At the exit, a torch was stuck in the crack in the wall, and when Gui passed, he took it down, and with the help of the firelight, he carefully passed through the antlers to avoid being punctured by the sharp branches, while the black dog quickly passed through below. Outside the antler formation, the black dog immediately galloped down, and Ah Gui had to speed up his pace to avoid being left behind by his own dog. In the darkness of the night, Gui held his torch aloft and tried his best to light the way ahead, and the camp gradually disappeared behind him. If he's not careful, he'll break his knee and even break his head, "What the hell am I doing now?" Gui asked himself as she tried to avoid the roots.

The woods were just below, as if groups of well-trained warriors were ready to attack the camp on the hill at any moment. In the dark, their figures appear unusually dark, and only a trace of green can be seen when the light of the torches sweeps by. Faintly, Gui heard the sound of running water, which was the place where he had gone to fetch water not long ago. By this time, the black dog had completely disappeared into the darkness, and Gui had to stop and try to find the sound of the dog with his ears, but all he could hear was the sound of the stream running and the sigh of the leaves in the wind. With the night breeze whipped against his cloak and the foliage whipped against him, he looked up and could only see the dense canopy of trees, not a single star in sight. Gui only felt that his mouth was dry, and he decided to find the creek to drink some water first.

When Ah Gui walked to the stream, leaned over and drank a few sips of water, he suddenly heard a sound of water from upstream, he got up and looked, only to see An Da drinking water by the stream not far away. "Ann, come here, come to me!" The black dog raised its head, his eyes showed a fierce light, and the clear water slipped from between its teeth like coveting, and Ah Gui couldn't help but take a step back. Then the black dog ran past Gui and ran deep into the woods.

"Ann, wait, stop!" Ah Gui couldn't care so much at this time. He roared, but the black dog ignored him and soon disappeared into the night. Now he had only two options - either turn around and return to camp alone, or keep going.

Ah Gui spat out, scolded indignantly, and walked in the direction of the black dog. In the dense bushes. He had to bend down and lower his torches to keep himself from being poked by the branches, and he had to keep an eye out for roots and holes in the ground that could break his jaw or break his knee. He hadn't taken a few steps before he shouted the dog's name, but the wind drowned out everything. This is really crazy, the farther Ah Gui goes, the more he thinks so. When he finally exhausted the last bit of patience and was about to turn back, out of the corner of his eye, he suddenly saw a bush not far away for a while, and he pointed the torch to that side, and saw the black dog standing under the bush, a pair of green eyes looking at him.

"What are you doing here, Ann?" Ah Gui walked over very angrily, and the black dog glanced at him. He slipped under the bushes again, and Gui had to pull out his waist knife and cut through the bushes before he could walk over. Behind the bushes was a small clearing, in the center of which was a small pit that had been cut open, revealing unburned charcoal and leftover bones.

Ah Gui rushed to the small pit, frantically dug the pit with his saber, grabbed the charcoal, bones, and food scraps in front of his eyes and carefully observed them, and then he stood up again and searched around. Sure enough, he found horse manure and hoof prints with horseshoes, which stretched to the northwest. Based on years of experience, Gui is almost certain that someone was lighting a fire here just a few hours ago to keep warm and grill food. Add to that horse manure and hoof prints, and he's almost certain of the identities of these men.

"Your Excellency, Your Excellency!" Ah Gui almost rushed into Feng Jingshi's tent. He pulled Feng Jingshi up from the cowhide cushion and shouted, "We must retreat immediately, we have been discovered!" ”

"Retreat, discovered?" Feng Jingshi hadn't completely woken up from his sleep, and he was a little dazed.

"It's Dongyu's ranger, you can't go wrong!" Ah Gui grabbed a handful of charcoal, broken bones, and a little horse manure from his arms and put them on the ground, while recounting everything that happened not long ago in an extremely fierce tone, after finishing speaking, he grabbed Feng Jingshi's hands and shouted: "My lord, it's still too late to leave, the cavalry of the Eastern Capture will not arrive until at least noon tomorrow." ”

"You just take this bit of charcoal and horse manure to convince me that this is a spy from Dongyu?" Feng Jingshi frowned, and threw charcoal and horse manure to the ground in disgust: "Why can't you be a hunter?" “

"I just looked at it carefully, there are two horses' hoof prints, but one is shallow, the other is deep, obviously there is a spy, and he also prepared a slave horse, if it is a hunter, how can there be so many horses?"

