The vast and dense elm forest has made the Yuyuan Army, but it has also limited the development of the Yuyuan Army.

Due to long-term natural disasters and wars, agricultural production in southwestern Shandong and the border areas of Shandong, Henan, and Anhui provinces was completely destroyed, and a large area of farmland was returned to forests in an extremely cruel way. No matter how many of these tragic stories of families and starvation have now drifted away with the wind, leaving only this boundless elm forest. Because of the existence of the Yuyuan Army, the war in this area has not stopped, and the area of the Yuyuan forest continues to expand.

Over the course of 20 years, such a large area resembling primeval forests suddenly appeared on the North China Plain, providing a natural refuge for the Han people who did not want to endure the brutal rule of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, in order to escape the war, in order to save their hair, for the defense of the Han Yi, or simply because their homeland and village were destroyed by bandits...... A large number of Han people took the initiative or were forced to join the Yuyuan Army, and together they raised the banner of resisting the Qing Dynasty, relying on the Yulin forest to form a unique way of survival.

The elm forest is their shelter.

The elm grove provides them with food.

Elm forests protect their safety.

But elm forests have limited output and are not able to meet the needs of large populations, let alone any development. The Yuyuan army also tried to get out, but after leaving the Yulin forest, they were no match for the Qing army at all. After Li Hua's defeat and capture last year, the other units of the Yuyuan Army did not dare to take a step in the Yulin forest, and had been hiding in the forest for more than half a year, until they heard that the 2,000 cavalry of the Chu army had entered Henan from the monk of Ludong, so they took the opportunity to send troops into eastern Henan. A sturdy big deal.

It is indeed a big deal, and the Yuyuan Army sent troops to conquer a county town and more than 30 forts this time. All of them were looted, Zhang Qi dragged them away so slowly, just to transport a large amount of food and materials, they were really poor, no matter what bottles and cans were broken, even if they looked useless, they all moved back.

The whole Yuyuan army felt very happy and satisfied with the status quo. During the Chinese New Year, they were still eating bran vegetables miserably, but now they can let go of their belly and eat dumplings, pancakes and green onions casually. Zhang Qi even killed two pigs very generously. As a gift to Li Laiheng, of course, he did not suffer a loss, Li Laiheng was more generous than him, and gave back a full five hundred taels of snowflake silver. It was all treasury silver stolen from the treasury of the Manchu Dynasty.

According to Zhang Qi's original plan. Since the harvest of sending troops to Yudong this time is so rich, you can hide in the forest and live a good life for a while, and if possible, subdue some small units of Yuyuan Army to expand your strength.

Although the Qing army was overwhelmed, he was not worried, as long as Li Laiheng and them were sent away, the Qing army would naturally withdraw the encirclement of the elm forest. In order to achieve this goal, he was even willing to launch an attack on Tong Yangliang in order to break the encirclement of the Qing army. Open the way for the twisting army...... I have done my best, and you should go. Don't always crowd into my little pond.

Yiqiē was very well arranged, and Li Laiheng was also very good-natured, and offered to leave the elm forest after the battle, but when the atmosphere was at its most harmonious, Li Laiheng suddenly raised a question, what if the Qing army opened the Yellow River embankment and flooded the elm forest?

“……”

Zhang Qi was speechless, this move was too ruthless, he really didn't expect it before.

Under the elm forest, the Yuyuan army dug a lot of tunnels, and planted a lot of crops in the open space between the forests, if the elm forest is flooded, the tunnels and crops will definitely be destroyed, and the Yuyuan army can only go up the trees as monkeys, and after a long time, they will starve to death.

"General Xiao Li, don't dare to talk nonsense, keep your voice down!"

Ye Tingxiu's face also changed greatly, and he looked left and right nervously, as if they would be heard by the Manchu Tartars when they were talking here: "May I ask General Xiao Li, did you come up with such a desperate plan to open the embankment of the Yellow River?" Does anyone else know? ”

If such a vicious idea reached the ears of the Manchu Tartars, and the Yellow River embankment was really opened, the Yuyuan Army would be finished.

"Ah, this is what my Wang Junmen thought of." Li Laiheng did not take credit, and gave this "honor" to Wang Kefan: "When I came to Henan, Wang Junmen specially wrote to me that although the elm forest is easy to defend and difficult to attack, it is not a place to live for a long time. ”

"Don't be afraid of fire, we have dug a tunnel, and we can ...... together with the fire" Zhang Qi was just halfway through his speech, when he suddenly stopped. If the Qing army first opened the embankment of the Yellow River, destroyed the tunnels under the elm forest, and then set fire to the forest, the Yuyuan army would not have been able to escape.

"This matter is related to the lives of 100,000 soldiers and civilians in Yuyuan, and General Xiao Li must not spread the word." Ye Tingxiu instructed again and again, and asked solemnly: "May I ask General Xiao Li, is there a way to crack Wang Junmen?"

"Yes, Wang Junmen has a message for Zhang Shuai." Li Laiheng paused, and spit out four words vigorously: "Three holes of cunning rabbits!" ”

It was already lunch time, Li Laiheng asked the guests to stay for dinner, but Zhang Qi and Ye Tingxiu didn't have the heart to eat, and said goodbye with a heavy heart to leave.

