After climbing four mountains in one night, Yang Hao was already exhausted by dawn. Halfway up the hill in front of me there was a depression with a clump of trees and thorn grass. Muna Mountain was originally a bald and exposed mountain with many rocks and few trees, and the late spring in the north of the country, the only few mountains and forests were also bare deciduous forests. Yellow and brown are the background colors of Mu Nashan, which is definitely not good news for the Xining sergeants with red and blue military uniforms. When the light is good, you can see everything within seven or eight miles, and there is no way to hide.

The soldiers all hated this sunny sunny day, but it was sunny for the past few days. They also hate the person who designed the military uniform, not to mention the cold spring, even in the summer, you can't run around the mountains with your bare buttocks.

Yang Hao's state of mind is getting worse day by day, when has he been so embarrassed when he has grown so big? It's just that the embarrassment is not enough, but what is even more terrifying is that the despair in my heart is deepening day by day.

It was already the fifth day after the defeat of Black Sheep Valley, and he had been hiding in the mountains for the past five days, running in a hurry and embarrassed, first separated from Cheng Keling's brigade, and then Guan Suo was lost again. There is now less than one team of the sentry soldiers.

There are more and more "sheep hunting teams" of the Hedong Army, a group of thirty people, a group of twenty people, beating gongs all over the mountains and shouting: "Catch the sheep, catch the live bounty of a thousand taels, and raise the head to donate five hundred taels......" It was really bloody, this sound violently stimulated Yang Hao's ear drums, making him angry, frightened but helpless.

There are fewer and fewer people around, except for a few who have died in large and small encounters, most of them have quietly left because they have no hope. The panic in Yang Hao's heart also worsened day by day, he almost didn't dare to close his eyes and sleep anymore, for fear that he would wake up and find that he had been sent to Liu Desan. When he slept at night, he kept his distance from the guards and divided the night watchmen into two teams and had them supervise each other. He never left his sword, and when he slept, he carried it in his arms, and he told his soldiers that he was good at killing in his dreams, and told them not to approach him while he was asleep. Yang Hao even wanted to learn from Cao Cao of the Three Kingdoms to kill a person indiscriminately to deter these soldiers with bad intentions, but he finally restrained this crazy thought.

Failure, despair, suspicion, rumors, three shocks in one night, I don't know if there is a next meal after eating this meal, and I don't know if I can open it when I close my eyes. The human will has completely given way to latent instincts, and Yang Hao is even wondering whether he is a living person or a walking corpse, and he feels like a frightened bird in the fable, lonely, helpless, flustered and terrified.

This is the gloom that he has never had in his life, and several times when Yang Hao walked on the edge of the cliff and deep ditch, he had an urge to jump down from the bottom, so he simply closed his eyes and jumped down a hundred. There is no hope in life, and it is better to be dead and clean. Those two days were as clear as now, but his heart seemed to be hidden in a 10,000-year-old ice cave, cold and gray.

Another group of soldiers departed in the night, taking with them the few sacks of water that were left. Muna Mountain is a barren mountain, water is scarce, and they can survive for a few days without food, and if they are cut off from water, they will be declared dead in advance. The remaining twelve soldiers looked at the empty water bag and wept.

Yang Hao patted them on the shoulder and said, "Don't follow me, go and make a living." Yang Hao didn't directly say that they would surrender to the Hedong Army, his intention was nothing more than to preserve their last trace of decency, no matter what, it would be a great shame for a soldier to surrender without a fight.

The twelve soldiers knelt down together, and the leading deputy wiped away the tears from his face and said: "I remember that the general once said, 'When life is not hopeless, you must not say defeat'. Did the general himself forget this sentence? Yang Hao was shocked when he heard this, this sentence was indeed said by him, it was said when he went to Cheng Keling's camp at the beginning of the year. At that time, because of Zhang Yannian's suicide and Zhang Ren's arrest, it was once rumored that the Xiao Cavalry Battalion would be abolished, and all officers and non-commissioned officers would be liquidated.

Yang Hao recalled that he used this sentence to encourage them to strengthen their confidence and overcome the difficulties together. It's really the speaker who didn't want to listen to the intention, but I didn't expect them to use this sentence to encourage themselves a few months later. This is a great irony.

The deputy continued: "Victory and defeat are a common thing in soldiers. It is not a shame for us to lose 1,000 of our 1,000 people. Besides, although we are defeated, but people are still alive, this is God who favors us. Let us have a chance to be ashamed! ”

When Yang Hao heard this, he was ashamed and didn't feel tears. He held back his tears, he didn't want his soldiers to see a sentimental and fragile commander.

"General, cry! It's more enjoyable to cry! The deputy of the team encouraged.

"Yes, General, let's cry!" The remaining eleven soldiers also persuaded together.

"Haha......" Yang Hao still wanted to hide his heart, but the tears fell down uncontrollably, he turned around and ran to the top of the mountain in one breath, shouting at the mountains......

"Ahh

Yang Hao felt an ethereal spirit that he had never felt before, accompanied by some dizzy feelings, the latter should be caused by lack of oxygen.

Facing the undulating mountains, the entanglement in Yang Hao's heart was suddenly untied, and his heart, which was originally entangled by messy things, was restored to its original tranquility. He felt a little tired, so he sat down cross-legged silently, facing the mountains and valleys, without saying a word.

