finally looked forward to the reinforcements, but only waited for only five reinforcements, and Deputy Director Tao, who had more than a dozen Cao soldiers around him, was really depressed and depressed, and what made Deputy Director Tao even more depressed was that Cao Qing, the eldest daughter of Cao Lao, who seemed to be weak in Wenwen, did not hesitate to use a short sword against her own vital point, so that she didn't even have a chance to escape, and Deputy Director Tao's impression of Boss Cao was not good enough was inevitably even worse - how did this old thing discipline his children? It's just too disciplined, isn't it?

Deputy Director Tao may be grateful to Cao Qing for his caution inherited from Boss Cao, because at this time, after discovering that he was outnumbered, the commander of Xuzhou, who came to search for and rescue Deputy Director Tao, in addition to immediately raising his crossbow to deter Cao Jun's soldiers, loudly declared that the crossbow arrow in his hand was highly poisonous, and the middle one was killed immediately! As the No. 1 and No. 2 overlord of the Xuzhou army, Deputy Director Tao knows very well that his scout team has never been equipped with poisoned arrows! - This is not a cost limit, but it is not necessary, after equipping the primitive telescope, the Xuzhou scouts can detect the other party in advance, and can make a contingency response before the enemy, and it is not only unnecessary to equip expensive poison arrows, but also lose the opportunity to grab the tongue and take a confession.

"Brothers in Yanzhou, don't worry, we are not here for you." The commander of Xuzhou on the opposite side shouted again, "Our battle with you has been over, and our general has also ordered to stop searching and killing you, so we don't want to fight with you, you can go there if you want, we won't stop you." ”

Of course, Ding Feng and other Cao soldiers would not believe the words of the Xuzhou military chief, but they just fanned away and slowly forced towards the Xuzhou military team, the Xuzhou military commander was a little flustered, and hurriedly retreated step by step, while shouting: "Brother Yanzhou, do you hear clearly?" I'm not coming for you, so you can go with confidence, we won't call the brigade to chase you! Don't come here, the arrow in my hand is really poisonous, if you want to find death, we will accompany you to the end! ”

"Not for us?" Although Ding Feng was young and inexperienced, he was also very clever, and deliberately pretended to ask strange questions to distract the enemy, "Then who are you coming for?" ”

"We're looking for an enemy, an enemy in silver armor and white robes." The commander of Xuzhou replied truthfully, and asked rhetorically: "Brother Yanzhou, have you seen a young man in a white robe and silver armor?" Twenty-seven or eighteen years old, with a little white face and a little beard, if you see it, tell me, and we will repay you heavily. ”

"See." Ding Feng pointed to the right and said, "Go over there." ”

When the Xuzhou commander turned his head to look at the right, several Cao soldiers who outflanked him to his left immediately rushed up, wielding a knife and a gun to kill these Xuzhou soldiers, and the Xuzhou commander was furious when he found the plan, turned his head and shot an arrow without saying a word, hitting a Cao soldier who couldn't dodge, and then shouted loudly to run, leading his four soldiers to run back and forth. Ding Feng first ordered the five soldiers to stay behind to protect Cao Lao's family, and then shouted and led the rest of the soldiers to chase after him.

The Cao soldier who was shot in the left arm by a crossbow arrow was not seriously injured, but was only scratched by the arrow across his arm, and originally wanted to chase and kill, but here Deputy Director Tao shouted, "Brother with the arrow, don't chase, come back, let me see your wound, is it really poisonous?" Also, pick up the arrows. ”

Cao Bing, who was hit by the arrow, had seen Deputy Director Tao's ability to distinguish poisonous arrows, and when he heard this, he subconsciously stopped, and Cao Qing behind Deputy Director Tao was also a little worried, and hurriedly shouted: "You come back, pick up the arrows too." ”

Hearing Cao Qing's order, Cao Bing, who was hit by the arrow, followed the order, first picked up the crossbow arrow that had broken his arm, and then returned to Cao Qing, and said with a relaxed expression: "Miss, don't worry, the villain was just scratched some oily skin, and it's no big deal." ”

Deputy Director Tao didn't say anything, just took the crossbow arrow and looked at it carefully, Cao Qing's short sword behind him was pushed up again to warn, Deputy Director Tao didn't bother to pay attention, and after a closer look, Deputy Director Tao's brows were a little furrowed, and then he instructed Cao Bing who was hit by the arrow: "Brother, go and wash your wounds, wash them a few times, and drink more water, this arrow is really poisonous." ”

"It's really poisonous?!" The arrow Cao Bing was taken aback and hurried to look at his wounds.