Feng Jingshi didn't speak, but obviously he didn't like Ah Gui's answer, but as a commander, he couldn't ignore the report of an experienced spy like Ah Gui, especially when such strong evidence had already been presented.

"And what do you think should be done?"

"Retreat early tomorrow morning! Let me lead people to break off, and first set a trap to give the pursuers of the Eastern Captives a good look, so that they don't dare to chase too closely! Ah Gui hurriedly said: "Just choose the ones who were originally going to explore the road with me, it just so happens that he has rested tonight, and the manpower and horsepower are sufficient." “

"Why don't you fight the East Royals here?" Feng Jingshi asked rhetorically: "Dongyu knows how many of us are, and there are at least two or three hundred cavalry coming, how many of you can withstand it?" If you run away without a fight, everyone is afraid that your courage will be a little weaker first, and if you catch up, you are afraid that you will be driven away; If you use the terrain to fight a battle, kill the courage of the thieves and then retreat, you can be safe. “

"This-" Ah Gui couldn't help but speak, Feng Jingshi's words also have his truth, this group of Ming troops rushed here for a few days, digging trenches and tree antlers, looking like they want to hold on for a long time, but they only saw a few unburned charcoals, a few lines of horseshoe prints, and the shadow of the Houjin army ran away without seeing it, which can be imagined as a blow to the morale of the soldiers, if they are caught up by the enemy, they will definitely be wiped out. But if you take the risk of fighting a battle with the Houjin army and inflict heavy damage on the enemy, the soldiers of the Ming army can also kill and injure when they see the Jurchen Tartars, and the flesh and blood people are not the devils with green faces and fangs, even if the Ming army itself has casualties, this will improve the morale of everyone, and it will be much safer to retreat when the time comes. Not to mention that the topography of Niujiao Hill was very favorable to the Ming army.

"But when the Donglu sees that we occupy the top of the hill, will they just besiege us and ask for reinforcements?"

"Gui, you're thinking too much!" Feng Jingshi laughed: "Don't you know the virtues of the Jurchen Tartars, after Chongzhen broke the border in the second year, those Tartars treated our Ming officers and soldiers as nothing. Don't say it's just a hill top, even if it's a strong city, I think they will launch a fierce attack! “

"Hmm!" For this, Ah Gui also agrees.

"Alright, you go and rest first, and get some strength, and tomorrow morning you will take someone to patrol below. So as not to be caught off guard by the Dongyu! “

The dawn of Liaodong in September was filled with milky white fog, even the wind was wet and heavy, and it was impossible to blow the fog away, as long as the distance was more than twenty meters, it was impossible to see what was on the other side, and only when the sun climbed the ridge and the warm sunlight dried the air near the ground, the fog would gradually disperse.

The camp of the Houjin army was located next to the river, so that drinking water for people and livestock could be easily obtained. Second, it also reduces the area of defense. On the remaining three sides, a simple fence was used as a defense. Judging from the size of the camp, the total number of this Houjin army is about 2,000 to 4,000 people, which is the elite drawn from the two red flags. At this time, the camp had woken up, the soldiers were fetching water by the river, dismantling the tents, preparing for various matters before departure, and the neighing of the war horses was a lively scene.

Outside the gate. The soldiers on duty tried their best to keep their eyes open, and a sleepless night had drained a lot of their energy. A few veterans simply leaned against the doorpost, and they took a nap for a while, even Zhang Jing, who was on duty, only didn't see it—was there any enemy in this land who dared to sneak up on the invincible Eight Banners Army? They were awakened by the sound of horses' hooves in the distance, and the soldiers drew their bows and arrows in the direction from which the horses' hooves came, shouting: "Password! Otherwise, the arrows will be released! ”

"Don't let go of the arrows, I'm a spy to the Daling River!" There was a shout in the fog. Although he didn't shout the right order, Zhang Jing, who was on duty, hesitated for a moment, but still signaled his subordinates to move away from the horse in front of the gate. Almost at the same time, a knight rushed in, before his mount could come to a stop. The knight rolled off his horse and fell to the ground.

"This is my waist card, take me to your general!" The knight took the card from his waist and handed it over, trying to stand up, but his legs remained bent and could not move. Seeing this, Zhang Jing, who was on duty, knew that the other party had been riding on horseback for too long, and his legs were stiff and unable to walk, so he had to let two soldiers help him up, and half-supported and half-dragged to the big tent of the Chinese army.

