In the early morning of October 27, a few dim lanterns swayed in the north wind on the upper floor of Shuiguan City at Longjing Pass of the Great Wall of Jizhen, and a wolf howl sounded in the distance in the darkness outside Shuiguan, and after a while, several more sounds sounded nearby (Note 1). Several old and weak Ming soldiers on the water gate didn't even bother to raise their heads, and continued to doze off behind the battlements.

Longjing Pass is one of the important passes of the Great Wall of Jizhen Town, the Chehe River runs through the Yanshan Mountains, passes through the water of Longjing Pass into the Great Wall, flows into the Luanhe River after passing Hanerzhuang, has always been one of the important border towns of Jizhen Town, when Qi Jiguang operated Jizhen Town, established a perfect early warning system on the side wall, the dungeon forts and beacon towers along the Great Wall are lined up, Zunhua, Santun Camp and other places are stationed with strong mobile troops, no one dares to enter the Great Wall in 20 years. By now, many piers have been slackened, and they have lost their former majesty.

Taktan followed behind Uncle Ilantai, who was as strong as a bear, lurking in the darkness a hundred steps away from the water pass.

They set out from Shenyang on 2 October, passed through the Liaohetao, and advanced in the direction of Horqin, all the way to the Mongol tribes of the Naiman, Aohan, Zalut, and Balin tribes, and on the 15th they joined the largest ally, Horqin, and the Horqin tribe sent a total of 23 Taiji, led by Tushetu Khan, totaling more than 2,000 armor soldiers. After that, the army went straight into Karaqin Mongolia, and Tumut and other tribes joined them, and they took the Shubu tribe as their guide, and finally reached the mouth of Jizhen on the 26th.

The blue, yellow, and two white flags where Taktan is located are called the four flags on the left wing of the Eight Banners, and this time the Yellow Flag followed the action of Huang Taiji, and there were three flags left on their left flank, led by the three Belle Mang Gurtai, to attack Longjing Pass. On the way to the army, Taktan showed a strong body and adaptability, and was one of the best more than a dozen people in the state of their more than 50 people in Niu Lu, and was selected by Niu Lu Ezhen to carry out the night attack, and it was Azig who commanded them to attack at night.

The winter night in the north is unusually cold, and most of the people who attack at night wear two cotton armors, and then put on chain mail or iron armor on the outside, and their bodies are very bloated, and their faces are also covered with thick cotton cloth, and only two eyes are exposed.

A Mongolian was their guide, Niu Lu Ezhen let out a few chirping noises in a low voice, Tak Tan suppressed the tension in his heart, and began to move forward, Uncle Ilantai's vague figure looked very firm, giving Tak Tan a lot of confidence.

More than 100 Houjin soldiers touched the city wall and quietly erected several long ladders, the top of the ladder was wrapped with thick cloth, and there was almost no sound when they leaned against the city wall, and their footsteps were also muffled by the howling wind.

Uncle Elantay was their leader, and he was also the leader of the Ba Yala, and he was the pioneer as a matter of course, he took off the cloth on his face, put the ladder knife in his mouth, and climbed lightly to the wall, and Taktan followed him after a few steps, and with the soft sound of the ladder, they quickly climbed the city wall.

Uncle Elantai looked left and right on the wall battlement, there was a fire in the city tower, and there was a faint sound of talking, there were a few Ming soldiers sleeping against the battlements outside, and gently took off the ladder knife and touched the side of the Ming army, and the other Bayala who came up from another long ladder also went to the other side, and with a wave of his left hand, several people moved at the same time, stuck the necks of those Ming soldiers, and stabbed the ladder knife in their hearts. Several Ming soldiers only woke up at this time, most of them were killed by these battle-hardened Bayala in their sleep, only one Ming army was killed, not dead for a while, wanted to struggle, he was stuck in the neck of Bayala's iron pincer-like big hand and couldn't scream, his eyes bulged out, looking at these ghostly enemies, revealing frightened eyes, his throat could only make a cooing sound, the Bayala used his upper body in iron armor to plug his mouth, and soon made up another knife, and several Ming soldiers died silently.

At this time, Taktan and a dozen other people had already stood on both sides of the gate of the city tower, all of them holding light knives or ladder knives, and some others had quietly walked down the city ladder, preparing to open the water gate and enlarge the army to enter the city along the riverbed.

Taktan's Niu Lu really waved his hand, a Bayala slammed open the door, more than a dozen people swarmed in, more than a dozen Ming soldiers inside were caught off guard, they were gambling around a square table, before they could react, Elantai's bear-like body had already hit the past, the ladder knife stabbed straight into the abdomen of a Ming army, the Ming army let out an unbearable howl, Ilantai pushed him against the table, and pushed the table to the back, and the Ming soldiers around the table were all brought to the ground, Elantai used this table to instantly divide the Ming army in the room into several parts, and vacated the space to enter, and the Jin soldiers quickly entered, and the Ming army did not know who the enemy was, and the fierce Jurchen hunters had already swung their knives and slashed at their heads, and the well-made knives brought up a rain of blood, and the screams resounded again and again in the city tower.

