Even though he still felt very tired, when Li Dan found him and said that his eldest brother was in a hurry, Zhang Mengguang still shook his head and followed Li Dan to his eldest brother's tent. Li Dan, who was passing the word, didn't know what was actually going on, Zhang Mengguang's heart was very uneasy, and he was a little afraid that something would happen to Huzi.

Huzi's father, the fourth of Zhang's peers, died of illness at an early age. The fourth sister-in-law worked very hard to raise Huzi and his sister, and she had saved up a lot of problems after years of hard work.

Although when the fourth sister-in-law was orphaned, Zhang Mengguang was not on the scene because he was still in the army. But Zhang Mengguang still made up his mind to discipline the only seedling left by his fourth cousin. Even if Zhang Zhaoen repeatedly caused trouble, Zhang Mengguang never said that he would drive him out.

After following Li Dan to the eldest brother, as soon as Zhang Mengguang entered the military tent, he directly asked the eldest brother sitting in the center, "Is there something going on with Huzi?" ”

Zhang Mengjin naturally knew that his second brother was very worried about Huzi, so he said directly: "Huzi is taken care of by a military doctor, and he himself is a blessed person, you don't have to worry so much, he will be fine." This time I came to you, and it was a matter of the thief on the other side. Shunjiang, who came back from a sentry out, found something and he had something to say. After finishing speaking, Zhang Mengjin nodded to Fan Shunjiang.

Fan Shunjiang looked at Zhang Mengguang, who had heavy dark circles under his eyes, and knew that he was very tired, so he said briefly: "This time I went out to the sentry and met an old acquaintance 'Drill Sky Sentry', and he was willing to help us defeat the camp of thieves. ”

Zhang Mengguang, who was a little sluggish because of exhaustion, reacted a little confused after hearing Fan Shunjiang's words. Puzzled, he asked, "When did Jibao come, and what method did he have to lay down the thieves' stockade?" ”

Zhang Mengguang mistook people for Che Jibao, not without reason, because Fan Shunjiang's old acquaintance's statement is indeed somewhat ambiguous. Among the thieves of this period, people of all backgrounds existed.

Among them were military households, peasants, and bandits who were originally outlaws. Although their origins are different, most people are called by nicknames, just so as not to disturb other relatives in the township at home.

"The pride of the border army and the position of a good family, I don't want to hear by name, I am afraid that my relatives will be tired, so I take the lead to make a name" The situation is very common among all parts of the thieves. Even those who had been taken captive to join the bandits would "take their own nicknames for each team, regardless of their names." (Note 1)

It's just that because everyone's cultural level is relatively limited, most of the nicknames they take out have no connotation. Some people copy from "Water Margin", "Three Kingdoms" or other novels, such as What Yizhangqing, Mixed River Dragon, Winged Tiger, Zhang Fei, Cao Cao, Xue Rengui, Huang Chao and so on. is like He Zongwei of Jinding Mountain, because he likes "Water Margin", he has the nickname of Lidi Tai Sui.

Some people take their nicknames because of one of their unique skills, or because of what happened at the time of the incident.

For example, Zhou Qing was originally an ironworker, and every time the iron sparks appeared, he was called Mantianxing by everyone; Zhao Sheng, who lit the lamp, only lit the lamp in the temple at night to read before the incident, and was suspected of being a thief, so he simply called himself the lamp; Zheng Riren only had one bucket of Su when he started, so he took this nickname; As for a gun, a helmet, forcing the road, forcing the king to rebel, etc., their names and origins are similar. Li Dan was a beggar before following Zhang Mengjin, and his only property was a crockpot for begging, so he used to call himself a crockpot.

Others are based on the dialect of Shaanxi, such as "?millet pole" (historical data will "?"?) Written "rice", it is actually a pronunciation proximity), and in the northern Shaanxi dialect, it is called sorghum? Millet, thin and tall people often take this as a nickname, such as Zhou Shaoteng; "Left-handed" in northern Shaanxi refers to people who are used to using left-handedness, that is, left-handedness, and Wang Zishun is a left-hander.

There is also the "soap eagle" (some historical materials as "soap warbler", "soap camp", "stove camp" are all misremembered), in the dialect of northern Shaanxi, this is a kind of eagle with black feathers; The Lie Eye (Ge Li Eye, Septum Eye, Ge Yan Yan, etc. are also misremembered), the Qi Lie in it is just a kind of squirrel in the northern Shaanxi dialect. (Note 2)

More directly, it is to directly reflect the idea of rebellion on the nickname. For example: "Breaking the King", "Shooting the Collapse of the Sky", "King of Heaven", "King of Earthquake", "King of Troubled Times", "King of Anshi", "King of the World", "King of the Whole World", "King of the World", "King of the World", "King of the World", "King of the Sweeping Floor", "King of the Collapse of the Sky", "Shaking the Sky" and so on.

