"Deputy battalion officer, a group of Jiannu sentry cavalry was found in the direction of Lingqiu Road, about twenty or thirty people, we withdrew with few people, and Jiannu chased after him, and then disappeared." The leading whistle said loudly.

Zhong Laosi said dissatisfiedly: "What is your mother's military situation?" ”

The sentry replied cautiously: "The mountain road is narrow, and Jiannu doesn't dare to come, and we don't dare to go over, and they only raised their shields after a quarter of an hour of confrontation, and then we turned around." ”

Zhou Shao'er also said: "We have few sentry horses, we can't beat those sentry horses in Jiannu, in case we are caught, we will be asked about our strength." ”

Zhong Laosi flipped through the map, "There is Jiannu in the direction of Lingqiu Road, and there is no return in the direction of Guangchang County for the time being, your mother's Jiannu will not even let go of this ravine, and you can catch a few people in a day, you are really fucking poor like this." ”

"Which flag does it belong to?"

"The blue ones, there are a few white armor back flags, which look a little small, I don't know if they are inlaid with blue flags or positive blue flags."

Zhong Laosi's head was turning, the information was very vague, according to the information collected along the way, there may be several flag colors on the opposite side: blue flag, white flag, and yellow flag.

After thinking for a moment and not getting the point, Zhong Laosi said to several company commanders: "What do you think? ”

Zhou Shao'er looked at the others, and saw that everyone didn't speak, so he had to raise his hand and say: "I don't think Jiannu looks like they are going to attack the Fallen Horse Pass, if they really want to fight, they should ride fast forward and take away all the people on Lingqiu Road, and now they are only pursuing our scattered sentry cavalry for a short time, which shows that their fighting spirit is not high." ”

Another company commander, Liu Yue, also agreed with Zhou Shao'er, and he said to Zhong Laosi: "Jiannu likes to use the room the most, and may send someone to Sanguan to see it, knowing that the defense is tight, they didn't even beat Changli in Beizhili back then, and now there are Zhending and Baoding departments gathered in Baoding." There are also soldiers and horses in Tongzhou and Tianjin, Jiannu will definitely not be able to break through, and the inverted horse pass cannot be bypassed, at most to catch some people on the road. ”

There was a commotion outside at this time, and the homeless people who were walking slowly suddenly shouted and fled to the Reverse Horse Pass, and countless people were squeezed by the crowd and fell on both sides of the road.

The dragoons around the post station were immediately on alert, but after watching for a long time, they saw the people fleeing. None of the slaves came.

After a quarter of an hour, it was quiet outside. A Zhenfu soldier came in to report, saying that it was a few people who had come from Lingqiu Road, saying that they saw Jiannu more than ten miles away, and as a result, there was immediately chaos outside.

Zhong Laosi scolded in a low voice. What those people said should be that the sentry horse saw that group of Jiannu, and they could scare these people like this, and now these people are running away from the horse, and they will definitely block the reserves, Zhong Laosi looked at the sky, and could only send two platoons to block the road, and the brigade camped on the spot.

The surrounding mountains are continuous. I don't know how many Jiannu there are, Zhong Laosi snorted, patted the table and said, "It's not a way to stay here, at most camp for one night." If Lord Chen asks us to help defend the three passes, but the order is to attack the Jiannu Division, we can't stop near the Great Wall. Which side shall we fight, to Guangchang or Lingqiu? ”

The instructor touched his chin and stood up and said, "This." I think ......"

"You think, it's none of your business to fight. Have you studied the Code of Conduct? Have you taken a crash course? Have you practiced a three-dan strike? Give Lao Tzu a flash, and the company commanders said. Zhong Laosi interrupted unceremoniously, and the instructor bit his lip, his face flushed with anger.

After Zhong Laosi asked, everyone didn't speak, there are only a few holes in the mountains, unlike the plains, where there are many roads, the enemy situation is unknown, and it is full of risks to go any way.

A group of company commanders and division chiefs were silent, and Zhong Laosi said by name: "Zhou Shao'er said." ”

"Well, this, or let's go to Guangchang, it's only more than sixty miles, Lingqiu is still farther away, we have to walk more than one hundred and ten miles, and there are mountain roads along the way, even if we run into Tartars, we can't kill a few...... This, anyway, there is no intelligence, and I can't say it well. ”

"Anything else?" Zhong Laosi glanced around, "If you don't say it, Lao Tzu will talk about it, there is a Jiannu sentinel in the direction of Lingqiu, which means that there is a Jiannu brigade operating in the mountainous area, on the road of Guangchang, there are few people who have fled, Lao Tzu judged that Jiannu has closed the mountain pass, from the walking distance, Jiannu may have evacuated, but in the direction of Lingqiu, Jiannu is nearby, which is suitable for us to focus on attacking." Since the company commander, the chief and the staff officer didn't speak, well, Lao Tzu directly decided, let's go to Lingqiu, stay in the horse post, and the fourth company will be postponed, and when the reserve soldiers arrive, they will chase the front team. The first company opened the way, equipped with a four-pounder cannon, and continued to attack when it encountered Jiannu, biting their tails. ”……

Zhou Shao'er followed Zhong Laosi out of the door, put on the red soft hat with ear protection on his head, looked at the back of the instructor who left in front of him angrily, and asked Zhong Laosi in a low voice: "I said Zhongtou, why did you choose Lingqiu instead of Guangchang County?" Your reason is a bit far-fetched, there are fewer people on the road over there, but it may also be that the people of Guangchang fled to Bauhinia Pass and came less here. ”

"If you really want to ask, I can only say that there is no reason, I chose randomly." Zhong Laosi shook his head.

