Five days later, three fire feather arrows with whistles shot out of the reeds with a sharp whistle, one fell into the swamp pond halfway, and two fell to the door of Fu Hengzhong's military line. Hou Fubao, who was guarding the door, was eating lunch with a big bowl, mixing red rice, radishes, shredded meat and chili peppers, pulling it into his mouth, and when he saw the arrow falling in front of him, he scolded: "Grandma is a bear!" Salopen is full of food, and it is not a New Year's Day, but which door is on fire! "When I picked it up, I saw that there was a letter tied to it, and on the shaft of the arrow it was written:

Fuyuan recruited the general Fu Shui

If you look at the other branch, it usually ends up looking the same. Stretching his neck and glaring at the rice in his mouth, he couldn't care about wiping off the rice grains on his lips, and shouted: "Express that Master Wang (Xiao Qizi) has important documents from Sha Luoben, and he has to pass it on to Dashuai immediately!" The two soldiers trotted in all the way and said.

"Well, take it apart!" Fu Heng was also eating, and it was the same meal as Hou Fubao. He has a weak stomach and does not eat much, and Qianlong's will has copied the medicinal diet of Rongxin to nourish his stomach several times, and he only chose carrots and celery, which is more than the soldiers. When he saw the letter, Fu Heng rushed it into the vegetable bowl with boiling water, and when the vegetable soup was drunk, when he came over to see it, it was two identical letters, written on kraft paper and soaked in wax, obviously to prevent falling into the water. Xiao Qizi stretched out his hands and looked at it, which read:

General Fu Zhongtang Honor: My emperor is deeply benevolent and compassionate, and has repeatedly decreed to stop the war and put Jinchuan on the throne for the benefit of the world. Is the general trying to deceive the king? My envoy is in Beijing, deeply courteous to the emperor, and the general treats each other with pride, Jinchuan is 800 miles wide, the people are scattered, and the period is in half a month to the army loses sincerity, not the general is faint, it is insincere, and wants to dye the general's hairpin with the blood of Jinchuan people! With this disloyal will, the general wants to be unkind and unwise, and Salo is stealing for the general is not straight. With Buda, talk about Wei Chen, and wait for good news for three days. Salo Ben Clouds have a book of respect, no urgency!

After reading it, Fu Heng raised his face and pondered for a while, and Gege laughed: "This Sha Luoben! I gave him half a month, and he limited me to three days! ”

Wang Qizi was in a daze beside him and said, "My lord! How dare he play with his life! I see this kid is a little **, owe a beating! Fu Heng crumpled the letter into a ball and clutched it in the palm of his hand, paced leisurely, and said for a long time before he said: "Sha Luoben should not be underestimated, I went to Jinchuan to see it, and I knew that Zhang Guangsi's defeat was not accidental. Xiao Qizi made tea and sent it to him, saying, "That's it!" He can't play in front of our master, and he must have been 'accidental' when he lost to his master! ”

"Really?" Fu Heng was stunned, and immediately laughed, the tea in the cup spilled out, and the little seventh son was stunned by the laughter. "Come, you've come just in time to read Saroben's letter." Fu Heng said, and learned to mix Xiao Qizi with "accidental" words. Li Shiyao also laughed, read the letter, and said: "The last time I sent a letter from my brother, Xiao Jibao also came out, and I finished reading thousands of poems!" You and the sixth master are not small officials now, and when you go out, you are also a high-headed horse to show off your might, how can you make a belly of green vegetable? It's right to study hard and read idea books. Xiao Qizi knew that he was not speaking authentically, so he rubbed his hands embarrassedly and said: "I don't have a little rabbit brain, I really have to read a few books under the guise of a book!" It's the corpse of the horse, and the words on the god card must be recognized? ”

"What Margari corpse?" Li Shiyao deliberately asked, "What do you mean by this?" ”

Xiao Qizi said: "Ma Ge is a horse skin, he died in battle, and the corpse was rolled in the horse skin, so it is called Ma Geli corpse - don't laugh, that's decent!" ”

The two laughed again. After reading the letter, Li Shuyao tapped his fingers on the table and said, "This is the next battle book!" He's going to do it in three days! "Actually, he can't afford to delay the time, it's all an excuse." Fu Heng said with a smile: "In the letter, 'my emperor' said kindly, and it is also a big shelf!" Surrender, in the final analysis, is a difficult thing, if you don't fight a dozen, you don't even have the capital to surrender, and you can't explain to the tribe. It is also to show the master that he has no rebellious heart, but we can't get along with him - if you talk about the heart, Salopun is really not easy to deal with. Li Shiyao smiled and nodded: "That's it." I want to give this letter to Old Man Yue to read as well. ”

