Chapter 4: Before the Great War

Half a day passed. Zhong Ba and Zhao Yuan picked up a load of dung, Aunt Song carried a basket of cow dung, and Xiao Jiliu carried a shovel and appeared on the road leading to the city. On both sides of the avenue, there is a picture of the spring color of Luyou.

This will work, and an old man Zhang from Banlu Village sweated to follow. With the look of his father, he pointed at Zhongba and Jiliu with sweat on their faces and reprimanded: "Look at you children, it's almost hot like a water chicken!" The sweat on the head, the top flows into a river, and the bottom has become a salt-alkali stall, so I don't know how to wipe it? If you have a wind, you can't feel at ease! At that time, how can we lead the poor people to turn over? And how to fight? ”

At present, Jiliu is no longer the personality of children of the same age, and the children of poor families are in charge of the family early. He can already be used as an adult, and he can be a helper for the big thief and the Qing Gang who are not afraid of heaven and earth in the Haizhou Prefecture area.

Seeing that the big hero in his heart, Zhongba, could become a child standing in front of his parents in front of this old farmer who opened his mouth to be a bear, and he was very moved. I saw that Zhonghachi didn't say anything, just laughed. And while laughing, he pulled off the towel from his waist and wiped his sweat.

Zhongba's words and deeds made Jiliu deeply educated.

At this time, I saw that the old man waved his hand at Zhongba, Jiliu and the others: "Go, quickly put the dung into the ground and go home with me!" ”

"What are you going for?" Jiliu rushed forward puzzled.

"Little one!" The old man pointed to the sun and said, "It's past noon, go home with the uncle to eat, rest, rest!" ”

"We have already eaten, thank you for the kindness of the old man! Let's go around, you should go home and rest first! Zhongpachi said.

After Uncle Zhang walked away, Zhong Ba, under the cover of Aunt Song and Xiao Jiliu, entered Machang Village with Zhaoyuan, and walked around a winding road that was not a road.

As soon as the assembly began, they circled around the city village where Ganyu County is located.

This tall Wenfeng Tower, a small county town with a history of nearly 1,000 years, is not a Baisheng for Zhongba and Zhaoyuanyi and the mother and son of the Song family.

When Nakahachi was a ten-year-old child, he went out begging with a dog stick, and he often wandered here. That was more than a decade ago......

Zhongba put down the dung burden, tore off the small cigarette pouch from his waist, put tobacco leaves in his mouth, looked at the Wenfeng Pagoda in the city, lit the fire:

"Our hometown is a good place, it is located in the northeast corner of Jiangsu, bordering Rizhao, Juxian and Linyi counties in Shandong Province. It faces the Yellow Sea in the east, looks at the hometown of Sun Wukong in the south - Huaguo Mountain, takes Yishu in the west, and leans on the Yimeng Mountain in the north. Mountains, waters, and plains each account for one-third of the territory. In fact, it is a treasure land in the world of 'enjoying the forgiveness of mountains and rivers and benefiting from fishing and salt'. According to legend, the ancient civilization of Japan was ......brought from here by the Ganyu people of the Qin Dynasty of our country, Li Fu, from here."

"Yes!" Hearing this, Zhaoyuan looked up at Wenfeng Tower, glanced at the dilapidated houses, and said very painfully, "Hey! Today's Ganyu City is also a lot different from before. In addition to the big house next to the Wenfeng Tower, which has become the hall of the Qing court and county order, there are too few good houses in a good shape, and there are some dilapidated houses everywhere that go out to escape the famine and ask for food. Among them, the owners of some dilapidated houses are still on the road to 'Kanto'! ”

Zhaoyuan glanced at Zhong Ba and said, "President, tell me that our reinforcements are lying in ambush in that grove, do you think it's okay?" ”

"In terms of ambushes, it is indeed an ideal good position." Zhongba paused, first spat out the word "but", and then said in a tone of regret, "I'm afraid that the enemy won't go from here." ”

"This road is the 'Haigan' road that must be passed through from Qingkou to the city!" Zhao Yuan's tone was slightly reminded, "As long as the mussel thief comes to the rescue of the city, he can still jump from here!" ”

"That's hard to say!"

