"How far is the pursuer?" Cao Cao's gaze turned to Zhang Xianzhong, according to the division of labor between the two: Cao Cao's task was to build a pontoon bridge across the river, and Zhang Xianzhong was responsible for breaking the rear. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

"I don't know, it shouldn't be too far!" Zhang Xianzhong turned his head and looked to the northeast worriedly. In the distance, the sound of a beard and a chirping sound could be heard, indicating that the terrible Mongol cavalry was already nearby.

"This Lu Xiangsheng is really difficult to entangle!" Cao Cao sighed. It is no wonder that he said this, although this new opponent was born as a jinshi, he had been practicing martial arts since he was a child and liked to ride and shoot - this was rare among civil officials in the late Ming Dynasty. Maybe he doesn't have Hong Chengchou's good overall situation and planning ability, but he is more experienced in the battlefield. After the thieves crossed the Huai, Lu Xiangsheng did not rush to put these well-equipped new troops into battle according to the standards of the Ming army, but sent the original army to confront the thieves, and then gradually retreated, showing weakness and attracting the thieves to the northeast, which was the flatter Huanghuai Plain. During this time, he not only became familiar with these new troops, but also asked Xiong Wencan for a thousand Mongolian cavalry from Xu Hecheng after a pen and ink lawsuit. These cavalry played an important role in the ensuing battles - in several battles at Wuyang, Mengcheng, Ruyin, etc., the rogues were almost always caught off guard, and their sentries were eliminated by the enemy's superior cavalry; Moreover, after being defeated, they were pursued swiftly, which was rare in the past engagements between the thieves and the official army, and in most cases the official army rarely pursued after victory. Zhang Xianzhong and Cao Cao had to abandon most of their looted possessions and population to get rid of these terrible enemies.

"Cao Shuai, we can't delay like this!" Zhang Xianzhong lowered his voice and said: "Tonight, we have to build the pontoon bridge by tomorrow afternoon at the latest, otherwise as soon as Lu Manzi arrives, we will all have to finish!" ”

"And what do you think should be done?"

"How many boats do we have right now?"

"Four or five, all of them are small boats, and at most one or two hundred people can be loaded over at a time, I'm afraid it won't help!"

"Enough!" Zhang Xianzhong said with a smile: "When I came over, I caught a fisherman by the river, and he knew that the government had detained all the boats in a bay on the other side. I'm going to let him take my men across the river and get the boat back. ”

"Oh! That's a solution! Cao Cao was overjoyed when he heard this, and then frowned again: "It's not an easy thing to cross the river at night to grab the boat, and besides, that fisherman may not be willing to lead the way for you, right?" ”

"What's so difficult about this, there is a blade on one side and a silver ingot on the other, and I'm afraid that he won't lead the way?" Zhang Xianzhong said with a smile: "I've already thought about it, this time let the eldest and second child go, it will definitely be done!" ”

"Is it hope and determination? That's going to be good! Cao Cao said with a smile, it turned out that there was a custom of adopting a righteous son in the peasant army at that time, and the leader often chose a witty and brave young man as his adopted son, and when he grew up, he was appointed as a general, which was not much different from his own heir. Zhang Xianzhong was no exception, he had four adopted sons, all four of whom were surnamed Zhang with Zhang Xianzhong at that time. After the death of Zhang Xianzhong in history, these four people restored their original surnames, namely Sun Kewang, Li Dingguo, Liu Wenxiu and Ai Nengqi, and they surrendered to the Yongli Emperor of the Southern Ming Dynasty, resisted the Qing army, and left their names in history.

Since the plan was decided, Zhang Xianzhong immediately recruited two adopted sons and the fisherman, first threatened with force and then lured a heavy reward, and after the arrangement was completed, let them go down and wait for dark. After the arrangements were completed, Cao Cao asked in a low voice: "Lao Zhang, we also have to plan for the worst, let me ask you, what if we can't grab the boat?" ”

"Then let's fight against the water first and see if we can defeat Lu Manzi!" Zhang Xianzhong said with a smile: "Anyway, Lao Tzu has eaten, drunk, played, and seen what he should eat, drink, and see." Even Emperor Zhu's ancestral tomb Lao Tzu was burned, and it was enough to die, and people died and birds rose to the sky, and they did not die for thousands of years! Afraid of an egg! ”

"I think it's better to prepare a back road!" Cao Cao said in a low voice: "I plan to load the Jinbao in the camp onto the boat first, if it is really too late to erect a pontoon bridge, we will take Jinbao and hundreds of men and horses, cross the river to join Li Zicheng!" ”