"It is even more difficult to play the word 'proportion' in this battle than to win it all." Fu Heng smiled and said, "Hmph! Salopen has a wishful thinking in his heart, he is categorically not going to fight a protracted stalemate, he has lost that capital! It must be a surprise attack, take advantage of it for a while and leave! But no matter in the southeast, north and south, he couldn't rush out, so he could only fight and scrape the mountain road on the north road of Erya to shrink to the old nest. Don't think that only 'face binding and surrendering' is the end, capturing him alive and offering him as a prisoner, and disposing of it by the emperor, it is also 'proportional'! You see—" He walked to a huge wooden figure of a sand table in the corner of the house, and pointed with a bamboo whip, 'Strictly order Hailan to guard it, and not to send reinforcements on his own, and I will be invincible.' The way Salo ran back was here, and there was a ruined lama temple to the northeast of this place. When the fight started, I led the Chinese army to occupy it, and ordered Zhaohui to send a death squad to copy his back road from the south, and Liao Huaqing led people to cut off the north road of Scraping Cliff, so that Sa Luoben and his base camp were cut off. If you really control and retreat freely in my hands, then you can win the war, and only then can you think about the next step. He put down the bamboo stick, "Little Qizi, go and ask Old Yue Junmen to come over." ”

At dawn on the fourth day, the battle began. First of all, Wangdui flew the pigeon to pass the book, and 100,000 people rushed to the feather letter: Sha Luoben led 2,000 men and horses to attack the grain depot urgently, equipped with rockets and muskets, and the offensive was fierce. Then Hailancha also had an urgent report: 2,000 Tibetan soldiers from Scraping Ear Cliff outflanked the camp and wanted to cut off the passage with the Zhaohui army. The flying pigeon without a bag of cigarettes also arrived, saying that with a clairvoyant lookout, the Wangdui grain depot Xiku had caught fire, and he planned to send a shed of men and horses to reinforcements, and asked himself to lead the army to attack Jinchuan.

"Ordered Zhaohui, the whole army of the Eastern Route Army marched to attack Jinchuan. It is better to lose the grain depot than to ignore it completely. Order Liao Huaqing North Route Army to press south, in case of a small group of enemy nuisance, not to be hindered, collect the fleeing Tibetan soldiers to escort the village to guard, and the two northeast route armies will meet outside Jinchuan City in the evening! Fu Heng ordered in his mouth, and he was already in a hurry, "If the armies are attacked by an unexpected force, they don't have to fight hard with the twisting technique, and it is a credit to drag Sha Luoben!" My Chinese army battalion was immediately opened, and at the beginning of the Shen Dynasty, the card was stationed at the Lama Temple in the north of Jinchuan City. If there is a change in the middle of the way, the armies will be notified immediately. This order! After that, he strode out, and saw that Yue Zhongqi and Li Shiyao were already waiting in front of the big tent and didn't have time to pay attention, and said loudly: "He Lao Liu, what about He Lao Liu?" ”

As soon as the words fell, He Lao Liu had already strode out from behind the tent, followed by more than a dozen big men, wearing only a pair of black pants like He Lao Liu, shirtless on his upper body, and a large piece of knife in his hand, he agreed with murderous anger and said: "He Lao Liu listens to the instructions of the big handsome!" Wang Xiaoqi watched it from the side, and also tore off his robe, tightened his trouser belt, and said loudly: "Master, you order!" ”

"Good!" Fu Heng nodded with satisfaction, and suddenly shouted, "Fight shirtless with my own soldiers!" It's time for the husband to make meritorious contributions and fight for the court! According to the original deployment, our 3,000 Chinese troops sat on a bamboo platoon and attacked the back road of Jinchuan from Qingshuitang! ”

"Wow!" Everyone thunderously agreed.

In an instant, the three thousand sergeants have all boarded the bamboo row - Fu Heng carefully pivoted, I don't know how many times he has practiced: the tied bamboo row is neatly stacked on the west side of the big tent, the water is pressed on the stone steps, and the east side is densely covered with a hedge. No one who doesn't know can see that this Chinese military camp is actually a hidden dry dock! Thirty people tied up a bamboo row, and more than a hundred bamboo rows were mighty and winding, like a water snake, quietly swimming to the north side of Jinchuan.

The whole morning was safe and sound, the sergeants ate beef jerky for lunch on the bamboo raft, afraid that the water was unclean and poisonous, Fu Heng was so thirsty that his throat was smoking, and he only ordered the quartermaster department to ignore the boiling water of vegetables and fruits, and those who could quench their thirst should only be transported to supply it quickly, and strictly ordered the sergeants, "Bear it, you can chew tender reed arrows and eat wild lotus when you are thirsty, and you are not allowed to drink water!" "Push westward with all your might. After two hours, a lot of raw celery, cucumbers, zucchini and even raw onions were transported from behind, which was considered an emergency. At this time, it has entered the hinterland of Jinchuan, Fu Heng's big bamboo is lined up in the front position of the middle abdomen, looking at the front of the eyes, the channel of the river is fragmented and cross-flowing, and the dense turns are all reeds and green yarn tents, and a pool of green and blue is not far from the end, extending forward. In the middle of the day, the sun was mercilessly scorching, everyone was so hot that they were sweating, and more than 20 people in various camps reported that more than 20 people had suffered from heat stroke. Fu Heng couldn't help but scold a foul word: "Damn bastard!" Won't you think about things when your heart is tense? Who can't stand the heat, rinse with water! There was no war, there were already twenty-three attritions! There was a slight cheer when the barracks were neutral, everyone was too nervous, and they were afraid that Fu Heng would make a sound, and they couldn't even remember to take a shower on the wooden raft to relieve the heat. After another half an hour, the front has seen the bamboo shade tree cover a high port, the north is rippling with a piece of blue water, the front of Huo Di is cheerful, and a gust of wind comes over the flood, blowing people are refreshed. Fu Heng took out his pocket watch and looked at it, a slight smile bloomed on his face, and said, "Okay!" According to this way, we will be in the lama temple before the end of the Shen Dynasty! Then there was another gust of wind, which was slightly chilly, and Fu Heng couldn't help but stroke his shoulder blades.

