readx;?“ In the early morning of May 30, the main force of the South Bank Army began to pull out the camp," Zhou Rui wrote while looking left and right, while Liming next to him quietly squatted on the ground to observe the situation on the back. The specific number of www.biquge.info people cannot be counted, but the camps reconnoitred are less than 300 people. The flags of the battalions were not moved, presumably in order to disguise the illusion that the main force was still there. ”

Today's weather is cloudy, the moon is hidden and the stars are scarce, and Zhou Rui and the others are still counting the main force of the South Shore Army on a nearby hill. The crowds of people who had come out of the various camps were now converging on the road to the east, and there were not many people with torches in their hands, but they were only lighting the way and showing the way. These soldiers eat a very simple type of food on weekdays, and they have long developed night blindness, and there is no moonlight at night, and without these torches to guide the way, it is impossible to find a way forward. However, they did not dare to light too many torches, lest the Medenor people discover that almost all of the South Bank troops had left, and to avoid falling into the pretext of disrespect, so they could only use this situation of lighting one torch per section of the road.

Zhao Ximin and Ruan Wei discussed and decided to take advantage of the cloudy day to take all the troops to the port of Champa when they were young. The Medeno people will never run out at night to check how many people they are coming in and out, and only by traveling at night can they hide the actual number of people.

At this time, Zhao Ximin was riding a horse and patrolling back and forth in the team, while Ruan Wei sat directly on a carriage and followed the soldiers' team to the east. Zhao Ximin's heart was like pressing a stone at this time, this kind of behavior of secretly taking away the entire South Coast Army can actually be treated as a rebellion, if you can rush to Zhancheng Port in a short time, and quickly occupy and quickly return to defense after victory, it is good, but if there is a setback under Zhancheng Port and cannot be attacked for a long time, it will be a big trouble. The thousands of people who stayed in the camp were mainly to cover up the whereabouts of the main force, although it would not be exposed for a while, but after a long time, whether it was the movement in the barracks or the amount of food purchased, it could be seen that the main force of the South Bank Army was not in Jiezhen. If the siege of Champa Port had been turned into a siege war, the 100,000 men of the South Shore Army would not have been able to hold out at all.

He asked his master Qian Liang to check the grain reserves, and there was probably about 3,000 stone of grain, which was barely enough for the South Bank Army to fight outside for about a month. The siege battle is generally not uncommon for a year and a half, so this battle can not be left behind, and the whole army can only surprise as soon as it arrives at the battlefield, and take the port of Zhancheng in one fell swoop with the momentum of a fierce lion fighting a rabbit. He knew very well in his heart that Jiezhen was completely gone, and even if he captured the port of Zhancheng, the people of Maidno would not throw Jiezhen out. Zhao Ximin has a certain understanding of the Maidno people, they have been looking around for a continent to live in, and they have landed in many places in the Wu Dynasty a few decades ago to try to occupy the land, but they were driven back to the sea by the Wu Dynasty army. This time, the Maidno people were able to spend so much trouble to drive Nguyen Phuc Nguyen out of Hue, which must have been a plan to seize Annam as a colony. At this time, the army of the Medenor people rushed to Jiezhen, which was nothing more than to grasp Annan's throat more thoroughly, so that it would be easier to play Annan in the palm of his hand. Therefore, the boundary town was taken over by the Medeno people at this time, and it will definitely not be handed back to him, and the defense of the Jiezhen area will be lost to the Medeno people, at least he still has such a strong army, if he really can't mix in Nan Annan, it is a big deal to defect to the Wu Dynasty or North Annan, the more soldiers in his hand, the greater the bargaining chips at that time, if he can capture the port of Zhancheng, then he can have a bigger bargaining chip, and at that time, even if he talks with the Medeno people, it is not impossible. As for the "emperor" in Hue who doesn't poop, Zhao Ximin snorted disdainfully when he thought of this, and muttered, "That bastard, Lao Tzu won't play with you anymore." ”

Ruan Wei's carriage was stacked with many quilts, and a mat was spread on the quilt...... He couldn't stand this kind of official road that was as rotten as a ridge, and there was no shock absorber on this kind of carriage, and it was completely rigid frame. Although there is a lot of meat on his body, he still can't stand the uncomfortable feeling caused by the shaking of the road, so he can only use this primitive shock absorption measure to make himself comfortable.

