(Thanks to the Great Alliance!) Thank you Zhao Wuxian 2014, ufgw, Jiang 1, take off the confusion)

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It was a desolate tidal flat, full of unkempt reeds and aquatic plants, muddy water, floating debris, and a stranded medium-sized passenger ship, swaying tiredly with the rolling waves. On the bank of the river, there was a circle of people lying horizontally, and the others were nothing, and the person who was surrounded in the middle was really shocking - it was actually the general of the Han Dynasty, Ma Han.

What's going on?

It is not complicated to say, Ma Han waved his division across the Yangtze River, and after entering Jiangdong, he garrisoned in Wanling.

Soon, information about the Jiangdong Army also came. Sun Quan and Zhou Yu deployed their troops along the Zhejiang River to the bay, Fuchun, Yuji, Shanyin, Shangyu, Yuyao, and Juzhang, and fortified everywhere. And Sun Quan was obviously unwilling to be trapped in Huiji, after he had sent a detachment of Cheng Pu and Han Dang's troops to infiltrate Peng Ze in Yuzhang County, attack the Jiangxia army, and almost capture Huang Jie.

After defeating the Jiangxia army, Cheng Pu and Han Dang each led an army, and the soldiers were divided into two routes. Cheng Pu went west, attacked Chaisang, and stuck the eastern invasion of the Jiangxia army; To the east, Han Dang was stationed in Pengze Water Village, which was left by the Jiangxia army, to monitor the dragon and wolf army downstream.

Judging from this move, Sun Quan and Zhou Yu obviously locked the next target on Yuzhang. At this time, although Yuzhang was too shou Huaxin was ordered by the imperial court, the combat strength of the county soldiers was weak, and they would definitely not be able to resist the full force of the Jiangdong Army, and the power of the Dragon Wolf Army could not be extended here for a while.

Based on all of the above, Ma Han considered that the next battlefield would be on the Yangtze River, so he decided to personally take a boat to go up the river to investigate the hydrology of the Yangtze River and the landforms along the way, so as to have a good idea of it. If as a commander-in-chief, he is confused about the future battlefield geography, how can he be expected to have the overall situation in mind. And can be reasonably deployed, calmly commanded, and fight the battle well?

Because it was mainly an investigation, Ma Han did not make a big fanfare, otherwise it would not be an investigation but a war. He only took more than 100 generals and guards and nearly 100 Danyang soldiers, and took four medium-sized passenger ships, one in the lead, one in the back, and two ships in the center.

Ma Han departed from Wuhu in mid-October. Along the way, we visited fishermen, learned about water information, recorded them in detail, and compiled them into a book. Arriving at Zongyang in Lujiang in the second half of the year, the road was not prosperous. Until yesterday, the wind and clouds on the river changed abruptly, thunder and lightning flashed, the wind howled, and the rain poured down. Turbidity waves are emptied. Three miles apart, the four ships facing each other were all lost. The boat on which Ma Han was riding was blown to the west bank of the Yangtze River by a violent storm.

When everyone slowed down, Chen was the first to jump. Two instructions were quickly issued: "Count the number of people; The guards were stationed in a five-mile radius to guard it. ”

There were 54 crew members of the ship, including boatmen, including 20 general guards, 18 Danyang soldiers, and 2 record officers. There are two eagle slaves and ten boatmen. After the inventory, it was found that except for a boatman and a Danyang soldier who fell into the river and disappeared in yesterday's storm. The rest of the people are there.

Although there were no horses, in terms of vigilance, the general guards far surpassed the Danyang soldiers, so the fifteen fierce cavalry and ten Danyang soldiers were sent out to guard together. Most of the Danyang soldiers are locals, which can play a role in communicating with the villagers.

After Chen had almost made the arrangement, he reported to Ma Han: "Our boat has run aground, and we have to find a local boatman to use a fishing boat to tow the boat to deep water with a slender man before we can set sail again." ”

Ma Han nodded: "Later, let's find a village to stay, you can inquire by the way." ”

Aso asked, "Do you want to send the Eagle News now and gather the lost ships?" ”

Ma Han looked at the sky: "It's almost dusk, the vision is not good, let's put it tomorrow." ”

The plan has been decided, and after resting, Ma Han ordered to leave ten Danyang soldiers and all the shipwrights to guard the ship here, and the remaining thirty-two people, divided into three groups, with a distance of two miles, and marched in a whole team.

Their group was all in disguise, and all the weapons, shields, armor, and arrows were hidden in the bilge. At this time, in addition to the long weapons that are inconvenient to carry and placed in the boat, all the bows and arrows, short soldiers, horses, shields, and armor are packed, carried on their backs, and swept into the village.

