It is said that Sun Dingliao, chief of staff, transferred manpower and equipment from various battalions, and 50 people were divided into eight reed rafts, carrying six tiger squat guns and two general guns, and drifted down the Yellow River at noon. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

Along the way, the Yellow River meanders, like a long white dragon, and it is close and far away from the southern foot of the green mountains.

This section of the Yellow River is low and flat, and almost every spring when the Yellow River is flooded, the Yellow River will be diverted, and the river will swing in a range of more than ten miles wide by its own nature.

The map issued by the General Staff did not show the specific location of the Yellow River, so Sun Dingliao could only judge the distance based on the peaks of Yinshan Mountain in the north.

There were no people on both sides of the strait, and eight rafts drifted slowly, as if the creatures between heaven and earth were left with these rafts.

The raft said: "How much grain is produced per acre of land is a fixed number, and how many cattle and sheep can be fed in a pasture is also a fixed number." This section is less populated, and the water is thick when it reaches Shimen. ”

"The advantage of the raft is that it walks during the day and at night, and the chief of staff should not be in a hurry, so that the brethren can nourish their spirits on the raft. Tomorrow, I will see the tomb of Zhaojun on the south bank, and the dirt river channel will become a stone river, and we will not be far from Shimen Shui. ”

Sun Dingliao woke up early the next morning, although he didn't see Zhaojun's tomb, he saw a herd of cattle and sheep on the north bank.

Shepherds on horseback shouted on the shore:

"Hey, the five-pointed star flag in the river, are you the rescuers sent by Tabunang-"

The soldier on the raft was ordered to respond in a loud voice, "Yes! ――”

The shepherd turned his horse and left.

After a short time, seven or eight horsemen appeared on the shore, holding their skins high and rocking them towards the raft.

The nomadic soldier from the second battalion on the raft said, "They have prepared a feast, please let us go and eat!" ”

The soldiers had spent the night on the raft, and there was an urgent need for a place that would be greatly convenient.

Sun Dingliao then ordered the raft to dock.

As soon as the soldier with his trousers came ashore, he was warmly pulled by the shepherd and asked questions.

"Have you ever seen Tabu Bag fall from the sky on a cloud?"

"Is it true that Tabub's mount has a round of sun in front and a cloud of smoke in the back?"

"Have you ever seen the divine fire brought by Tabu Sang at the beginning of the equinox of heaven and earth?"

"Do we not believe in Buddhism?"

These people are dressed in typical nomadic attire, with a variety of hairstyles, but they can all speak Chinese with a Kannai Jin and Shaanxi accent.

The shepherds spread out the felt on the shore, poured goat's milk out of their skins, took out fried millet from their pockets, and killed sheep and roasted meat for the chief of staff.

Sun Dingliao refused the shepherd's killing of sheep on the grounds of the urgency of the military situation, but he was very grateful in his heart.

In the past, in Liaodong, officers and men only rescued the soldiers, not the people, and had to snatch grain from the people, and the officers and soldiers were like fire and water with the people. Here, the soldiers and civilians are simply a family.

After the conversation, Sun Dingliao learned that these shepherds were the first refugees to set off for the Iron Country. More than half of the shepherd's cattle and sheep were the property of the caravan, and it was the flower head cabinet that entrusted them to rush to the Wolf Mountain River.

Further east, there are more refugees and cattle and sheep behind, and the narrow places have blocked the passage!

What surprised Sun Dingliao the most was that it was said that Mo Rigen and Yilong had already raised no less than a thousand people in just a few days!

After a brief meal, the chief of staff ordered people to go ashore and take the land route, rode fast horses to report with the guide, and led eight rafts to continue down the river.

Along the way, more and more cattle and sheep migrated westward, and you can often see villages on the shore or under the mountains, and the style of the houses is no different from that of the Central Plains.

It was nearly noon, and Sun Dingliao crossed the stone river near Zhaojun's tomb and arrived at Shimenshui.

Sun Dingliao's old subordinate Kong Youxing had already led more than 100 people to wait on the shore.

The Shimenshui channel is wide, but the river is small, and the river meanders into the Yellow River in a flat channel. Kong Youxing's original errand was to choose a suitable area in the Shimen River channel to organize the people and cattle and sheep to cross the river, and immediately led a team to the estuary to meet Sun Dingliao after receiving the news.

Kong Youxing reported that the current location of a dragon is at a ferry in the lower reaches of the Yellow River, and Mo Rigen is in Dabansheng City, and there are still more than 30 miles from the mouth of the Yellow River in Shimenshui to the mouth of the ditch under the green mountain.