All kinds of nicknames are varied, strange, and dizzying. It's just that these nicknames have a high chance of colliding, such as Fan Shunjiang is good at archery, so he is called Fan Miaoshou by his brothers. Other thieves also have this, such as the more famous Zhang Miaoshou. And Zhou Shaoteng, who is relatively thin and tall, is the tallest? Millet rods, there are also the same name in other places. Zhang Mengguang is known as the soap eagle, and the thief with the same name as him was killed by Zhang Mengguang.

And Li Dan's clay pot, Li Yang's grass flying, He Zongwei's standing Tai Sui, Wei Heyong's villagers, Che Jibao's drill sentry, Yu Baocheng's little white wolf, Ma Xiangbo's jade unicorn, Ma Xiangzhong's horse harrier, Zhao Wankui's red-haired ghost, Guan Zhiqing's mountain sweeping tiger, etc., their nicknames are not uncommon.

Even Zhang Mengcheng's talent occasionally found that other thieves were using it. It's just that some of these people are small minions, some are small bosses, and some are simply big thieves on the Megatron side. Like these common nicknames, they are not the exclusive name of some famous thieves. (Note 3)

Back to the topic, Fan Shunjiang saw that Zhang Mengguang mistakenly thought that he was talking about Che Jibao, so he hurriedly explained: "I'm not talking about the old car, this person's nickname is also a drill sentry." He was originally a subordinate of the original Nissai Shenyikui, because it was the same as the old car's nickname. So when we were thieves before, I still had some dealings with him in an old car. This man followed Huang Youcai in rebellion, and then fled to Iron Horn City. Now that Huang Youcai is dead, he has lost his backer and has been ostracized by other thieves. This time I was out at the outpost, and I happened to run into him, he didn't want to continue to be a thief, and hoped to use our help to get the court's appeasement. (Note 4)

Zhang Mengguang learned that he had misunderstood, and knew that his brain was a little dull now. So he closed his eyes and shook his head again, finally sobering himself up a little, and then he asked, "What can this Sky Drill Sentry do for us, and how many men and horses does he have under him?" ”

"In the past, he followed Shen Yikui, and when he was on the border of Ningsai, he also had more than 50 elite soldiers under his command. Later, he followed Huang Youcai to rebel, and his number of men doubled. It's just that now they have been continuously pursued by officials and soldiers, and they have been squeezed out by other bandit leaders, and there are not many of them now. I heard him say that at present, he can still manage the only more than 20 brothers around him, but they are all horses and horses. In addition, there are some newly robbed mothers-in-law in the camp, although there are pregnant ones, but they can't tell whose seed they are, so it's okay if they lose them. ”

After a slight pause, Fan Shunjiang continued: "Now there are only two relatively steep paths that can climb the mountaintop camp guarded by the thieves. These two road thieves have sent elite henchmen to guard them, and they can't easily attack them. However, the Sky Sentry said that he knew another place, and that he could attack the top of the mountain from the other side by throwing the tied rope from the mountain and receiving it from them. ”

Zhang Mengguang processed the information in his mind, then looked at the eldest brother Zhang Mengjin and the third master Zhao Wankui, and asked, "What are the plans of the eldest brother, do you want to give it a try?" ”

"Right now, it's a steep mountain, and we're all cavalry in this battle. The foot soldiers are all led by Guan Er to guard the city, so it is not good to show their skills in the mountains. If we can really get the help of this person, we will indeed be able to leave us with a lot of trouble, and we can still make a contribution in the future battle. It's just that I'm afraid that this person is not cheating, and if he loses a lot of brothers again, it will not be good. ”

Zhang Mengjin attacked from Ningsai this time, and experienced several battles and killed many soldiers. Coupled with fatigue and injuries, it was the soldiers under him who were reduced again. Zhang Mengjin's soldiers were already insufficient, so he behaved very cautiously.

Zhang Mengguang asked the position of the other officers and soldiers, and he was a little worried that he would be robbed of his credit. "If we want to do this, we always have to inform the other officers and soldiers. I'm afraid that Cao Wenzhao and Yang Jiamo will do something to steal merit, how should we deal with it? ”

Zhang Mengjin replied again: "After getting along with Cao Wenzhao during this time, I think he is a man and very trustworthy. If we had discussed it with him, we wouldn't have been robbed. Although Yang Jiamo's relationship with us has improved somewhat since the last defeat in Iron Horn, it is not very close. However, if we can negotiate with Cao Wenzhao and have him to take care of him, Yang Jiamo should not do anything like last time. The two commanders didn't act, and the others didn't have to care. ”

At this time, Zhao Wankui added: "I heard that Yang Jiamo was impeached by Wu Fu last time, and now he is quite honest. Now he only thinks about making meritorious deeds, and he should not do anything unclean. And I think he also has some strength, and he will not do it now to do something to steal merit in front of so many people. ”

Zhang Mengjin and Zhao Wankui both thought that other officers and soldiers would be more cooperative, and Zhang Mengguang also recalled the temperament of other officers and soldiers during this time. Cao Bianjiao, Ping'an, Liu Chenggong, Feng Ju and others are also downright men, and they also respect other officers and soldiers who dare to kill and fight.

