The clear stream, the verdant bamboo forest, and the dead leaves blown off by the cold wind have accumulated a thick layer on the ground. These dead leaves will slowly rot and become nutrients for the earth. Tomorrow, more young bamboos will grow here.

A group of haggard Wu soldiers walked slowly in the bamboo forest, they scattered into a fan shape, vigilantly watching the depths of the dark bamboo forest. They held their breath and listened to every move around them, and the slightest sound could make their tense nerves pop ominously.

They are Lu Dai's subordinates, and they are on a guard mission.

Withdrawing all the way from Jinping Mountain, although Lu Dai issued a martial law order and was not allowed to spread rumors in the army, the bloodstains at the head of Wuyang City still made many people estimate the truth. After Wuyang, no new grain came to the Xuefeng Mountain camp, and the rations distributed changed from six liters a day to four liters a day, and then to two liters a day.

Compared to the lack of food, the enemy is actually not terrible. When you encounter an enemy, you can still fight, and you can also exchange your life for your life, but if you run out of food, in the deep mountains, everyone may become someone else's ration at any time, and your closest friends and township party may become a man-eating demon at any time.

Hunger is like an all-pervasive devil, smiling silently in everyone's ears. It spreads its claws, dripping with foul-smelling saliva as it picks up a target to feed.

No one knows if they can return to Xuefeng Mountain alive, and what can they do when they return to Xuefeng Mountain. If it is really as conjectured, something happens to the Snow Peak Mountain camp, then the result will be unimaginable.

Although this is not very likely. But in the face of elusive opponents, no one can deny this possibility. Even a fortified city like Wuyang can be easily lost, so what is impossible for the Xuefeng Mountain camp to lose? It's just that the result of the loss of the Xuefeng Mountain camp is too serious, and everyone doesn't want to think about it, otherwise they will go crazy.

Thinking wildly in his head, his stomach was hungry, and the sound of cooing was louder than the sound of the dead leaves under his feet, and he couldn't bear it, this was the dilemma faced by these patrolling Wu troops.

A soft "click" broke the silence in the forest.

"Who?" Almost all of the Wu soldiers and soldiers shouted loudly. He raised his weapon. Prepare to fight.

There was silence and no sound.

The leader of Shi Chang spat and scolded, but his voice did not fall. He suddenly took two steps back with his neck clutched. A he-heo sound came out of his mouth. It looks like something is stuck in the neck. In a short time before his companions arrived, he fell to the ground, huddled in a ball. Slowly, the struggle stopped.

The rest of Wu Jun looked at each other, cold sweat on their foreheads. They stood in a circle, back to back, looking warily at all sides.

But there was no sound around.

A soldier pulled away the hand of Shi Chang, who was already exhausted, and by the light of the torch, he found a thin bamboo stick on his neck, which was deeply pierced, and the wound was black.

This is a poisoned arrow commonly used by the barbarians, and the Wu soldiers privately call it a life-killing needle. This poisoned arrow is very rare, but once shot, there is no way to avoid it.

"Be careful......" The soldier's voice trembled a little, "It's a life-killing needle." ”

The three words of the life-killing needle are like a big stone, pressing on everyone's heart. Shi Chang died, and the rest of the people looked at each other, and they all saw fear in each other's eyes, and none of them spoke, and they all withdrew in unison.

"Whoosh!" With a loud roar, a crossbow arrow galloped from the forest. One of the soldiers at the front screamed and fell to the ground.

With this crossbow arrow, the originally silent forest suddenly shouted to kill, the dead leaves on the ground suddenly flew up, flying all over the sky, countless barbarians jumped up from under the dead leaves, raised the blowpipe and bow and crossbow in their hands, and launched an attack on the panicked Wu army.

The shouts were fierce and short, and a moment later, Wu Jun lay on the ground staggering, blood gurgling.

The barbarians quickly retreated deep into the dense forest and disappeared without a trace.

Half an hour later, in the valley less than 300 paces apart, another attack occurred, and only one of the more than ten Wu soldiers escaped.

"Alas—" Lu Dai let out a long sigh and threw the latest casualty report on the case, his big hands clenching and gurgling. In one night, fifty-three soldiers were killed, but not even a shadow of the enemy was seen. This result made him very angry and made him very nervous.

As soon as the news of the loss of Wuyang reached Jinping Mountain, Lu Dai decided to withdraw from the army. He asked himself how quickly he made his decisions, but he soon found that he had underestimated the enemy. As soon as he arrived in Wuyang, the enemy of Jinping Mountain chased after him, and attacks like this never stopped, and they became more and more intense. The enemy's purpose was very obvious, that is, to delay their retreat, so the scouts in the direction of Xuefeng Mountain suffered the greatest losses, ten teams went out, and only two or three teams returned, and sometimes even the entire army was wiped out.

