In the nineteenth section, because the Guards Battalion was full of cavalry troops, the journey was also extremely fast, starting from Pangui all the way to the south, and after only two days, the troops crossed the Tsushima steppe and entered the junction of Nanban and Chengzhou. At this point, the other plants on the prairie began to multiply, starting as low bushes, and going further south. The bushes gradually turned into small trees, and after a long day of marching south, they were completely into a mountainous area.

Jian Feiyang pulled the horse, watched a group of refugees walk by, and muttered: "My lord, stop and go like this, and when we arrive at Shuanghui, I'm afraid the flowers will be gone." ”

It has completely penetrated into the province of Nanban, and the mountain roads are rugged and winding. Undulating among the mountains. Although this road is steep, it is a main post road leading from Chengdu to the southern version, and there are many merchants who usually come and go. Now that the imperial court is marching westward, the war in Chengzhou has been settled, but the war in the southern version has just started, and the most people on the post road are not the merchants who came and went in the past, but the refugees who fled to Chengdu from the southern version.

It's winter, and a lot of the grass and trees have withered and yellowed, and if it's summer, the post road will be overgrown with weeds, and it is even more inevitable to fight with refugees. Jian Feiyang is probably even more able to jump. Wu Ming pulled Nanwang and looked back at the team behind him. The Guards Battalion formed a long line with almost no end in sight on the mountain path, winding its way. It was almost dark, and he turned his head to Yang Yi beside him and said, "Find a spacious place and prepare to camp and rest." ”

From Pangui to Shuanghui, the route shown on the map is half grassland, half mountainous. They only walked for two days in the Tsushima grassland, but after entering the mountainous area of Shuanghui, this section is mostly a mountain road, high and low, winding and rugged, and the road conditions are naturally very far from the Tsushima grassland of the Pingchuan River. It's no wonder that Jian Feiyang complained, at this rate, when the team reaches Shuanghui, I'm afraid it will take more than twice as long.

For a team of more than 10,000 people, it is indeed a headache to find a place to camp in the mountains. The scouts searched for a long time before finding a slightly flat spot near the riverbed that had dried up all the way. In the mountains in winter, there is no shortage of dry firewood, and the troops gather in one place, each of them sets up a tent, and then lights a bonfire. For a while, the surroundings of this river were full of fire. Wu Ming jumped off Nanwang, took out the dry food from the saddle, and watched a few of his own soldiers camp not far away.

The choice to camp here is also particular, the long-distance march, the drinking water of the troops is a problem, and near the riverbed, there is a clear stream, this kind of mountain water can be used for people to wash, but also to prevent livestock and soldiers from poisoning.

Just dropped a handful of dry food in your mouth. At this time, Yang Yi was holding a water bladder and a few mountain birds on his back, and he ran over from afar in a hurry, shouting: "My lord, beware of burning your stomach when you eat dry food." There is a lot of game in this mountain, and it is really expensive not to use it, so I just caught a few in the dark, and I will roast it for you to taste later. ”

This kid!

Wu Ming also laughed, Yang Yi not only had excellent archery skills, but also roasted good meat. Hearing him say this, Wu Ming was also a little expectant, nodded and said, "Okay, then thank you first." Yang Yi's movements are very skillful, and after plucking the feathers of a few mountain birds, they are roasted behind the fire, and after a while, the white and tender bird meat "Zizi" makes a sound, and gradually turns golden brown. And it exudes a burnt aroma. When it was cooked, Yang Yi smeared a little more salt, put one of the fat mountain birds on a few branches, and handed it to Wu Ming: "My lord, yours." ”

Wu Ming took a bite, I don't know what kind of bird it is, the meat is extremely tender to eat, and it is so fragrant that my tongue is about to fall off. It tastes really good. Just as he was eating happily, Jian Feiyang sat down: "My lord, I have some wine here, or?" ”

He is a drunkard, Wu Ming said that he doesn't know how many times, but he still hasn't changed. Later, I learned that he had this character, so I didn't want to say more, but fortunately, although Jian Feiyang was a good drinker, he was quite self-controlled, and he had never been drunk in the army. Wu Ming didn't bother to talk about him now.

He waved his hand, but did not take the wine handed by Jian Feiyang. Just said: "You ask Zhou Ji to send more people, the mountains here are high and the forests are dense, beware of the enemy's sneak attack." ”

Jian Feiyang snatched a bird's leg from Yang Yi's hand and was enjoying eating. Hearing Wu Ming ask him, he took a sip of wine and said, "My lord, you should be careful, now that Shuanghui is surrounded by us, there are still enemies there?" ”

He was right, and Wu Ming didn't say much, but said: "It's always right to be careful...... just as he was about to say a few more words, when he saw that he grabbed a whole mountain bird from Yang Yi's hand again, and ate it with a "chirp". While eating, he said vaguely: "Don't worry, I know it in my heart." ”

Don't look at his usual big grin, his mouth is more like a doorless, in fact, it is very fine. Since he said so, Wu Ming also put his mind at ease, and it was not good to say more. When he took off the armor on his body, he felt much more relaxed. It is winter now, although the climate in the southern version is mild, but the mountain wind is gusting, it still makes people feel a little chilly, Wu Ming tightened his coat, and was about to get closer to the fire to warm up, when there was a sudden commotion in the distance. He threw the bird meat in his hand and jumped up from the ground. "Something's wrong?" ”