"This place is weird!" Wang Xiaoqi said with a smile, "The east, west, north and south winds blow wildly, and the water in the river is also turbulent, and there is no qualitative character." The water is as hot as the body, and the water here is soaked and cold! Fu Heng said with a smile: "The climate in Jinchuan is unique in the world, and snow is common in June." This water is the snow water that has just flowed down from the snow-capped mountains, and of course it will be cold when the wind passes through the snow-capped mountains, and the cold wind of the ice water from Kunlun, Qinghai, and the warm current from the south, which is bumping and bumping in the mountain col swamp, which is naturally elusive. Wang Xiaoqi said: "I understand, if the master doesn't say it, the slave will not be able to figure out this knowledge for the rest of his life." ”

As soon as the words fell, there was a burst of shouting and cheering on the wooden row in front of him, and there was a chaotic and noisy scolding. Fu Heng lifted his binoculars to look, but it was someone in the dense reeds in the south who shot arrows at He Lao Liuyi's striker, and clusters shot out from the depths of the green gauze tent, like a wasp with a tail sweeping through the sky. Fu Heng looked at it for a while and said: "This is a small group of Tibetans who have been attacked, each wooden platoon can return the arrows, do not pursue it, and go all out!" When the standard-bearer heard this, he ordered the flag to be passed before and after, and the wooden platoon moved faster and faster...... When Fu Heng's wooden platoon arrived, not only did the arrows shoot faster in the reeds, but also the percussion sound of gongs and drums and drums kept ringing, as if the enemy was approaching, and Wang Xiaoqi said: "Don't be a large team of people and horses, right?" Knock such a scorpion tiger! ”

"It's a brass drum. They're sending a message to Sarobon! Fu Heng sneered, "Set up ten muskets and shoot them at the place where the arrows are fired!" ”

"One-two!"

With Wang Xiaoqi waving his hand, the ten muskets "banged" loudly, and the shotgun hit the reed leaves and aquatic plants, and then heard a loud sound in the reeds, as if someone was injured and scolding, but the arrows were no longer shot, but among the dense grasses on the soil bank of the pond near and far, a string of firecrackers sounded here, and a few horns were blown there.

"Salopen is a great man!" Fu Heng sighed, "If I weren't ten times the strength and a hundred times the military needs, I wouldn't be his opponent!" Saying that, the bamboo raft had stopped, and Fu Heng paid attention at this moment, and there was a heavy fog all around, and the cool and humid haze smoke was scattered like soft cotton wool, and even the sun was dim with the breeze swaying and swaying. None of the soldiers had ever seen fog in the afternoon, and there was a lot of discussion:

"Ahh

"Did you tell me to sniff poison?"

"It's not a poisonous mist, I'm afraid it's the demon mist released by Sha Luoben's demon method, right?"

"Fuck! We use toilets and menstrual tablets to break the demon method there, how can we get it? ”

"It's going to be cold! Is this still a June day? No matter how cold it is, shivering! ”

"Brothers, don't panic!" Fu Heng shouted loudly, "This is not a demon law, this is the famous cold lake in Jinchuan, where the water on the snow-capped mountains gathers and flows down!" The heat from the south was stirred up by the cool water and the cool breeze turned into fog. It's like the heat coming out of a boiling teapot, which turns into white smoke when it reaches the mouth of the teapot, which is a reason...... This is the shallowest place on the surface of the cold lake, the bamboo raft can no longer pass, all the sergeants went to the mud embankment, put the bamboo raft on the lake, ran over, two miles in front of the lama temple! Just now, Zhaohui came to report that the attack on the grain depot by Saroben had been defeated, and more than 200 people had been captured alive, and Saroben had retreated to Jinchuan. Occupy the Lama Temple, Jinchuan is in our hands, brothers! As he spoke, he pulled his trouser leg and went into the water with a plop, and climbed the embankment on the mud that was so cold that he didn't have a thigh, and commanded the soldiers to drag the heavy bamboo rafts, and paved them like a sweep one by one. Pull the lake surface and pave the road with bamboo rows.

Kankan paved to half an arrow away from the dry bank, suddenly the southwest gunfire and rockets rang out, I don't know how many Tibetan soldiers were hidden in the fog, the earth shook the mountains and shook the sky, and the sky gradually approached. Fu Heng thought about it for a while, and knew that it was Sha Luoben, who was besieging the grain depot, who moved his troops to attack. At this point, it is clear that Salopen is using military tactics. As long as Zhaohui obeys the order and does not fight at the grain depot, and presses from the south, it will be a complete victory in an instant. But at this moment, the 3,000 Chinese troops are crowded on the mud bank between the cold lake and the small Yellow River without cover, not only can they not be used effectively, but they are also violent divisions, similar to a group of live targets. In a hurry, Fu Heng pressed his sword and shouted: "Which general is going to block for a while?!" ”