Taktan saw one of the fastest reacting Ming soldiers jump up, flip back onto the kang, and use the long kang to block a bayala who pounced, and then kicked a small table on the kang to the bayala, so that the bayala was blocked again, and the Ming army jumped back to get a knife on the wall.

Tak Tan didn't have time to think about it, jumped on the long kang quickly, rushed to the front of the Ming army in a few steps, and cut it off with a knife, the Ming army just pulled out the knife, and blocked it desperately, Tak Tan's full strength was blocked by him, and the knife was also broken out of a gap, Tak Tan slammed out a kick at the bottom, kicked the Ming army in the lower abdomen, kicked him to the back wall, and then slashed the opponent's neck with another knife, the Ming army was still struggling to use the knife in pain to hold it vertically, Tak Tan was blocked by the other party twice, brute force up, rushed a step, and stuck to the front of the Ming army, lost the knife in his hand, threw the Ming army down on the kang, smashed the right hand in the face of the Ming army, the fierce force knocked out the Ming army's teeth, the Ming army was sticked, the waist knife was useless, had to also lose the knife, with his hand to block the heavy punches that came one after another, Taktan pressed him on the kang, occupied the position advantage, with the help of the weight of the opponent hit the door again and again, the Ming army could not resist, the bridge of the nose was also broken, after a few times the hands were already weak, Taktan roared, the right fist smashed the opponent's temple, The Ming army's hands finally softened, and some low moans came out of his mouth, and Tak Tan did not stop, and hit more than ten punches in succession, beating the Ming army's face to the flesh and blood, the nose bone collapsed, and the eyeballs burst out, and there was not much breath.

The others have killed all the Ming army, the wall is full of flying bloodstains, they all ignore Taktan, and began to search on those Ming soldiers by themselves, and they all collected it themselves.

Only then did he turn his head to Taktan and said: "Taktan, you have to save some body when you kill, and you must be like your Uncle Ilantai, there may be new enemies on the battlefield at any time, so that you can save your strength to deal with it." ”

Tak Tan breathed heavily, nodded after listening, turned around and picked up his own Shun knife, looked at the opening on it with a heartache, Uncle Ilantai picked up the knife dropped by the Ming Army, and threw it to Tak Tan casually and said: "This knife is a Qi knife, it is well built, it is stronger than your Shun knife, keep it." ”

Taktan took it, and the knife was really good, the blade was slightly curved, reflecting the lights in the room, and the cold light was shining.

Niu Lu Ezhen then praised him and said: "Taktan is good, most of the people you killed this Ming army are family members, or you are the general manager of the team, otherwise you don't have such a good knife, and your skills will not be so good, everything on his body is yours, go and search it." ”

Taktan finally laughed, he had a harvest for the first time, he touched it on that Ming Jun, and sure enough, he touched a few taels of silver, and some tobacco, which is also a good thing, he Ama likes to smoke it the most, especially in winter. He carefully packed it up and put it in his arms.

At this time, the city gate under the city tower creaked, and then the dense footsteps sounded under the city tower, and the Manchu shouts gradually sounded, Niu Lu really shouted: "Enter the city, don't search, these Ming troops are very poor, hurry into the city to rob those merchants, women have a lot of silver, and if you go late, it will be gone." ”

The crowd agreed in unison, and descended the city wall along the city staircase, joined the left-wing army that had entered through the water gate, and poured into the city.

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In the orchid clothing shop outside Zunhua City, Qin Lufang, who only had one hand, sat listlessly inside, after he accepted Chen Xin's order, he set up points everywhere in Beizhili, and some of the people of the baggage team came one after another, stockpiling grain in various places, and he came to Zunhua in October to pay attention to the situation at the border pass. There are also some spontaneously formed streets outside Zunhua City, where some merchants are gathered, and there are many people who come and go on weekdays.

This clothing store is in name only, bought some cloth for resale, and has no business, spends five dollars a month on rent, there are two horses tied in the backyard, the total investment here is about more than 70 taels, the guy inside is a cavalry battalion, the two stayed for more than 20 days, the cavalry is from Dongjiang Town, Qin Lufang happens to be a person from Phoenix City, Liaodong, so they are already familiar with each other, and the two are bored smoking.

"Lord Qin, what do you say we're doing here? I haven't practiced horseback riding for a long time, so I'll do it like this for a few months, and I'll go back to Master Zhu to assess how to pass. ”

Qin Lufang is now giving a sailor the internal title of the general, so this adult also deserves it, he exhaled a puff of smoke, and said a little helplessly: "Now I can sue you, Lord Chen believes that Jiannu will enter Kou Ji Town this year, let me wait here, there is news to be sent back to Tianjin immediately, Tianjin is waiting for a boat, to send the news to Dengzhou." ”

It was the first time that the cavalry heard that Jiannu was coming, and he sat up straight with his eyes shining, "Jiannu is really coming?" He then frowned and said: "A few days ago, there were also rumors in Jizhen that Shu Bu had officially taken refuge in Jiannu and went to Jinzhou together, and there were recent rumors that Jiannu had arrived in Karaqin. According to the border army we saw, the wind was blowing down, and I was afraid that it would be vulnerable. ”

Qin Lufang shook his head and said: "There is everything, isn't there still a saying that Mao Shuai was going to surrender at that time." How can you believe it all. ”

The Dongjiang soldiers' eyes were slightly red, and Mao Wenlong was undoubtedly a reborn parent in the hearts of these Dongjiang soldiers, but the emperor had made a conclusion on this matter, and he had nothing to do.

