In May of the fifth year of Chongzhen, the thieves in the east were still raging everywhere. The eastern part of Yan'an Prefecture, which was caught off guard, was seriously looted and burned.

Although no county has been captured by him, his men have already begun to attack Suide, Mizhi and Jiazhou. The mud was even forced to Yulin, the town of Yansui Town, and the grain transportation route was cut off, and the situation in Yulin was endangered.

Cai Zhongming, who was guarding against thieves in the middle of Yansui Road, performed well, although he only cut off the heads of a few thieves and spies. But with the defense area where he sits, law and order have been restored. Several bandits that were a headache for the magistrate were also swept away by Cai Zhongming. Now his troops have received instructions for the next step and are ready to go to Yansui East Road for support.

And Zhang Mengjin, who was originally stationed, was also busy with his own work, supervising his soldiers to train and tuntian in Ningsai. The Duhe Fort, which was withdrawn again, also had the shadow of the Ningsai soldiers reclaiming.

A few days ago, these jobs were all done by Cai Zhongming, who has a good set of management. Now Zhang Mengjin just took over Cai Zhongming's work and kept patrolling around.

When his eldest brother and brother-in-law were working outside, Zhang Mengcheng, who had just been married for a long time, was not idle. He also led his subordinates to patrol around the camps in Jinding Mountain's sphere of influence.

In Shaanxi in the fifth year of Chongzhen, God continued to be gracious and rained on time. There is no area harassed by thieves in Qinzhong, and the wheat in the farmland grows very well, and there is a great sign of a good year.

And other villagers in Baoan County, because there are two big Buddhas in Jinding Mountain and Artemisia Peak, so they are also happily renovating their crops. Although the natural conditions of security guards are not as good as those in other places, as long as they are diligent and willing to work, it is not too difficult to support themselves.

"Finally, you can go back to the village, old horse, do you want to go to my place for some wine when you go back?" This time, in addition to sweet potato wine, there is also some game to eat, and Lao Su (Su He) is not bad at this guy, and he shot a few rabbits with a bow and arrow. When Xigui saw Zhang Mengcheng walking back in the distance, he knew that the leader had completed his work.

Ma Jinzhong wiped the sweat from his forehead, and replied to Xiguidi: "Lao Wu (Wu Dayong) also has a roast chicken there, I originally planned to bring my sorghum wine to his place to open meat, otherwise the four of us will have a good gathering together tonight." ”

"The four of us are gone, who else can be on duty today, will Master Xiucai agree?" Although Xigui was very supportive of Ma Jinzhong's suggestion, he didn't think that the four of them could be vacated together.

"I heard that Lao Liao will start to be on duty independently tonight, and Master Xiang will also transfer a few students from the academy over. Eighty percent of us won't be needed tonight, it seems that the dolls in the academy are going to do some kind of garrison practice. Ma Jinzhong revealed the gossip he knew at this time, so he didn't worry about the four of them getting together at night.

"I saw that Lao Liao was in a good mood today, and it turned out that he was about to be promoted. Why didn't you tell me earlier, I can still knock on some food from Lao Liao. Hearing Ma Jinzhong's words, Xi Gui remembered Lao Liao's happy appearance before. At that time, he didn't pay much attention to it, and thought it was because Lao Liao's nephew (Liu Sikui) got a good score in the exam again.

Because Jindingshan digested the previous Ningsai Ding, he recruited many displaced people who escaped from Dongchuan during this time. Therefore, Zhang Mengcheng expanded and adjusted the standing troops of Jindingshan.

Because some veterans under Zhang Mengcheng were transferred to Ningsai to supplement Zhang Mengjin's personal guards. Therefore, Lao Liao, who performed very well in Jindingshan, was promoted by Zhang Xiucai and is about to become a new team leader under Zhang Mengcheng.

"Okay, we're done with this tun, let's go back to the village." At this time, Zhang Mengcheng walked closer, and the two boys Guan Yuze and Zhang Shuangxi, who followed him, have been guarding behind him.

When Ma Jinzhong saw the leader returning, he led Zhang Mengcheng's mount over. It was only before the leader of Xiucai got on his horse that he asked, "What other arrangements does Master Xiang have tonight?" Xigui and I are discussing who will be on duty tonight, and Su He and Dayong will take turns off today. ”

"I forgot to tell you that today's night watch in the village will be handed over to Lao Liao. In the future, Lao Liao, like you, will also be a squad leader of the cavalry team. Tonight, he will take a few children from the school for an internship, so you can take advantage of this time to go back to the house and have a good gathering with your family. Zhang Mengcheng was about to turn over and get on the horse, and after hearing Ma Jinzhong's words, he said what he had forgotten to say to the two before.