When Sun Dingliao heard this, he directly merged more than 100 people from Kong Youxing, and ordered the fifty sergeants who rushed to the aid of Qingshanzui to abandon the boat and land, and after a short rest, they went up the Shimen Water River; The artillery and supplies were concentrated on two rafts, and the mules and horses were collected by Kong Youxing and marched up the stone gate; The remaining six empty rafts continued down the Yellow River in search of a dragon convergence.

Kong Youxing introduced that there is a village nearby, called Machi Village. Every household in Machi Village rubs hemp, and there are thirteen large ponds at the entrance of the village for soaking hemp poles, so it is named.

The green hemp in the field has just begun to be harvested, and the people of Machi Village can't bear to leave behind the harvest, so there are many people in the village, and they can go to Machi Village to collect thick ropes and livestock for pulling fiber. If the chief of staff needs it, he can also recruit additional helpers who bring their own dry rations.

Sun Dingliao was already surprised that Mo Rigen and Yilong could recruit a team of more than 1,000 people, and at this time, listening to Kong You's tone, it seemed that it was easy to recruit people on the spot, and he couldn't help but ask: "Why does Tabu Sang have such prestige here?" Don't you care about the people of the prince of Tumut? ”

Kong Youxing saw that there was no one around, and replied in a low voice: "Vice General Sun, to tell you the truth, it's not that Tabu Bang has prestige, it's really that the people are disappointed in the current Prince Tumut." ”

"The prince and Taiji of Tumut all believe in the Yellow Sect of non-killing, and they will only be obedient in everything and hope for God's blessing. The war is just around the corner, and the prince doesn't care about the people just reciting the scriptures with one mind. Now that there is a Tabu Bag who does not believe in Buddhism, the people are willing to follow the Tabu Bag to survive. ”

"Anyway, Tabu Nang and Taiji are both from Genghis Khan's family, and no one will care about which one is the main one of Tabu Nang and Taiji. In addition, Mo Zhigen showed the treasure of Altan, and now it is rumored on the grassland that Tabu Nang is the reincarnation of Alatan Khan, who came down from the sky to save the people of Jinguo, and now even the soldiers and horses of the original prince Tumut are subject to our moderation. ”

The more than 1,000 people gathered by Mozhigen were herdsmen, and according to the rules of the steppe, these people brought their own horses, bows, arrows and food, and went home after the battle. There are also countless farmers and craftsmen in this place, and it is a matter of one sentence to raise as many people as they want to bring their own dry food. ”

Originally, Sun Dingliao thought that it was possible to fight with the men and horses of the prince Tumut at the ditch mouth of the Shimen Waterway, and he was relieved to hear Kong Youxing's words.

At that moment, Sun Dingliao arranged the soldiers, and he led more than a dozen horsemen with Kong Youxing to go ashore to investigate the terrain on the grassland.

On his way to Machi Village, Sun Dingliao passed through a ruined earthen city.

It can be seen from the ruins and broken walls of the earth city that the highest part of the remaining earth wall can have two zhang, the bottom of the earth wall is three zhang wide, and the top is one zhang wide.

Sun Dingliao beat his horse and circled the earth city. It was found that this earthen city originally had two cities, north and south, and the walls of the two cities were slightly shorter from north to south and slightly longer from east to west, all of which were around 200 zhang long. Comparatively, the north city is slightly larger, the south city is slightly smaller, and the two cities are connected to each other in the shape of an inverted "Lu".

Sun Dingliao beat his horse and penetrated the earthen city from between the broken walls, and a puff of smoke and dust rolled up behind him.

There are three high loess mounds in the city.

Local soldiers said that this earthen city has existed since ancient times. The people on the grassland worship ghosts and gods, whether they are building houses or farming, they will avoid this ancient city. The three mounds in the city also don't know what the years and months are, I don't know what they are for, the locals call them "big pimples", "two pimples" and "three pimples" according to the size, and they also come to the three pimples to put incense on the red during the New Year's holidays.

Looking north from the middle of the northern city, there is a five-zhang wide opening in the middle of the northern wall of the northern city. From this opening, it looks far away, facing the ditch mouth of the Shimen waterway;

Looking south from the middle of the southern city, there is also a five-zhang wide opening in the middle of the southern wall of the southern city. The ravines on the Loess Plateau in the distance seem to have been cut in this direction, and all the protruding ridges have been cut down in unison.

According to the local soldiers, it was called the "Sage Strip".

Sun Dingliao turned his horse around a few times and looked up to the sky and smiled.

Sun Dingliao's horsewhip pointed to the "sage strip":

"This is the Qin Straight Road in the Qin and Han Dynasties! The ancient city under our feet is Jiuyuan City! ”

"Lu Bu, the first fierce general of the Three Kingdoms, was born in Jiuyuan City. These three mounds of earth in the city shall be for sacrifices to the heavens and the earth. ”