Looking at the few corpses left by the Tartars in the river valley, Li Xin suddenly thought of an idea, why do you have to go back the same way, it is better to go north along the route that Hu Dawei came all the way over, and then cross the river and return to Gaoyang, so that even if the Tartars want to ambush themselves again on the way, I am afraid it is difficult to predict the exact whereabouts of the escort team!

So, Li Xin and his entourage drove the pack horse cart slowly along the east bank of the Pigpen River to the north. Along the way, Li Xin was worried, because he knew that in such a situation, once he met the Tartars, he would definitely be more auspicious.

Originally, he planned to cross the river and return to Gaoyang after walking thirty miles, but who knew that the further north he went, the deeper the water level became, and Li Xin went to test the depth of his chest several times, which was still difficult for people in the past, let alone pack horse carts. Li Xin had no choice but to continue north along the Pigpen River. In this way, I stopped and stopped until it was dark and did not find a suitable section of the river to cross the river, 600 Gaoyang Army did not have a rest for a day and a night, and at this time it was already exhausted and exhausted, and there were two roads in front of Li Xin, one was to rest in place, and then continue to rush until dawn. The second is to find a suitable crossing point in one go and return to Gaoyang City overnight.

Li Xin chose the second way, not only did he march at night, but he didn't even dare to fight with torches, because marching with torches in the vast darkness was undoubtedly telling Sù Tartar of his whereabouts. The packhorse cart stumbled in the darkness until it found a waist-deep section of the river, and in the darkness the team erupted in low cheers. At the same time, Li Xin was extremely nervous, although this section of the river can be crossed, but the water is not over the waist after all, and it is extremely inconvenient for people to move in it......

Fortunately, it was a sunny day tonight, and the half moon hung in the sky, although listless, the faint light was enough for the Gaoyang army to cross the river. Zhang Shi led a few people to the front station, and was the first to arrive at the west bank of the Pigpen River. Li Xin fell to the end of the river-crossing procession, only to hear a burst of exclamations from the other side, and his heart couldn't help but feel nervous. Isn't there another Tartar? Are these tartars all half-immortal possessed, can they be pinched? Do you even know where they are going to cross the river?

However, Zhang Shi brought back a bad news that was not bad news, and the reason why it was not bad news was that the Tartars were not ambushed on the West Bank. Saying that he was bad news, Zhang Shi found a large number of corpses of Ming soldiers on the west bank, and there were also fallen war horses scattered during the period, apparently cavalry.

A gust of night wind blew, bringing a burst of blood, Li Xin's brows were tightened, and the stumps and severed arms were all over the ground under the faint moonlight, it seemed that there had just been a fierce battle here not long ago.

Many soldiers are the first time to see such a tragic scene, the flesh and blood all over the ground seem to be invisible at a glance, after going to the shore, the nose has been filled with a strong smell of blood, some people finally can't help but lie on the ground and vomit, once someone opens this head, the soldiers vomit one by one.

"Find a living one, teach and come and see!"

Li Xin walked over quickly, it was not easy to survive, I hope he is not seriously injured and can stand up. As soon as he walked a few steps, he heard another exclamation from Zhang Shi.

"General Zheng! How are you? ”

Li Xin wondered, General Zheng? Which General Zheng came to Zhang Shi in two steps and three steps, only to see him holding a person, a bloodstained and deformed face looked extremely pale in the moonlight, isn't this Zheng Xiyao of the Fifth Military Camp! He, why is he here? And how was it completely annihilated? Discovering Zheng Xiyao was something Li Xin never expected, his brain seemed to be short-circuited in an instant, and he was disturbed by all kinds of information and speculation.

"Bring water!"

Zheng Xiyao's eyelids were half-open and he was put on his body by a stone, but his body was drooping like no bones, and the most lacking thing for people at this point was water. Li Xin took the sleeping bag handed by the soldier and sprinkled some on his chapped lips, Zheng Xiyao immediately reacted, sticking out his tongue greedily. So Li Xin put the water nozzle next to his mouth, lifted the water bag and tentatively closed it in his mouth a few times, but it still poured too much, choking Zheng Xiyao and coughing.

However, this time it seemed that Zheng Xiyao was choked to life, his drooping eyelids were completely opened, and a pair of eyes seemed to be rejuvenated, staring at Li Xin for a long time before he could see clearly who saved him.

"Li, how is Li Jiaoxi you?"

In Zheng Xiyao's memory, Li Xin went to the south of the city to pick up the materials and goods, he was to the north, and the two of them were at odds with each other, and it was theoretically impossible to meet. Thinking of this, Zheng Xiyao was gloomy for a while, "Could it be that this is the underworld?" Don't you ...... too?"

Li Xin saw that Zheng Xiyao was awake and his mind was still sober, so he roughly checked him, although he was covered in blood, he miraculously had no fatal injuries, not even a big wound, it seemed that he should be tired and out of strength.

"What kind of underworld is this, it is clearly the human world, General Zheng, you will not die!"

Zhang Shi spoke beside him.

Li Xin saw that he was fine, so he relieved himself. Zheng Xiyao didn't believe it.

"Don't fool me, you went to the south, how can you be here?"

"It's hard to ...... words"

Li Nobunaga sighed, concisely described the previous situation, and then asked:

"General Zheng has encountered the Tartar cavalry?"

