At dawn, the sky revealed the whiteness of the fish's belly. The cold air filled the air with the smell of ashes after the fire had been extinguished.

Yesterday evening, when he encountered a few deer, Zhao Yun shot down with an arrow with the help of Tesila's speed, and even Gao Shun praised him for his good archery skills. Everyone had a full meal and chatted about family life. Yuan Xi remembered Tian Yulai, this mustachioed general's archery skills were really good, and he almost died under his arrows in a hundred steps, and even Yuan Shao was almost hit. If his luck is a little better, Gongsun Chan may be able to turn the tables, which is really a matter of chance. This time, Gongsun Chan was destroyed in Yijing, and I don't know what happened to this mustache now? Did you escape, or did you die with Gongsun Zhan? If there is a chance, Yuan Xi really wants to recruit this person.

After Jiao Touch was tied up, he was very honest and didn't talk much, only when Yuan Xi asked him a question, he would answer a sentence or two. He boasted that he was the leader of the nearby cottage, but in fact, he was chased by Gongsun Zhan's official army and had nowhere to hide, so he had to fall here. Wars and chaos in Youzhou are frequent, and most of the common people wander among being thieves and people, and some people even run to the mountains to be thieves in winter, and then come back to cultivate the land in spring. The reason for this is that the government's forced labor is too heavy, and if you stay in the countryside, you will be arrested and your family's fields will be wasted. Flee to the mountains, maybe you can subsidize your family a little.

Yuan Xi and his party walked all morning, and when they came to a crescent-shaped depression, they stopped. Yuan Xi said: "Just wait for them here......"

Jiao Touch was a little frightened, but he didn't dare to say more.

After an hour, suddenly there was the sound of horses' hooves in the distance, and I saw four or five horses in sight, which seemed to be the men and horses who had followed his team a few days ago, and there were many people behind them, who were also in tattered clothes, similar to Jiao Touch's men.

"Hey, the guy in front, let my brother scorch—"

Immediately a man wore a round fur hat and a torn leather jacket, and his body was bulging, and he didn't know whether it was because the clothes were thick or because he was fat. The thin horse under him was pressed by him, wide at the top and narrow at the bottom, looking very difficult.

When Jiao Yan saw him, he immediately said, "This is my brother Zhang Nan." Although my skills are not as good as mine, I have joined the army and been a general before, and the people under me are much braver. ”

Yuan Xi said: "General? Where did he join the army? ”

Jiao touched and said: "Saying it scares you to death, he was a general on the side of Jizhou Mu Yuan Shao......"

Yuan Xi said: "Jizhou pastor? Why have you never heard of such a general, what kind of general do you say? ”

Jiao Zhi's words were sluggish, how could he know the geometry of the general's rank, but he usually bragged too much between brothers, and he must have said that his brother had been a general, and he was majestic, and if he blew it out, he couldn't take it back.

I don't know how deep this crescent-shaped depression is, the surface is covered with a layer of ice, and the water thaws this season, and the ice is not thick, and people will definitely fall down when they step on it. Yuan Xi and the others were in the center of the depression, surrounded by water on three sides, and in the words of the art of war, it was the place of execution. Zhang Nan and the others came up a few steps, and then surrounded the exit, and they couldn't fly out unless they escaped from the ice.

Zhang Nan saw this posture and laughed: "Sure enough, I don't know whether I am alive or dead, and I actually chose the place to rest on the dead ground, I think you can escape?" Hand over my brother quickly, or none of you will escape. ”

He and the three horsemen on the left and right took the lead, and then hundreds of bandits formed a human wall, blocked the exit of the depression, and slowly approached up. It can be seen that Zhang Nan is indeed much stronger than Jiao Touch, who was stopped on the road to rob at that time, and the formation was out of order. And Zhang Nan's subordinates at least have a tacit understanding in their actions, and they are relatively closely connected with each other.

Yuan Xilang said: "Did you let Jiao Touch go, you just let us go?" ”

Zhang Nandao: "Of course ...... then"

Yuan Xi instructed left and right: "Release people." ”

A soldier of the People's Army came over and untied the rope from Jiao Touch's hand. The others continued to stand in a queue led by Gao Shun, surrounding Yuan Xi and the convoy in the center. Zhao Yun and ten guards were closely guarding Yuan Xi's side.