In the late autumn season, it gets dark very quickly, and in less than two minutes, the sky is already dark.

At this time, Chen Zhi, who was playing the outpost, sent someone to bring news: there was a small village ahead, about 20 families, and after inquiry, he learned that this place belonged to the boundary of Anhui County, 30 miles away from Anhui.

Anhui County, about 100 miles away from Zongyang, where they had an accident, if it is a waterway, it is only a few dozen miles, so it is normal.

By the time Ma Han and his entourage arrived at the village, Chen had already made a good plan: rented a farmhouse, boiled hot water, put rice in a pot, and laid out a dozen simple beds. Although there are more than 30 of them, only a dozen beds are enough. Because half of the people have to keep vigil, and in the second half of the night, the other half of the people rotate, and only half of them are resting forever.

These small villages of twenty families, with a total of only fifty or sixty people, poured into nearly half of the village's population, and all of them were strong men, which really made the villagers panic. Fortunately, although these men look fierce, their manners are still kind, and they also share the meat with the villagers, which gradually eliminates the panic.

After a while, Chen Zhi brought an old man, and the Tao was an old man in the village.

Ma Han invited the old man to the table, and said pleasantly: "The elders are polite, we are Huai Shangshui guests, and we go to Bashu to do business." Yesterday, there was a heavy rain on the river, and the boat ran aground, so it was stranded here, and there were many disturbances, don't blame. ”

The old man arched his hand again and again: "This guest has already explained, the old man represents the village, and welcomes all distinguished guests." ”

Ma Han once again expressed his gratitude and said that he would leave as soon as he found someone to tug the boat.

Hearing this, the elder sighed: "I'm afraid that the honorable guest can't find enough people to tug the boat." ”

Ma Hanjian frowned: "Oh, what? ”

The old man smiled bitterly: "Didn't you notice that there are only old and weak children in our village?" ”

Ma Han didn't have time to visit the whole village, and gestured to Chen Dao, who nodded, indicating that what the elder said was true.

The old man palpitated: "A few days ago, a group of thieves came to besiege the county seat for many days, and plundered the city of Guo Tingyi. Not only in this village, but also the young and strong people within a radius of 100 miles have fled when they heard the news, and some of those who escaped slowly have been arrested and sent to labor. Alas......"

Bandits? Chen Lan, Lei Bo? This was exactly what Ma Han was going to target next, but he didn't expect them to run to Wancheng, which was hundreds of miles away. Well, this city is the seat of Lujiang County, and it is also a famous rich county, with a lot of money valleys, and the last time Cheng Pu attacked Liu Xun, he broke through this city. Tens of thousands captured. It seems that the thieves took advantage of the heavy damage in Anhui City and their weak defenses, so they took the opportunity to make a profit.

Hearing that there were thieves thirty miles away, Chen Zhi couldn't help but feel a little nervous, he had the heavy responsibility of guarding and had to be extra careful. So after asking Ma Han for instructions, he quickly went out, summoned the guards, rearranged the guards and assigned sentinels.

Ma Han talked to the elder for a while. didn't get more valuable information, so he asked Aso to send the elder out.

An hour later, the sentinel reported that at the foot of the hidden mountain (that is, Tianzhu Mountain) in the northwest of Anhui City, there was indeed a thief army camp. According to the area of the camp, the number of camp flags, the number and size of tents, and the number of thieves entering and leaving, the number of people is roughly estimated to be between 5,000 and 6,000. The tooth flag erected in front of the gate shows the words "Lujiang Duwei" and "Lei".

"It turned out to be Lei Bo." Ma Han said indifferently. "Is it just Lei Bo?"

"Yes, I only saw one person's flag."

"Well, Lei Bo attacked Anhui, and Chen Lan guarded the village. The division of labor is also clear. Ma Han asked again, "What is the situation in Wancheng?" ”

"Back to the general, it is difficult to find out in the dark. However, although there were many fires raised by the patrol officers at the head of the city. But from a distance, the patrol was in a disorganized formation and the torches were scattered. Be a new pawn or a strong man. ”

Ma Han and Chen Zhi glanced at each other and said slowly: "In this way, Wancheng is going to suffer again." ”

Chen Zhi stretched out his five fingers and grabbed the void: "General, should we take this rare opportunity to annihilate the thieves of Lei Bo's department in one fell swoop." In this way, Chen Lan will also be unable to support alone, and it will not last, and sooner or later it will either fall or collapse. ”

Asu also shook his fist hatefully: "That's it, bring a large army, catch all the thieves and tug the boat for us." "It seems that Aso is angry that the thieves scared away all the young people in the nearby village of Tingyi, and even had no one to tug the boat.

