slowly drive out of the camp, stretching for more than ten miles, in the large camp, a team of foot riders slowly came out and went south.

"Report to the ......" In the camp of the Qing army on the shore of Shushan Lake, a fast horse galloped into the camp and went straight to the tent of the army commanders.

"Report ...... General, Dong'e was lost, yesterday morning, the Ming Dynasty general Cao Bianjiao personally led 50,000 troops to Dong'a, only two hours, Dong'e was lost, the horse Li led Tai to die, tens of thousands of soldiers of our army were killed or captured, only a few hundred people escaped. ”

"What ......" He Luohui was also shocked, Cao Bianjiao suddenly killed, that means that Hong Chengchou's soldiers and horses are completely finished, 50,000 troops, how to say that it is gone, He Luohui can't imagine it, and secretly guesses in his heart, will it be Hong Chengchou's rebellion and surrender, but that doesn't matter anymore, now there are hundreds of thousands of Yuan Shu in the south, and canals and lakes and marshes in the west, so they must break through, otherwise the whole army will really be wiped out here.

"Pass on my military order, the whole army immediately pulled out the camp and retreated in the direction of the Daimyo's Mansion, and the fate is still gratifying." He Luo will not care about a lot, he must withdraw now, but it is most unwise to evacuate to the east, Cao Bianjiao has already occupied Shandong, at this time deep into the hinterland of Shandong, he will be trapped by them at any time, he can only retreat to the Daimyo Mansion first, and then retreat to Zhending through Guide, and then leave Shang Kexi to break off, but also want to preserve the strength of the Eight Banners of Manchuria as much as possible, so that these Han Eight Banners and the Green Battalion soldiers will be sent to death.

In order to avoid the sailors of the Ming army, He Luohui can only pass through here, crossing more than ten miles of lakes, because here the Ming army's sailors can't come in at all, and the boats come in and they don't worry, so that they won't be intercepted, in order to pass through this place smoothly, He Luohui found a local villager, bribed him with a lot of money, and let him lead the way.

"Fellow, how far is this!" He Luo would ride on the horse, and he was also a little anxious, the scorching sun was in the sky, and the soldiers were a little tired, and they had been walking for an hour, and they had not yet gone out.

The old farmer whose hair was already gray also said with a smile: "It's not far away, at most, it's only a stick of incense, and you can go out, adults, bear with it!" ”

"Good! Fellow, as long as you take us out, I will give you a thousand taels of gold immediately! He Luohui also smiled, a stick of incense should not be far away.

They hadn't gone far before a small river appeared in front of them, and the old peasant hurriedly said, "My lord, after crossing this small river, go out less than three miles further." ”

"Good! Soldiers, you are about to pass, hurry up, and after you get out of the swamp, you can rest! He Luohui also shouted immediately.

"Ahh Yes... Help ......" just when the Qing army crossed the river, a group of people who suddenly went into the water shouted one after another, and the people behind them immediately stopped, watching them quickly sink into the muddy water, they were all stunned, everyone was frightened and took a few steps back, just saw people into the water, less than a few breaths of effort, people were gone, and it was too late to save each other.

"What's going on?" He Luo would hear the movement, and he also frowned and asked.

A Niu Lu ran back in a panic and reported to He Luohui: "General, it's not good, the river in front of me is strange, after our people went into the water, they immediately sank in, and more than 100 people said that it was gone." ”

He Luohui's heart trembled, and he immediately glared at the old farmer and said, "You say, what's going on?" ”

"Haha...... What's going on, this river is called a dead ditch, several zhang deep, you want to cross it, no way, I am the people of the Ming Dynasty, and my ancestors are also the officials of the Ming Dynasty, how can I betray the country because of your little copper smell, you want to escape, no way, you kill my people, how many innocent people have been slaughtered by my Ming Dynasty, and your death time has come to ......"

"How can this be justified, looking for death!" At that moment, He Luohui was also angry, wielding a knife to kill the past, the old peasant's blood was splashed on the spot, a common man loyal to the country's national righteousness, even his name was unknown, and he also sacrificed his life.

"General, what should we do now, this river ditch is three zhang wide, we think we need to build a pontoon bridge in the past, but there is only grass around here, not even a single log, how to cross it!" Du Erhu next to him also asked.

He Luohui also thought about it, and personally stepped forward to inspect it, and after a while, he also showed a knowing smile, and said: "It's not difficult to do, tell the soldiers to tie up the spears in their hands to form two long pillars, and then lay armor on them, the armor is strong enough to be stepped on, so that it will not become a pontoon bridge?" ”

"But these weapons and armor...... If we don't have these, our soldiers will ...... in the next battle."

"Where can I manage so much now, if I don't go over, then I can only go back, the Ming army has already caught up, in order to enter the swamp, we have burned the artillery carts, and now at this time go back to fight with the Ming army, do you have a chance of winning?" He Luohui also explained, where can I care so much at this time, I can only sacrifice some people.

"The last general understands, the last general will do it!" Immediately, Du Erhu also ordered people to do what He Luohui said, using spears as brackets and armor as curtains to build pontoon bridges, and there were hundreds of pontoon bridges needed by tens of thousands of troops, and three or four thousand soldiers also donated armor and spears and became bare-handed soldiers.

According to He Luohui's method, it really worked, tens of thousands of horses quickly passed through the pontoon bridge, of course, it was also an unfortunate person, the pontoon bridge stepped loosely, fell directly, and their armor was also broken, the weapons were broken a lot, only a few people took back their things, immediately He Luohui and others continued to march, according to the instructions of the sun and the compass, and finally walked out of the swamp and came to the side of Ansan Lake.