"Me!" Before Fu Heng's words fell, He Laoliu jumped out and roared: "The Sichuan soldiers of the ancestors are on Lao Tzu!" In the blink of an eye, more than a hundred shirtless Sichuan Han came out in response, jumped into the cold lake, and waited for Fu Heng to give an order with a murderous face and a big knife. Fu Heng was in good spirits, and said with a cruel smile: "Good man! Rush across the lake! Salopon's strength was about 1,500 men, and he didn't know that we had so many soldiers. When the brave meet on a narrow road, I only want you to last half an hour. When the soldiers and horses cross the lake, he has to flee the ear cliff. As he spoke, a foul sentence suddenly came out again, "the mother, fight hard, Old Man Fu will give you a credit!" He Lao Liu shouted, "Order!" His sister has platelets, kill it! He led the crowd to wade away. Fu Heng saw that Wang Xiaoqi's eyes were also fierce and eager to try, so he said, "You go too!" Bring ten bird guns to follow, He Lao Liu can withstand it, don't fire, really can't stand the defeat and retreat, so shoot in support! Wang Xiaoqi was so excited that his nose was fluttering, and he was panting heavily, but he said: "My father said that you must dare to leave the master on the battlefield and go back to discount my backbone...... Fu Heng said: "Your father also has to listen to me - go, kill!" Wang Xiaoqi jumped high and shouted: "It's our turn to work hard, go on!" ”

This is indeed a surprise encounter, Sha Luoben did not expect Fu Hengming to repair the plank road to secretly cross Chencang, did not hesitate to dredge the Yellow River, take the bamboo row to copy the back road of Jinchuan to the Scraping Ear Cliff, the attack on the grain depot was very easy, less than half an hour to capture the grain depot of the West Kumen, but also set fire to a warehouse in Linxi, fireworks firecrackers, firebirds, bronze drums and horns were used, the soldiers guarding the warehouse only retreated and did not escape, and the feint did not attract Zhaohui reinforcements. The sergeant who burned the warehouse retreated a little to try it, and the soldiers guarding the warehouse actually stuck to it not far away! At this point, Sha Luoben knew Fu Heng's intention: to fight for the loss of the grain depot, but also to entangle himself on the east side of Jinchuan, block the passage of the Scraping Cliff and divide and encircle and annihilate! He was suddenly shocked in his heart, and he was anxious: "Order Ye Danka to move to the west of Jinchuan City, the enemy will attack, give up Jinchuan after a little resistance, and hold the main road to the Scratching Cliff." Send someone to strictly monitor the Hailancha camp, and report any abnormal movements immediately! He breathed a sigh of relief, "Fu Heng is too careful and rigorous in his use of soldiers...... Here can no longer be fought, withdrawn! ”

But the most difficult thing in fighting a war is actually Jeonseon's retreat. The Tibetan army has been out of food for several months, and now that they are in the grain depot, how can they be willing to obey the order to "bring not a grain of grain"? In the sleeves of the robe, in the hat and even in the boots - everything that can be loaded is stuffed and stuffed, and it is easy to put it away, and the soldiers of the grain depot are pouring out of the east of the reservoir like wasps, shouting and shouting, you go, he chases, you stop, he stops, you rush, he retreats a few steps, like a dog that can't retreat, and he is reluctant, and he fights and fights until he reaches the lama temple. At this moment, there were heavy troops in front of Sha Luoben to intercept him, and there were vicious dogs to disturb and attack in the back, which was even more dangerous than Fu Heng's situation, but Ye Danka's soldiers did not come to respond, and the calculation of the strength of the troops was 5,000 people against 1,500 people, and the number of victories and defeats was not asked.

"Gaba took five brothers to the cliff to report the clouds, and asked her to contact Yedanka to answer!" Sha Luoben held a telescope to observe the movement ahead, and commanded: "Fu Heng wants to attack the Lama Temple!" I have 1,500 soldiers here to fight, if I can block him by the side of the Yellow River, there is great hope, Fu Heng is the commander, if I suppress it, all the armies will not dare to move! ”

Gabba said yes, repeated Sha Luoben's order word for word, and led five people from the south path of the temple to the Scraping Ear Cliff. The pursuers of the grain depot wanted to come over to intercept them, but they were shot back by a volley of arrows from the guards in the temple, and they heard a few people in the southern army pointing and pointing, and a sharp voice shouted: "Hey! That little Mongolian military master, the turtle son, turned out to be alive, and he was from Shalopun! Gaba knew that it was Bai Shun, and replied loudly: "My cut you **!" Reserve gold to create medicine! Salopon's not flowing, yours flowing! "Shouting has gone all the way.

"Just wave the flag and shout with a hundred wounded numbers here, and follow me for the rest!" Shaloben made up his mind, had completely regained his composure, and pulled out a snowy sword in his waist and led everyone to the lake. At this time, more than 600 people rushed ashore. There were more than 500 crossbowmen gathered by Fu Heng, and they were shooting arrows to cover He Lao Liu while laying out bamboo rafts, and more than 500 people in the front team of Tibetan soldiers rushed up despite the rain of flying arrows, and the two armies had already handed over.