So Zhang Mengguang also said: "I thought about it, the other generals under Cao Wenzhao are also men, and you can trust their character." ”

Fan Shunjiang saw that the three of them had expressed their attitudes, and he also said: "I don't think that drill sentry seems to be a fake, I should be able to believe him." When the time comes, I'll lead someone up the mountain first. Moreover, that person only knew me, and it was not so easy for other officers and soldiers to get involved. ”

The contact person Fan Shunjiang said that this plan should be fruitful. But Zhang Mengjin was still a little hesitant, he was worried that something would happen to Fan Shunjiang. I hope that Fan Shunjiang can talk to the other party again and make plans after handing over the hostages.

Fan Shunjiang said that there was no need for this, but Zhang Mengjin was quite persistent. So Fan Shunjiang went out of the camp again and got in touch with the drill outpost.

After exchanges, the two sides exchanged cooperation plans with each other. The drill sentry was willing to send hostages and sent his own brother to follow Fan Shunjiang back to the official army camp. Zhang Mengjin, who got the hostage, finally believed in the sincerity of the other party. After sorting out his thoughts a little, he went to visit Cao Wenzhao and told him his plan.

Cao Wenzhao expressed his support for this plan, and he said it very understandingly. If the plan succeeds, the first credit this time will belong to the soldiers of Yansui Town, and he promises that no one else will take the credit from them. After that, Cao Wenzhao personally talked with Yang Jiamo, Yu Shibo and others, expressing his support for Zhang Mengjin's plan.

After some discussion, Yang Jiamo and Yu Shibo and other Ming army officers also agreed to this plan. They planned to wait for the officers and soldiers to rest for a while, and then immediately start attacking the mountain. Cao Wenzhao will lead the men and horses of Lintao Town to attack the mountain from the northeast. Yang Jiamo led another line of officers and troops to attack from the northwest.

After the thief's attention was attracted, the Yansui Town soldiers under Zhang Mengjin, with the help of the thief's inner response, secretly went up the mountain from the other side to meet the outside. If the thieves cheat, then Cao Wenzhao and Yang Jiamo's men and horses will attack and suppress them, and if the battle situation is favorable, they will attack the mountain. If the thieves' defenses are difficult to break, they retreat back to the camp and take care of it again.

Therefore, the officers and soldiers, who had been a little hesitant and had not decided whether to continue the attack or take the siege, finally made up their minds. After defeating the thieves who fought to the death again at Songshuliang on the 12th, the officers and troops planned to take a short break and start moving. On the same day, the pursuit was launched again, preparing to destroy the remnants of the thieves who had fled to the Russian family and Aoshan in one fell swoop. Therefore, the follow-up battle of the Battle of the West Trench will start again in a few hours.

PS: Note 1: The previous sentence is from the first volume of "Huailing Liukou Always Record", in which there is also a record of "the majority of thieves and multilateral armies, with good family sons and martial arts, so their names are hidden and nicknamed". And the latter sentence is from the sixth volume of "Pingkou Zhi", like a saying that there are many nicknames for thieves, and many other historical materials have recorded it. For example, the "List of Thieves" in Volume 1 of "A Brief Chronicle of the Jiashen Dynasty" also has a special mention, and interested readers can collect it, so the author will not say much.

Note 2: It is not surprising that the person who recorded the record made a mistake because he did not understand the northern Shaanxi dialect, but some people may have a misunderstanding because of the misremember. For example, Liu Rukui, the mighty general of the left battalion of the Dashun army, was recorded as the "soap battalion" because of the "soap eagle". Therefore, some people think that the flag of the left battalion is black, but it is actually white. In fact, there are differences in dialects in northern Shaanxi, for example, Geli is called gē liě in rice fat, and gē lǐ is called in Suide. In the local chronicles of the counties in northern Shaanxi, there are records of Geli and civets, which are indeed relatively easy to make mistakes.

Note 3: The author's nicknames for these characters are the same as those of other thieves, which is not an exaggeration. For example, in the previous chapters, there was "mixed 100,000", which was shared by Ma Jinzhong, Hou Shifan, and Jiang Lian. If there may be an inheritance relationship between this, then the "Heavenly Star" in the historical materials has indeed been used by two famous bandit leaders at the same time. One is Hui Dengxiang, a Qingjian man who surrendered to Zuo Liangyu and later became the chief soldier of the rear battalion of the left division; The other is Li Zicheng's general, Zhang Tianlin, a Suide man who was born as a border soldier.

Note 4: In volume 10 of Wu Fu's "Chai An Shuji", "The border bandits conspired to be solidified, and the officers and soldiers were able to suppress the meritorious slack", there is also a record that a thief who was called a thief who drilled the sky was captured. According to the record in volume 75 of the "Ming History Chronicle", in the sixth year of Chongzhen, Chen Qiyu killed a drill sentry. The nickname of the drill whistle may also be a mass product, so the author arranged this plot.