"Li Zicheng?" Zhang Xianzhong's face changed slightly. Cao Cao didn't see the change in the other party's face, and said in a low voice: "Lao Zhang, everyone has a time when the mountains are high and the water is low, and besides, I had a favor with him before, let's go to him and give him more Jinbao." When the situation improves, we will come out and clean up the remnants and have a chance to recover. ”

"Cao Shuai, I don't think Li Zicheng will be as big as you!" Zhang Xianzhong sneered: "Have you forgotten what we were doing when we crossed the Huai River in the north?" Looking at him like that, he clearly has a self-respecting style. At this time, if we go to vote for him, who knows if he will be angry with us! ”

"Lao Zhang, you think too much!" Cao Cao said with a smile: "Hong Chengchou is dead, but there is another Lu man, the power of the court is still strong, he killed the two of us, it will only chill the hearts of friends on the road, who will dare to join forces with him at that time?" We and he are the fish helping the water, the water helping the fish, Li Zicheng will not fail to see this. ”

Zhang Xianzhong snorted coldly and didn't speak, but he was not as persuaded by Cao Cao's words. Last year, he, Cao Cao and Li Zicheng joined forces to cross the Huai River and won a lot. But after returning to the Yunyang Mountains in winter, the relationship between the two sides has undergone subtle changes. After Li Zicheng received the assistance of Song Xiance, he changed his style of rogue, trained troops in the mountains and valleys, and strictly forbade his subordinates to steal and trample on the acres of land in the local forts; and according to the acres of land, taxes are levied according to the population per mu; Negotiate with the local powerful legislation, set up checkpoints, crusade against thieves, protect business travelers and levy cents, as if they were a long-term solution. And Zhang Xianzhong and Cao Cao are still the same as in the past, indulging their subordinates. After a long time, the local people in the fortress supported Li Zicheng one after another, and regarded Cao Cao and Zhang Xianzhong as thieves. Zhang Xianzhong and Cao Cao's crossing of the Huai River to the north also had the reason that they were squeezed out by Li Zicheng and could not stay in the local area. At this time, if he goes back to Li Zicheng as the general of the defeated army, I am afraid that the taste will be even more uncomfortable.

In a blink of an eye, the sky was dark, Zhang Xianzhong stood by the river, watched his two righteous sons get on the boat with more than 100 elite soldiers, stretched the shore hard, and rowed away on the opposite bank. I saw that the other side of the river was full of rolling hills, and the valleys in between, forming pingba of different sizes, and the high part of the hill was densely wooded, and most of the pingba had been reclaimed into farmland, only some sparse bushes and shrubs, shallow pits and ravines dotted with tribes, which were not suitable for cavalry action. Seeing this, Zhang Xianzhong breathed a sigh of relief, he had enough of those Tatar cavalry these days, as long as he crossed the river and entered the hilly area, he didn't have to be afraid of those ghostly enemy cavalry.

The night breeze blew from the boat, carrying with it the moisture on the river, and the soldiers' hair and clothes became cold and wet, and when the wind blew, it was bitterly cold, and everyone shivered and huddled together to keep warm. As time passed, the wind gradually subsided, but it began to fog up, and the fog was like an endless veil that obscured the riverbanks, hillsides, and woods.

"Big brother, the guide said that there was fog, I'm afraid he won't be able to find that river bay in a short time!" Zhang Dingguo walked into the cabin and whispered to Zhang Kewang, although Zhang Kewang was only sixteen or seventeen years old, his figure was no less than that of an adult, he was leaning against the wall of the boat, trimming his nails with a dagger.

"Hmm!" Zhang Kewang looked at the guide and hooked his fingers: "You come here!" ”

The guide took a step forward and stopped, instinctively telling him that the lazy young man in front of him was full of danger. Seeing this, Zhang Kewang smiled: "Come over a little more, will I still eat you?" ”

"Yes!" The man was helpless, so he had to step forward and take two more steps, only half an arm's length away from Zhang Kewang. Suddenly, Zhang Kewang stabbed the guide in the thigh, and the guide was about to scream in pain, but his throat was choked by Zhang Kewang, and the screams were held in his throat without screaming.

"You heard me clearly!" Zhang Kewang stood up, stared into the guide's eyes and said, "I don't care if it's foggy or not, since the Eight Kings want you to find those detained ships, you must find them!" As long as you find it, you won't be missing a penny of silver; If we hadn't found it before dawn, the next cut wouldn't have been in the leg, understand? ”

The guide was speechless, so he couldn't stop nodding. Zhang Kewang laughed with satisfaction, he pulled out his dagger and said to Li Dingguo: "Come on, bandage him!" ”

Zhang Dingguo did not speak, but his frown tightened showed that he did not approve of Zhang Kewang's approach. Zhang Kewang wiped the blood stains of the dagger on the soles of his shoes, and walked to Zhang Dingguo's side with a smile: "Second brother, don't worry, I know the knife just now, apply the medicine, and it will be fine in a few days!" ”

"Big brother, I still don't think it's good for you to do this just now!"

