After Yao Qisheng left Shaoxing, he first rode a donkey, then changed boats, and used boats at the same time, all the way to Quzhou Mansion.

I heard a lot of news along the way, and it was difficult to distinguish between the real and the fake.

Reputedly...... The Ming army sent another army into Zhejiang, and more than 20,000 troops gathered in Quzhou Prefecture to collect ships everywhere, apparently to attack the capital city of Quzhou, and even march east along the Qiantang River to the provincial capital Hangzhou.

Reputedly...... In the southern part of Zhejiang, a large group of bandits swarmed up, they cut off their braids, and played the banner of anti-Qing resistance, echoing the Ming army of the Eastern Expedition.

Reputedly...... Zhu Yihai, the king of Lu, personally conquered Fujian, and the Ming army loyal to him launched a counterattack in the northeast of Fujian and the southeast of Zhejiang, conquering two prefectures and more than ten county towns in the coastal area.

It is said that more than 100,000 men and horses of the Ming army launched a siege on Fujian, including the Ming army in Jiangxi, the Ming army in Guangdong, Zheng Chenggong, and Zhu Yihai...... Fierce fighting was raging everywhere in Fujian, and the provincial capital of Fuzhou was attacked, and the situation was even worse than in Zhejiang.

Reputedly...... There are also a lot of people on Nanzhili's side.

Reputedly...... Tan Tai has already sent 100,000 troops to support Zhejiang and Fujian, and he will be able to arrive soon.

Yao Qisheng lacked intelligence sources and could not determine the authenticity of these news, but Tan Tai's claim that he had sent 100,000 reinforcements was so outrageous that he didn't need to think much about it to know that it was false. Breaking through the sky, Tan Tai has sent a maximum of 350,000 horses, and it is not necessarily when to arrive, so there is not much danger in going to Quzhou Mansion now.

After entering the boundary of Quzhou Prefecture, there were still about 100 miles away from the capital city, and the road in front was blocked by the Qing army outpost, which was already close to the front line. In order to guard against the meticulous work of the Ming army, martial law has long been imposed around the capital of Quzhou Mansion, and idle people have not to mention entering the city. Even being close to the outskirts of the city is not allowed.

Yao Qisheng had a way, found a team of people who transported supplies to the front line, made up a lie casually, and gave a few taels of silver to the steward, and followed the team through the outpost.

When he arrived near the capital city of Quzhou, Yao Qisheng left the Minfu team and continued to walk west from the path. Soon entered Jiangshan County, which was controlled by the Ming army. He came all the way to see what the Chu army was like, but he couldn't figure out the number of the various departments of the Ming army. confusedly regarded Chen Bangfu's Guangxi soldiers as Chu troops...... Three days later, Chen Bangfu launched an attack south along the Xianxia Ancient Road, and among the old battalion baggage troops following behind, there was a young clerk from Shaoxing, Zhejiang. His name is Yao Qisheng.

The Xianxia Ancient Road passes under Jianglang Mountain. The road is quite flat, after arriving at the kiln ridge, it begins to climb over the mountains, and the bamboo forests on the hills on both sides seem to have no end, lush, dense and prosperous...... The mountain road became narrower and narrower, and the steps kept climbing, and soon the bodies of men and animals were exhausted, and the animals could not carry the heavy grain bales. It was distributed to the shoulders of the auxiliary chief.

Yao Qisheng's heavy army included 500 auxiliaries and 1,500 long-term men recruited locally in Zhejiang. As well as more than 200 livestock and carts full of supplies, the formation of a mighty procession, the leader of the team is almost to the top of Yaoling Mountain, and the tail of the team is still shaking halfway up the mountain.

The mountain road was difficult, but the leading officer was in a hurry, and the auxiliaries and the chief man walked a little slower, and the whistling whip was drawn down on their heads and faces, and they cried and begged incessantly. I heard that the battle has started at Xianxia Pass in front, and the materials transported by this baggage army are very important, and all the military information will be beheaded if it is delayed.

Yao Qisheng is responsible for writing and calculating the paperwork, and he was treated favorably by the leader Jiang Qian, so he didn't have to work hard to carry the food bag, and he was tired enough to climb the mountain like this. It was easy to get to the top of the mountain, and suddenly an order came from the front, asking everyone to sit down and rest.

Everyone else was busy drinking water and eating dry food, but Yao Qisheng climbed the wall of Yaoling Pass, looking and listening in the direction of Xianxia Pass in front of him, I don't know if it was too far away, there was no sound from Xianxia Pass, only a wolf smoke stood far behind the mountain.

He turned around, looked at the winding mountain road in front of and behind the kiln ridge, shook his head slightly, sat down and felt a piece of rice ball, put it in his mouth and chewed it slowly.

A water hyacinth was suddenly handed over to him.

Mr. Jiang Qian also climbed up, sat next to him, faced the green mountains, unbuttoned his clothes and blew the mountain breeze to his heart's content.

"Yao Xiucai, you scholars are just too soft-hearted, and you can't stand seeing these long-term husbands suffering and being beaten, aren't you? You're probably still scolding me in your heart, aren't you? ”

"Aha, look at what Master Jiang said, the so-called mercy is not in charge of the army, military law is like a mountain, of course you can't be a mother-in-law when you are fighting." Yao Qisheng laughed and didn't explain much. He shook his head just now, because he felt that there was a problem with the logistics and transportation of this Guangxi army, and there were still many details that had not been done well, from this point of view alone, Chen Bangfu's Sien soldiers could not be regarded as a strong army, of course, this kind of offending words could not be said in front of Jiang Qian.