But now it's summer, sitting in a stuffy carriage with a big quilt lit under his buttocks, it feels like sitting on a fire, not to mention that he Ruan Wei is still a dead fat man, and his whole body is sweating - oil is pouring out, I should say. Therefore, he could only ask his own soldiers to get him several mats, but these straw mats did not feel cool at all, so he could only let his soldiers wipe them with cold water on the side, and then change them in, and wait until they were full of sweat and oil, and then let his concubine replace them.

"This ghost weather still has to go on an expedition, it's really a sin." The concubine was chattering on the side, Ruan Wei was originally upset because of the stuffiness and the shaking of the vehicle, and at this time he was nagging by the woman next to him, and he was even more angry, and waved his hand twice in the air, but he couldn't hit her. He didn't bother to get up again, and yelled at the concubine, "Stick your face over!" The concubine was so frightened that she slowly stretched out her face, but was slapped in the face by Ruan Wei's mouth, and her eyes were full of stars, and she couldn't help but cover her face and cry bitterly, Ruan Wei was even more upset by this cry, turned over on the mat, and yelled at the concubine, "Don't cry!" ”

The woman's crying stopped abruptly, and she just squatted there and stared blankly at the pile of meat. Ruan Wei's handboard, which was bigger than her face, pointed to the mat on the side, "Replace it for me!" The concubine looked at the straw mat with a look of despair on it, which was suddenly covered with human-shaped sweat stains, which had just been replaced.

This little episode did not affect the mighty soldiers of the South Bank Army in the slightest, and at this time, the soldiers widened their eyes in vain, and with their weapons in their hands, they marched as quickly as possible from an official road two miles in front of Jiezhen towards the east, under the guidance of the good-eyed vanguard soldiers in front of them.

"General!" A herald ran quickly into the bedroom and shouted at Russell, who was still enjoying the two Annam women on the bed. Russell hurriedly got up and covered the two screaming women with a thin blanket, he didn't scold the herald, because this was his order, as long as it was military information, he should report it immediately He knew that Russell's long-term combat experience had already tempered Russell, and he knew that the matter of intelligence could not be delayed, and once it was delayed, it would increase losses for no reason.

"What's the matter?" Russell was looking for his shirt as he hurriedly put on his pants.

"Outside the city, Annan's army is marching in." The herald hurriedly said, "They didn't light many torches, and they advanced almost in the dark, and the direction of travel was to the east. ”

"Okay, call the staff officers, and discuss the military in the flower hall in five minutes! Just go! Russell draped his shirt over his body and began to fumble for buttons. The herald hurriedly saluted and left, Russell thought for a moment, he remembered that the Annamite had reported this matter to him, and it seemed that he would send troops to Champa Port tonight, which should not be suspicious, but it always felt a little wrong. After two laps around the bedroom, he felt a little distraught, and finally pushed open the door and walked to the flower hall. There was a sentry standing under the porch of the door, and he said to the soldier, "Go and give the order, and the whole army is assembled!" The soldier hurriedly saluted and turned to leave.

The wings on both sides of the patio are the residences of the staff officers, each room is open, there are a lot of candles lit inside, the gold and silver piled up in the room reflect the candlelight brightly, you can see that many staff officers are getting dressed quickly, and there are women's laughter in many rooms, obviously what they have been doing before. However, military intelligence is an order, and as long as there is military intelligence, even the most important second must be stopped immediately. The calling drum in the distance began to sound, and according to Meednor's order, if the three-way drum was not reached, he would be considered a deserter and shot on the spot.

The doors of many rooms in the streets and alleys suddenly opened, and the Medeno soldiers, one by one, with their clothes in their hands, or bare-chested, or with their arms between their clothes, and their trousers and canvas boots on their feet, hurried to their respective camps. The officers stood silently at the gates of their respective quarters, coldly looking at the soldiers running down the street. At this time, the second drum began to sound again, and the soldiers rushed into their respective camps, quickly donning their uniforms, quickly putting on their boots, and then going to get their weapons and equipment.