"How do you know it's poisonous?" Later, Cao Qing also hurriedly asked.

"Look closely at the arrow, there is a thin twine on it." Deputy Director Tao pointed to the fine twine tied to the arrow and explained: "This fine twine has been soaked in poison, and if you shoot someone, you can poison people, fortunately, this brother was just bruised, and the arrow poison does not enter much blood, there must be salvation, go and wash the wound quickly, drink more water to let the poison be discharged." ”

After seeing that there was indeed a twine tied to the arrow, Cao Bing immediately panicked, and hurriedly rushed to the distant stream to clean the wound, and thanked Deputy Director Tao again and again, Cao Qing also said with great admiration: "Brother Zhang, you are so powerful, you know everything, you are much better than us." ”

Deputy Director Tao smiled very gracefully, and was also very proud of Cao Qing's change in the name of the little beauty, but Cao Zhi next to him rushed up, snatched the poisonous arrow and watched it, and took it to open the eyes of Cao Lao's two wives, Cao Qing didn't stop his younger brother's naughty mischief, but scolded angrily: "Heaven damn Tao Ying destroys thieves, such a vicious means can be used." ”

"Wrong, this is not an arrow in my army." Deputy Director Tao shouted in his heart, because Deputy Director Tao had already seen at a glance that the poisoned arrow was not the standard arrow of his own army - in order to increase the lethality of crossbow arrows, the wealthy Xuzhou army used relatively expensive cast iron arrows, with a high ridge line with a blood groove, which was very easy to identify, but this crossbow arrow was a pole-head arrow with weak penetrating power, which was flat and double-edged, which was cheap and easy to manufacture, but its lethality was far inferior to that of a three-edged arrow, and it could not exert the maximum power of a strong crossbow. Therefore, it was abandoned by the Xuzhou army, which had sufficient military spending and pursued strength.

After confirming that this crossbow arrow was not in the hands of his own team, and then seeing the familiar poisonous twine, Deputy Director Tao could guess who those Xuzhou soldiers were by analyzing it with his toes, and after understanding this, Deputy Director Tao also suddenly broke out in a cold sweat, knowing that if it wasn't for the threat of Cao Bing by his side, and Cao Qing resisted the key point with a short sword, and he didn't check for a while and exposed his identity, then he would die without a place to be buried!

After waiting for a while, Ding Feng and others finally ended the chase and returned to Cao Qing and Deputy Director Tao, after a chase, Ding Feng and others Cao Jun soldiers killed three 'Xuzhou soldiers', and the remaining two enemies jumped into the river to escape, although Ding Feng was very good but worried about the safety of Cao Lao's family, he did not dare to chase too much, and rushed back with the captured dry food and weapons. And when he learned about the poisonous arrow from Cao Qing and others, Ding Feng admired Deputy Director Tao even more, and hurriedly said to Deputy Director Tao: "Thank you Brother Zhang for your advice, otherwise, our brother may not be able to save him." ”

"General Ding doesn't have to be polite, it's just that we're in the same boat." Deputy Director Tao returned the courtesy and modest, and asked: "General Ding, son-in-law, the matter has come to this point, I don't know what your next plan is?" Shu Shan reminded that since there were two Xuzhou thieves who escaped, the enemy was likely to go and return, and it was possible to bring a large group of Xuzhou thieves, and asked General Ding and the son-in-law to make up their minds as soon as possible. ”

"We're going to go to my father." Cao Qing, who had already withdrawn the short sword, opened his mouth and said, "Maybe Brother Zhang can also see that my father is Cao Mengde, the former prime minister of the Han Dynasty, and since he has withdrawn to Luyang, we can only go to Luyang to find him." ”

"Sister, whether my father went to Luyang or not is all a one-sided word of this thief, and you can't believe it." Cao Zhi shouted again.

"Shut up, I can see who Brother Zhang is." Cao Qing was furious, and the two wives of Cao Boss over there also opened their mouths to scold Cao Zhi, and pulled Cao Zhi aside so as not to continue to get in the way.