The deputy beckoned the soldiers to stand up, and everyone silently looked at the commander on the top of the mountain. A soldier asked puzzledly, "General, what's the matter?" The deputy did not answer. Another soldier replied, "This will be settled, and all the monks will do this." When the person enters the time, he doesn't want anything in his heart, and when it's over, he will be enlightened. Originally, the soldier hurriedly asked, "You mean that the general is going to become a monk?" The other sneered: "What nonsense are you all talking about, when is the general going to become a monk?" If you still enter the determination, you will enter the meditation a few times like a monk, and the person will be abolished. The deputy interrupted the conversation between the three of them. He motioned for everyone to remain silent, so as not to disturb the commander's musings.

Yang Hao sat on the top of the mountain for almost a whole day, when the sun was setting. He stood up, took one last look at the valley, patted the dust off his body, and turned to walk towards the valley. At this time, he had a smile on his face, and his eyes were crystal clear and clear like never before.

The deputy of the team and the soldiers greeted him, the soldier Wei Wuqiang handed over a piece of jerky, and the captain Zheng Sen sent the last half bag of water. Yang Hao didn't answer, he said to the team deputy: "If you go further, it can only be a dead end, we have to go back and cross the Lianghe Valley and meet General Yu at Seed Sheep Mountain." Count the days, and it's time for our reinforcements to arrive. After saying that, he glanced at everyone with a smile, and his warm and confident eyes gave the soldiers great encouragement.

Yang Hao packed up his clothes and armor and strode down the mountain, his steps becoming brisk and steady.

The guards all looked surprised, and the general suddenly seemed to be a different person. The fragile and shy teenager suddenly became a responsible man. Everything is like a butterfly that breaks out of the chrysalis, stunning only in that moment.

The Lianghe Valley lies between the Muna Mountain and the Sheep Mountain, about 70 miles long, about 20 miles wide, and the center of the valley is a small river that runs east-west, called Lianghe. The land on both sides of the Lianghe River is flat and fertile, and there are dozens of villages, large and small. Because of the proximity to the borderland, the people in the village have long been accustomed to the golden gongs and drums. They are self-reliant, armed and self-reliant, and form a village to protect each other. When Yang Hao marched into the north of Muna Mountain, he strictly ordered all departments not to harass the people along the way. Reasonable compensation must be given in the case of requisition of military supplies. Because of the appropriate measures, it has won the trust of the local people.

It cannot be said that the relationship between the military and the people is deep, and it can only be regarded as peaceful.

The defeat of Black Sheep Valley was too fast and too sudden. So much so that when the Hedong army entered the valley, many people on both sides of the river mistakenly thought that it was the Xining army that had a fair trade before. Many villages were sacked by the Hedong Army on charges of collaborating with the enemy. The remaining villages, without exception, were extorted for food, cattle, sheep, pigs and horses, and even forced men to serve as hard laborers, and forced young women to serve as camps/prostitutes.

Duliang Village is an ordinary village along the river, the number of people has more than 300 households, there is a wooden bridge at the west end of the village, this bridge is the only way to go to the sheep mountain, and a team of Hedong soldiers is stationed at the head of the bridge. Yang Hao took advantage of the night to sneak into a wooded forest on the south side of the bridge. Zheng Sen rushed to the bridgehead with a soldier to reconnoitre, and came back to report that there were only seven guards at the bridgehead, and the rest of the people lived outside the west wall of the village, and the villagers had built a few temporary thatched huts for them to sleep in.

Yang Hao told everyone: "Shoot quickly, and rush across the bridge immediately after killing the bridgehead guard." Everyone should be, Yang Hao let the deputy of the team and Zheng Sen be in charge of the back of the palace, and he picked four sturdy soldiers to follow him to touch the bridgehead guards.

At this time, the entire Lianghe Valley was under the control of the Hedong Army, and the scattered soldiers of the Xiaocai Battalion occasionally crossed the river and fled to Chongyang Mountain, but most of them did not dare to take the bridge, but chose to swim across the river. The guards at the head of the bridge had not heard the sound of drums and trumpets for several days, so they gradually relaxed their vigilance. When Yang Hao led people to touch the bridge, several guards were leaning on the guardrail around Wu Chang, and they were talking nonsense.

Wu Chang was talking about the elation, when he suddenly saw a figure rushing onto the bridge, and before he could react, a steel knife was inserted in his chest. Everyone was stunned and stunned, and they couldn't react to the half-ring. After Yang Hao's sneak attack was successful, he ravaged up and killed three guards in a row with a short sword. At this time, the four soldiers behind him also followed, and the seven guards at the bridgehead lost their lives in a daze.

Yang Hao stood at the head of the bridge with a spear propped up by the corpse of the chief, but waved his hand in the direction of the woods, and the distance between the two was more than ten zhang, but there were stars and moons in the sky, and it was not difficult to see. However, there was no movement in the woods. Yang Hao suddenly felt bad and exclaimed: "It's not good, go quickly." It was too late, and suddenly a gong sounded, and more than twenty archers rushed out of the grass on the river beach, and Sen Sen's feather arrows were aimed at Yang Hao and the others.

At this time, torches were also lit in the woods, and a group of Hedong sergeants walked out carrying the heads of Zheng Sen and others.

One of the Hedong soldiers at the head was grinning and laughing: "There is another bunch of self-righteous stupid pigs. After saying this, he pointed to the corpse of the guard on the bridge, and said to the left and right: "It is said that the sergeants of the Tiande Army are elves, and they are all false names. He was complimented on his foresight. After listening to these compliments, the team was unconsciously red, and pointed at Yang Hao triumphantly and asked, "Who are you?" ”

Yang Hao laughed and said: "Lao Tzu is the daughter Yang you want to catch, there is a kind of come to take me." With that, he glanced at the four people behind him, and the five of them jumped off the cool river together.