Zhou Shao'er was dumbfounded, "You mean, you chose to attack Lingqiu?" ”

"Yes, Lao Tzu is not a god, now there is no information, so many of you don't know how to do it, how does Lao Tzu know, but it is not good to stay in the horse post all the time, our advantage is that Jiannu does not know that we are coming, if we stay here and do not leave, we will soon lose this advantage, the mountains cause unclear information, but it is also our best cover, Jiannu will also have black eyes. If we are dragged in the horse post, once the Jiannu assemble or retreat, we will have no chance. Therefore, the horse post is only used as a contact point, and it is necessary to choose a direction to move forward, relatively speaking, Lingqiu has found Jiannu here, and the chance to seize a share is relatively large. ”

Zhou Shao'er scratched his head, "What I want to know is, did you choose Lingqiu based on this?" It may also be that those Jiannu sentry riders returned to Lingqiu after a smoke, and they sent a few hundred armor soldiers to block the mountain pass, and the width of the mountain pass cannot be beaten even if you Guan Gong is reincarnated. ”

"I'll tell you the truth, Lao Tzu chose randomly, now Ji is a black eye, I only recognize one, I can't delay for a long time in the horse post, and I can't take a defensive position, as for which side is better, only God knows. Master Chen said that what is worse than a wrong decision is not making a decision, so whether it is right or wrong, I will choose Lingqiu. ”

Zhou Shao'er: "......"......

The vast Taihang, the mountains are like the sea, the mountains are covered with snow, and the world is depressed. Snow fell again in the sky, and although it was already February, the winter snow during the Xiaoice period was extended.

Between the mountains is the Lingqiu Road that connects the Fallen Horse Pass and Lingqiu, this mountain road is built along the valley of the Tang River, relying on the erosion of the Tang River for thousands of years, a passage is opened in the middle of the Taihang Mountain, and the descendants have built the Lingqiu Road along the river valley.

The Tang River next to the road is already civilized, and the water in the middle of the Tang River can be seen mixed with ice, making a slight noise to flow south, and the snowflakes float into the water and are immediately melted by the river.

Brother Guan led the horses and walked on the road that was not wide, this was the third day from the horse post, and on the second day, he only walked forty miles a day, and he did not meet Jiannu's sentry riders along the way, and found a few dilapidated villages to camp in the evening.

The road was lined with steep mountain walls, like axes in places, and the marching procession was full of neighing and wheezing horses. Brother Guan is a dragoon in Lushun, often training with regular cavalry, the regular cavalry's war horses are quiet and obedient, Zhong Laosi has been talking many times, his wish is to replace all the miscellaneous horses of the dragoon with war horses, but Guan Dadi never thought that Zhong Laosi's wish could be realized.

"Stop!"

The soldier in front turned around and said, and Brother Guan immediately gave orders back and stopped one after another. This can only be used on the narrow mountain road, and Brother Guan has been thinking about whether the army will run to the river to fight if he encounters Jiannu.

After Brother Guan stopped, he checked the flintlock pistol in his hand, and pulled out the thick-backed saber in the pocket to look at it again, plus the dagger on the belt, it was all his weapons, but Brother Guan was very skeptical that he had a chance to use the saber, and the horse's endurance under him was okay, but the sprint speed was extremely slow.

"Check the ammo!"

There was another order from the front, Brother Guan's heart tightened, he raised the flintlock machine in front of him, checked the position of the fire door cover and the bolt, looked at it several times, and felt a little calmer, and then touched the cowhide box on the belt again, there were ten rounds of paper shell bullets in it, ten spare rounds in the left and right pockets, and twenty rounds in his backpack.

After the inspection, Brother Guan curiously stepped on the stirrup and stood up straight, wanting to see what kind of terrain was in front of him, but many people in front of him were the same, and they could only see that the rock walls on both sides were getting lower in front, and there seemed to be a relatively flat terrain.

After half an hour, the order to continue moving forward came, and the first company slowly walked along the mountain road to the open area, which was a slightly larger river valley, and there was a mountain road winding in the northeast direction, and Brother Guan did not know where it led.

The team continued to move forward, still in the direction of Lingqiu, and after only a short distance, the team turned left and entered another path.

The terrain at the turn was flat, a few sentry riders and personal soldiers stood on the side of the road, as well as their deputy battalion officer Zhong Laosi, there was a half-dead man lying on the ground, Zhong Laosi shouted at him: "Dog traitor, how many people are in the yellow flag behind?" How many people have passed in the blue flag, say it to give you a good time, don't force Lao Tzu to punish you. ”

The man on the ground shrunk into a ball, his voice was very small, and then Zhou Shao'er asked Zhong Laosi, "There is also a white flag in the back, and the number of people in front and behind is about the same. Then Zhong Laosi frowned.

The team did not stop, and soon they couldn't see Zhong Laosi, Brother Guan didn't hear Zhong Laosi's answer, and he didn't care too much, anyway, this Mang Gurtai had fought in Fuzhou, and it wasn't necessarily anything powerful, he looked around curiously, and a military fort appeared in front of him, with the words "Matouguan" written on it.