Jian Feiyang got up from the ground with a curse and shouted, "My lord, I'll go over and take a look, you can rest here first." ”

He was still reassuring Wu Ming just now, but the situation was about to happen. So the tone was a little annoyed and angry, and the words were very polite. However, although the front is a little chaotic, it is not so frightened, and I am afraid that it is not a big deal. Wu Ming nodded and said, "Then there is Brother Lao Jian." ”

After a while, Jian Feiyang came over with a large group of people. Behind him were a dozen people dressed as ordinary people. Wu Ming frowned and asked, "What the hell is going on?" ”

Zhou Ji came out from behind, saluted and said, "Your Excellency, these refugees actually robbed our baggage camp of grain carts......

Grab the grain truck? Wu Ming glanced at the refugees. It was already dark, and although the light from the torches was not too bright, the men could still be seen in rags and with vegetables on their faces. "The people don't fight with the officials", let alone an army like the Guards Battalion, which is armed to the teeth? They came to grab the grain truck, and they were too hungry to make this decision. However, there are countless refugees on this mountain road, and the food and grass in the guard camp are also limited, so there is really no way to relieve them. He thought about it for a while, and was about to ask Zhou Ji to release them. At this time, a person came out of the refugees and saluted: "Lord Wu, don't come unharmed!" ”

Wu Ming was overjoyed, and stepped forward to help this man up: "Brother Ding, why are you here?" ”

This person is Ding Xianzhi. It has been a few months since the two of them parted in Nanning, and at that time he also joked that he had traveled to China and the West recently, and he might meet Wu Ming, but he didn't expect that a word would come true, and the two would see the truth.

He was already very dark and thin, but now his whole body is even more dusty, and he is even darker and thinner, just now he was mixed in the middle of a large number of refugees, Wu Ming really didn't pay attention. Ding Xianzhi sighed and said: "Yunyou is a family from all over the world, and it is reasonable for me to come here." The words were very gloomy, and there was no joy like Wu Ming.

Wu Ming was stunned and was about to say more. Ding Xianzhi saluted again and said, "Lord Wu, these dozen people were also forced by hunger, so they took the risk. I hope you can open the net and let them live. ”

Wu Ming didn't intend to embarrass them, so he thought for a while and said, "Come on, prepare some dry food and distribute it to these people." ”

A soldier next to him replied, "Yes." Then he went down, and in a short time he brought a large bag of dry food. And then it was distributed to them. This group of refugees probably had some blood relatives, and although they were hungry, they were still very humble. When the dry food is in hand, it will be distributed to a few elderly and children in the team first, and the rest of the people will be redistributed to the remaining dry food. Wu Ming looked at it, but he felt a little emotion in his heart, and said that he was not convinced by the teaching, and now it seems that there is probably a lot of misinformation.

One of the old men walked out, kowtowed to Wu Ming and said, "Thank you for the general's life-saving grace, but the little old man still has a request." ”

He may be the leader of this team, Wu Ming saw that he was pitiful, nodded and said, "Old man, please speak." ”

The old man pointed to the group of women and children behind him and said, "General, show mercy and give us something to eat and wear." Please......" After he finished speaking, he knelt straight in front of Wu Ming and did not speak.

They must have wanted to take advantage of this post road all the way to the north, and then to Chengzhou Province to escape the scourge of war. Although the climate in Nanban Province is mild, the temperature will plummet when it comes out of this forest, which is the Tsushima grassland in Chengdu. In their current state, when they get there, they will freeze to death if they don't starve. Jian Feiyang scolded: "I gave you food, but you are insatiable, you know, these are our military food." If you are divided, we will also go hungry. ”

The old man didn't speak, he still knelt in front of Wu Ming, silent. Wu Ming looked at it, and there was a sixteen or seventeen-year-old girl among these women and children, although this girl had a vegetable face, she was quite beautiful. He was feeding a little boy next to him. The little boy had a fever and was talking nonsense. The other ** were mostly gobbling up, and she was alone while feeding the little child, and at the same time secretly looked at Wu Ming with her eyes, her eyes were full of worry.

She was worried that if the old man was rejected, the little boy would be worried about his life. Sure enough, as soon as Jian Feiyang's words fell, tears flowed from the girl's eyes, and the action of feeding the little boy slowed down. Wu Ming looked at the wild fruit in her hand, and his brain suddenly "buzzed", and he almost cried. What she was holding in her hand was the wild banana fruit that is common in the southern forests.

When the remnants of the Southern Expeditionary Army hid in the Jiyu Forest, He Yi, who liked vegetarian food, made a living by planting wild fruits. Wu Ming sighed and said to the pro-soldier: "Go and get a dozen warm clothes and a few bags of dry food." ”

As soon as the words came out, not only Jian Feiyang, but even Yang Yi shouted: "My lord, once this precedent is set, we will not be able to move an inch in the future......" The old man was clever, and kowtowed again and again: "General Xie is merciful, we will be careful and will not leak half a sentence." Thank you, general, thank you, general......" was probably afraid that Wu Ming would regret it, and kowtowed again and again.

Wu Ming turned his head and said to the pro-soldier who was a little hesitant: "Go ahead." ”