Wen Chou's preparations did not last long, because the war was already beckoning to him.

In the fourth year of Zhongping, at the end of November.

The biting cold wind blew from the distant northern Siberia, carrying the grievances of countless Qiantou, crossing the vast and flat nomadic steppe, and came to the territory of the Han Dynasty without a trace of hindrance. In the secluded realm, there are many mountains and rocks, but the power of the cold wind has forced back a lot. But that's all, the cold is still coming.

When I woke up in the morning, I saw a white expanse of frost draped over the earth. As the chill deepens, the impoverished people are naturally quite miserable. Although there are many measures to deal with this cold winter, there are many people!

The linen cloth made from the raw hemp purchased in the first batch was not sold to other places, but was sold out in the local area. It's just that the price is much lower than the ordinary market price under the supervision of Wen Chou, otherwise these poor families may not be able to afford it.

The villagers under Wenchou's jurisdiction are still like this, and the displaced people resettled in other counties and townships are even more unbearable. Although there have been no rumors of 'frozen bones on the road' due to the recent entry into the middle of winter, people have been prepared in their hearts, and such news will not be too far away from them.

The Qi people who lived under the rule of the imperial court were still like this, and the thieves who lived in the mountains and valleys were even more unbearable. There have already been disputes and fights under the threat of hunger and cold. It is still very much like the black mountain thieves in the area of Pingjian and Gaoyi!

Because of the sudden and strong rise of Wen Chou, Li Damu's bandits, who were originally quite nourishing in this area, suffered a serious setback! The overall strength has weakened from 12,000 at its peak to 4,000 or 5,000 strong troops. Of course, the thief's sturdy trick is a man between the ages of 16 and 56. If there are some powerful women, they are also counted.

These four or five thousand elites are jointly controlled by the three subordinates of the original Li Damu, of course, the other two are just fictitious positions, who made them lose the deployment they gathered! There are nearly 20,000 old and weak people to take care of. Of course, after three or four months of life without food and clothing, those who can survive have some strength and ability.

Now Liu Min, the leader of the thieves, came to the granary on this day, and saw that there was only a small pile left in the original storage, and he couldn't help frowning.

Liu Min did not think that when the people harvested the seeds in September, they would go out to the mountains and loot. But when it came to the news that Wen Chou ordered Sergeant Tao Linsai to be assigned to strictly inspect all places, he retreated. He was afraid of Wen Chou's army, although there were only seven hundred soldiers left at that time, but which one didn't come from the blade? Even if his whole army of four or five thousand people goes out, he may not be able to take it down. So I just sent a small group of people, sneaky, and grabbed a few small miles, and it was still the kind that had already been stirred and fled away.

Moreover, the harvest of self-grown grain in the valley is not good, less than the eleven of the land on the plains outside the mountains, and it can really be called barren land. Besides, there are not many fields that can be cultivated.

Fortunately, the strength has been reduced by half, so that the food consumption has been reduced a lot, and it has barely survived until now.

Thinking of this, Liu Min couldn't help but smile bitterly, "If there is no loss of strength, how can I, Liu Min, hide here like a turtle with a shrunken head?" Don't have a big battle with that bullshit 'chivalrous Takasaburo'! When I used to follow Li Dashuai, although there was a lot of control, it was also very majestic, and if there was a shortage of food, clothing, etc., that day, it would all come out and return with a full load! ”

"I didn't expect that I was so handsome, but I was not as majestic as when I was a general! Hey, if you can survive this cold winter and don't see any improvement, you will go to Zhang Yan, the marshal of the Black Mountain Canal, to report and cancel this canal. Let the other commanders come here! ”

"It's the cold winter, and people who want to write ugly things should also relax their vigilance! After all, this weather is not suitable for troops. But I couldn't wait any longer, I needed to go out to the mountains to find some life-saving food. Liu Min glanced at the lonely small pile of grain in the granary again and decided. This is also a helpless move, if it is other seasons, I can't say that I can still hunt some game in the mountains, this midwinter, where to find game?

"Well, it's decided, it's a big deal, just like before, it's okay to touch and go." Liu Min's eyes flashed with a resolute look, and he decided.

Do it when you think of it, and Liu Min doesn't procrastinate. Needless to say, find the herald and summon a few small leaders to the lobby to discuss matters.

In a short time, the thieves poured into a heavily guarded house in the innermost part of the valley. This is the hall of their thieves and the residence of the commander.

The thieves have long known that there is not much food in stock, and they have long had the intention of going out of the mountains to plunder. It's just that Liu Min has been pressing, so there is no specific action. This time, Liu Min decided to go out of the mountains to plunder, and everyone agreed. It didn't take long to reach an agreement and assign the tasks of each unit.