Seeing that their ideological pressure was too great, Li Laiheng hurriedly relieved a few words, such a vicious plan to open the Yellow River embankment, only a ruthless person who treats human life as a mustard can come up with it, Wu Jingdao, the governor of Henan in the Manchu Qing Dynasty, is a civil official who plays with a pen, and he should not think of doing this, and there is no danger in the elm forest for the time being.

Zhang Qi and Ye Tingxiu's faces suddenly became very embarrassed, how awkward it sounded, as if Wang Kefan had been scolded, but Wu Jingdao had become a good person.

Li Laiheng didn't notice it, and specially told them not to think too much about other things, and to fight the battle against Tong Yangliang in front of them first.

"General Xiao Li, don't worry, I will definitely take out twelve points of strength in this battle, and I have to call Shangren Qi and Liang Min a few of them." Zhang Qi sighed and said: "Alas, I used to think that the elm forest was foolproof, and I didn't want to fight hard with the Tartars, but today I was woken up by General Xiao Li, and I realized that we can't be so muddy anymore, no matter where we go in the future, we have to fight out of the elm forest......"

The three caves of the cunning rabbit are to open up a new base area, and you can't rely too much on the elm forest, but this is not a simple matter, and where to go has to be carefully considered.

Yimeng Mountain in central Shandong seems to be a good choice......

Not long after Zhang Qi and Ye Tingxiu left, another group of guests came in front of the Twist Army Barracks.

"Good horse!"

Li Laiheng secretly cheered in his heart.

Stampede, stomp! More than a dozen healthy horses lined up in front of the camp gate, a good horse outside the mouth of a water, and the horsemen were all burly Shandong men, led by the army general leopard head ringed eyes, hung the Zhangba snake spear on the victory hook, and saluted Li Laiheng with a fist.

"I heard that General Xiao Li arrived at the boundary of Shandong, and we Shandong eighteen good men came to worship the camp, my surname is Lin, and the people in the rivers and lakes call Lin Chong, the head of the leopard, this is my brother Dadaoguan Sheng......"

A military general in a green robe urged to step forward, he held a big knife in one hand, and still had three strands of long hair, grabbed the reins and nodded to Li Laiheng, looking very arrogant.

The next one to make the double whip is the double whip Hu Yanzhuo, and the one holding the mace in his hand is the thunderbolt fire Qin Ming...... This group of people is actually ranked according to the five tiger generals and eight hussars of Liangshan, and the blades they use can generally match, and they will not be mistaken if they are familiar with the Water Margin.

There is also a Taoist priest who claims to be the dragon grandson Sheng, but the back few are not easy to identify, one also makes a double whip, another makes a big axe, and one makes a sledgehammer, and the last bald monk robes are covered with cotton armor, and he holds a sharp horse chopping knife, which is particularly unique.

"General Xiao Li, guess who I am?" Not only is he dressed very stylishly, but his expression is also cowhide coaxing, and at first glance he looks like a flower monk who does not quit drinking and meat.

"Lu Zhishen?" Li Laiheng was a little unsure, this monk was not too fat, and his appearance was much worse than Lu Zhishen.

"Hey, Lu Zhishen is from Shaanxi, and I am Wu Song, a serious Shandong hero." The monk laughed proudly, it seemed that this was his favorite game, and he was happy when others guessed wrong.

"Wu Song is a hair-headed monk, not a bald monk, and Lin Chong and Dadao Guan Sheng are not from Shandong......" Zhang Nai complained in a low voice.

"It's all random nicknames, as long as you like it, besides, if you are lenient and lenient, the heroes of Liangshan are all from Shandong." Monk Zhudong introduced: "Shandong people are proud of the heroes of Liangshan, and there are many people who use the nickname of Liangshan to ring horses in the green forest, and these eighteen heroes are originally famous ringing horses in Caozhou, and now they are also people of the Yuyuan Army." ”

The next one to make a big axe, Li Laiheng is still not sure, there is already a Suo Chao just now, and now this may be Li Kui?

"Uh-huh! I'm Cheng biting gold! ”

A little messy, Zhang Nai lowered his head in pain and rubbed his face desperately.

"I'm Uncle Qin!" Make the self-report of the double whip to the door.

"I'm Li Yuanba!" Make the sledgehammer bigger.

Li Laiheng's face did not change, and he hugged his fists and saluted them one by one.

Zhang Nai turned his head, leaned into the ear of Monk Ludong, and asked in a low voice, "Why are there still good men in the Sui and Tang Dynasties?" ”

"They are all Shandong heroes." Monk Ludong said: "They turned out to be thieves with high martial arts, and they were very good at killing Tartars, you see that their war horses are good, right?" All snatched from the Tartars. ”

Zhang Nai is a good and serious character: "Is it okay for Li Yuanba to be from Shanxi?" ”

Monk Ludong thought for a while and said, "This ...... Shandong Shanxi is a family. ”

After Li Laiheng and the eighteen heroes finished saluting one by one, he said to Lin Chong: "Everyone is coming, please come into the village to eat, and let's talk while eating." ”

"No need. We are all countrymen who don't know the rules, and we don't want to annoy people and be looked down upon. Lin Chong glanced at Zhang Nai, who was biting his ears with Monk Dong, and looked very dissatisfied with how long his face was, Zhang Nai quickly turned around and nodded solemnly to him.

Lin Chong retracted his stern gaze and asked Li Laiheng loudly: "We are not here to eat today, but I just want to ask General Xiao Li, why can Zhang Qi and Ren Qi be big officials, but we have eighteen good men in Shandong but no court has sued them?" (To be continued......)