Ma Han groaned: "It's not difficult to deploy troops to encircle and suppress, but I'm afraid that the thieves will flee when they hear the news." These are all local snakes, familiar with the mountains and rivers, and we are not familiar with the place, if we can't encircle and annihilate, it will inevitably become a rout, and it will be more troublesome to clear and suppress in the future...... Well, it's going to have to be a bit of a plan. ”

This night, Ma Han slept soundly. And Chen Zhi, Asu and others barely closed their eyes. Fifty miles away (Qianshan is twenty miles west of Anhui City) there are five or six thousand thieves, and they only have thirty people.

The more you worry about something, the more you come. As soon as the day dawned, the secret sentry at the entrance of the village signaled that a group of unknown people were approaching the village from the west, numbering about thirty.

Thirty? Chen Zhi was not worried about this group of people, even if it was thirty of Huainan's strongest soldiers, the so-called "Lujiang Shangjia", he didn't pay attention to it. What he was really worried about was, were these people an outpost? Is there a big force behind?

When all the guards opened the package, took out their bows and blades, and prepared their armor, the sentry found that the elders of the village had accompanied the group into the village and marched towards the farmhouse where Ma Han and the others lived.

Ma Han waved his hand, except for Chen Zhi and Asu, all the guards hid in all corners, rooftops, treetops, etc.

Most of them were strong, clothed and wrapped in heads, and carried crude spears. There was only one person wearing a hat, wearing a green shirt, who looked a little status, and the elder accompanied this person into the house.

Asu answered the door, and as soon as the person entered the house, he introduced himself and explained his intention: "In Xia Qiaoyi, the word Jixin, is a member of the Qiao clan of the Wang clan in Anhui City." Today, there are thieves in the mountains, Kou Wan, who slaughtered my father, plundered my goods, and poisoned the place. The head of the family, Qiao Gong, is anxious for justice and righteousness, gathers his children and neighbors, gathers at the wall of Qiao's dock, refuses to be attacked by thieves, and implores the heroes of the Quartet to help, and there will be a heavy reward. ”

Chen Zhi and Asu stared at each other wide-eyed, and after a long time, it turned out that they were pulling people to help them. It's just that you are not mistaken, pulling people to the head of the general!

Ma Han didn't answer, but asked lightly: "It was the elders of the village who told you, right?" ”

The old man was terrified and wanted to say something, but Qiao Yi preemptively said: "Don't blame the old man for this matter, this is an extraordinary time, but there are living people, and they will be reported." ”

Ma Han nodded in understanding, but simply refused: "I still have important matters, and I have contacted my companion to tug the boat, and I am about to leave, and I can't help with the thief." You can wait for the court to send troops to help. ”

Qiao Yi smiled bitterly: "The imperial court ...... Alas, I'm afraid that the far water will not be able to save the near fire. If he is willing to help, Qiao's is willing to buy all the goods on the ship at a price 30% higher than the market price, and there will be a lot of money to pay him afterwards. You see, you don't have to travel thousands of miles to Shu, you can get rid of the goods, and you can get a heavy reward, why not? ”

This Qiao Yi is very good at seducing people with profit. To be honest, if Ma Han was really a sailor running commercial luck, he would really be tempted. Because of the sailors in these years, in order to protect the goods and not be robbed by the bandits and water bandits along the way, they have more or less a certain amount of armed strength, and there are many outlaws who are brave and ruthless. This is also the reason why Qiao Yi is not surprised to see that Ma Han and they have dozens of strong men. Generally speaking, as long as these sailors give money, they have no problem as caretakers.

Ma Han's face was expressionless. Chen Zhi immediately stepped forward and made a gesture of please.

Aso stretched out his hand and pressed the handle of the knife, once the other party moved, he slashed it with a knife, and easily cut the old guy who reported the news.

Qiao Yi wanted to say something, but seeing Ma Han's indifferent eyes, somehow, his heart was furious, and he didn't dare to say anything more, so he had to confess and retreat. Before going out, he shook his head and sighed: "Even the imperial court envoy, Taizhong Doctor Liu Jun, passing through Anhui City, is duty-bound to help, but he is ...... Alas! Shaking his head, he was about to leave.

"Wait." Ma Han raised his hand to stop it and stared at Qiao Yi, "The Taizhong doctor Liu Jun that I said at my feet, but Chengde Liu Ziyang?" ”

Qiao Yixi said: "Exactly, Mo is a respected guest?" ”

Ma Han smiled: "That's right, I know Liu Jun very well...... Well, since Liu Jun is also here, then we have to go. (To be continued......)