Dongjiang Bing took a puff of cigarette in a daze, raised his head and spit into the air, squinted at the dissipated smoke, and said: "Anyway, I listen to Lord Chen now, he will do whatever he tells us to do, except for Mao Shuai, I will obey him, and never deduct military salary, and the instructors and instructors all said that our food and salary are paid by Lord Chen himself, and the imperial court has never issued a tael of silver." This rotten court, Mao Shuai was so bitter when he was in the Dongjiang River, the food and salary were never enough, and some people said that he traded privately, and he was surrounded by Jiannu, except for mink and ginseng, what was there to trade. How much money can you make in a year? We don't bother to pay attention to this bird court, but if the dog day Jiannu dares to come, Lao Tzu still has to do it with them. ”

Qin Lufang also agreed: "Who cares about the imperial court, I have been following Lord Chen for a long time, and there are some things I can't tell you, but Lord Chen is definitely a good official, when he is not an official, he is a good man who stresses righteousness, and now he is also very good to his subordinates, then Mr. Liu is also a good person, and Weihai can stay in this world." ”

"Brother Qin, I heard that Jiangnan is also good, have you been there?"

"No, that place is too far away, let's go and see it together when the Tartars are destroyed."

The Dongjiang soldiers were about to agree, when there was a sudden exclamation outside, followed by the footsteps of the crowd running in a panic, and the hurried figures kept passing through the door, Qin Lufang also noticed it, and quickly ran to the door, the shops all over the street were closing, but the Danlang and the farmers who picked the seeds were also packing up their burdens, and some melons and fruits that fell on the ground had no time to pay attention, and the streets were full of busy pedestrians. Not far away, on the Zunhua city wall, tight gongs and bangs began to be struck.

He looked at it strangely, and saw that some people around him were looking up at the northern sky, he raised his head slightly, and his eyes crossed the city wall of Zunhua, there were several black wolf smoke hanging on the northern sky, and Qin Lufang's blood rushed straight to the top of his head, "Your mother's Jiannu really dares to come." Brother, we have a chance to kill the Tartars. ”

Dongjiang soldiers also ran to him, and they were also stunned for a while, and then asked hesitantly: "Liaodong, thousands of miles away, no one knows if it is coming here, will it be the West Tiger Dun Rabbit or something." ”

Qin Lufang looked at the black smoke as it turned out to be getting closer and closer, and he could already tell that it was a place with five strands and more than 10,000 people, and he hurriedly said to the Dongjiang soldiers: "Go to the general manager you bought to inquire about the news, hurry up." ”

The Dongjiang soldiers hurriedly went out and disappeared into the flow of people on the street, Qin Lufang waited anxiously in the house, walking back and forth, looking forward to it and fearing it, hoping that Jiannu would come, and that he would have a good chance to take revenge, and he was afraid that he did not have the slightest confidence in the border army of Jizhen.

After waiting for about two quarters of an hour, the Dongjiang soldiers ran back, panting and excited: "It's really Jiannu, the dog ran so far to find death." ”

"How many people? Where did you get in? ”

"Broke Longjing Pass in the morning, just now they looked at the smoke column, from Da'ankou to Hongshankou and Longjing Pass, dozens of miles long side wall at the same time to send the police, someone in Longjing Pass fled, it must be Jiannu, and Tangma who went to Beijing to report the news has already set off."

Qin Lufang's face turned red, he waved his fist, and said to the Dongjiang soldiers: "I will go to Tianjin immediately to make arrangements, you will stay for a few more days, and inquire about the number of Jiannu." But don't take any chances, if Jiannu is approaching, go early, remember to light a fire before leaving, and throw the arsenic I bought into the well at the east end of the street. ”

The Dongjiang soldier scratched his head and said, "One pack can poison a few Jiannuli." ”

"I bought five catties, or poison one."

After Qin Lufang finished speaking, he did not delay, entered the house and took a burden that had been prepared earlier, went back to the backyard and led the horse out of the door, and went on the official road to Jizhou, the first batch of refugees had appeared on the road, all of them were people who looked like foreign businessmen, Qin Lufang galloped on horseback, and behind him, more and more black plumes of smoke went straight to the sky.

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Note 1: The generals of the Eighth Army, gathered at night, only asked questions and answers with the voices of birds and beasts, from "Jianzhou Experience", not any special forces skills.