This is really a rare hand-to-hand hand-to-hand combat, it is less than noon, the light clouds and mist are like sparse white milk floating in the air, the sun is like a half-cooked poached egg soaked in it, lifeless and slowly moving, more than 600 people with long knives, short knives and daggers are used, gathered on the grass less than three acres of square area to fight for their lives. He Lao Liu's more than 100 people formed a two-layer small circle and turned left and right, but the more than 500 Tibetan soldiers were fighting on their own, and sometimes the people in the outer circle rushed out to fight, and the people in the inner circle made up for it. At this time, there was no need for arrows, and the killing cries on the battlefield shook the sky, the sound of white blades slamming into the metal of ping-pong rang out, and from time to time someone fell heavily in the muddy water and damp grass amid the shouts and scolding. In the blood-stained mud, the severed heads were kicked and rolled around, and suddenly a few terrible screams came out, hearing that Sha Luoben and Fu Heng were silent in their hearts, one of them stood outside the formation, and the other observed with a telescope on the embankment of the Little Yellow River, and their hearts were tightly hung up. Wang Xiaoqi got closer to see it even more real, He Laoliu's people have been killed half of them, the "circle" is not a circle, and he will not retreat from the fight to the death, He Laoliu himself injured his left arm, and he was dripping with blood gourd, rushing left and right in the crowd, Wang Xiaoqi knew in his heart that the Tibetan soldiers were fighting hungry and exhausted, otherwise they would have been chopped up a long time ago. Seeing that the reinforcements behind him were still half an arrow away, he gritted his teeth and ordered: "Fire--day fuck you, fight!" ”

The soldiers were a little stunned, and a sentry commander beside him stammered: "Towards the ...... Where to play? ”

"Bastard! At this time, are you still afraid of hurting He Lao Liu? No matter where you charge, you can hurt a few with one shot! He designated Salopon, "You—shoot him!" The rest are beaten to the crowd! One-two-fire! ”

"Bang!"

Six muskets fired at the same time, the shotgun wrapped in gunpowder smoke shot out, the Tibetan soldiers besieging He Lao Liu in the east immediately more than 20 people were injured, three were thrown down to the ground and struggled, Sha Luoben was concentrating on the command, defenseless, a bird hit, the left arm has been shot, more than a dozen lead bullets penetrated through the clothes, a burst of hot numbness, blood has flowed out of the arm and all over the hand, he stood firm on one side of his body, glared at Wang Xiaoqi angrily, scolded a foul word in Tibetan, and shouted: "Rush up, break up his musket team!" Wang Xiaoqi shouted while scolding: "Hurry up and charge!" Those four, fire! Then I heard another "bang" in unison, followed by He Laoliu's excited shout: "The handsome musket team is up, kill!" ”

The Tibetan soldiers were stunned by this sudden attack, and after a moment of silence, they woke up, like a group of enraged lions roaring and pounced on Wang Xiaoqi, but He Lao Liu's group was also red-eyed, it was completely lifeless, and the same end of the fighting style, resisting the death and entangled in the battle and not retreating, the left arm that cut off the right arm and fighting, the leg that was cut was lying on the ground and dancing with a knife, and the one who had no weapons hugged his legs and pulled his feet and rolled on the ground to fight. Wang Xiaoqi fought and retreated while charging medicine, and sometimes rushed up and hit the bird gun to help He Laoliu, the sword shadow on the battlefield flickered, and the crowd was crowded, which was a little more fierce and cruel than the previous one. Suddenly, an overwhelming whistling sound came from the northwest direction, Wang Xiaoqi listened to it, and shouted wildly: "The people from Liao Junmen have opened over!" Wow, the charge hits! ”

"The living Buddha of benevolence, old Sangcuo...... We can't beat Fu Heng...... "Sha Luoben saw Fu Heng's soldiers, rushing ashore from the cold lake like a tide, and heard the faint earth-shattering sound in the northwest direction, and then looked at the south, Zhaohui's soldiers from the west of Jinchuan City gathered more and more to approach the lama temple, knowing that the general trend had gone, he was not terrifying, his heart was just a burst of sadness, he sighed sadly, and said: "Order, the whole army withdraws to the Scraping Cliff." Jinchuan's troops also withdrew! ”

The desolate and miserable sound of the horn sounded in all directions, coming from the Chinese army of Sha Luoben, as if passing one stop at a time, and the heralds hiding around Jinchuan came from near and far, and reported the commander's order to the Tibetan soldiers and Tibetan people scattered all over the country to "move closer to the Scraping Ear Cliff". The haze had cleared from the weedy Jinchuan meadows, and a round of red sun shone on the wind-blown green gauze tents and pastures, as well as the corpses lying on the battlefield like wheat barley, and the rags hanging on the hilt of knives were all shaking uneasily in the wind. Salo Ben collected the troops, counted them, and together with those who were wounded in the grain depot, one hundred and twenty-four were killed in battle, three hundred and seventy-one wounded, and more than 1,000 soldiers, because they were wrapped in raw grain in the grain depot, but they were not hungry, but they were all exhausted from continuous forced marches and fierce battles, and they were all tired and staggered, sitting or lying down, some pretending to sleep, some chewing something, and some veterans were whispering to comfort their children and nephews.