The dragoons were also quickly dressed, and some were scurrying around the garden with their weapons, looking for their horses, which were now free-ranged in the garden, and had already gnawed the flowers and plants in the garden. The shouting and neighing of horses came and went, and the whole city was in a hurry.

"Stand up!" As Russell walked into the flower hall that was the military room, the officers on duty who were already inside and a few squadron leaders who arrived first immediately stood up. "Sit down, how many people haven't arrived?"

The officer on duty hurriedly looked left and right and replied, "General, there are still two squadron leaders who have not come." ”

"Who knows what's going on out there?" Russell didn't bother to ask who didn't come, and asked directly. The officer on duty hurriedly said, "Since an hour ago, there have been Annan people who have been massing and then marching east along the road. ”

"That's normal, but why do you feel the need to notify me?" Russell asked, staring at the officer on duty. The officer on duty hurriedly said, "That's right, it's very abnormal to march at night without lighting, but these people are marching in the camp, whether in the camp or on the road, there are always not many lights and torches on the road for more than ten miles, and this situation seems to be to cover up something." ”

"What do you think should be covered up?" Russell said, glancing at the two officers who were storming into the chamber, he didn't say anything more, just continued to stare at the officers on duty.

The officer on duty hurriedly explained, "I think it should be to cover up the number of people or the materials and equipment they carry." ”

"Well, I'd like to do it." Russell nodded and spun around. Outside, a third drum sounded, and the roll call of the troops came and went, especially at night. "Disband the troops." Russell said, "There is no need to worry about this, the most the Annan people can do is to take away a lot of grain and grass, and the silver is already stuck here, and they can't leave." When they take the port of Champa, we can also force them to spend money to ransom Jiezhen, as for the port of Champang, that was originally our set goal, it doesn't matter if they bring more people there, it is better to fight it sooner after all. There is no need to get the whole army moving for this matter, just strengthen the vigilance tonight, lest they eat the bear's heart and leopard gall and come to attack our idea. ”

The officer on duty was a little worried, "But general, if they take too many people away, and maybe even take them all away, then there are not many troops in the defense area of Jiezhen, and there may even be only a few of us left, if the monkeys from North Annan come to attack at this time, I am afraid it will be difficult to resist." ”

"It doesn't matter, although Zhao Ximin is greedy, he is not stupid, if he takes all the people away, it will directly affect the security of the entire region, if the boundary town is lost, he can't afford this responsibility." Russell continued, "Even if he wanted to take more people with him, there were only more than 10,000 people, which was not too difficult for us and others. He waved his hand, "It's disbanded tonight, it's okay." ”

The guards outside hurriedly gestured to the drummer in the distance, and the drummer struck a blow. One by one, the Medeno soldiers grumbled or yawned, and then turned back to the gentle country where they had been. The dragoons put their horses in the garden and went about their own business.

The Annan soldiers passing outside the city were still marching continuously, because there was not enough lighting, the whole queue was walking very slowly, Zhao Ximin had been running back and forth several times near the boundary town, at this time he was stopping at a gentle slope, looking at the march below like a large group of blind people groping their way on the official road, and felt that his heart was dripping blood. He didn't know why his soldiers couldn't see anything at night, like a bunch of blind men. The same is true of Ruan Wei's soldiers, Ito's soldiers are slightly better, but they can't see clearly. But it's pretty good during the day, and now it's like a swarm of snails crawling forward slowly, at this speed, 100,000 people don't say a night, even if it goes to tomorrow afternoon, it may not be able to finish.

But he didn't want to light a lot of torches, once he really lit the torches, then the city of Jiezhen would definitely be able to see the situation below. "General!" A young general drove his horse over, rolled the saddle in front of him, and saluted, "Our army is marching too slowly, and at this speed, I am afraid that it will not be able to finish at dawn!" As he spoke, he pointed to the back, "There are still a large number of carriages and horses that need to be transported away quickly, otherwise I am afraid that the rearguard troops will not be able to set off tomorrow afternoon." ”

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