"Son-in-law, in fact, Brother Ling's words are also right, it is all based on my words, you can't be gullible." Deputy Director Tao said pretendedly: "But it doesn't matter, the Jingzhou Army, the Jizhou Army and the Xuzhou Army all know about Meng Degong's withdrawal to Luyang, as long as you catch another prisoner and ask, you will know if I am lying." ”

"It's okay, we trust you." Cao Qing smiled, revealing a moving gesture that made Deputy Director Tao's heart sprout, and then Cao Qing asked Deputy Director Tao very sincerely: "Brother Zhang, are you willing to go with us?" You are older than all of us, and your experience and insight are hundreds of times stronger than ours, if you can join us in Luyang, we will have a lot more certainty. ”

"It's ......." Deputy Director Tao was secretly happy in his heart, but his face showed an embarrassed expression, and he hesitated and said: "Son-in-law, it's not that I don't want to help you, the key is that I am also a mud horse crossing the river now, and it is difficult to protect myself, you see that I have injuries on my body, I can't walk fast, and I am powerless to walk with you." Besides, it's two hundred miles away from Luyang, and there are water and enemies on the road, how can we get there? ”

"So we're going to ask Brother Zhang for help." Cao Qing smiled again and said, "Brother Zhang, you have so much knowledge, you will definitely be able to help us a lot on the road." Also, please rest assured, Brother Zhang, we will never abandon you on the road, as long as we still have a bite to eat, we will definitely share your share, and when Luyang sees his father, I will definitely ask him to thank you heavily. ”

"Yes, Brother Zhang, you can go with us." Ding Feng also persuaded: "You used to be the lord's person, and now it is natural to return to serve under the lord's command, and when you protect the lord's mother and return to the lord's side, the lord will definitely reward you heavily." ”

Deputy Director Tao originally wanted to take a look, but seeing that Cao Qing had already gone to hold the short sword on his waist, Deputy Director Tao still didn't dare to play any more to capture the old man, so he quickly nodded and said: "Okay, anyway, my team was also broken up by the Tao thief, and the son-in-law and General Ding said so again, if I don't agree again, I'm sorry for your grace of not killing after you hold me, and I'll go with you." ”

Cao Qing was overjoyed, Ding Feng and the Cao soldiers present were also very happy, and a few Cao soldiers hugged Deputy Director Tao as a salute to celebrate Deputy Director Tao's halfway joining, but Cao Zhi looked dissatisfied, and muttered in his mother's ear, as if he still refused to believe Deputy Director Tao. After finalizing this matter, Cao Qing hurriedly asked Deputy Director Tao: "Brother Zhang, with your experience, which road should we take now?" ”

"This ......." Deputy Director Tao was stupid before he said to hurry across the water, first pretended to think about it, and then said in a roundabout way: "Son-in-law, General Ding, in my opinion, since there is a Xuzhou thief army coming from the upper reaches of the water, the Jizhou team where I was before suffered a big defeat at the Yexian ferry, which shows that the Xuzhou thief army must have crossed the water and camped on the south bank of the water." In this case, we will definitely not be able to go back directly, don't you think? ”

"Yes." Cao Qing and Ding Feng were together, and then Ding Feng also said: "Brother Zhang is right, we must not turn back, and we must leave here immediately, otherwise once the brigade of the Xuzhou thief army arrives, we will be finished." ”

"I think so too." Deputy Director Tao nodded, and then said quickly: "So I think that we actually only have two ways now, one is to cross the water immediately and sneak from the north bank of the water to Luyang. The second is to take a detour, first try to go to the lower reaches of the Yanshui, away from the battlefield in Yexian, and then go around a big circle to Luyang. ”

Cao Qing first discussed with Ding Feng in a low voice for a moment, and then said in embarrassment: "Brother Zhang, these two roads are not easy to walk?" Immediately cross the water and go straight to Luyang, there must be soldiers and horses of Xuzhou pottery thieves blocking the road on the road, which is very dangerous. If we go around in a big circle, the food is very problematic, and my father is in a hurry to withdraw Sili and Guanzhong, and by the time we arrive in Luyang, my father must have gone far. ”

"Then the only way to cross the river is to take the risk and cross the river immediately." Deputy Director Tao took the opportunity to say: "Since the scouts of the pottery thieves came from the upper reaches of the south bank of the Tanshui, they must have camped on the south bank after crossing the river, and the defense on the north bank must be empty. ”

"It's ......." Cao Qing was a little embarrassed, and glanced back slightly at Boss Cao's other family members behind him - they were all old and weak women and children.