"Alright, alright!" Zhang Kewang sat back lazily: "I have my way to do things, and you have your way." But this time, my father-in-law made me the head, and you have to listen to me. You can rest assured, if this knife goes down, this rabbit cub will definitely use all the strength to feed. But go out and watch carefully, don't let this kid run away! ”

It was almost dawn when the guide finally found the river bay with the help of the little white fish belly on the horizon. Zhang Kewang already knew that when the guards on the other side of the river learned that the thieves were coming, they confiscated all the large and small boats for dozens of miles upstream and downstream and hid them in this bay. Zhang Kewang and the two brothers found a secluded place and went ashore, and then led their subordinates around to the back of the officers and soldiers guarding the river bay. In order to avoid alarming the enemy army, Zhang Kewang ordered his subordinates to hold branches in their mouths, and the speed of the march was also slowed down, so as to save physical strength; Second, it is also necessary to avoid making too loud noises and alarming the enemy.

After walking like this for half an hour, Zhang Kewang touched the front of the enemy camp, and the sky was already white at this time, but the morning fog did not disperse. Through the mist, Zhang Kewang and the others could clearly hear the voices of the officers and soldiers on the other side, and they could also smell the scorching smell of burning wet wood, obviously they were burning the fire to prepare breakfast.

Zhang Kewang and the two brothers glanced at each other, and they could see the look of relief in each other's eyes. The hard work of this night was not in vain, and the enemy was completely unaware that victory was at hand. Zhang Kewang took a white cloth bag from his own soldier and threw it to the limping guide: "Oh, you count points, don't miss it!" ”

The guide took the cloth bag, opened it and saw that there were six or seven silver ingots in it, and he was afraid that there were no less than one hundred taels in his hand, and his heart was suddenly overjoyed, as if his leg injury did not hurt anymore. Zhang Kewang didn't wait for him to thank him, so he said to Zhang Dingguo: "Second brother, you and I will lead all the way, from both ends, remember, only kill the officers and soldiers, and no one can hurt the river workers, otherwise you won't be able to drive the boat back!" ”

Ruyang County.

Just as Zhang Xianzhong and Cao Cao were anxiously waiting for the two righteous sons to cross the river and seize the ships on the north bank of the Huai River, a troop of cavalry galloped on the official road from Runing Mansion to Ruyang County, about a hundred people. They rode all horses with out-of-mouth horses, sometimes whipping and galloping, sometimes slowly, so that the sweating horses could rest a little. The sound of horses' hooves sounded like a fierce torrent of rain in the frosty, silent, nightly wilderness, often causing dogs to bark from the ruined villages nearby, and the frightened night watchmen looked up the avenue to determine the identity of the knights.

Lu Xiangsheng, the prime minister of Hebei, Henan, Shandong, Huguang, and Sichuan military affairs, rode a horse, and in the middle of the cavalry, his heart was excited and nervous. Since Zhang Xianzhong and Cao Cao crossed the Huai to the north in the summer, the documents urging him to "send troops to suppress" have been written one after another, like snowflakes. At that time, he felt that he had not yet arrived at the fighter plane, so he used to show the enemy's weakness and lure the enemy deep into the Huanghuai Plain, which was suitable for cavalry to play a role, and then attack it. At this stage, I don't know how many imperial historians want to impeach him for the crime of cowering and arson and robbery, if it weren't for Chongzhen just killing Hong Chengchou, I'm afraid he would have been in prison. After these victories, the political crisis has been temporarily lifted, and he considered how to eliminate Zhang Xianzhong and Cao Cao, the two "giants", north of the Huai River, and kill or sacrifice prisoners to the Jingshi, "to comfort the worries of the monarch's father."

About the time they arrived in Shen, Lu Xiangsheng and his party were only two or three miles away from Ruyang County, and suddenly there were a few whistles on the side of the road, and then a small group of cavalry rushed out, and the loose and faint Lu Xiangsheng and his party on the official road were surrounded, and the leader shouted in Chinese with a northern accent: "Who are you?" ”

"Bold, this is the right deputy capital Yushi, the prime minister's five-voice military affairs Lu Xiangsheng Lord Lu, who are you?" Lu Xiangsheng's Chinese army shouted.

These uninvited guests exchanged a few words, but they did not relax, but asked loudly: "We are the subordinates of Lord Lu, you said it is Lord Lu, but what evidence do you have, there are thieves everywhere here, and there is no evidence!" ”