In the big tent, love Xin Jueluo. Yue Tuo was eating breakfast while looking at the map. Two days ago, he set out from Uiju with the two red banners of Bai Jia and his own personal soldiers, Baoyi, and in his rear was an army of about 20,000 men. The task of this army was to cut off the connection between Jinzhou and Dalinghe Fort, and Huang Taiji himself would personally lead the Mongol tribes and the Houjin headquarters from Baituchang to Guangning Avenue, and the two armies would meet under Dalinghe Fort to complete the encirclement of the Ming army in the city. As the eldest son of Nurhachi's second son, Dai Shan, Yue Tuo has a very bad relationship with his father, but has a good relationship with his uncle Huang Taiji. The reason is also very simple, his mother Li Jiashi died very early, and his stepmother and father Daishan were very mean to him, in fact, he was raised with Huang Taiji by Taizu Concubine Meng Gu Zhezhe (Huang Taiji's biological mother). Moreover, after Yuetuo grew up, he and his half-brother Shuotuo were also abused by his father Daishan, and the number of people and property they received was far less than the children born to Daishan and his stepwife, which also caused the interference of his grandfather Nurhachi - because Nurhachi himself had been abused by his stepmother when he was young, so he hated this very much, so Nurhachi abolished Daishan's heir position, and also let Shuotuo and Yueto separate from their father and redivide the tribes. Therefore, it is not surprising that after Nurhachi's death, Yuetuo supported Huang Taiji rather than his father Daishan to inherit the throne.

"My lord, the spy who went to the Daling River is back!" An officer came in and said.

"Oh?" Yue Tuo raised his head in some surprise, he still remembered the time when this spy set off, it should be said that this time had not yet reached Daling River, but anything could happen in the war: "Let him in!" ”

"Wow!"

After a while, Doaro limped into the tent, knelt down and kowtowed twice, Yue Tuo frowned when he saw this: "What's the matter?" You're hurt? ”

"Tell the lord, the villain was not injured, but he met the Ming army on the road, rushed back overnight, and his leg cramped!"

"Ming Army? Where did you meet and how many people did you meet? “

"In Horn Hill, there are probably less than a hundred."

"Where is it?" Yue Tuo's brow furrowed again, his memory was good, and he immediately remembered the location of that place.

"That's an awkward place! It's impossible to get around, and it's very troublesome to attack, but there are only a hundred people, and it's not a big deal! Yue Tuo muttered to himself.

"My lord, I saw that after those Ming troops arrived there, they began to repair the city walls and dig trenches, as if they were going to build a fort and hold on!"

"Build a fort and hold on?" Yue Tuo's face changed slightly, and the meaning of his subordinates was very clear, if it was to build a fort and hold it, this hundred people might just be the vanguard, and after the spies left, a hundred people might become five hundred, then it would be completely different. A hundred men did not pose a threat to their own army, and if five hundred men could launch a surprise attack on their rear team and baggage, should they destroy this small group of enemies first?

"You go down first and get the bounty and rest!" Yue Tuo waved his hand.

"Wow!"

When his men withdrew from the tent, Yue Tuo pondered whether he should ignore the small group of Ming troops and continue on the march, or wipe them out to prevent future troubles. A few minutes later, Yue Tuo made a decision, he summoned the adjutant general Ilden and ordered: "I will give you three Niu Lu (the organization unit of the soldiers and civilians at that time in Later Jin, each Niu Lu was 300 people, but in fact the army of Niu Lu was only between 100 and 200 people), you immediately go to Niu Jiaoqiu, destroy the Ming army there, and if you can't do it, surround it so that it cannot harass our army's advance." “

"Wow!"

The north-westerly wind swept through the trees, bringing with it the sound of pine waves, and the smell of pine resin and moss filled the air. The mist rose from the black earth, and the knights laboriously controlled their horses, allowing them to weave through the trees and rocks, and along the riverbank.

Gui tried to widen his eyes so that he could see farther, but all he saw was the fog and the trees, and there was a dead silence all around, except for the flow of the river, the clashing of nails, and the sound of horses' hooves, and his dog passed about twenty meters ahead, appearing and disappearing in the trees and fog. It made him feel uneasy, as if he was hiding in the shadows with an invisible eye, peering at him. Gui raised his head, and an eagle in the sky spread its pure black wings and soared, and the overlord of the sky overlooked the people, horses, and dogs below. (To be continued.) )