"Cheer up, everybody." Sha Luoben thought that he had to go back to the Ear Cliff, so he cheered up first, climbed a high port, let the hunting west wind blow the hem of his robe, and waved his hand and said: "The official army is strong, let's go back to the cliff to hide from the wind!" Waiting for the old man Qianlong to come to peace. He encountered ** trouble in the Western Regions, the soldiers here can't fight for a long time, Fu Heng came to attack Jinchuan in June, which is the reason. Looking at the raised faces, Sa Luoben's confidence seemed to be stronger, and he paused and smiled heartily, and said: "Fu Heng's loss is more than five times greater than ours, and this empty city will be given to him to recuperate!" Madame has already led troops to meet us, and we will be able to reach the cliff safely when it is dark and go up the mountain road. Brothers, stand tall and look like a Jinchuan person! As he spoke, he went down to Gaobu, looked at the people who supported him, and said to Ren Cuo as he walked: "No matter how shrewd and capable Fu Heng is, he would never have imagined that there would be a cannon waiting for him at the west of the Lama Temple." I'm going to give him something to see! ”

Salopun's brigade retreated westward, somewhat unexpectedly to Fu Heng. He knew in his heart that the official army had only mastered the situation in Jinchuan, and the combined number of Salopun and Yedanka's soldiers was nearly 5,500. According to Salopon's temperament, he had to fight with himself for a while before the great retreat anyway, and then quickly retreated. At the moment, seeing that there were only more than 1,000 people slowly moving westward, it was a bit strange. Zhaohui and Liao Huaqing had already arrived at his camp at this moment, standing beside Fu Heng, seeing Fu Heng's eyes slightly confused and staring at the sunset, Zhaohui said: "Dashuai, he is going to escape!" His army is not enough...... If you are afraid of an ambush, I will take a thousand men from the south road to stop him and rush him. There was an ambush for Lao Liao Ceying, and if there was no ambush, the whole army went together, and he made dumplings here! ”

"Where's Yedanka? Where is Yedanka now? Fu Heng's eyes were a little green because he was thinking too deeply, "The Southern Route Army bypassed Wangdui, walked and beat in a row, and traveled nearly a hundred miles in the mud...... Our army is tired! I'm worried that Yedanka's three thousand military horses are well fed and strong, and in which col are waiting for us! The night battle is not good for the guest army......" As he was talking, Hu Fugui, an officer under Zhaohui's account, trotted over, and Zhaohui asked: "You go to the mountain pass to check, is there any movement in the camp of Hailancha?" Are there any other activities to hide troops? ”

Hu Fugui had been promoted to the general manager of Qian, and his face was pale and out of breath, and he gasped for a while before he spoke: "Hai...... The Navy sent someone to contact ...... There were no serious troops on the mountain wall at the southern foot of the Scraping Ear Cliff, and it was some old men and women who blew trumpets to scare people. Yedanka had 2,000 troops guarding between the Scraping Cliff Pass and the Navy Gate camp, not fighting or moving. It depends on the situation to respond to the lama temple, or to find an opportunity to attack the naval gate, maybe to contain stragglers and guerrillas......" Fu Heng said: "You only talk about military intelligence, don't" or' maybe'." "This is the words passed down by the Navy Gate to the Zhaojun Gate." Hu Fugui said to Fu Heng, and said, "A group of people came down from the mountain, about three hundred, and they were heading towards the mouth of the cliff. I didn't dare to delay any longer, so I hurried back. He stepped aside.

"It's not easy!" Zhaohui saw that Fu Heng was just silent, Hu Fugui's eyes were straight and his face was pale and he looked ahead, but he was a little embarrassed, and he rarely burst into a smile, and said: "I have traveled more than 200 miles today to explore so much military information, I will ask you for credit!" Saying that, he patted Hu Fugui on the shoulder with his hand, but Hu Fugui couldn't resist this slap and fell down in response! Wang Xiaoqi and several people hurriedly stepped forward to help him. Fu Heng also regained his senses, came to him and squatted down, seeing him struggling to get up, he said softly: "Good soldier!" Naturally, I'm going to keep you. Who has dry food? And beef, bring it to **! ”

He stood up sluggishly, looked to the west again, gritted his teeth and made up his mind, and said: "It's not easy to fight when it's dark, Zhaohui's men will attack Salopun from the south side with a thousand, and use two thousand people to defend against Yedanka's surprise attack, and I will attack the mouth of the Scraping Cliff from the front. Fight until dark, no matter whether you win or lose, you will definitely withdraw your troops! With the three red branches of fire as the order, where the fire starts, I will be there! ”

The sound of killing rose again, and the 3,000 men and horses of the Southern Route Army divided into two routes, and marched like an iron dragon to the west and southwest. The Middle Route Army was led by Fu Heng to chase westward, while Liao Huaqing's Northern Route Army headed towards Jinchuan City. For a while, the big meadow was dark, and the broken walls and ruins were full of Qing soldiers, and there were swords and trees everywhere, so startled that the waterfowl and crows that had already nested were fluttering in the sky in the remnant sun.