The little Jiliu on the side is really clever enough. After Zhong Ba's point, he immediately guessed what Zhong Ba was thinking. So, he pointed to the east and said, "Uncle Zhong, did you mean that there is a grasshopper trail over there in Zhongzhuang?" ”

Zhongba said seriously: "Yes! Once upon a time, when I went out with a broken basket to ask for food, I used to take a small path......"

Xiao Jiliu said with a smile: "I also went to Ganyu County from home to ask for food, and I accidentally knew about this small road!" ”

"Ah, haha, you can do it!" Zhao Yuan smiled, "However, it is also possible for the reinforcements of the Qing thief to take this trail at a distance......"

Chairman Zhong smiled and said, "You have a clear and reasonable point! Because, they are the bad guys who kill each other and intrigue with each other, and the bad guys must have many internal contradictions!"

Then he talked about some of his thoughts on the battle.

Accompanied by Aunt Song and Xiao Jiliu, Zhong Meng and the others exchanged in a low voice, strolling around, and carefully surveying the terrain. In the process of reminding each other and complementing each other, the prototype of an ambush and siege was initially formed.

After Zhong Ba and Meng Zhaoyuan completed the task of surveying the terrain, they waited for the Song family's mother and son to return to Songzhuang's hometown and come back. He rode to Xisi Township to find Sun Shenzhi and check his work.

Then, I came to Zhangcheng Village, Qingkou Henan, and found the hometown of Zhang Ziyuan, the former hero of the anti-Qing Dynasty. Uncle Zhang's family held another meeting of key cadres to study and revise the battle plan, and also made some specific arrangements, and then Zhongba said to everyone: "Put up the sentry, you must sleep well, and prepare to start the action at 10 o'clock in the evening." ”

"Yes!" Everyone came out of the house.

Seeing that everyone was not leaving, Zhong Ba walked to the small courtyard outside the door of the hall, raised his face and looked at the stars in the sky, walked back to the house and said, "The weather is not very good tonight, go back quickly, just hurry up, there are still more than three hours of good sleep!" While holding the meeting, Zhonghachi also completed the task of eating. When the meeting was over, he also hiccuped. Then, I pushed the rice bowl and went out against the cold wind.

It's snowing lightly.

On the country road, in the fields, snowflakes fluttered everywhere, covering the land of China.

Zhongba came back from outside, and as soon as he entered the door, Xiao Jiliu brought a bowl of steaming ginger soup. His eyes flashed with the heat of his son's respect for Lao Tzu, and he said to Zhongba: "I heard the uncle sneezing, and his speech was a little unsmooth, he must be frozen." I asked my mother to help me boil a bowl of ginger soup, please drink it quickly! ”

Zhong Ba saw that Xiao Jiliu was busy with his hands and feet, and he felt very uneasy, so he said, "Little guy, uncle, I'm not sick!" ”

As he spoke, he sneezed again. Jiryu smiled. Said sweetly: "Uncle is really good at lying!" It's also hard-mouthed! ”

"Little guy, uncle, I'm young, what's the point of being a little cold? But you're still young, so you came to serve the uncle, it's really upset that the uncle won't go!"

"Uncle, what are you talking about? Silly words! At this time, Xiao Jiliu's heart was filled with the special feelings that the child had for his father. So he said: "In order to kill the demons, in order to let the people who have no food eat, you adults give up their families and abandon their jobs, and the wind and rain come and go, and your nephew does not wait for you, who will serve you?" He pushed the bowl in front of Zhong Ba, and said, "You can help your little nephew's bowl of ginger tea drink while it's hot!" Don't be hard again? ”

Zhongba took the bowl and blew it with his mouth, drinking it slowly, and thought to himself, "What a five-year-old child, what a more sophisticated than an adult!" ”

"Alright! Drink it! Don't bother, just lie down and sleep for a while! This is Aunt Zhang asking me to urge you to get old, she also said, people are not iron, you have to rest! Jiliu said again.