Scouts suffered heavy losses, and with them came a serious lack of understanding of the situation ahead. It was only trivial to raise a few large trees in the river to block the way, and it was common to throw down large and small rocks from the cliffs, and almost all the methods that might interfere with the advance of the army were used by the enemy. It is also inevitable to kill scouts during the day and sentinels on duty at night. Lü Dai strengthened the vigilance of Liliang for this reason, but unfortunately it was useless, the enemy not only came and went without a trace, but also was agile, cooperated tacitly, and attacked everywhere.

Lü Dai sent barbarians who were also familiar with mountain warfare to counterattack, but unfortunately those barbarians were quickly defeated, some of them died, some of them disappeared, and after a few days, someone found that those missing barbarians appeared in the enemy's ranks, and used their familiarity with the situation of the Wu army to attack the Wu army more sharply.

Lu Dai was at a loss for this, and he called Huaigen, the Jingfu of the Xiongxi tribe, to scold him, but to no avail. And Liu Xian, who has been in charge of affairs in the Xiongxi tribe, has nothing to do about this, all he can do is to assure Lu Dai that Huaigen is loyal to Dawu and has no other intentions, but he can't stop the barbarians from panicking.

The military rations are getting less and less, the speed of retreat is getting slower and slower, and the number of casualties is increasing every day, which makes Lu Dai feel extremely stressed. Unlike ordinary soldiers, he had already received the news that the camp of Xuefeng Mountain had been lost and the accumulated grain had been destroyed, and he knew that even if he returned to Xuefeng Mountain, he would not be able to solve the problem of food shortage, and his psychological pressure was even greater.

"Father, we can't go on like this." Lu Kai reminded softly: "With the current speed of marching, we can't get out of Wuxi alive. ”

"Don't I know?" Lu Dai said angrily: "But what do you say I should do?" Those barbarians haunt us like ghosts, but the Xiongxi tribe that can fight against them is unstable, and I have raised thousands of idle meals for nothing. He paused, and couldn't help scolding: "God will be a god general, these barbarians are really dog-brained, they even believe such, I really can't do anything about them." ”

"The saint uses Shinto to educate the world, and the traitor uses Shinto to confuse people's hearts, which is originally two sides of the same thing, why should my father be harsh on these barbarians." Lu Kai moved his body: "Father, let's think about how to get out of the mountain quickly." ”

"What's your idea?"

"Xuefeng Mountain must not be able to go, the soldiers are divided into two roads, select elite soldiers and strong generals, bring enough food, enter the territory of the Xiongxi tribe, and break through in the direction of Yulin. The rest of the people went north and entered Chenshui, if my estimate was right, Pan Jun should also be retreating, and if he could join forces with him, maybe they could rush out together. Lu Kai said in a slow tone: "Judging from various appearances, the number of enemies around us is not large, and they have not dared to launch a frontal attack, just to suppress our morale and wait for us to run out of food and collapse ourselves." If the soldiers are divided into two ways, he can only chase one way, and we have at least half a chance. If it's still like this, Zuihou will only have one result......"

Lu Kai stopped and didn't say any more, he didn't dare to face such a fiasco. Once the army runs out of food, the more people gather together, the more dangerous it becomes. Scattered into the mountains, maybe you can fend for yourself, so many together, even if you find a little thing, it is not enough.

Lu Dai was silent for a moment: "Okay, just do as you say." You and Liu Yan and Huaigen will go south together, and I will lead the main force to the north and meet Pan Jun. The camp of Xuefeng Mountain has been destroyed, and if it can reach Chenyang, there may still be a glimmer of life. ”

"Father, let's go north."

"No, I'm heading north." Lu Dai waved his hand and interrupted Lu Kai's words. He knew very well that the road to the south was more vigorous, and the one to the north looked safe, but in fact it was more dangerous, and no one knew what Pan Jun's current situation was, in case he was also being chased by the enemy, it would be almost a dead end. The way to life, of course, must be left to the son.

"Father!" Lu Kai was in a hurry and regretted it. He made this suggestion just to let his father rush out, but now that his father left him with his life, how could he bear to watch his father die. "Father, I can still hold on, I have fought with Wei Ba, and I know his military habits ......"

"Wei Ba is not here, we have no idea who our enemy is." Lu Dai sighed, "I can't imagine that the old man has fought all his life, but he was defeated in the hands of a young descendant, it is really providential." He paused, and then said to Lu Kai: "It is precisely because you have experience in fighting Wei Ba that you should live even more. I can expect that Wei Ba will be the most dangerous enemy of our Great Wu. I'm old, I don't have much time to study him, and you're still young, so you should take on this responsibility. ”

Lu Kai shook his head again and again, crying silently. Lü Dai couldn't say anything, and quickly made arrangements, Lü Kai took three thousand elites, with sufficient supplies, accompanied by Huaigen and Liu Yan, abandoned the boat and landed and headed south. Lu Dai himself took more than 6,000 tired soldiers and marched towards Chenshui.

Jin Dongliu quickly got the news, and he immediately made a choice, giving up Lu Kai and doing everything possible to intercept Lu Dai and prevent him from meeting with Pan Jun. (To be continued......)