To say that this Liu Min is still quite intelligent, it did not make these thieves roar away in droves like in the Li Damu period. Instead, they were divided into several shares, and with the old and weak in front, they approached the nearby counties and townships as if they were homeless. It's good to be caught off guard and loot the countryside to the greatest extent. Hundreds of cavalry responded on the periphery in case of an emergency.

On this day, Liu Qing led his elite soldiers to Jihe Township to hand over to the elite soldiers led by Wenba. This is an agreement reached between Jihe Township and Wenchou. Today is the time for the handover. In the middle of winter, it was not easy to march. Against the biting cold wind, he moved forward step by step, all of his face was red, and his breath turned into frost.

Pedestrians on the road are even rarer, even one or two families, who are also wandering remnants in the wilderness, disheveled, yellow and thin. Liu Qingqi saw it in his eyes, and he didn't ask much, just skipped it. Because he knows that such a family is one that you can rescue, and there will definitely be a group waiting for you! It can't be saved. Besides, he still has important things to do, so naturally he can't afford to make any more extraneous branches, and if something goes wrong, he can't afford it.

During the march, there were less than twenty miles to reach Jihe Township, and the sergeants were quite happy. But in the distance, several horses came galloping, and they were quite conspicuous on the barren land. Liu Qing didn't dare to be careless, and was busy drinking the army and doing a good job in the defensive posture. In this cold day, counting riders is not so easy to meet! What if it's some rogues who just leave under the guise of looting? He didn't have any cavalry in his team!

After the riders saw Liu Qing and his party, they immediately galloped quickly, and Liu Qing noticed that something was wrong! After seeing that it was the Taolin Army's uniform, his heart sudden: "It must be an accident in Jihe Township!" Otherwise, these people would not be so impatient! ”

Liu Qing thought well. These people are the people sent by Wenba to Taolinsai for reinforcements! Jihe Township is now being plundered by thieves led by Liu Min. Wen Ba led a hundred people to fight with a group of hundreds of thieves! It can be seen that the thieves are prepared! First, another group of people entangled Wenba and prevented him from reinforcing Jihe Township!

"But Jihe Township has been robbed?!" Liu Qing asked from afar.

"Exactly, Liu Tun, you go and help Wentun! Now he is being besieged by three or four hundred thieves in a liluoli in the northeast of Jihe Township! I'm going to go to Taolin to report to the captain! The first rider said.

"Okay, you can hurry back to the report! I'm going to go full speed ahead at this point, and I'm going to rescue Wen Tunchang!" Liu Qing didn't talk nonsense, and said at the moment. The cavalry didn't even stop, and came from Liu Qingbu's side with a cold wind, whistling by.

"Okay, the situation is critical, please do your best!" Liu Qing only said one word, then let go of his footsteps and ran towards Jihe Township, and the other soldiers did not speak, but just clenched the swords around their waists! Keep up. The pace is neat, and there is a momentum of its own, which blends with the north wind of this cold winter.

Here, Liu Qing is marching in a hurry. And Jihe Township is already in danger! To be precise, those slightly wealthy villagers are in danger!

In addition to the three or four hundred elites who were used to entangle Wenba, another more than two thousand elites and four or five hundred old and weak people poured into Jihe Township and plundered on a large scale. Originally, there were five or six hundred strong people in Jihe Township who were arranged in the main roads in the township, but they didn't know where they were washed away! In a hurry, he couldn't gather the other strong people in the village. And just four or five pavilions in the southeast didn't really make much difference.

Even the villagers who are idle at home have picked up farm tools to resist, how can they compare with the thieves who hold the sharp soldiers! Soon it was defeated. Some wealthy families still want to make their families and guests able to guard the courtyard! But these thieves were the first to concentrate on looting these rich and wealthy families! Hundreds of people rushed up, how could the dozens of troops in these rich families resist it?

At this point, Najihe Township has rank, and it does not dare to act rashly. It's just that the townspeople and the three or five hundred elites who have been temporarily summoned will guard the township pavilion and wait for Wenba to come to help. He thought to himself, it is still these armies who have experience in dealing with thieves. It's just that I don't see Wenba leading the army to come! I don't know it's good, because the place where Wenba is stationed is not far from Jihe Township, that is, just one mile! Standing on the outermost part of the villager's gathering, you can see it at a glance.

At this time, Wenba was suffering from it. Of these three or four hundred thieves, one hundred of them are archers! As long as Wenba and they have the heart to break through, the thieves and archers will shoot arrows with their bows, which is quite a kind of meaning that they really leave Wenba on the way to break through.

Wenba led people to break through three times, and although they were protected by wooden shields, more than 20 people were still hit by arrows! And every time they rushed near the archers, several thieves on their sides swung their swords and fought with Wenba, and then dozens of archers who were proficient in archery waited for the opportunity to release cold arrows! So that Wenba didn't have a headache and had to retreat.

As long as Wen Ba leads people to retreat, these thieves will not be forced to fight each other. It's just trapping Wenba, and it doesn't go any further.