"Well said! You still have a little bit of insight in this show. ”

Jiang Qian always looked at Yao Qisheng with appreciative eyes: "It is said that loyalty and righteousness serve the country, but there are really not many scholars who can endure this hardship, you are a good example." In the past few days, you have been working hard with me, and I will guarantee you to Chen Shuai when I arrive in Fujian. ”

"No need, the student is willing to serve under Master Jiang."

Yao Qisheng smiled faintly and said: "Having said that, with only our troops and horses, I'm afraid we won't be able to beat Fujian." Xianxia Ancient Road, Six Ridges, Nine Passes and Eighteen Villages, all of which are first-class dangers, Chen Shuai is only afraid that he does not plan to attack Fujian, but just wants to capture Xianxia Pass. ”

Jiang Qian always showed a puzzled look, just wanted to say something, but felt that his scalp was itchy again, reached out and scratched it in the bun a few times, pinched out a lice and put it in his mouth, and bit it with a snap: "I don't understand this, you readers are knowledgeable, maybe you are right." Alas, Xiucai, tell me, can Xianxia Pass be defeated? Why don't you let us move on?

"Xianxia Pass is easy to defend and difficult to attack, and there are many Tang soldiers along the road, the strong attack is unfavorable, the surprise attack is not successful, I am afraid it is not easy to fight. Let us stop here, maybe it has something to do with this matter......" Yao Qisheng looked at the direction of Xianxia Pass, and secretly wondered in his heart, if he was the commander of the Ming army, how could he capture Xianxia Pass, but after thinking about it for a long time, there was no perfect plan.

"You mean that the soldiers in front of you lost the battle?" Jiang Qian is always the auxiliary soldier who transports grain and grass, and he rarely fights in Guangxi, basically a military layman, and he was fooled by Yao Qisheng in three or two sentences.

"Nine times out of ten, but it's not surprising, if you can't attack the pass once, you can continue to attack again. Chen Shuai has a lot of soldiers, as long as the Tartar reinforcements don't arrive, one by one can always take Xianxia Pass, I estimate that there is at least one day and one night, and we won't be allowed to go up before we take the first pass, just wait here slowly......"

Yao Qisheng's estimate was indeed correct, from noon to evening, this baggage force never received an order to continue advancing, and sat on the mountain road for several hours. War drums sounded from time to time in the direction of Xianxia Pass in front, and the last section of the trouble calmed down, and after a while, Chen Bangfu was repeatedly trying to attack Xianxia Pass.

After evening, the drums of war did not sound again, but the wounded soldiers retreated one after another, and it seemed that there were many casualties in front. There was a barracks of the Qing army behind the Yaoling Pass, and these wounded soldiers were sent there for treatment.

"Trouble, trouble! I didn't expect Xianxia Pass to be so difficult to beat! Stuck in such a dead end, if we lose the battle in front, we will have nowhere to run. Jiang Qianhu became more and more nervous, this was the first time he had fought with the Manchu Tartars, and his self-confidence was bursting for a while, and he felt that he was about to be finished.

"It's not okay to fight like this, you have to find another way quickly, otherwise the Tartar reinforcements will come up, and it will be a bit troublesome." Yao Qisheng said to himself, seeing Jiang Qianhu's expression becoming more and more nervous, he persuaded him a few more words: "But Master Jiang can rest assured, Chen Shuai has thousands of armored soldiers, blocking the road in front of him, and the Tartar reinforcements will be stalemate, and they will not be defeated for a while." ”

"Yao Xiucai, tell me, what is Chen Shuai's good way to knock down Xianxia Pass now?"

"I don't know. However, since Chen Shuai sent troops to attack, he must still have a backhand, and he won't just be like this......

Yao Qisheng guessed well, after dark, another Ming army came up from the north of Yaoling, with three black characters in gold on the red camp flag, and the town was in the camp.

"Change the Chu army, change the Chu army up!" Jiang Qianhu and several auxiliary officers stood in front of the pass, watching the expressionless soldiers of the Zhenxiao battalion passing through the pass, they were the same as Yao Qisheng, it was the first time they had dealt with the Chu army, and they were all full of curiosity.

In addition to the red flag, the Zhenxiao battalion is completely different from the Guangxi soldiers in terms of equipment, weapons and uniforms, and the soldiers also have a unique temperament, just like the fierce temperament of the Shengmiao mountain people, and their faces are full of words that the living should not be approached. They were all dressed in grabbing bast shoes, knee-high leggings, carrying three-foot knives and a bunch of unintelligible bits and pieces around their waists, and carrying a large ball of hook ropes on their shoulders, which seemed to be very in harmony with the surrounding mountains.

"It's the first time I've seen such a soldier, it looks so weird!"

"Why are you so many? Is there a thousand? ”

"There are a thousand, at most seven or eight hundred."

"That's too little! Xianxia Pass is a natural danger, what is the use of hundreds of people going up? ”

Jiang Qianhu and several of his subordinates had a lot of discussions.

"Five hundred and thirty-six people, quite a few." Yao Qisheng said: "There are not many soldiers. The defenders on the Xianxia Pass are at most a thousand people, the place here is too narrow, and there are too many soldiers to open it, as long as they can win by surprise, five hundred elite soldiers are enough to conquer Xianxia Pass! ”

An auxiliary soldier was dismissed and scolded Yao Qisheng: "What do you know about a sour show!" Chen Shuai's 5,000 soldiers fought for a day, but they still failed to capture the first pass, and the hundreds of people in the Chu army were also given in vain. ”

Yao Qisheng smiled and didn't speak, turned around and looked at the direction where the Zhenxiao camp was leaving, with a trace of irrepressible eagerness in his eyes. This kind of soldier is what the world's strongest army looks like, and it is obviously prepared, the Chu army is really not to be underestimated. (To be continued......)