"The enemy is catching up!" Sha Luoben and his party had already arrived at the Scraping Ear Cliff Pass, entered the secret fort, and watched the Qing soldiers like ants and bees rushing over the field from the lookout, and the voice of the Living Buddha Ren Cuo was also a little trembling, "Therefore, Zhaohui's soldiers are moving very fast, he wants to stop us and cut us off!" ”

Saroben gritted his teeth, the muscles on his face tensed one by one, and he looked a little hideous. Needless to say, he has seen that the Qing soldiers who are rushing forward have attacked the team, and more than 200 people at the end of the team have been surrounded by a whirlpool of people, and they are desperately fighting to seize the road. Order the front team not to return to the rescue, and retreat to the Ear Cliff with all their might! Kill on the spot if you don't listen to the order! He looked at the red-coated cannon on the stack, and saw that ** was already damp, and it could be crumpled into a loose ball like fragrant ash. But he knew that the medicine that had been loaded could still be used, so he aimed at Shuai Qi and gradually approached, and shouted: "Fire!" ”

The four cannon powder twisters sneered and sparked with blue smoke and sparks, but three of them were also damp, and the fire was extinguished before the cannon hat mechanism, only one of them was finally burned out, and then I heard a loud thunderous explosion of "boom", and the people in the fort bunker shook suddenly, and the sand, gravel and earth fell one after another, and the gunpowder smoke suddenly filled the choking people, and Sha Luoben said "Go!" A few men jumped out of the mud and stone bunker battery and headed west. Sha Luo ran as he walked, secretly feeling sad in his heart: "Thousands of catties of ** are damp!" If you can fight a few more shots here, the tide of battle may turn around! ”

But he didn't know that just this cannon also made Fu Heng almost killed, Fu Heng was staring at the guards of Salopun, turned a turf and mud embankment, and suddenly all the people in front disappeared, he wondered in his heart: there are no trees in this area, the grass on the barren beach is only half a person deep, and it is not very deep and dense, how can it disappear in the blink of an eye? Seeing that the flagpole of the Chinese army was a little oblique, while ordering Wang Xiaoqi to "smash the wedge under the flagpole tighter" to take the telescope, Wang Xiaoqi smashed the wedge with the back of his knife, and when he raised his eyes, he saw that the four black cannon muzzles in the chaotic bushes more than 30 steps away were facing this side, and there were a few sparks burning, he threw away the knife and shouted, "Not good!" Turning around, he violently pushed Fu Heng down under the mud embankment - almost at the same time, the cannon roared angrily, and the fireworks swept over, and Wang Xiaoqi was unconscious with a flower in his eyes......

Fu Heng fell headlong under the hurdle and also fell unconscious. He sent people here several times to reconnoitre, and when he went back, he said that it was extremely wet, it was all turf and mud, and he never expected that there would be cannons, and the fort was set up here! Several military academies set him up, and he was still in a daze. Because he saw Xiao Qizi lying on the embankment, his head, face and upper body were smoked like black charcoal, and there were a few bubbling blood on his stomach and chest, and a few soldiers also looked like they were lying on the side, sitting or lying down or fainting or waking up, he was shocked, came over and squatted down in two steps, and shouted: "Are the military doctors - are the military doctors dead?" Come on, send them down on a stretcher! While taking Xiao Qizi's hand and shaking it gently, "Little Qizi, Xiao Qizi!" You...... What do you think? He had never been so close to a minion, and at this moment, he was so close to breathing that he could see a few burns on his chest and face, more than a dozen wounds were like honeycombs, and he kept bleeding, and the most fatal thing was that he was shot in the abdomen, and a bunch of white intestines rolled out, and Xiao Qizi covered his hand in the wound, and it seemed that he passed out when he stuffed his intestines. Only then did Fu Heng know that the cannon was also filled with iron pellets and shotgun lead bullets.

"Yes master...... It's dirty, and it's ugly...... You don't have to take care of me......" Xiao Qizi woke up with a shock, and when he saw Fu Heng holding his hand, tears burst out of his eyes, and he choked up and said, "Little Qizi...... I can't wait for the master......" "Don't talk nonsense," Fu Heng clenched his hand, and his voice trembled a little, "There is an old general in Fujian named Lan Li, who fought Taiwan during the Kangxi period, and his intestines flowed out and dragged more than five feet on the deck!" Lived to be ninety-eight years old, and died last year, it doesn't matter if you are injured! The family doesn't have to worry about it, Chengdu is recuperating, and the scenery is back in Beijing! Xiao Qizi looked at Fu Heng gratefully and said, "Don't care about me, how many people are waiting for you to give orders!" ”

Fu Heng nodded and got up, when he looked forward, it was already twilight, the blood-red sunset in the west was no longer so brilliant, turning into iron gray, gloomy and heavy on the undulating hills, and on the vast prairie swamps in front of him, the northwest wind swept through the sky without shelter, and the cold hit people with madness. The sparsely blown up flag was also shaking uneasily. He pondered again and again, no matter how inappropriate it was not to fight at night, took out his pocket watch and looked at it, and said: "Put three red branches on fire, and each company will be on standby!" Then he saw Ma Guangzu of the rear team striding up to catch up, because he asked, "What's the matter?" ”

"Old Yue's military gate has caught up," Ma Guangzu said, "The Holy Authority has decreed it to you." ”

"Go back to the Lama Temple! The herald ordered all armies to be on strict alert. Officers below the adjutant general should patrol in shifts! ”