"Son-in-law, if you want to catch up with Meng Degong's team and return to Meng Degong's side, this is just your last chance." Deputy Director Tao agitated like a spring, and said: "The Tao thief army is in Ye County, once you take the strategic throat of Ye County, it will also block the road for you to retreat to Sili Guanzhong, when the time comes, if you want to go north to chase Meng Degong's team, not only will it be too late in time, but it will also be very dangerous, it is better to take advantage of the fact that Ye County has not been broken by Tao thieves, and the remnants of the Jingzhou Army and the Jizhou Army are still holding back the main force of the Tao thieves, taking the opportunity to pass the pass, this is a little bigger." ”

After listening to Deputy Director Tao's words, Cao Qing hesitated again, and finally made up his mind and said, "Okay, let's cross the river immediately!" General Ding Feng, you are familiar with the surname Shui, can you take us across the river? ”

"Yes." Ding Feng replied without hesitation: "There are still two people in our team who know water, as long as we find a place where the water is slow, then cut a tree and put it in the water, please Mrs. and Gongzi you lie on the tree, and I can take you across the river." ”

"Is this guy Ding Feng or Wang Baobao? Can this cross the river? Deputy Director Tao glanced at Ding Feng - by the way, General Wang Baobao, the brother-in-law of Wuji, who was defeated by Xu Da in the Battle of Dingxi, used this method to cross the river with the whole family, and it was the Yellow River that was crossed!

"Okay, find a place where the water is slow to cross the river immediately." Cao Qing nodded, first ordered the team to get up immediately, and then carefully instructed Ding Feng: "General Ding, return Brother Zhang's weapon to him, he is injured in the left shoulder, and he can also fight if necessary." ”

It was only at this time that Deputy Director Tao suddenly remembered a major event, but he had nothing to do about it, so he could only take the Yitian Sword head-on, and thanked him casually, and then quickly glanced at Cao Qing's expression out of the corner of his eyes, and Cao Qing's moving pretty face did show some doubts, because Cao Qing found that the sword that Ding Feng handed back to Deputy Director Tao had a vague familiarity.

"Sister, who will carry me this time?" A sweet Luo Liyin saved Deputy Director Tao, and Cao Hua, the youngest daughter of Cao Boss and only five years old, ran over and grabbed the corner of Cao Qing's clothes and asked.

"Little sister, will you let the big brother carry you?" Deputy Director Tao hurriedly half-squatted down, and Cao Hua had already found that Deputy Director Tao's appearance was more elegant than that of other Cao soldiers, so without waiting for Cao Qing to agree, he jumped on Deputy Director Tao's back without saying a word, and shouted happily twice, "Drive, drive, sister, I'm riding a big horse again." ”

Being interrupted by Cao Hua like this, Cao Qing, who wanted to please Yitian Sword to take a closer look, swallowed the words that came to his mouth back into his stomach, and quickly arranged for a few soldiers to carry their young brothers and sisters on their backs, and then took Cao Lao's Yuan and Mrs. Ding, and led the team to leave, but Cao Qing still left a little doubt in his heart, "That sword, why do you seem to have seen it there?" ”

During the period, the kind-hearted Mrs. Ding saw that Deputy Director Tao was very weak, and asked for a replacement to carry Cao Hua several times, but Xiao Luoli relied on Deputy Director Tao, and refused to leave Deputy Director Tao's back, and Deputy Director Tao, who had always loved the little girl, also gritted her teeth and insisted. Fortunately, Ding Feng, who was familiar with the surname Shui, soon found a place where the water could cross the river slowly, and soon got a dead tree, smashed off the branches and put it into the water, and then a super difficult single-plank river crossing operation was launched. According to Ding Feng's analysis, in addition to the sailors who were riding the trees, this tree took up to four people across the river at a time, so Cao Jun and Deputy Director Tao could only cross the river in batches.

"Who crossed the river first?" Cao Qing asked.