"Okay!" Zhongba agreed, and the words changed again, "Whose family produced the rice and meat for today's meal?" When we hit the county seat, we will return it. By the way, no one else told the truth about this to the uncle, so it's up to you, a good boy, to tell the uncle! ”

"I ...... I don't, I don't know ......" Jiliu swallowed and vomited.

"Little one, do you want to be a good boy? If you want to be it, tell the uncle! Zhongba said solemnly.

"This ...... It was my mother and the landlord Aunt Zhang and a few aunts who gave the jade bracelet to the dowry, just to let everyone have a good meal and have the strength to fight! Uncle, you are resting, and the little nephew still has to check the whistles of a few friends, so I'll leave. Jiliu said and went out.

Zhongba smiled hesitantly, looking at Jiliu's back, his heart was warm.

Maybe he was too tired, Ji Liu Dong went to his mother first, took his mother as a companion, and came to the east of the village to check the post, and saw the sentry standing guard with his eyes on his face, and his heart was very excited, so he said to his mother: "These uncles are all good, they are all great heroes!" ”

"Yes! Good boy, you must learn from them well, and when you grow up, you will be a good man! ”

"Yes! Son, I must be a good man like Uncle Da and Uncle......"

It is said that Zhongba saw Jiliu go out, and fell asleep as soon as he lay down, and even he himself didn't know how long he slept. It wasn't until Jiryu walked into the house again that the loud snoring stopped. Jiliu hesitated for a moment when he saw this, and asked, "Uncle, are you okay with your body!" ”

Zhongba stretched his waist, stretched his body, and said casually without care: "Where! Uncle's body is good, it's great. ”

Zhong Hachi blew out the lamp in one gulp, looked at the window habitually, and then reversed Jiliu and said, "It's time to act, right?" ”

"Almost!"

Song Jiliu has a special ability in estimating time, and is known as a prodigy. How many times the practice has already proved that even on this snowy night, he estimated the time to be only ten or eight minutes at most. Therefore, in the current situation where there is neither a clock nor a watch, since the great prodigy says "almost", there will be no more major problems.

So, Zhonghachi immediately issued an order: "All assemble!" ”

"Yes!" Sun Zhiluo, who had just come in, took the order and left.

After the rank fell away, Song Jiliu scooped half a scoop of cold water and poured it into the washbasin, and washed his face with Zhongba Zhongba. Every time the weather is cold or overly tired, washing your face and hands with cold water can drive away fatigue, dispel fatigue, and clear your brain and refresh your mind---- which is Xiao Jiliu's practical experience.

Today, Xiao Jiliu and Zhongba washed their faces and hands, tidied up their clothes again, and walked out of the house after Zhongba, who was carrying a box gun and a machete.

The sound of the two washing their faces woke up the eldest mother. She knew that the men were about to go to war, so she hurriedly got up, lit the lamp, and helped pack her things. Looking at the appearance of the eldest mother, she is busier than Xiao Jiliu and Zhongba now.

The two of them said goodbye to Aunt Zhang, opened the door and went out of the house.

A cold northeast wind, holding the snowflakes flying all over the sky, suddenly rushed into the house, and the cold wind blew the curtain hanging on the door of the inner room, and the curtain fanned the tongue of the bean-sized lamp. The tongue of the lamp swayed vigorously.

The wind blew on the jujube trees in the patio, making a loud noise. Aunt Zhang sat on the kang, listening to the sound of the wind and snow outside the window uneasily, and couldn't help but talk to herself on the windowsill: "These children, how promising!" When you go to war in this weather, even a child of a few years old is not afraid of hardship! Alas, it's strange to call my wife distressed! ----”