Fu Heng commanded angrily, and rushed back to the lama temple with his entourage. Yue Zhongqi was already guarding the lamp, and when he saw him come in, he didn't have time to greet him, so he handed over a few papers with both hands. Fu Heng felt lightheaded, he didn't have the strength to scatter all over his body, he didn't say anything, he reluctantly bowed to Yue Zhongqi, took the edict, gestured to Yue Zhongqi to sit on the stone pier, and when he saw the mud and seal the fire paint, one was Zhu Zhu's edict on his own fold, and the other was sent by Ah Gui's letter. When he looked at the decree with his eyes, his tone was very severe:

I am. The audience was stunned. I have faced Xu Duoyun Shaluo to surrender sincerely, and Qing has repeatedly blasphemed the whole army to attack, what does sincerity mean? Do you want to use the three armies to capture Jinchuan Chenger in the name of hard fighting, or in the name of total victory, put me in a place of no faith? If you have one of these two, that is, you will win, and I will also regard you as a second minister! However, I know that Qingyi will not come out of this. The passionate feelings played are sincere, that is, with this purpose, one is to focus on the overall situation of the northwest, and the other is to focus on the long-term peace and stability of the southwest, and quickly plan to maintain the original purpose, that is, Yue Zhongqi will assist in the errand, and the service will be completed within 15 days. He did not live up to his hopes.

Transferred the edict to Yue Zhongqi, and then looked at Ah Gui's letter, but all said about family affairs, Fukangan has returned to Beijing, awarded the first-class guards of the Qianqing Palace, and Fulongan and Fu Lingan have also made up the guards, saying that Liu Tongxun was promoted to the crown prince Taibao, how to do things diligently, and his own strength is weak, waiting for Fu Gong to come back and preside over everything. Speaking of the Jinchuan war, he only said: "The holy will is still in favor of withdrawing the army as soon as possible, and Sha Luoben is in a poor corner, so as not to provoke a great change and hinder the war in the West." Fu Heng frowned and carefully examined it, one tone was reprimanded, the other was saying "imperial grace", thinking deeply, he was holding a talisman in his hand, and he repeatedly played the blame and refused to obey the edict...... Could it be that he is already suspecting that he is self-respecting? Thinking about it, my heart jumped sharply, and I hurriedly collected it again. When picking up the sealed book, Ah Gui inserted it directly, and the inner layer was the seal of the upper study, and the seal was sealed with the fire paint of the Qianqing door, and it was not issued at the same time, so I felt a little relieved, and the forehead was already slightly soaked in sweat, and I handed the letter to Yue Zhongqi in a daze.

"Ah Gui still insists that you fight it." Yue Zhongqi's thinking was completely different from Fu Heng's, and he smiled after reading the letter and said, "He is in front of his master every day, what does he not know?" The master is going to be seriously annoyed, and he doesn't need to hide it from you. Okay, the two ministers of military aircraft are equally focused on fighting, and the master is in a hurry to collect the troops, and some of the six masters are good-looking when they go back! When he said this, Fu Heng was a little relieved, the disagreement between the monarch and the ministers was a common thing, and it was not a big deal. What I'm afraid of is that Qianlong has always been meticulous and intolerable, he is a suspicious person, and he is thousands of miles away. Thinking about it, Fu Heng smiled bitterly and said: "I have two, one is that the master is not in front of him, and there are some things that the master can't make decisions on the spot, and those who are slaves would rather take on some responsibilities, but also think about it for the master and take care of it well; The second is to take the master's affairs as their own affairs, not to think about their own interests for a while, but to try their best to think long-term and take care of them thoroughly. The master is eloquent and far-sighted, we can never reach one, only do our best......" Yue Zhongqi couldn't help but be moved when he heard this, and sighed: "This is the so-called 'bow and die after doing your best'!" Success or failure is not a matter of calculation. Since you have such loyalty, Yue Zhongqi does not dare to descend. You say, what to do, I listen to you! ”

Fu Heng lowered his eyelids and stroked the inkstone on the case - on weekdays, Wang Xiaoqi had already taken ink and water, pressed it with one hand, and stirred it with the other hand to grind the ink for him, that wholeheartedly and attentively posture, Fu Heng laughed at him more than once, but at this moment he was on the way to Chengdu, and he couldn't "grit his teeth and grind the ink". After a while, Fu Heng said: "I wrote a letter to Sha Luoben and sent it to the Scraping Cliff with a rocket. Again, earnestly state the holy will and explain the benefits and disadvantages. I...... You can personally go up the cliff alone and ask him to come down the mountain. ”

"It's okay to write a letter," Yue Zhongqi said, "It's not in line with the system for you to go up the cliff in person, you are the commander of the three armies of the imperial court, you can't take risks!" Let Hailancha retreat ten miles south to show sincerity, it's time to use my old bones to play......"

Fu Heng gritted his teeth, looked at the dancing candlelight, and said for a long time: "The old general is willing to act on his behalf, it is better than me to go." I'm afraid I will have to bring some things, such as food and medicine, as well as the captured Tibetan soldiers, and take half of them back to the mountains. Otherwise, Saroben couldn't believe it. No matter how carefully we deliberate, we must also guard against unforeseen changes......"