"You should go over a few soldiers first, be on guard, and then ask the lady to cross the river." Deputy Director Tao suggested, and hurriedly said: "Son-in-law, let me and the two cross the river first, one is that we are young and strong, and we can be alert when we cross the river, and the other is to prevent undercurrents in the river." ”

Cao Qing hesitated for a moment, and then nodded, he had long noticed that Cao Qing was occasionally peeking at his sword, and Deputy Director Tao was amnesty, so he hurriedly went down to the river and hugged the log, Cao Qing arranged for two soldiers who couldn't go into the water to hold the log, and then Ding Feng and another soldier who knew how to water also went into the water, pushing and pulling the log and began to swim to the north bank, while Cao Qing and the others waited on the south bank.

Fortunately, the surface of the Bashui River in this area is not wide, only about fifty steps at most, and there is no dangerous undercurrent under the gentle water surface, so Ding Feng and Deputy Director Tao still crossed the Bashui smoothly and leaned on the north bank after a pillar of fragrant time. And when Deputy Director Tao and others landed on the north bank, Cao Qing and others on the south bank also immediately cheered, and Deputy Director Tao breathed a long sigh of relief and secretly made up his mind, "Damn, when this block is over, Lao Tzu must find time to learn to swim!" ”

Considering that the Cao Zhi brothers were young and lightweight, Ding Feng, who had a small burden, tied Cao Hua to his back with a clothing belt, and took Cao Hua across the river in the second batch, and when Cao Hua went up to the north bank, the first thing he did was to rush to Deputy Director Tao, hugged Deputy Director Tao and said: "Big brother, will you carry me for a while?" You don't smell of sweat. ”

"Little girl, you can pick and choose."

Deputy Director Tao lovingly pinched a handful of white and tender small baskets, and when he looked up to see the situation on the south bank, Deputy Director Tao's face suddenly turned pale again - far upstream of the south bank of the Yanshui, a Jingzhou army in green uniforms suddenly appeared, and there were dozens of people, and at the same time, Deputy Director Tao also heard a familiar thunderous roar, "Zhang Fei is here, Cao thief Yu sins, don't want to escape!" ”

"Enemy attack! Go to Mother Saviour! Ding Feng also roared, didn't care about the dead wood that crossed the river, jumped into the water and rushed over, the Cao army team on the opposite side was also in chaos, and Cao Qing's anxious shouting could be vaguely heard, "Mother, mother, Xianmei, Jiemei, you go into the water, go into the water, who knows how to water?!" Take them across the river! River! ”

When at least fifty Jingzhou soldiers rushed to the ferry under the leadership of Zhang Fei, several Cao soldiers who tried to stop were cut to pieces on the spot, and a Cao soldier was also stabbed in the face by Zhang Fei's snake spear, the spear spear pierced through the skull, and the brain was sprinkled all over Cao Qing who was protected by him, and Ding Feng rushed across the river to no avail, neither could beat Zhang Fei nor stop as many as dozens of Jingzhou soldiers, and was forced to helpless, Ding Feng could only pull Cao Qing to jump off the water, With a lot of crying, Cao Qingyu crossed the river. The other two Cao soldiers were killed in the melee, and when the other tried to cross the river with Mrs. Ding, the wife of Cao Boss, Zhang Fei twisted his bow and arrow, and an arrow pierced the back of the neck and died, Mrs. Ding, who fell into the water, was also caught on the south bank by the skilled Jingzhou soldiers surnamed Shui, and Cao Ying's other wife, Mrs. Qin, as well as Cao Ying's second daughter Cao Xian and the third daughter Cao Jie, were captured by the Jingzhou army together, and the rest of the Cao soldiers were all killed. On the south bank of the water, in addition to Cao's wife and mother and daughter, who were crying bitterly, there was only the laughter of the Jingzhou soldiers, and a Jingzhou soldier wearing a Xuzhou military uniform yelling, "Piff, now you know the end of our good deeds, right?!" ”

Holding Cao Hua who was crying desperately, Deputy Director Tao cried, shed tears for his enemies for the first time in his life, and said word by word in his heart: "Big-eared thief!" Liu Pan! Zhang Fei! Liu Biao! Zhuge Liang! Pang Tong! You wait! Remember! (To be continued.) )