The First World War was completely annihilated, and this memory was obviously extremely painful for Zheng Xiyao, he closed his eyes and slowly recalled.

It turned out that Zheng Xiyao did find a force of Tartar cavalry following them at the beginning of his journey north. But after about half an hour he disappeared, and he was about to turn back to see the situation, but another group of cavalry came from the rear, and was immediately caught off guard, and ran all the way, and finally exhausted and fell to the ground when he reached the pigpen river.

Li Xin was also gloomy for a while, hundreds of good sons, who were still alive and well a day ago, have become stumps and broken arms all over the ground at this moment. He knew that don't look at what Zheng Xiyao said simply, this journey must be extremely tragic. A thought rose in Li Xin's mind, so he asked:

"Can you see which banner those Tartar cavalry are? Yellow flags? ”

"It's not like it, it's a ...... with a white flag"

Originally, it was just speculation, but after Zheng Xiyao's mouth confirmed it, Li Xin was sure that it should be Dolgon. Dolgon is the owner of the white flag, and the armor soldiers with the white flag are equivalent to his own soldiers, and the inconsequential small battles will not be sent lightly, once they come out, they can only explain one problem, he is ready to go south! It seems that what Hu Dawei said is true. Is Goyang City ready? Can it stop the Qing army's massive attack? He won't think about it, Sun Chengzong's influence in the Ming court is extraordinary, capturing or killing him will be extremely severe to the Ming court, Dolgon can't give up this opportunity, when the sky is about to light, Li Xin finally returned to Gaoyang City with the convoy, this seemingly impossible task was finally completed without danger. The whole city was thunderous, whether it was Sun Chengzong, Lu Zhifan, or Zhou Jin, they couldn't help but smile. When he heard that Zheng Xiyao's troops were all wiped out, he couldn't help but fall into deep thought.

But in any case, the original purpose of going out of the city this time was achieved, and Gaoyang City had hope. Lu Zhifan took Li Xin's hand and was particularly excited.

"It's hard to teach, the city has already set up a celebration banquet for you, go, drink him and get drunk before you go......"

Zhou Jin was skeptical that Li Xin could successfully break through the siege of the Tartars and return to Gaoyang City, first, he doubted that this person could escape halfway, and secondly, he felt that he did not have this ability. Now that the people and goods have returned safely, I can't help but be impressed.

When encountering Hu Dawei, Li Xin did not tell the Lu Zhifan or reveal it to Zhou Jin, and it was better to pour this basin of cold water later. However, he privately approached Sun Chengzong and told Hu Dawei about the encounter on the road and Hu Dawei's warning.

Sun Chengzong stroked the long gray hair under his chin and said nothing for a long time, Hu Dawei is a veteran general in the army, from Yulin Town, one of the nine sides, experienced in a hundred battles, and brave and strategic, his judgment of the situation is not 100%, but also 89 or 10.

"But look at the people of Lubu?"

"No, there aren't many people brought by the Tiger Commander, but only a few hundred!"

As the chief soldier of Shanxi, Hu Dawei has many soldiers under his command, why did he only bring out so few people? What are you going to do in such a hurry? Is the situation in Baoding really rotten out of control?

One thought after another flashed through Sun Chengzong's mind, and finally he came to a conclusion that Gao Yang would immediately face the Tartar soldiers!

"The main force of the Tartars is coming, are you afraid?"

"What's the use of being afraid? What should come is always coming, do your best! ”

Sun Chengzong's eyes were staring at Li Xin, but he was commenting in his heart, how could this young man look like a horse thief, how could he see it so easily? And what are the spiritual pillars that support him? It is the responsibility of the imperial court to order officials to guard the land, and it is even more important for local fathers and elders to protect their hometowns. And Li Xin, not only is he nothing, but he is also a horse thief who is waiting to be executed after the autumn, how can he be so determined to live and die with Gao Yang?

In the end, he didn't find a clue in those clear eyes, if the initial advice and hard work were for the sake of instinctive survival, he could understand. Now that he has reached the situation of life and death, to be honest, he is not confident in how long Gao Yang can hold on. Don't look at the joy of tossing and turning for the past month, he has reservations about how much it can help, but it is better to do something than nothing. So he had the heart to live and die with Gao Yang early on. But in the end, he still had the idea of loving Cai, and he couldn't bear to be buried with him, and wanted to let him go.

Unexpectedly, Li Xin didn't seem to see what he wanted to say, and even talked about some strategic issues of defending the city, Gaoyang City is small, and the height of the city wall is short, but the previous transformation has been completed seven or eight times out of ten, with this kind of fortification, the north city, the east city, and the west city will become a nightmare for the Tartars, and the most worrying thing in the whole Gaoyang is the south city. The renovation of the southern city could not continue in any case, most of the timber was burned by Akzia, and the army was about to be overwhelmed, so it would be more appropriate to invest more manpower in the existing facilities.

Sun Chengzong decided to say directly: "You have already done what you should do, and you have done it very well, the people of Gaoyang will not forget it, and if you want to leave now, the old man will not stop you!" ”

The meaning is obvious, you are still free, you can go, I will not stop you. Unexpectedly, Li Xin said: "The trouble of the Tartar is not elbows and armpits, let me ask the cabinet, if the world is fishy in a few years, where should Li Xin hide?" Where to flee to? ”