With Zhang Mengcheng's permission, Ma Jinzhong smiled and glanced at Xigui. After beckoning the other subordinates around him, the team was organized and embarked on the road back to the cottage.

And Xigui was also very happy, and began to think about what kind of dishes to cook for her mother-in-law in the evening.

The two team leaders under Zhang Mengcheng are looking forward to the dinner in the evening, while the two students behind Zhang Mengcheng are thinking about how to arrange tonight. Their husband had selected a total of thirty-six children from the school, including the two of them, to carry out the night guard practice in the village tonight.

These people will be divided into two teams, and Guan Yuze and Zhang Shuangxi will become the captains of the two teams respectively. Although Mr. had also organized students in the village to conduct garrison practice at night. But they were scattered all over the place, led by the veterans of the stockade. And becoming the squad leader on night duty and starting to work is the first time they have done it.

"Tonight's guard, how do we change shifts?" Guan Yuze knew that if he didn't break the silence, Zhang Shuangxi would definitely not discuss it with him first, so he took the lead in asking. "Otherwise, I will lead the team to guard the second and fourth watches, and you will lead the team to watch the night on the third and fifth watches."

Zhang Shuangxi finally waited for Guan Yuze to speak, and immediately said: "This is okay, but after all, there is Captain Liao on duty tonight." If he has other arrangements, we have to listen to his instructions. ”

Although Guan Yuze and Zhang Shuangxi were appointed as temporary captains, they must obey Lao Liao's command.

"The arrangement of the vigil of the team, we will wait until we return to the stockade to find Captain Liao. However, the gang at Artemisia Peak are not very familiar with the process of vigil in our village, and then we will talk to them together when we return to the stockade. Zhang Shuangxi did not directly reject his idea, but showed a cooperative attitude, which made Guan Yuze feel a lot more at ease.

Hearing Guan Yuze mention the people at the top of Artemisia, Zhang Shuangxi remembered what they had done before looking for themselves. felt that it was necessary to vaccinate Guan Yuze, so he said: "The two teams in the school this time are teams divided by lottery. The people at the top of Artemisia have come to me in private, saying that they want to put them in a team, and I have already rejected them, your team had better not do this kind of thing, and when the time comes, Mr. will blame, don't drag down our team.

"They also looked for me, but I also refused..., well, why did the team stop, what happened ahead?"

Guan Yuze found that the marching team suddenly stopped, and a puff of wolf smoke came out of the sky in the distance. It was not a camp under the influence of Jinding Mountain, Guan Yuze couldn't help but be a little puzzled.

Not only Guan Yuze and Zhang Shuangxi, but also Ma Jinzhong and Xigui, the two team leaders, didn't know what was happening ahead. And the commander of this group of more than 40 cavalry reacted immediately.

Under Zhang Mengcheng's orders, Xigui had already led a few people to investigate. Ma Jinzhong, on the other hand, sent two of his subordinates back to the camp he had just left to report the news. While the two groups of people left before and after, Zhang Mengcheng beckoned his subordinates and quickly changed from a marching army to a battle formation.

Xigui, who went to investigate, quickly rushed back with information. As soon as he got off the horse, he said to Zhang Mengcheng: "There is a group of people in front of him who are robbing the caravan, and the robbers can't tell whether they are thieves or tunding, and there are about thirty people. However, there are not many people on the other side wearing armor, and those who ride horses only look like seven or eight horsemen. The caravan was almost overwhelmed, but it was still fighting the robbers. ”

"It's really boring to make trouble on the territory of our Jinding Mountain. Everybody get on the horse and follow me to chop up all the troublesome bastards. ”

Jindingshan's own armament has a good combat power, and the military fort in the north is even more deterred by the officers and troops under the famous Zhang Mengjin, so no one dares to spread wilderness here. And now it is rare that there is a person who is not long-sighted, and he happened to be bumped into by Zhang Mengcheng, and he naturally refused to let go of the other party.

Under the command of Zhang Mengcheng, more than 40 cavalrymen formed a three-fold formation that the Ming army was accustomed to, and then quickly set off in the direction of the battlefield. (Note 1)

Hee-gui, who understands the enemy's situation, commands the cavalry of the first formation. As a general, Zhang Mengcheng was in the second formation, and Ma Jinzhong led more than ten cavalrymen in the third formation.