Jiao Touch was a little surprised, and let himself go so easily? He moved his wrist and said to Yuan Xi, "My lord really let me go?" If you catch me, maybe my brother won't take you? ”

Yuan Xi said impatiently: "Are you going or not?" ”

Jiao Touch's whole body trembled, and he said again and again: "Let's go...... Walk ......"

He was really fed up with being tied up and pushed in the car like a dead pig all day, when he regained his freedom and hurriedly ran out of the crowd towards where his brother Zhang Nan was.

Zhang Nan didn't expect them to let go of the hostages so easily, and thought that they were scared when they saw that there were many of them, so they couldn't help but laugh proudly.

Yuan Xi saw that Jiao was back in Zhang Nan's camp, so he said loudly: "The people have been released, you should also withdraw, right?" ”

Zhang Nandao: "Withdrawn? When did I say that if you let people go, you will leave? Did I say no? ”

The thieves around him all laughed strangely, laughing at Yuan Xi's childishness. With so many truckloads of goods, as well as horses, it was a good deal. There is little oil and water on this road, and the brothers have long been hungry and thirsty, and they finally have a business, and they still don't earn a vote?

Only Jiao touched Zhang Nan and whispered: "Brother, forget it, they didn't torture me, or let them go." ”

Zhang Nan looked at him condescendingly on the horse, and felt that this short and fat man seemed to be much more honest, and he didn't know where the madness of the past had gone. Knowing that he was caught by someone, he lost face, and if he worked harder, he might be able to replace him in the top spot in the cottage. So he said: "Big brother don't rest, see my brother breathe a good breath for you." He gave a random order: "Brothers, whoever cuts off the most heads will share more." All in one. ”

He was afraid that his subordinates would patronize and rob things, so he did not cooperate to kill the enemy, and deliberately used his head as an indicator of dividing the spoils. Sure enough, when his subordinates heard this, their eyes were fierce, and they all shouted in response. The scene was heated for a while.

Yuan Xi waved his hand and asked Zhao Yun to command. There are only more than ten soldiers in this class, plus the people who push the cart, they are lined up, and Gao Shun is one head taller than the others, standing in the middle protrusion, which is particularly eye-catching. I saw that they all put their shields on the ground and let out a low cheer, which startled the bandits, and they paused at their feet, and then slowly surrounded them.

Zhang Nan shouted in the back and said, "What are you waiting for, their boxes are full of gold!" ”

The bandits let out a strange scream, and suddenly accelerated and rushed up, and the weapons in their hands were very miscellaneous, with knives, guns and clubs, and they waved them one after another.

Yuan Xi's side, although it is commanded by Zhao Yun, is actually the content of the usual training. Yuan Xi took into account the versatility of the troops, and specially equipped them with a variety of weapons and equipment, one of which was that each person had a bow and ten feather arrows, which were usually in their backpacks, and they were to be taken out and hung on their belts when they were going to fight.

"Arrows!"

Everyone drew their bows and arrows and fired arrows at the bandits. Because the quality required for archery is too high, it is necessary to go through long-term training to shoot accurately, and the training cost is too high. For ordinary soldiers, in fact, archery does not need to be practiced to a hundred steps through the Yang, just a dense strike on the battlefield. Just like the artillery fire of the later generations, as long as it is covered and provided support, it doesn't matter if it is allowed or not. Under this guiding ideology, these creeps only need to raise the direction slightly by an angle, then shoot the arrow in a parabola, and then immediately shoot the next round, without aiming at all.

Whoosh, a round of bows and arrows fired, although the number was small, but all hit the dense crowd. A few of the thieves were caught off guard and fell, and although they did not shoot the vital point and did not die, they startled their companions.

"They have bows and arrows...... "Some people panicked and slowed down.

Zhang Nan shouted from behind: "What are you afraid of, there are only a few of them, they run slowly, be careful that things are taken away by others." ”

As soon as he shouted like this, the bandits plucked up their courage again.

"Bright Knife—"

After shooting two rounds of bows and arrows, with a shout, the soldiers on Yuan Xi's side put down their bows and arrows one after another and took out their short knives. With a knife in one hand and a shield in the other.

Running closer, I saw clearly the hideous appearance of these bandits, although the physique and the people's army could not be compared, but the victory was in the large number of people, teeth and claws, and the momentum was very strong.

In the whistling sound, like two waves, the two lines slowly gathered together, making an amazing roar.